For the next 30 days—Monday through Friday— we’ll be unveiling the full list here. We’ve also got an exclusive retro collegiate collection, out now, that pays homage to each squad’s threads. Shop here.

In the heartland of basketball, where scarlet and gray reign supreme, the ‘06-’07 Ohio State Buckeyes emerged as game icons, stealing the nation’s hearts with their blend of youth, talent and tenacity. 

Under the guidance of Coach Thad Matta, the Buckeyes played basketball like it was an art form. They zapped the ball around effortlessly in search of an open man, giving up good looks for better looks. The ball moved seamlessly from one set of hands to another until it eventually found its way down the net. 

That isn’t to say that the Buckeyes didn’t let the individual prowess of their players shine. Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr. and Daequan Cook made up the core of this Buckeyes squad. Freshman phenoms with the composure of seasoned vets, these Buckeyes were ready to make a name for themselves from the very first game. 

Oden was a towering force hailing from Lawrence North High School, where he developed close on-court chemistry with fellow freshman guard Mike Conley. Oden’s sheer force in the paint was unmatched, while his soft touch around the rim solidified him as a sure-fire top-two pick in the NBA Draft. Meanwhile, Conley’s crossovers would leave defenders frozen, while his acrobatic finishes stunned thousands of fans.

Their dominance and chemistry would be the motor on which the Buckeyes operated. Conley would blow by defenders and find Oden in the paint, who mercilessly punished anyone who dared to jump with him. In a statement win against Iowa in the regular season, Oden exploded for 29 points and 10 rebounds, with Conley running the show with 10 dimes. 

The scariest thing about this Ohio State team was that the offense didn’t just end with Oden and Conley. Senior guard Ron Lewis could catch fire quickly, while Daequan Cook would put the team on his back with his momentum-swinging shots. And there was Jamar Butler, a rim-punishing presence in the paint. 

The Buckeyes team was dynamite with enough firepower to explode at any instant and ignite the crowd with their exhilarating play. 

And explode they did in the Big Ten, cruising past teams on the way to a league-best 15 wins, only losing one along the way. The Big Ten wasn’t just their playground; it was their empire, and they ruled it with an iron fist. 

But it was in the madness of March that the Buckeyes truly shined. With the eyes of the nation upon them, Ohio State embarked on a postseason journey that would showcase the talent and grit of the team. Victories over powerhouses like Georgetown and Memphis showcased their talent and resilience, showing the world that this team had what it took to hoist the national championship trophy. 

For all Buckeyes fans, these were heart-crushing moments that still haunt them to this day. But as long as the scarlet and gray flies high, the legend of the ’07 Buckeyes—for the stars it produced, the historic comebacks and dominance—will live on.

Photos via Getty Images.

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Ahead of his inaugural season with the Yellow Jackets, we sat down with Stoudamire at SLAM’s HQ to learn more about his coaching style and how he transitioned to the sidelines after 13 years on the hardwood.

SLAM: People know you from your NBA days in the ’90s and ’00s. What made you get into coaching?

Damon Stoudamire: I was in Houston and I was working out at Rice University. When I was an undergrad at Arizona, there was a guy named Chris Del Conte who was working under our [Arizona] AD Jim Livengood. He was the Athletic Director at Rice at that time and he was the one who said, Man, you should coach. He was like, We’ve got a new coach [Ben Braun], go talk to him. So I went and talked to him, and he said he could bring me on. He couldn’t pay me but it wasn’t about the money, obviously. 

That’s how it started, just being around the game. It went from watching practices to, Coach, is it OK if I come to your office and shadow you? Talk to you, pick your brain? Yeah, sure. Coach, can I come to recruiting meetings? Yeah, sure. Coach, can I come on a road trip with you? I want to see what that looks like. So that’s kind of how it started. He let me get an apprenticeship—I would call it being a high-level intern. I was doing that for maybe a month and a half, two months. Then the Memphis Grizzlies, who I played for, had hired Lionel Hollins, and Lionel called me to see if I would be interested in joining the staff. That’s when everything started going in that trajectory.

SLAM: When you landed with the Grizzlies, was coaching something that you were actively trying to pursue?

DS: I’m still trying to figure it out [at that point]. Lionel let me get my feet wet, so I was in charge of player development. I was basically working out with guys that I just got through playing with. I played with Mike Conley. I played with Rudy Gay. Darius Miles was on the team. It was crazy, because it was like three to four guys I had actually played with in the NBA. And now I’m coaching them. So Lionel told me, I’ll never forget this, When you’re ready, we’ll give you some scouts. That’s kind of when I knew I wanted to coach.

I’ll tell you one thing about me coaching is that I learned from some of the best, and they taught me a lot and they allowed me to grow. That was the biggest thing—they allowed me to grow.

SLAM: At what point did you start to formulate a plan and a timeline for your coaching career?

DS: I never formulated a timeline but this is what I told myself—with my background as an NBA player, and then going to college, that’s the best of both worlds. That makes a man desirable. That’s how I looked at it. The only timetable I set—I haven’t told a lot of people this, only a couple of people know—was by the time I’m 50 years old, I want to be able to pick the job of my choice. Whether it’s in the NBA or whether it’s in college, I want to make myself the most desirable coach that I can be to where if a job opens, they say, We want Damon Stoudamire.

SLAM: How would you describe your coaching style now that you’ve got your own team?

DS: My style is simply how it fits my team. You cannot say you’re going to play one style or another if you don’t have the right team. So you’ve got to see what your team looks like. You have to see where the strength of your team lies. And then you’ve got to formulate your plan from there, on both sides of the ball. My style is, I’m a player’s coach. It’s a feel. I always put myself in the position of a player. Being a player’s coach is being relationship driven, and it’s understanding the room. And from the standpoint of who I am, that’s my greatest trait. I’m a guy who understands what each player needs individually to be successful and how that fits into the whole to help the team be successful.

SLAM: When you were hired by Georgia Tech, you and the Boston Celtics were in Atlanta to face the Hawks. Tell us a little bit about that weekend.

DS: It’s a 13-day road trip and about five or six games. There wasn’t even time to think, that’s how fast it happened. I get to Atlanta and I meet with the AD and everybody. Probably five minutes into the conversation, I was like, This is real right here. We were talking, getting to know each other, trying to gauge if it was a fit. Let’s see if Damon’s personality, his demeanor and his style fit Georgia Tech. So we go from that dinner to, Well, can you meet in the morning with the president? And that’s the morning that we’re playing the Hawks. We ended up meeting at seven in the morning. And as I’m getting on the first bus, I get a call and they said, Hey, man, it looks like you might be the guy. They want to start speeding this up. So we get through the game, get back to the hotel and start hammering out contract details. It was bittersweet, honestly. But things happened so quickly. And then right after that game in Houston, I got [on] a plane, came right back to Tech, had a press conference that morning, [and] then boom, you’re hitting the ground running.

SLAM: After you were hired, you said, “I always tell people, unless somebody tells me different, I have never known a guy that’s gotten a job that he chases.” What did you mean?

DS: Only a select few are chosen to accelerate the process. But most of us have to go through the process. There’s a trajectory to get to where we’ve got to go. I always tell guys, You’ve got to be patient and don’t be ambitious. Do the best job in the position that you’re in, because trust me, people notice that. I remember when Lawrence Frank got the Detroit Pistons job. I didn’t know Lawrence from a can of paint, and he didn’t know me. But I got a call from him about joining his staff because he had talked to people about me and they told him I was a hard worker, I’d be great for him. For me, that’s one of the biggest compliments I ever got. For somebody that you don’t know to call you and want you to join their staff—man, that doesn’t happen a whole lot.

SLAM: There have been so many great point guards who have come through Georgia Tech. Are you going to continue that tradition? 

DS: The point guard has been synonymous with Tech, and I want that tradition to continue. But at the same time, there’s been some great forwards to come through Tech. I’m looking for the next Chris Bosh, Derrick Favors. I played with John Salley in Toronto. 

For me, the biggest thing is getting Tech back to prominence. It’s a great city, it’s a great institution and it’s a great basketball conference. I remember growing up and wanting to play in the ACC. The ACC Tournament was the biggest thing for me growing up, even as a West Coast guy. When I look at the league and the success the league has had over the course of time, it just makes it more exciting for me to be at Tech.

Portraits by Marcus Stevens. Photos via Getty Images.

The post Damon Stoudamire Talks Vision for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and Returning the Program to ‘Prominence’ appeared first on SLAM.

“After one of the natural disasters they had over there, I saw a picture where it’s flooded and kids are still playing basketball with the hoop still standing,” he said to NBA.com. “Just showing love for the game over there and how pivotal basketball is, how far it stretches. It’s crazy then just seeing the support I have from the Philippines.”

Clarkson, whose mother is of Filipino descent, recently told the Philippines media that it was important to him to represent the country at this year’s All-Star event in Salt Lake City. “I know in the West they’ve got a lot of talented guards,” he said to ESPN. “But I feel like I can represent Utah, the Philippines at the All-Star Game, if it happens. It would be exciting if that happens.”

Whether he’s selected or not, Clarkson has been having quite the year so far, from putting up career-high numbers—21.1 points and 4.3 assists—to embracing his role as an experienced guard. Having played with and learned from the likes of King James, the Black Mamba and Lou Williams, JC knows firsthand what stepping up as a leader looks like, too, telling NBA.com: “Being around Kobe and Bron, there’s been [lots] of vets I’ve been around in the NBA, you know. Lou Williams, guys like that. It’s kinda pushing me to a leadership role in my ninth year in the League. Just seeing how they handled it and kinda doing the same.” 

After getting traded to the Jazz from Cleveland, Clarkson has found all the support he needs to thrive. “The trade was definitely a lot to take in. I didn’t know what to expect,” Clarkson told The Athletic back in 2021. “But when I got here, the team, the coaching staff, the city and the fans, they welcomed me with open arms. The Jazz showed they invested with me and made me feel comfortable. I feel free here.” 

It’s that freedom that has allowed Clarkson to remain true to himself. As head coach Will Hardy recently emphasized to Andscape, Clarkson is “a very creative player, and he sees the game in a unique way sometimes. And I have to give him the latitude to be himself out there because when he plays freely, he plays with his instincts, he’s at his best. He’s a guy that I definitely don’t want to put in too narrow of a lane because of his ability to impact the game in a lot of ways. Off the court, he is as fun-loving and easy going, engaging a person as I’ve been around in the NBA.”

Clarkson is undeniably one of the most unique and stylish players in the League, from his painted nails and his appearances at Paris Fashion Week to his eternal presence on @LeagueFits. Regardless of what other people might think, Clarkson has always remained true to himself. “Everybody around the League knows who I am and respects it,” he told Marc J. Spears.

What many have also come to respect is Clarkson’s commitment to the grind. The 46th pick in the 2014 NBA Draft has come a long way from playing on the then-Los Angeles D-Fenders in the NBA Development League his rookie year. And he was just coming off the bench a year ago. He’s now a solidified starter, second on the team in scoring, and, as Hardy pointed out after the Jazz’s win against the Cavaliers, can make “some big plays.”

Even when Donovan Mitchell made his well-awaited return to the Beehive State on January 10, it was Clarkson who stole the show. But anyone who saw his tunnel fit that night already knew what type of time he was on. Clarkson pulled up wearing a black graphic tee from his brand, Shop Sixx, that has a printed skull in the middle and icy blue lettering spelling out his name. 

Many fans will recognize Clarkson’s sartorial side; he once told @LeagueFits, “When I take a night off from dressing, I think I go 0-20 and it ain’t a good look.” Well, that night against Spida and the Cavaliers, he went 11-19 from the field and erupted for 32 points in the win. 

Clearly, Clarkson isn’t taking any time off soon.

And as the Jazz look to continue their climb up the NBA standings—as we go to press, they’re
No. 8 in the West—they’ll look to Clarkson for his leadership, energy and the unwavering passion he brings to everything he does on and off the court. 

“His ability to kind of reform himself, reshape himself around that idea is leadership in itself,” said teammate Mike Conley, according to KSL.com. “And he’s been awesome.”  

He’s also got a dedicated fan base rooting for him, one that extends 7,400+ miles from Utah to the Philippines. Clarkson has said he plans on suiting up for the Gilas Pilipinas in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup next summer, too. 

But until then, he has business to handle at home. 

Photos via Getty Images

The post Jordan Clarkson Has Brought His Game, and Tunnel Fits, to Another Level in Utah appeared first on SLAM.

Patience. 

Patience. 

Patience. 

Patience. 

Patience. 

And… 

Patience. 

Patience. 

Patience. 

Patience. 

Patience.

Still there?

We’re on Lauri Markkanen time right here. 

His story is one of patience. Like, one where nothing, like, nothing really, um, even kinda, sorta happens at first. Or at second. Enough doesn’t happen that what has happened gets forgotten. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing happening. Stuff is happening. 

Patience is a test. It’s illusions and confusions. What’s real isn’t revealed for a long time. How strong is will? Patience will be the great unveil. Patience is lonely. Patience is a marathon. It’s stamina unending. How long will the run be? How far is the distance? Can the sprint continue all the way into the unknown? What if the running isn’t worth the work?

What if it is?

So…

Patience.

Patience. 

Patience. 

Patience. 

Patience.

This test isn’t pass or fail. Pass or fail is a destination. Markkanen’s story is not about arriving.

It’s about becoming. He knows perseverance. 

Because even what he’s done with the Utah Jazz this season, a season where it looks like he has arrived, isn’t complete yet. Though it does look like the fury of the patient man has become a fire. The 7-foot Markkanen is looking more like the potential has been realized. He’s looking like an offensive cornerstone, a stone that had to survive unforgiving rushing rapids, a stone that’s lasted to become fully polished and shiny.

Shiny like 25 points and 9 boards a game. He’s had a 49-point outburst and he’s had six games of at least 13 rebounds. He’s had gamewinners and he’s had the firepower to ignite complete blowouts. There’s some new confidence to him out there. But it might not even be new. Patience is a test of illusions and confusions. Maybe he’s always been this all along? Has he always been this good? Statistically, no. This is his best and most impactful campaign since the Bulls selected him with the seventh pick in 2017. There’s some type of spirit in him this season, something entirely different from everything we saw during his time in Chicago and Cleveland. It just might’ve been restrained, which can be attributed to any number of reasons, from more famous names demanding more shots to less nuanced leadership not realizing how much Markkanen is capable of. So he’s been let off the leash and all of that marathon sprinting he’s been doing has led him to rove ’round the floor without any restrictions. It’s credit to first year head coach Will Hardy and even more credit to Markkanen for continuing to work in the silence of patience, when absolutely nothing was even promised. 

And with nothing promised, Markkanen improved on everything. He’s gotten better at creating his own shot and at finishing around the rim. He can roll, pop or slip from any ball-screen situation. He can post or face, dunk or shoot, draw fouls and make free throws. He’s the Jazz’s closing option because of the matchup problem that comes with a mobile and aggressive 7-footer. 

The skill set varies from moment to moment. Markkanen acts as a slasher, with his foot pressed all the way down on the accelerator to meet a lob at the rim. He goes off the bounce by himself, finishing through contact. He spots up in the corner, waiting for a pass to drill a three.

More waiting. 

More patience. Many a mind has valued patience to the utmost. 

“Genius is eternal patience,” Michelangelo, who crafted the frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, once said. 

“I get you all you can eat, just have some patience with me,” Aubrey Graham, who is the voice of a generation, once said. 

Markkanen’s whole team is eating because of his patience. Behind resurgent performances from Jordan Clarkson, Mike Conley, Malik Beasley, Kelly Olynyk and Collin Sexton, the Jazz are right back in the playoff hunt during a season in which the bottom was outside the world’s expectations. Their best player has them just 1.5 games from fifth in the West, as we go to press. 

In fact, he and Conley have created a pick-and-roll duo that follows in the tradition of John Stockton and Karl Malone and Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer. Markkanen is in the 80th percentile in the League as a finisher out of PNR. Other numbers tell a similar story as he inches close to a 50-40-90 season. Right now he’s 52-42-87. It’s striking efficiency considering how a ton of the offense relies on him. 

Does high-level basketball like that only come through patience? Could he have done that at stop No. 1 or stop No. 2? Could he have been mature enough to handle so many different looks on the offensive side? 

Do any of these questions even matter? 

No, they don’t. Because we’re here now, in this moment where Lauri Markkanen should represent the Utah Jazz at the ’23 All-Star Game in Salt Lake City. He’s taken the leap out of ever-waiting patience up into a consistent scoring threat from each of the three necessary levels. In a year where nobody expected anything to happen, a lot has happened. If he doesn’t make it, there will be more time for him to get there, no matter which city it’s being held in. He’s just 25 years old. We know that he has patience.

His head coach Will Hardy knows it, too. 

“I thought it was another game where Lauri seemed to kinda do a little bit of everything, made threes, got to the basket with force early in the game,” he said just a few days before we went to press. “He’s just continuing to grow before our eyes every night in terms of understanding there’s a lot of different ways to be effective on the offensive end in this League, especially when you have his combination of size, skill, and athleticism.” 

Just a little patience. 

Photos via Getty Images

The post NBA All-Star Lauri Markkanen is Putting the League on Notice with the Utah Jazz | SLAM appeared first on SLAM.

The date was June 2, 2021. It was one of those “where were you when…” days for hoop fans across the globe. On that Wednesday, the world not only found out that the winningest coach in the history of college basketball was stepping away from the game for good after the following season, but also who would be taking over as Duke’s next men’s basketball head coach—the first time in over 40 seasons that the program would have someone not named Mike Krzyzewski at the helm.

For years, speculation around who would replace Coach K ran rampant. There were 2,000-word think pieces that broke down the list of suitors and aimed to predict this historic passing of the torch moment.

But when the day finally came, it was Jon Scheyer who was anointed as the chosen one. The former Duke guard, who was a McDonald’s All- American in 2006 before helping lead Duke to a national championship in 2010 (a season in which he led the Blue Devils in scoring with 18.2 points per game), has spent the past eight seasons as an assistant or associate head coach in Durham. He’s been a part of two of Duke’s five national titles—aside from the one he earned as a player, he also won a chip in 2015 as a coach.

In early October, we caught up with the new face of the program to discuss expectations, getting settled into his new role, hooping with alumni, tennis matches with the staff and so much more.  

SLAM: Being head coach at Duke must be a surreal experience. When did it start to feel real for you, and what was that “this is really happening” moment like?  

Jon Scheyer: I think back to when I got the phone call from [VP, Director of Athletics] Nina King telling me I was going to be the next Duke head men’s basketball coach. It was an incredible feeling, but I think the first time that it really felt real was the press conference that I had. Coach K had a press conference the day before, talking about his retirement and his plans. And then the next day, I had a press conference to announce I was going to be the next head coach. I walked out here and just seeing the crowd, seeing all the people that were there, it was pretty surreal, pretty special feeling, but that’s when it really felt real, like, this is happening.

SLAM: What was Day 1 on the job like for you? What was the order of tasks for that first day?

JS: Day 1, you’re trying to figure out, first and foremost, who you have coming back on the team, which for us this past year wasn’t many guys. So, hitting the ground recruiting-wise, but also figuring out who was coming back, because we had several players who had decisions to make, whether they were going to the NBA draft or whether they were coming back. And the second piece, which is happening simultaneously, is you’re figuring out your staff, and we’re really fortunate to have some great hires this offseason. There were discussions being had and timing, so both of those things were most important for me [on Day 1]. I always start with “who” before you think about “what,” and so getting the right people was really the biggest and most important thing that first day, and really for the first few months on the job. 

SLAM: What is the best piece of advice Coach K has given you during this transition period? 

JS: The best advice he’s given me is the same when he coached me when I was a player, but really on Day 1 when I found out I was getting the job, he just pulled me aside and said, Be yourself—know that I support you no matter what you do, how you handle yourself, what decisions you make, because he’s well aware that I’m not him, and if I try to be him, I wouldn’t be very successful. There’s only one Coach K, just as there is one Jon Scheyer. So, for me, the ability to be myself as a player here, it’s really been the same thing as a head coach—just to follow my instincts. I’ve been prepared for this, being alongside Coach K for a long time. I’ve worked for this. Really just trust yourself and trust your instincts. That’s something I promised myself I would do from Day 1 and I’ll always do that as long as I’m the head coach here. 

SLAM: Looking back on your playing days, what was your favorite moment or game while wearing a uniform at Duke?

JS: Probably the moment I’m most proud of is when we beat Baylor to go to the Final Four. We played a Baylor team that was really good—LaceDarius Dunn, Tweety Carter, Ekpe Udoh, Quincy Acy—they had a front line of 7-0, 6-10, 6-8. They were really, really good, and we beat them in Houston. It went down the stretch. We felt like once we won that game—you know, it took us three-and-a-half years to get to that point; we lost in the first round, we lost in the second round, we lost in the Sweet 16. So, for us, we were climbing a mountain. Once we beat them, I think all the pressure went away and we could just play. And we beat a really good West Virginia team in the Final Four, and we beat Butler in an incredible championship game. But for me, beating Baylor was a big-time win that I’ll never forget. 

SLAM: You were known as the “Jewish Jordan” back in high school—are there attributes that earned you that nickname back in the day that you hope you can now use as a head coach? 

JS: The thing that I’m most proud of when I played, [and] hopefully now it’s not going to change as a head coach, but for me I would say the determination to get back up. I lost many games, but each time I lost, I felt like I was getting back up to win the next one. I never felt defeated, I never felt like we were going into a game we couldn’t win. Whether that was in high school and we were playing Mike Conley and Greg Oden’s team or we were playing Kevin Durant in AAU, or whatever it was, I felt like we were going to win. That’s something I feel now as a head coach. We’re going to play in some tough games, but I believe we’re supposed to win regardless of the outcome of the last game or regardless of who we’re going to play the next game…I think the success I had in high school will show you that and also the path I took when I was a player here—proud of the ability to get up and fight and pursue championships, really. 

SLAM: Have your players seen some of your high school or college highlights? Are they aware of how nice you were? 

JS: I think they know. I’m not so sure if they know some of the stats. I do try to hit them with, I scored over 3,000 points in high school, just so you know. I think I got most of our players in that stat. [The] 52 points in a game. They end up YouTubeing me and they see the 21 points in 75 seconds, and they’ll usually talk to me about that, although it’s funny to me that that game is brought up more than any other game I’ve played, because we lost. I was heartbroken after that game. So, when it’s brought up to me, I kind of chuckle and laugh because I literally was a wreck after that game. But that’s usually the one they bring up and I’ll take it. At least I have YouTube. I could be like some of the other guys on the staff, and none of their highlights are on YouTube—I’m not gonna name names, but that is true [laughs].

SLAM: Whereas Coach K was much older, you’re still in your mid-30s. Do you get on the court with the guys and try to school them?

JS: Well, I don’t want to name names, but some of our NBA guys came back this summer. And I got out there and played some ones. I did win. It is on camera. I’m not going to name names, but I beat three of our guys. If they ever say anything bad about me, I’m going to put it out in the universe. But until then, I have to keep it a secret. I showed the film to our team. I think they were pretty impressed overall. But I may retire after those wins versus [the] NBA guys. 

SLAM: So, these were one-on-one games with NBA players?  

JS: One-on-one. Game to five. From the elbow. I’m just going to say, a couple of them are…you would know them. Let’s put it that way. You would know these guys. 

SLAM: Interesting. How similar or different can we expect th—

JS: Jayson Tatum [cough cough]. Sorry, what? Go ahead [laughs].

DUKE REP BEHIND THE CAMERA: Ask him one more time and he’ll definitely show you the footage!

SLAM: We definitely will after this interview.

JS: [laughs]

SLAM: How similar or different can we expect the style of play to be this upcoming season in comparison to how it was under Coach K? 

JS: It’s hard to say exactly what’s going to be different with the style of play. I think we have a different team, so we have to play differently. We don’t necessarily have a team where we’re throwing the ball in the post. We have some guards that can really play in pick-and-roll. We have an athletic team where we can get out in transition, but we definitely do want to play fast. Being a leader on the defensive end and pressuring the ball is important, but also protecting our basket. I can’t tell you exactly what the similarities are, and differences will be because there are some values I will always hold true to me that I learned here when I was a player. But, also, we have to continue to evolve and play to the strengths of our team. I think we have a very different group this year where we will play differently. 

SLAM: We saw you were playing tennis when we arrived on campus. You were telling us you picked it up for the first time this summer. 

JS: I’ve played tennis this offseason. I picked it up and the tennis coaches are nice enough to let me get out there. Now that the season is starting, that’s going to happen less and less. I’m not sure if I’ll even play during the season. For me, I’m big on getting outside, and fortunately we live in North Carolina and not in Chicago, where you can actually get outside in November and January and February. For me, playing tennis, going for walks, once in a while I’ll play a pick-up game—basketball—but those days are numbered for me. It’s mostly about getting outside, getting some fresh air, just getting my mind off of things. That’s been important for me to do. I’ll get outside here and there to make it happen. 

SLAM: Do you play doubles or singles?

JS: I play doubles. We have some staff games that we play. Jai Lucas is pretty good. Amile Jefferson is alright. I’m probably the second best on the staff next to Jai. We have some great competitions. Me and Jai are neck and neck, but he’s just barely above me—we have some battles. 

SLAM: Who’s usually your teammate?

JS: My teammate was Amile, but we go back and forth. I’ve never played with Jai because me and him are right there. But it’s Amile, Zach Marcus on our staff, Mike Schrage—those are some of the guys that have played with us. 

SLAM: Who would you say is your tennis player comparison?

JS: For me, I model my game after Rafael Nadal. That’s how I model my game [laughs]. I can’t even say that seriously. I do, though, I do. Yeah, Rafa for me. How he never gives up on a play. The games don’t go on long enough for me to rally back and forth, but I always try to get the point. I respect Rafa. He’s maybe the GOAT. Him and Roger [Federer] are my two favorites.    

SLAM: Some say Coach K is the GOAT. How are you dealing with all the expectations? Following him is no easy task. 

JS: I’ve learned in the short time I’ve been head coach that it’s important to take care of yourself, to have things that make you personally happy, where you get workouts, your mind is fresh, because how you are in a daily basis with your team, the person you [are], they can take on. 

As far as expectations go, nobody has higher expectations for this program than I do. I’m hard on myself. I always evaluate every single day what I could have done better, what I need to do to get better for the next day. And that will never change for me. I think when you are that way to yourself, it allows you to coach others honestly and with transparency, [with] toughness and with love. And that’s something we plan on doing. We know it’s not going to be smooth sailing. We know there’s going to be setbacks, but just staying laser focused at getting better, attacking each day and being present. I really think the expectations or the success we want to have will take care of itself. 

Photos by Matthew Coughlin.

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According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Conley will be out for at least two weeks.

Sources: Utah Jazz guard Mike Conley Jr. avoided major injury or ligament damage on the non-contact left knee injury suffered Saturday night. He has a knee strain and is expected to miss at least two weeks.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 20, 2022

If it’s one thing that the Jazz are going to miss with Conley out, it’s definitely going to be his ability to create shots for this young team.

Despite the 35-year-old nearing the end of his magnificent career, it is actually now where he is averaging a career-high in assists with 7.9 dimes a contest, along with 10.2 points. With a record of 12-6, the Jazz does not have a lot of breathing room between them and the Phoenix Suns. The Suns are second in the Western Conference and are only a game behind Utah. 

The situation calls for Jazz guards Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton to step up. Expect the two to have more playmaking responsibilities with Conley out. Clarkson is averaging 18.6 points, 4.6 assists, and 3.9 rebounds this season. As for Sexton, he’s putting up 13.1 points and 1.9 assists for the campaign.

Next up, the Jazz will be back at it again tonight at 10:30 P.M when they take on the Los Angeles Clippers.

The post REPORT: Mike Conley to Miss at Least Two Weeks with Leg Injury appeared first on SLAM.

To achieve their vision – the Larry O’Brien trophy in Salt Lake – a rebuild was necessary. After moving Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers, veterans Bojan Bogdanovic, Mike Conley, Rudy Gay, and Jordan Clarkson remain on Utah’s roster.

According to Tony Jones of The Athletic, the Jazz and Lakers are currently in ongoing trade talks for the sharp-shooting Bogdanovic.

“Those conversations continue to evolve, we’ve continued to be in touch with them directly and their representation,” Zanik said, per Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune. “Obviously, there’s been a lot of change this summer, so it’s natural for us to have those conversations.”

The 6’7″ forward averaged 18.1 points, 4.3 assists, 1.7 rebounds, and shot 38.7 percent from beyond the arc. In addition to the Lakers, the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, and New York Knicks have expressed interest in Bogdanovic. If Bogdanovic is moved to the Lakers, it will be the second trade of the season between LA and Salt Lake. Earlier this summer, Utah gave up Patrick Beverley for Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson. 

As the Jazz continue to prioritize and acquire young talent, it is no surprise that they have made Bogdanovic and their remaining vets available.

“We wanted to give the organization every opportunity to build the greatest base of flexibility, young players, and assets going forward to make really good decisions so that we could reach the ceiling that we want to get to,” Zanik said.

The new-look Jazz begins their 2022-23 season on Oct. 19 against the Denver Nuggets.

The post REPORT: Lakers and Jazz in Trade Talks to Acquire Bojan Bogdanovic appeared first on SLAM.

While the team was 19-7 when Danny Ainge took over, the Jazz had only won season playoff series over the past five seasons despite occasional regular season dominance. As the season progressed, Ainge realized that the Jazz “didn’t really believe in each other.”

The personal revelation led Ainge to ship off Gobert to Minnesota, Mitchell to Cleveland, O’Neale to Brooklyn, and Ingles to Portland; however, he never played for the Blazers due to a torn ACL.   

“What I saw during the season was a group of players that didn’t really believe in each other. Like the whole group,” Ainge said, per ESPN. “I think they liked each other even more than what was reported, but I’m not sure there was belief.”

Ainge was hoping the team would remedy their issues by the beginning of the postseason, but after a disappointing end to their season at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks, despite Luka Doncic missing multiple games, Ainge knew it was time to begin their rebuild. 

“When we got to the playoffs, I thought, well, this team that has had some disappointing playoffs, so I thought maybe they’re just waiting for the playoffs. I gave them the benefit of the doubt, but it was clear the team didn’t perform well in the playoffs again.”  

“Like I believe every one of these guys went into every game believing they were going to win, don’t get me wrong on that. I’m just saying when adversity hit, the resolve you could see in a team that has a true belief in having each other’s back or one another.”

Utah’s shift to a rebuild was expected after the Jazz dropped another first-round series. Ainge’s ambitious moves to trade Gobert and Mitchell results in Utah receiving a pevy of picks and young players. Utah begins its most challenging season yet against the Denver Nuggets on Oct. 19.

The post Danny Ainge: Utah Jazz ‘Didn’t Really Believe in Each Other’ appeared first on SLAM.

From dominant big threes and electrifying duos to all-around greatness, here’s our top 43-33:

43. 1958-59 Boston Celtics

Coach: Red Auerbach

Record: 52-20

Roster: Gene Conley, Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, KC Jones, Sam Jones, Jim Loscutoff, Frank Ramsey, Bill Russell, Bill Sharman, Bennie Swain, Lou Tsioropoulos

The greatest rivalry in NBA history began, for all practical purposes, in the spring of ’59, and it foreshadowed the decade to come. Led by veteran guard Bill Sharman’s 20.4 ppg, five Celtics averaged better than 15 ppg en route to the League’s best record. They needed seven games to dispatch Syracuse in the conference finals, setting up a first-ever Finals meeting with the Minneapolis Lakers. Three Cs averaged 20-plus, Bill Russell pulled down 22.1 boards per and Boston swept their way to the title.

42. 2002-03 San Antonio Spurs

Coach: Gregg Popovich

Record: 60-22

Roster: Mengke Bateer, Bruce Bowen, Devin Brown, Speedy Claxton, Tim Duncan, Danny Ferry, Manu Ginobili, Anthony Goldwire, Stephen Jackson, Steve Kerr, Tony Parker, David Robinson, Malik Rose, Steve Smith, Kevin Willis

The Kings, Mavs, Spurs and Timberwolves all finished ahead of the three-time-defending-champion Lakers in ’02-03, but one of them would still have to beat L.A. when it mattered. Led by Tim Duncan, fresh off a second straight League MVP award, and second-year point guard Tony Parker, San Antonio got its chance in the second round and dispatched Shaq and Kobe in six games. They handled Dallas and New Jersey in similarly businesslike fashion en route to the chip.

41. 2018-19 Golden State Warriors

Coach: Steve Kerr

Record: 57-25

Roster: Jordan Bell, Andrew Bogut, Quinn Cook, DeMarcus Cousins, Stephen Curry, Marcus Derrickson, Kevin Durant, Jacob Evans, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, Jonas Jerebko, Damian Jones, Damion Lee, Shaun Livingston, Kevon Looney, Alfonzo McKinnie, Klay Thompson

The three-peat was never a given, but it was right there, within reach. As injury-impacted NBA championships go, this one is right up there. With Steph, KD and Klay, the Dubs were the scariest offensive team in the League; but a mix of minor and major injuries to the Splash Bros, Durant and much of the supporting cast in May and June were too much for the Dubs to overcome. Toronto got them in six games in the Finals. You just know they’d love a do-over.

40. 1993-94 Houston Rockets

Coach: Rudy Tomjanovich

Record: 58-24

Roster: Scott Brooks, Matt Bullard, Sam Cassell, Earl Cureton, Mario Elie, Carl Herrera, Robert Horry, Chris Jent, Vernon Maxwell, Hakeem Olajuwon, Richard Petruska, Eric Riley, Larry Robinson, Kenny Smith, Otis Thorpe

Go ahead and attribute Houston’s first title to Michael Jordan’s baseball flirtation. Others have done it, and it’s just wrong. The Rockets excelled at both ends of the court, had all-time great Hakeem Olajuwon and his Dream Shake in the middle and boasted a versatile lineup of fierce gamers like guards Kenny Smith and Vernon Maxwell and rugged Otis Thorpe. Houston outlasted the Knicks in a classic Finals series and deserves a title with no asterisk.

39. 1983-84 Boston Celtics

Coach: KC Jones

Record: 62-20

Roster: Danny Ainge, Larry Bird, Quinn Buckner, ML Carr, Carlos Clark, Gerald Henderson, Dennis Johnson, Greg Kite, Cedric Maxwell, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Scott Wedman

After two years of watching hated rivals Philadelphia and the Lakers hoist the trophy, Boston reclaimed its rightful spot atop the NBA. Or at least that’s how Celtics fans figured it. Call the roll: Larry Bird, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale were up front. Dennis Johnson, Cedric Maxwell and Gerald Henderson handled the backcourt. The Celtics had way more regular-season victories than anyone else and won a thrilling seven-gamer over L.A. to take the title.

38. 2011-12 Miami Heat

Coach: Erik Spoelstra

Record: 46-20

Roster: Joel Anthony, Shane Battier, Chris Bosh, Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, Eddy Curry, Mickell Gladness, Terrel Harris, Udonis Haslem, Juwan Howard, LeBron James, James Jones, Mike Miller, Dexter Pittman, Ronny Turiaf, Dwyane Wade

Although LeBron James had taken his talents to Miami a year earlier, the Heat hadn’t won a title. In the lockout-shortened ’11-12 campaign, James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh & Co. changed that. The Big Three were a force all season, and a strong supporting cast helped fuel a focused postseason run. The seven-game Eastern Finals series with Boston was a grind, but the Heat dominated OKC in the Finals to take the title.

37. 1972-73 New York Knicks

Coach: Red Holzman

Record: 57-25

Roster: Dick Barnett, Henry Bibby, Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere, Walt Frazier, John Gianelli, Phil Jackson, Jerry Lucas, Dean Meminger, Earl Monroe, Luther Rackley, Willis Reed, Tom Riker, Harthorne Wingo

If it’s possible, the Knicks five-game wipeout of L.A. in the Finals was actually an anticlimax after their thrilling Eastern Finals upset of the Celtics. The Knicks were the consummate collection of team players. Backcourt men Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe were practically unguardable. Dave DeBusschere was a force inside, while Bill Bradley patrolled the wings. Jerry Lucas was the League’s best passing big man, and Willis Reed could still hang with the best centers around.

36. 1999-2000 Los Angeles Lakers

Coach: Phil Jackson

Record: 67-15

Roster: Kobe Bryant, John Celestand, Derek Fisher, Rick Fox, Devean George, AC Green, Ron Harper, Robert Horry, Sam Jacobson, Travis Knight, Tyronn Lue, Shaquille O’Neal, Glen Rice,
John Salley, Brian Shaw

This was the first of three straight for the Big Brother-Little Brother Lakers. Shaq and Kobe were together for three seasons before ’99-00, and although their relationship wasn’t always the warmest, their talent was overwhelming. There was just no stopping the Diesel. O’Neal overpowered defenders and swept the boards clean, while Bryant provided offense from all over. Glen Rice was a potent outside weapon, and a cast of veteran winners completed the Laker machine.

35. 1979-80 Los Angeles Lakers

Record: 60-22

Roster: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ron Boone, Marty Byrnes, Kenny Carr, Jim Chones, Michael Cooper, Don Ford, Spencer Haywood, Brad Holland, Magic Johnson, Mark Landsberger, Butch Lee, Ollie Mack, Norm Nixon, Jamaal Wilkes

Showtime made its NBA debut in Magic Johnson’s rookie season, when the 6-9 point guard brought fun back to the Lakers and kick-started perhaps the League’s most entertaining decade. Johnson revitalized center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and served as the trigger for a raucous L.A. attack that was bolstered by Norm Nixon, Jamaal Wilkes and Jim Chones. The Lakers ruled the West and finished off Philadelphia in six, with Johnson scoring 42 in the Finals-clinching victory.

34. 2014-15 Golden State Warriors

Coach: Steve Kerr

Record: 67-15

Roster: Leandro Barbosa, Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut, Stephen Curry, Festus Ezeli, Draymond Green, Justin Holiday, Andre Iguodala, Ognjen Kuzmic, David Lee, Shaun Livingston, James Michael McAdoo, Brandon Rush, Marreese Speights, Klay Thompson

The Warriors’ first title in 40 years—and the first of three in four seasons—was accomplished primarily by the never-ending shooting of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, whose solution to tough defenses was simply to move back another step or two. Draymond Green handled the tough work and never backed down from a soul, while Harrison Barnes and Marreese Speights did what was necessary. The Warriors dumped the Cavs in six to take the crown.

33. 1976-77 Portland Trail Blazers

Coach: Jack Ramsay

Record: 49-33

Roster: Corky Calhoun, Johnny Davis, Herm Gilliam, Bob Gross, Lionel Hollins, Robin Jones, Maurice Lucas, Clyde Mayes, Lloyd Neal, Larry Steele, Dave Twardzik, Wally Walker, Bill Walton

The Blazers weren’t overpowering during the regular season, but by the playoffs, they had become the perfect team, working as a highly efficient unit under coach Jack Ramsay. It all started with Bill Walton, a pivot savant who could pass, score and rebound. Maurice Lucas provided the muscle, with Lionel Hollins, Dave Twardzik, Bob Gross and Larry Steele willingly playing supporting roles. Portland overcame Julius Erving’s high-flying Sixers in the Finals with textbook unselfish basketball.

Read here to find out who made it on the rest of the list, including No. 75-66, 65-55 and 54-44.

Get your copy of SLAM Presents TOP 75 NBA Teams Of All Time

Photos via Getty Images

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The Mavs pulled out to an early lead, but the Jazz chipped away in the third quarter. However, the Dallas defense showed out in the fourth quarter to secure the 126-118 victory. 

“We made timely shots and we made timely stops,” said Mavs coach Jason Kidd following the win.

In the absence of Doncic, Jalen Brunson continued to play like a star. After his 31-point performance in Game 3, he’s now averaging 32.0 points per contest in the series. 

Utah is in a tough situation after losing its first matchup of the series at home. Even without Doncic taking the floor yet again, the Mavericks have taken control of the series with a 2-1 lead. 

The Mavs were once again on fire from beyond the arc on Thursday night, converting on 18 of their 42 triples as a team. This was again sparked by forward Maxi Kleber, who is now 12-16 through his past two games. 

“When you’re a hot player, you’re a hot player,” said Kleber following Game 3. 

For the Jazz, the offense still hasn’t clicked in this series. The slump towards the end of the regular season has continued into the postseason to this point. While they scored 118 points tonight, it wasn’t enough as the scoring was stagnant in the first and fourth quarter. 

Overall, Utah looked solid offensively shooting 56.5% from the floor. It just wasn’t consistent enough to get the job done. 

After scoring zero points in Game 3, Mike Conley produced 21 points on 14 shots Thursday night. Bojan Bogdanovic scored 24 points while Donovan Mitchell produced 32 of his own. 

With that in mind, Mitchell still believes everything starts with defense for this Jazz team. 

“It starts defensively, and everything else falls into place,” he said postgame. 

For the first time this series, the rebounding battle was balanced. Both teams pulled down 32 boards on the night.  

This series is far from over, even if Doncic does return at some point. The Jazz have the talent to make things interesting down the stretch, and the Mavericks know that. 

“I’m proud of this team,” Brunson said postgame. “I’m proud of the fight that we have. They’re a team that’s not going to quit. They’re a good team.”

Game 4 will take place on Saturday in Utah. 

The post Mavericks Continue To Roll, Sealing Game 3 Road Victory Against Jazz appeared first on SLAM.

The differentiator in Game 2 was on the perimeter. Dallas was hot from beyond the arc all night, finishing 22-of-47 (46.8%) from that distance. Those 22 made 3-pointers set a new franchise-best for the postseason.

This was fueled by Maxi Kleber, who knocked down eight of his 11 attempts from deep. This was one make away from tying Jason Terry for the all-time postseason record for triples made in a game. 

Dallas made 17 uncontested 3-pointers in this contest, which is the most by any team in last ten postseasons. However, that’s not something the Mavericks are going to depend upon moving forward in this series. 

“It’s not live or die by the three. We’re not Golden State,” Spencer Dinwiddie said postgame. 

Furthermore, Jalen Brunson continued to shine in the absence of Doncic, finishing the night with a career-high 41 points. He also posted eight rebounds and five assists. From the moment the game tipped off, Brunson was in control of the offense. He became became the fifth member in the history of the Mavericks to score at least 40 points in a playoff game.

“He’s gonna make a lot of money,” said Mavs coach Jason Kidd of Brunson who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. “I don’t know if he needs an agent. It’s not just what he did tonight. He’s shown he deserves to be paid.”

What was perhaps most impressive about Brunson’s night was that he kept the offense in rhythm, which helped Dallas take care of the ball. Brunson became the first player in Mavericks history with 40 points and zero turnovers in a playoff game. 

As a team, Dallas committed just three turnovers, which is a franchise record since that statistic began being tracked in 1982. 

Again, it took a historic night for the Mavs to pull off the much needed win. Now, they’ll head to Utah for the next two games of the series. Although the Jazz would have preferred to win both games without Doncic in the lineup this far, they’re still confident moving forward. 

“Two wins is great, but one win is good. We have to make adjustments,” said Rudy Gobert postgame. “It’s a marathon.” 

Jazz coach Quin Snyder has a similar mindset entering Game 3, realizing there’s still a ton of basketball left to be played. 

“This is the playoffs,” said Snyder after the loss. “It’s 1-1, we’re going back home. It’s a seven-game series.”

Utah struggled to defend the perimeter, which ultimately led to Dallas getting whatever it wanted offensively all over the court. 

“This is something we can fix,” said Donovan Mitchell postgame. 

A true x-factor in this series, veteran Mike Conley was held to zero points in Game 2, missing all seven of his shot attempts. Especially if Doncic comes back into the fold later in the series, Conley will need to contribute more offensively.  

Nonetheless, it’s a tied series with the Jazz hosting the next two games. Regardless of the personnel they’re up against, it’s a clean slate with five games remaining. 

“We are not going to overreact,” said Mitchell after Game 2. “We just have to go home and try and take care of business. They are going to try and get a split like we got a split here.”

Utah continues to dominate the boards with its size, but that proved to not be enough with the Dallas bigs knocking down triples at a high rate in Game 2. 

Moving forward, the status of Doncic will be a huge swing in how this series ends.  

The post Mavericks Ride Historic Night To Game 2 Victory Over Jazz appeared first on SLAM.

In the Western Conference, one of the most anticipated matchups is between the Dallas Mavericks (No. 4) and Utah Jazz (No. 5) which is a series that will begin on Saturday night. The Mavericks finished the regular season with a record of 52-30, which gave them the slight edge on the Jazz (49-33) for home court advantage. As such, Dallas will host the first two games of the series and also Game 7 if it’s needed. This could become a huge advantage to get the series off on the right foot and potentially close it out at home.

Any advantage will be key for the Mavs, as their superstar in Luka Doncic is expected to miss Game 1 and potentially Game 2 with a calf strain.

The Mavericks had a fairly slow start to the season, but ultimately got better as it went on. Gradual growth and improvement is a good sign for Dallas, as the team could be peaking at the right time. Early in the season, Jalen Brunson began to emerge as a legitimate piece of the roster. He’ll be a primary scorer for the Mavs during the postseason. Alongside him in the backcourt will be Spencer Dinwiddie, who was the cornerstone piece of the Kristaps Porzingis trade with the Washington Wizards at the deadline.

While defense was something that’s held the Mavericks back during the past few seasons, it’s been a strength in the 2021-22 campaign. They finished the regular season as the seventh-best team on that end of the floor with a defensive rating of 101.9. Additionally, Dallas was well-disciplined and took great care of the ball. The Mavs’ 1025 turnovers on the season were the third-fewest of any team.

Lacking a dominant center could detrimental for the Mavs in this series, as they’ll go up against a a deep frontcourt team. Utah was a top-three rebounding team this season, while the Mavericks finished 24th in the league. On the flip side, if Dallas is able to have success using their unique floor-spacing bigs and small ball lineups, Utah could have to play out of character to match up.

Dallas hasn’t won a playoff series since its championship run back in 2011. As such, the Mavs are on one of the longest active droughts in the NBA when it comes to winning a postseason series. Could this be the first time in over a decade that they advance past the first round?

If the Mavericks are going to have success without Doncic, it will likely come down to Dinwiddie and Brunson. Both have been extremely effective this season whether their superstar teammate is on the floor or not. If they struggle while Doncic is out, the Jazz could jump out to an early series lead before heading back to Utah.

Utah had a strong start to the season, but has really struggled of late. In fact, the Jazz went just 7-8 over their final 15 games of the season. While Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell have been great once again, the production from the role players around them has been fairly inconsistent. There’s no question Utah has the pieces to make a championship push, but will they all come together and play at the top of their games when it matters most? Scoring shouldn’t be a problem, as Bojan Bogdanovic, Jordan Clarkson and Mike Conley are able to score 20 points each on any given night.

During the regular season, the Jazz took second-most shots from deep (40.3 per game) and knocked down 36.0% of them. They also did a great job at getting to the rim and drawing fouls, finishing fourth in the league in free throw attempts this season with 23.4 per game. These are just some of the things that led Utah to the top offensive rating (11.2) in the NBA this season. What’s most interesting about the Jazz offense is that it’s heavily in isolation, as they were bottom five in both assists per game and assist percentage.

However, the playoffs are all about superstars and who can get a bucket when it’s needed, so perhaps that style of play will work in Utah’s favor. The Jazz also don’t take a ton of shots, playing with a slower pace and attempting the sixth-fewest shots in the league this season. This isn’t dissimilar from the Mavericks, who were in the bottom five in terms of field goal attempts in the regular season.

One of the best defenders in the entire NBA, Gobert will be a major factor on that end of the floor against the Mavs. Since the All-Star break, he’s limited opponents to 39.1% when he’s the closest defender.

The duo of Mitchell and Gobert has certainly had its flaws in the past. If the Jazz aren’t able to get out of the first round this season, could it be time for a major roster shakeup? It seems this series could directly impact what the Utah roster looks like moving forward.

In four games during the 2021-22 campaign, the Jazz and Mavericks have split the regular season series. Utah won the first two matchups of the season, while Dallas won the two more recently. That’s indicative of the seasons these two teams have had, as the Jazz looked better to start but the Mavs have been better down the stretch.

Outside of the primary stars in this series, there are several players for both teams that could really impact the outcomes. For Utah, Conley and Rudy Gay are veterans that have the experience to shine in the big moments. However, if they struggle the Jazz could have a rough series. For Dallas, Davis Bertans and Reggie Bullock will be important offensively, as they have the firepower to fill it up from beyond the arc. If they aren’t converting from deep and producing points, the Mavericks’ offense could stall.

The post NBA Playoff Preview: Dallas Mavericks Take On Utah Jazz appeared first on SLAM.

The game was tied late when Donovan Mitchell dished to Mike Conley as he stumbled in the lane, and Conley dropped a triple from the right corner to put Utah up 117-114 with 8.3 seconds to go in the fourth.

A look at that @mconley11 triple pic.twitter.com/tpNFYAWdZD

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 3, 2022

However, Rockets forward Christian Wood tied the game moments later with a last-second three-pointer to force overtime.

Conley carried his momentum into the extra period to bail the Utah Jazz out for a 132-127 win, their third straight. The 34-year-old point guard scored nine of his 15 points, eight assists, and four steals in the extra period.

When the Rockets took a 124-123 lead on a three-point play from Kevin Porter Jr., Conley responded with consecutive three-pointers to give Utah a five-point lead, and some needed breathing room with just over a minute left in the game.

Cool.
Calm.
Conley. pic.twitter.com/1YNmvFsMpB

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 3, 2022

Then the Ohio State product closed out the game at the free-throw line with three crucial free throws, cementing a 132-127 Jazz win over the Rockets. After the game, Conley talked about the trust he’s built with Mitchell and how he mentally dealt with the pressure of overtime.

| “That time of the game, there’s something about it. You want to lock in a little bit more.”#walkoffinterview | @lhmauto pic.twitter.com/JPJssaCPik

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 3, 2022

The Utah Jazz (39-22) have won nine of their last ten games going into their matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans on(26-36) on Friday.

The post Mike Conley Shines In Overtime to Lead the Utah Jazz to Win Over Houston appeared first on SLAM.

Marcus Smart is entering year eight of his stellar career. This season, Smart will take on a more prominent role in the Celtics offense, from leadership to ball handling. Smarts says that working with Stoudamire has been “great.”

“He’s a great coach,” Smart says via Celtics.com. “We know him as a great player, and so to be able to have that type of experience from when he played and now bring it to the coaching side, to be able to hand down that wisdom and knowledge to me is good. So it’s been great working with him.”

Stoudamire suited up in the League for 13 seasons, averaging 13.4 points, 6.1 assists, 3.5 rebounds in 878 career games. But experience and knowledge go way past his playing career. He’s served as an assistant coach at Rice, Memphis and Arizona. He was an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies from ’09 to 2011, where he worked with Kyle Lowry and Mike Conley.

“I’ve been lucky enough to work with the likes of Mike Conley and Kyle Lowry,” Stoudamire stated. “And now, to be able to work with Marcus as he’s just about to enter the peak of his prime, I’m excited.”

“I really believe that Marcus has a ceiling that he hasn’t reached yet, and now it’s just a matter of getting him there,” he added. “I’m excited to be working with him. I’m excited for his opportunity as the starting point guard for the Boston Celtics, and I’ll do anything possible to help him reach and attain the level that he wants to, even if that means being a bad cop at times. I’ve always told him that my actions are showing you that, even if at times you don’t like me, it’s never coming from a bad place. I’m just trying to get you to be the player, maximize the player that you’re capable of being.”

The post ‘Marcus Has a Ceiling That He Hasn’t Reached Yet’: Damon Stoudamire ‘Excited’ To Work With Marcus Smart appeared first on SLAM.

Paschall, who finished sixth in NBA Rookie of the Year voting in 2019-20 (above third overall pick R.J. Barrett), has career averages 12.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 23.5 minutes per game (on 49.7 percent shooting from the field).

For the Jazz, who have signed veteran forward Rudy Gay and re-signed All-Star guard Mike Conley while acquiring the rights to rookie guard Jared Butler in the 2021 NBA Draft, the addition of Paschall furthers the team’s efforts to be a formidable offensive team.

Already boasting one of the league preeminent perimeter talents in Donovan Mitchell and a bevy of excellent outside shooters, players like Paschall not only provides the second unit with useful offensive talent on the surface but another player that can create their own scoring opportunities when defenses tighten in the playoffs.

Paschall is also considered a respectable man-on-man defender, which likely appeals to Jazz head coach Quin Snyder and a front office that have built a daunting defense anchored by three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.

The post Warriors Trade Eric Paschall to Jazz for Second-Round Pick appeared first on SLAM.

The Jazz have pushed the luxury tax significantly keeping Conley on the roster, as both Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell have recently signed five-year extensions worth $368 million combined.

Amid the news, Conley took to Twitter excitedly announcing his return:

Conley’s past two seasons with Utah have been dampened by recurring hamstring issues, resulting in him sitting out of the Jazz’s entire Western Conference semifinals against the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2021 NBA Playoffs.

Although injuries have been no stranger to the well-rounded veteran, he’s still been a key figure in Utah’s backcourt, tallying a stat line of 16.2 points, 6.0 assists and 3.5 boards per game on 44.4 percent shooting from the field (42.1 percent from three).

The new deal also allows Conley to be reunited with former Grizzlies teammate, Rudy Gay, who has signed a two-year deal with the Jazz.

The post REPORT: All-Star Mike Conley Agrees to 3-Year, $72.5M Contract with Jazz appeared first on SLAM.

The Jazz traded veteran center Derrick Favors and a future first-round pick to the Thunder for a future second-round pick and cash considerations per reports by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The trade puts Utah $13M below the luxury tax. Will likely still be a tax team if Mike Conley Jr. is brought back but at a lesser financial penalty. https://t.co/9dB6xPLUK8

— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 30, 2021

The move helps Utah financially getting them around $13 million below the luxury tax in efforts to re-sign their All-Star point guard Mike Conley. For Oklahoma City, it’s business as usual as they keep collecting first-round picks. They picked up two more future first-round picks in the 2021 Draft Thursday night by trading their No. 16 pick Alperen Sengun to the Houston Rockets. Prior to draft night and this Favors deal, the Thunder possessed a whopping 36 picks over the next seven years.

Always family

Thank you, @dfavors14 pic.twitter.com/qLrH5CHPtk

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) July 30, 2021

Favors re-signed as a free agent with Utah last offseason to backup Rudy Gobert after one season with the New Orleans Pelicans. He averaged 5.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game.

The post REPORT: Jazz Trade Derrick Favors and First-round Draft Pick to OKC appeared first on SLAM.

One of their core pieces, veteran guard Mike Conley, is set to hit free agency this summer, but according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the expectation around the League is that Conley will stay in Utah.

“League executives believe Conley is most likely to stay in Utah,” Windhorst wrote. “With the Jazz investigating the possibility of reducing payroll to make room next to Donovan Mitchell’s new max contract coming onto the books.”

This should ease the nerves of many Jazz fans as Conley had been reported to have many teams interested and pursuing him this summer. In the same article, Windhorst reports that the Dallas Mavericks also have a high-interest level in Conley as well as Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry and Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul.

Conley will be 34-years-old next season, so some question how long he can remain effective in the NBA. Despite his age, Conley is coming off a strong 2020-21 season for the Jazz averaging 16.2 points and 6.0 assists per game while shooting a career-high 41.2 percent from three.

NBA free agency begins next week on Monday, Aug. 2, following the NBA Draft this Thursday.

The post Utah Jazz Looking to Bring Back Mike Conley appeared first on SLAM.

The Athletic’s Tony Jones recently reported that that the Jazz want Conley back and that they will will make every attempt to keep him in Utah moving forward.

Conley just finished up a five-year, $152.6 million contract in the 2020-21 season. While he won’t get paid that much in his next deal at age 33, he’s still an excellent starter in the NBA.

Last season with the Jazz, Conley made his very first NBA All-Star team, averaging 16.2 points and 6.0 assists per contest. 

If the Jazz are going to make another playoff run next season, they’ll certainly need a solid point guard like Conley. 

The post Jazz To Prioritize Bringing Mike Conley Back appeared first on SLAM.

No. 1 Philadelphia 76ers 106, No. 5 Atlanta Hawks 109

Atl leads 3-2

It looked like the 76ers had this game wrapped up early, taking a 26 point lead in the first half. But in the fourth quarter, the Hawks came roaring back to take a three-point win. Trae Young again led the Hawks in scoring, dropping 39 points, seven assists and three steals. The Hawks got good minutes from their bench, with Danilo Gallinari scoring 16 points and Lou Williams going for 15. John Collins had a 19 point, 11 rebound double-double, his second game in a row with a double-double.

The 76ers got monster games from Joel Embiid and Seth Curry. Embiid finished with 37 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists, and Curry had 36 points, seven rebounds, and two steals. Unfortunately, Embiid and Curry were the only ones who made their presence known on offense. The duo were the only two 76ers players to score a field goal in the second half. No other player broke double-digit scoring; Ben Simmons and Furkan Korkmaz both got to eight points.

Now headed back to Atlanta, the 76ers will need to win this crucial Game 6 on Friday night to force a Game 7.

No. 1 Utah Jazz 111, No. 4 Los Angeles Clippers 119

LAC leads series 3-2

After news broke, concerns were plenty among Clippers fans that Kawhi Leonard would not be playing Wednesday night due to a knee injury. But Paul George would steal the highlights, sending the Clippers to a road game victory. George had a crazy night, going for a game-high 37 points and 16 rebounds while chipping in five assists and two blocks. Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris Sr. had strong evenings, with Morris going for 25 points and Jackson 22. As a team, the Clippers couldn’t miss, shooting 51.2 percent from the field and 40 percent from three.

The Jazz had a tough night defensively, struggling to contain George, but Donovan Mitchell had a night to forget. While his 21 points don’t jump out at you, his 6-for19 shooting splits are an eyesore. Bojan Bogdanovic had a lights-out shooting night to keep the Jazz in the game, scoring a team-high 32 points on 9-for-17 shooting from three-point range. The Jazz really missed Mike Conley, Mitchell, and Jordan Clarkson split point guard duties with limited success to replicate Conley’s impact.

Utah will have the chance to even the series on the road in LA in Game 6 on Friday night.

The post Post Up: Underdogs Take the Lead appeared first on SLAM.

In what have been two of the most discussed first-round matchups, Dallas Mavericks floor general Luka Doncic stole the spotlight in the final game of the evening thanks to his 42-point, 14-assist outing.

But was it enough to get past a Los Angeles Clippers team that had won two straight to even the series?

No. 1 Philadelphia 76ers 129, No. 8 Washington Wizards 112

PHI wins series 4-1

The first of three teams to be bounced from the playoffs tonight, the Washington Wizards couldn’t hang with the Philadelphia 76ers even without Joel Embiid playing.

Sharpshooter Seth Curry exploded for a team-high 30 points and Defensive Player of the Year finalist Ben Simmons silenced his critics with 19 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds, one steal and two blocks. Meanwhile, veteran forward Tobias Harris rounded off a nice first-round series with 28 points and six assists of his own.

Washington showed some promise at points over the five-game series but, ultimately, Philly had too much talent for the D.C.-based squad.

The Wizards got another good game from youngster Rui Hachimura, who had 21 points on 8-for-13 from the field. All-Star Bradley Beal capped off another spectacular season with a game-high 32 points, while Russell Westbrook chipped in 24 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds.

Nonetheless, Washington’s lack of depth proved to be costly down the stretch. The Wizards trailed by just two at halftime, but as the game got deeper, Washington’s starters began to lose steam, and Philadelphia pulled away.

No. 4 New York Knicks 89, No. 5 Atlanta Hawks 103

ATL wins series 4-1

The New York Knicks disappointed a packed Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night when they were the second team pf the day to be eliminated from the playoffs.

In what was a tough series for the big man, Knicks star forward Julius Randle had another disappointing outing for New York, putting up 21 points on 8-for-21 shooting, while also turning the ball over eight times.

Randle finished the playoffs averaging 18 points, 4.0 assists and 4.6 turnovers per game while shooting 29.8 percent from the field—a stark contrast from the 45.6 percent he shot from the floor in the regular season.

Reggie Bullock, who averaged 8.0 points on 37.9 percent shooting from the field and 28.6 percent from 3-point range, started the game off well. Bullock went for 12 points in the first quarter after nailing four shots from beyond the arc; but he was held scoreless for the rest of the game.

The star of the show, 22-year-old point guard Trae Young, put together another masterpiece with a game-high 36 points. Wednesday was the third time in the series where Young scored at least 30 points in the series, as the Knicks defense continued to be confounded by his craftiness.

Atlanta also received double-digit contributions from De’Andre Hunter (15), Clint Capela (14) and John Collins (13) in the points column, while holding the Knicks to 37.8 percent shooting from the field.

The Hawks will be moving to the second round of the NBA Playoffs, where they’ll take on the 76ers.

No. 1 Utah Jazz 126, No. 8 Memphis Grizzlies 110

UTA wins series 4-1

The third and final team to get booted from the playoffs was the Memphis Grizzlies.

Still, just as young guns Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks shined for the Grizzlies throughout the series, the duo was excellent yet again on Wednesday, with both scoring 27 points.

Brooks’ scoring output through the series was impressive, putting up 25.8 points per game on 51.5 percent shooting, and Morant paired that with his 30.5 points per game on 48.7 percent shooting. While Memphis’ season may be over, their young core is only just getting started.

Despite feeling ill coming into the game, Utah Jazz centerpiece Donovan Mitchell handled the Grizzlies with ease, dropping 30 points and dishing out 10 assists.

Defensive weapon Rudy Gobert may have had even more impact than Mitchell though, as the Steiffel Tower notched a 23-point, 15-rebound double-double while blocking three shots.

Despite moving on to the second round, the Jazz didn’t leave the court entirely happy, as starting guard Mike Conley left the game early due to injury. The All-Star’s status moving forward is unclear, but Utah will need him when they take on one of the Dallas Mavericks or Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference semifinals.

No. 4 Los Angeles Clippers 100, No. 5 Dallas Mavericks 105

DAL leads series 3-1

Playmaking extraordinaire Luka Doncic rewrote history books at the end of Wednesday night’s slate of games.

Doncic put up a blistering 42 points and 14 assists, scoring or assisting on 31 of the Mavericks 37 made field goals. The only other player to finish with double-digit scoring for Dallas was Tim Hardaway Jr., who had 20 points.

Fifth-year pro Dorian Finney-Smith was hugely impactful for Dallas on the defensive end, helping keep Kawhi Leonard (who shot 7-19 from the field) contained, while snatching the opponent five times and recording a block.

The Los Angeles Clippers, who had even the series at 2-2 following Game 4, kept the game within reach all night. They even cut the Mavs’ lead to one point with under one minute left.

But, in the end, they couldn’t stop Doncic enough to come out on top. Clippers forward Paul George finished with a team-high 23 points, while Leonard and Reggie Jackson (6-12 from 3-point range) each had 20 points.

LA just couldn’t get the buckets to fall on Wednesday night, shooting just 41.3 percent from the field as a team.

Game 6, which will be in Dallas, takes place on Friday, June 4.

The post Post Up: Three Teams Sent Packing appeared first on SLAM.

The evening started with the Washington Wizards looking to even the series against the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks attempting to do the same against the Atalanta Hawks. The evening game was another one vs. eight seed game, with the Utah Jazz taking on the Memphis Grizzlies.

No 1. Philadelphia 76ers 120, No. 8 Washington Wizards 95

The Wizards looked out of their depth Wednesday night, with the D.C. squad trailing by double-digits almost the entire game. Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons each finished with 22 points, and Tobias Harris added another 19 points.

Embiid getting wild after the and-one (via @NBATV) pic.twitter.com/j6Dgb8cBEa

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 27, 2021

No Wizards player finished with more than 11 points except Bradley Beal, who had a game-high 33 points.

Smooth. (via @WashWizards) pic.twitter.com/zdxamYksgL

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 27, 2021

While the Wizards being down 2-0 in the series is bad enough, the injury to Russell Westbrook could be cause for more concern. Westbrook left the game in the third quarter with an ankle injury, and if he’s unavailable for the next two games, that might be a wrap for the WIzards. An altercation between Westbrook and a fan stole headlines when Westbrook confronted a fan who dumped popcorn on him.

Lakers’ LeBron James weighed in as well:

By the way WE AS THE PLAYERS wanna see who threw that popcorn on Russ while he was leaving the game tonight with a injury!! There’s cameras all over arenas so there’s no excuse! Cause if the was on the other . #ProtectOurPlayers

— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 27, 2021

No 4. New York Knicks 101, No. 5 Atlanta Hawks 92

The most exciting game of the evening belonged to the Eastern Conference’s four vs. five seed matchup. The Knicks struggled in the first half containing Trae Young and entered halftime down trailing 57-44. But the Knicks’ offense came alive in the second half, and the defense held the Hawks to under 20 points in both quarters, which eventually gave them the late third quarter.

It was a big night for Derrick Rose off the bench, scoring a team-high 26 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists. Four other Knicks also went double-digit in the scoring column, including Julius Randle, R.J. Barrett, Reggie Bullock and Alec Burks.

I love playoff basketball. (via @NBAonTNT) pic.twitter.com/P6kJpNtGfh

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 27, 2021

Still, Trae Young had another big night for Atlanta, dropping 30 points and seven assists.

That's NASTY, Trae. (via @ATLHawks) pic.twitter.com/Mo9qBFcXru

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 27, 2021

No. 1 Utah Jazz 141, No. 8 Memphis Grizzlies 129

Offense was easy to come by in the final game of Wednesday night, with a reinvigorated Jazz team dropping 141 points to defeat Memphis. Three players put up more than 20 points for Utah, including Donovan Mitchell (25), Mike Conley (20) and Rudy Gobert (21). Bojan Bogdanovic chipped in an additional 18 points, and Mr. Sixth Man of the Year, Jordan Clarkson, added 16.

Sensation Ja Morant kept the Grizzlies in the game nearly single-handily at points, finishing with 47 points, seven assists, and four rebounds. Dillon Brooks and Jonas Valanciunas both had solid scoring nights, finishing with 23 and 18 points, respectively. Bench scoring was an issue for the Grizzlies, as only 14 points came from their bench all night, and seven of them came from De’Anthony Melton alone.

SHOWTIME JA. (via @memgrizz) pic.twitter.com/geI6einfoE

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 27, 2021

The post Post Up: Underdogs Fall Flat in Game Two appeared first on SLAM.

If the first two days of playoff action are any indication of what we can expect the rest of the way, basketball fans across the world are in for a treat. We’ve broken down each of the Sunday’s matchups below.

No. 1 Sixers 125, No. 8 Wizards 118

PHI leads series 1-0

After slipping into the playoffs with a successful play-in tournament, the Washington Wizards were set to face a tough task against the top seed in the Eastern Conference in the Philadelphia 76ers. The game was close through the first half before the Sixers took control in the third quarter.

Bradley Beal led the way for the Wizards with 33 points while Tobias Harris dropped a playoff career-high with 37 points. Meanwhile, Ben Simmons produced 15 rebounds and 15 assists and Joel Embiid scored 30 points. The Sixers played great team basketball and overcame shooting just .312 from deep in the win.

No. 2 Suns 99, No. 7 Lakers 90

PHX leads series 1-0

In a highly emotional game, we saw Chris Paul and LeBron James both take hard falls in Game 1 of this series. While both appear to be good to go moving forward, fans from both teams had to temporarily hold their breath.

Devin Booker carried the Suns offensively in his playoff debut, scoring 34 points to go along with eight assists and seven rebounds. DeAndre Ayton, who is set to earn an extension this summer, proved his worth as well as he produced 21 points and 16 rebounds. The Lakers’ superstar duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis had a tough game, combining for just 31 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists.

No. 4 Knicks 105, No. 5 Hawks 107

ATL leads series 1-0

In perhaps the most even matchup on paper of the day, the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks took things down to the wire. In a game between two teams who haven’t been to the playoffs recently, things looked to be headed to overtime before Trae Young silenced the crowd with a game-winning bucket.

Young finished with 32 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds to lead the way for the Hawks. To help him out, Bogdan Bogdanovic caught fire late in the game, scoring 18 points on the night, including four made threes. Surprisingly for the Knicks, Alec Burks led the team in scoring with 27 points alongside Derrick Rose off the bench who produced 17 points. Their best player in Julius Randle struggled offensively, finishing with just 15 points on 6-for-23 from the floor.

No. 1 Jazz 109, No. 8 Grizzlies 112

MEM leads series 1-0

The Memphis Grizzlies came into this series as a major underdog, but took full advantage of the Jazz in Game 1 as they were without Donovan Mitchell. While Utah jumped out to an early first quarter lead, Memphis took absolute control in the second and third quarters. Things got close late in the fourth quarter on a huge Jazz run, but Ja Morant’s clutch buckets down the stretch saved the Grizzlies.

Dillon Brooks was the star of the game, finishing with 31 points on the night, 29 of which came through the first three quarters of play. Ja Morant had a fairly quiet night until the fourth, notching 26 points while Jonas Valanciunas had a 15 point, 13 rebound double-double. In the absence of Mitchell, the Jazz couldn’t get the offense going early enough, as Bojan Bogdanovic led the team in scoring with 29 points, 19 of which came in the fourth quarter. Rudy Gobert fouled out for the first time all season while Mike Conley contributed 22 points and 11 assists.

The post Post Up: Trouble in Paradise appeared first on SLAM.

Below you can see pictures of the plane after it struck a flock of birds, causing the engine failure. The Jazz would land safely back in Salt Lake City following the hair-raising spectacle, per TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott.

Many Jazz players tweeted after the incident, including Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, Jordan Clarkson, Royce O’Neale and Mike Conley, with Abbot noting that that Jazz players were “rattled” by the chain of events.

The Jazz will still face the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, Mar. 31, as Utah looks to improve upon their league-best 35-11 record.

The post Utah Jazz Flight Makes Emergency Landing Following Takeoff appeared first on SLAM.

A participant in the 2021 MTN DEW 3-Point Contest — an All-Star Weekend event since the 1985-86 season — Curry defeated Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine, Utah Jazz guards Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell, along with Boston Celtics wings Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum to emerge as the victor.

While Brown, LaVine and Mitchell would be eliminated in the first round (with LaVine and Mitchell attempting to become the first former Slam Dunk champions to win a 3-point contest), Curry looked hot from the start as he scored a record 31 points.

Despite Conley (a late addition for injured Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker) giving Curry a run for his money in the final round, the Warriors icon is now a two-time 3-Point champion and the first since Jason Kapono (2007, 2008).

He would dedicate the victory to teammate Klay Thompson, who will miss the entire 2020-21 season with an Achilles tear.

During the contest, MTN DEW would award $100,000 in scholarships to two students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

The post Stephen Curry Wins 2021 NBA All-Star 3-Point Contest appeared first on SLAM.

Booker, who was initially seen as the biggest snub of the 2021 NBA All-Star selections, had recently been named as an injury replacement for Los Angeles Lakers star forward Anthony Davis.

After going 14 seasons without receiving an All-Star selection, Conley may feel as unheralded by fans as he feels respected by his peers.

A floor general whose best skill may be his consistency, the 33-year-old has long been considered one of the better players at his position. Unfortunately, as a player who has spent his entire career playing for the Western Conference, Conley’s bid for an All-Star berth has been a Royal Rumble of sorts.

As talented as he is, it’s always going to be difficult to make a case for why he should be selected over perennial All-Stars like James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard (all of whom play the same position). Even with Harden and Westbrook heading east the West still has stars and superstars like Donovan Mitchell and Luka Doncic waiting in the wings.

That being said, Conley’s ability to earn his first All-Star nod in his 14th NBA season is as impressive as it is heartwarming.

The former fourth overall pick is averaging 16.1 points, 5.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game this season while shooting .444 percent from the field, .422 percent from 3-point range and .829 percent from the free-throw line.

The post Mike Conley Replaces Injured Devin Booker, Earns First All-Star Game Nod appeared first on SLAM.

Incensed for being assessed a technical on two separate plays, Mitchell would suggest that referees consistently make bad calls against the Jazz during his postgame presser. Though giving credit to Philadelphia for their performance, the All-Star believes that the game was “taken” from Utah.

Per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps:

” We competed. But it’s tough. It’s tough to go out there and see how we fight and compete, and to have a game like that taken from us,”

“Now, I’m never ever one to blame a ref, to blame an official — I can say I could have done more — but this is getting out of hand. There have been games like this that we’ve won; there have been games like this that we’ve lost. But this whole refereeing stuff. … We’re nice, we don’t complain, like, we don’t get frustrated, we fight through things, and the fact that we continually get … screwed, in a way, by this. You know?

The Jazz, led by Mitchell, controlled the majority of the game, until late in the fourth quarter when MVP candidate Joel Embid tied the game with a clutch 3-pointer to force overtime.

In the overtime period, the Jazz would prove no match for the Sixers. Eventually, an increasingly led to more frustration from Utah and Mitchell’s untimely ejection.

Mitchell did his part while on the court as he scored 33 points, grabbing 8 rebounds, and dishing out 6 assist. Still after the game for Mitchell, it was all about his frustrations towards the refs.

“We won this game, in my personal opinion. You know?” Mitchell continued.

All-Star center Rudy Gobert was also critical of the officiating:

“Our guys are not able to get calls everybody else in the f—ing league gets,” Gobert said. “We know we are the Utah Jazz, and maybe some people don’t want to see us go as far as we can go, but it’s disappointing.

“Three times in a row, Mike Conley is going to the rim, and they’re grabbing him right in front of the officials, and there’s no calls. And on the other end, there are calls that are invisible that are being made.”

Both Gobert and Mitchell who picked up 5 fouls in the game, were also referring to how this is an on-going problem and not the first time the refs dictated the outcome of their game.

“I think it’s disrespectful, to be honest, to the game of basketball and to our team, and hopefully, they’re going to watch the game when they get home,” Gobert added.

“But it’s very disappointing to be disrespected like that. … It’s not just one play, because we all make mistakes. I have a lot of respect for the officials. It’s a tough job. I think they try their best, but it was too obvious tonight. They can’t make it that obvious. We’re going to watch film and do all that and keep getting better, but we deserve more respect as a team and as human beings for all the work we put in.”

The Jazz will head into the All-Star break and have almost a week off. They finished the first-half of the season with No.1 seed in the Western Conference and best record across the league.

The post Jazz Stars Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert Sound Off on Officiating After OT Loss appeared first on SLAM.

However, as productive and well-respected as he’s been, it’s never resulted in an NBA All-Star nod. Perhaps it’s his understated personality or his game, which isn’t to flashy itself. It could even, reasonably, be the abundance of superstar point guards in the Western Conference, where he’s played his entire career.

Nonetheless, with how well Conley has played this season and the Jazz having the best record in the NBA (26-6, as of this writing), he thought it might be the year that he finally got over the hump. Unfortunately for Conley, when the full NBA All-Star rosters were announced earlier this week, his name wasn’t on the list of starters or reserves. 

Shortly after, Conley spoke to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon and other members of the media to give his take on being snubbed and how it felt. 

“Man, it was tough. I really, really thought this was the year. I joked with the guys on the team that I blame them. We should have started the year 31-0. Maybe that would have given me a chance, but I don’t know what else to do.”

Conley is averaging 16.3 points, 5.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game while shooting .420 from deep this season, with he and Sixth Man of the Year candidate Jordan Clarkson’s play a driving force behind Utah’s surge up the Western Conference standings.

Now 33-years-old, Conley won’t break into the NBA All-Star game this season and maybe he never will.

However, an NBA Finals appearance could be in his future with how well his team is playing, which is the best consolation prize he could possibly ask for. Outside of winning it all, of course.

The post Mike Conley on All-Star Snub: ‘I Don’t Know What Else to Do’ appeared first on SLAM.

Two Distant Strangers, a short film starring Joey Bada$$, Andrew Howard and Zaria, tells the story of Carter James, a Black cartoonist that, after spending the night romantically with a young woman named Perri (played by Zaria) heads home to feed his pit bull when he gets stopped by a white police officer (played by Howard). What happens next is all-too-familiar: Carter gets tackled to the ground and strangled at the officer’s hands.

Written by Emmy-winning writer and producer Travon Free over the span of five days in July of last year after Free had attended the Black Lives Matter protests following the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor—he brought the script to Oscar-nominated Martin Desmond Roe with hopes to tell this important story.

“He just immediately was like, ‘that’s an incredible idea, we have to do it like right now,’” Free said over a Zoom call.

With the support of an array of executive producers including Kevin Durant, Mike Conley, Rich Kleiman, SLAM’s Vice President of Special Projects Samir Hernandez and even producer Sean “Diddy” Combs, the film is honest, raw, and heartbreakingly real.

There’s a sense of nervousness throughout the short, invoked by Carter’s agony every time he wakes up and realizes he has to face the same fate. While many films and shows have used the concept of a time-loop cinematically, such as Russian Dolls on Netflix, Two Distant Strangers uses it to emphasize a point: Carter’s reality is the harsh reality we, people of color, are all living in.

 “As black people as black men and women, we see these stories all the time of people being murdered by the police and often times with no weapon or not trying to do any harm or trying to get away,” says Free in a Zoom call. “All those scenarios where it’s like the person should be alive no matter what they are trying to accuse them of, they should be alive. So when you see those stories at least for me you know, I go through the cycle of emotions of like anger and sadness and internalize all that pain.”

Carter’s story is a fictional portrayal of the real-life tragedies that have actually happened to people of color such as Eric Gardner, Tamir Rice, and, in December, Casey Goodson Jr., like James, was trying to get home after going to the dentist and Subway but was shot and killed.

Two Distant Strangers throws the heavy truth at you and makes you sit, watch, and feel that weight. And, as Conley wrote on Instagram, “this film creates opportunity to start more meaningful conversations, create change, and continue involvement in these issues.”

SLAM caught up with Free, Conley, Durant, Kleiman and Tim Jordan, who works with Conley, to learn more about the film, the script, and how it felt to be a part of such an important project:

SLAM: Tell me about the thought process behind the film, and how you came about writing the script? When did you begin writing the script and what prompted you to make a movie about police brutality? I read that you wrote the short in five days, after participating in Black Lives Matter protests.

Travon Free: After around that time it was like Breonna [Taylor] it was George [Floyd] it was Ahmaud [Arbery] and like so there was like three of them so close together that, you know, it felt like we’re living that cycle so often, so close together Because I work in film and TV and movies are my reference point for everything, I immediately latched on to Groundhogs Day and I was like you know I feel like there’s a way to tell this story, using this story device that can allow people to have some insight into what it feels like to, to be us what it feels like to have to go through this cycle of emotion so often.

Tell me about the reason for portraying this like a time loop, where the same scene keeps happening over and over again?

Travon: I wanted Carter to be some representation of all of us, I wanted everyone to be able to see everyone in Carter whether it was like me, Samir, Mike, Tim, anybody even, even you know young women, even though he’s like a  male character because you know as much as this happens to, to black men and women, we often see the videos of, of young men being killed by the police repetitively. I made it so that he was such a normal guy, but you know he was doing things that in some ways could arouse some level of suspicion but are still very normal things and should be left alone for like smoking a cigarette or carrying a lot of cash and things of that nature. Those aren’t crimes, but you know those are things that instigate interactions with the police sometimes depending on where you live, and I wanted him to feel [how] every day, black men women feel today. For people to see that you don’t have to do anything, you can just be a normal person with, you know, your money that you earn from work because some people do get paid in cash and whatever the case may be.

As an Executive Producer, Mike what made you want to get involved with this project and what were your earliest thoughts about the concept of the film?

Well, initially when it was brought to me by Samir and Travon, it was they knew who they were bringing it to man, they brought it to the right person.

It was a film that I visualized as you know, reality for so many of us. With my background being in Memphis, and, you know fighting for social justice, it was right up my alley and it was something that I wanted to support in any way possible to be able to you know see this film through it.

What were everyone’s thoughts and emotions when watching this film. It’s definitely heavy.

Kevin Durant: From the minute we saw the script for this project, we knew it had the potential to be very powerful and we wanted to be involved. Getting to see it come to life on the screen was an intense experience – I also had the opportunity to screen it for my teammates and coaches at the Nets, and I think everyone came away with the same feeling that I did that the film is telling a really important story about the Black experience, but in a way that is real and raw and not at all preachy. 

Tim: Um, I was originally sent the script by Samir to connect to Mike and when I read the script—it was a Saturday morning and I never will forget: I opened up the file, and I was about to cook breakfast. Reading 15-20 minutes, reading the script, like with the doors of my refrigerator open because it was that captivating, it was that good. And for the first time I saw the film, I felt like initially like, this is exactly how I envisioned it, and then, it was, this is exactly how I feel. Like, this is the perfect expression of all of the emotions that I was struggling through on a personal level.

‘With everything that was going on and just realizing like, on a random jog, I got angry in the middle of a jog I felt my face like scrunched up and I’m like what’s wrong with me? I realized it was because of how people, it was after Ahmaud Arbery that I could see how people are just even looking at me and it was like because I’m black their even looking with fear or concern like dang, people were scared for me in certain situation it feels like. I just don’t want to be looked at as that. I want to be seen but I don’t want to be noticed in that way just because of the color of my skin.

Zaria said, “This is where we can point people to when we don’t want to explain to them or we’re tired.” I just think it’s really really impactful and the world truly needs to see this film.

Mike Conley: Yeah, me as well. I think it was a combination of all the years you know, kind of put together in one short film of all the instances in which, from outside looking in, if you’re not African American you immediately think of what the individual might have done wrong in those situations to give themselves you know give the police a reason to soot. And it’s been so hard to explain how that just isn’t reality for us like the reality is: you see somebody smoking a cigarette or just asking questions like being able to ask a cop “why are you pursuing me this way” or like “what is the reason for your interest in me” and all these things that lead to such tragic moments. I think that’s huge to kind of show that visually for the general public and people to [help them] understand what my uncles and my grandparents taught me, like sometimes when you get pulled over you just pray, man. There’s nothing you can do sometimes [but] just pray that everything comes out right like you can show your identity you can do everything you want to do in the right manner and still get shot or have something come out of that.

So it’s just, it was a great way of portraying it and allowing I think all of us to kind of exhale a little bit that we have this film to be able to show all those examples.

For you, Rich, how does it feel to be involved in this project—and then to see it come to life?

Rich Kleiman: Travon is such a gifted writer that it was really easy to visualize how incredible this film could be from the very first read of the script. It was an honor to be involved with the film from a very early stage and to help fund its creation, and the results are better than we ever could have expected, particularly with a team that was able to film successfully during the more challenging days of the pandemic. 

Every time I watch this film, I feel more proud to be involved—I think the storytelling and the acting are bar none, and the message stays with the viewer for a long time. 

The post “Two Distant Strangers”: A Short-Film About The Reality Of Being Black In America appeared first on SLAM.

Rudy Gobert has looked effective to this point, fresh off of inking his new contract extension, whereas his front court partner, Derrick Favors, has struggled out of the gates.

For more information about the numbers behind our Heat Check series, hop over to our main Heat Check 2020-21 post.

Mike Conley	19.3p, 6.3r, 5.0a
Rudy Gobert	16.7p, 14.3r, 2.7a
Jordan Clarkson	18.0p, 4.7r, 1.0a
Bojan Bogdanovic	15.7p, 5.3r, 1.3a
Royce O’Neale	4.7p, 8.7r, 0.3a
Miye Oni	1.5p, 0.5r, 0.5a
Juwan Morgan	0.0p, 0.5r, 0.0a
Donovan Mitchell	20.3p, 2.3r, 5.0a
Joe Ingles	9.3p, 3.7r, 3.3a
Georges Niang	0.0p, 1.0r, 0.0a
Derrick Favors	7.0p, 5.3r, 1.7a
Shaquille Harrison	0.0p, 0.0r, 0.0a

Team-by-Team Breakdown

The post Heat Check 2020-21: Utah Jazz appeared first on SLAM.

We broke down the Jazz depth chart for the 2020-21 season below. We’ve also previously published a summary of the Jazz offseason.

Biggest Questions

• Will Rudy Gobert prove to be worth his new contract? This was the third largest in NBA history and the most expensive for any big man.
• How effective can Mike Conley be? He wasn’t his best last season but will certainly have the opportunity to raise the ceiling of this Jazz team in the upcoming season.

All NBA Team Offseason Summaries

The post Utah Jazz: Projected 2020-21 Depth Chart appeared first on SLAM.

Where Rudy Gobert is the team’s defensive standout, Mike Conley is the team’s heady veteran and underrated contributor. Jordan Clarkson, dealt to the Jazz last year in a trade that Utah were the winners in, is an elite sixth man. Meanwhile, Joe Ingles, Bojan Bodanovic and Royce O’Neal are Utah’s lethal perimeter threats.

That’s impressive roster building and lends credence to the belief that, even though the Jazz only have a late first-round pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, they’ll make a shrewd decision with it.

Related: Full Utah Jazz 2020 Salary Cap Preview

2020 NBA Draft Picks

Jazz Draft Needs

Looking at Utah’s roster, the Jazz front office needs to add depth to their backcourt, as the players projected to be behind Conley and Mitchell on the depth chart next season can’t be relied upon when one of those two sit for important games. With Conley playing only 47 games last season, Utah’s need for a backup point guard is even more apparent.

Finding another strong perimeter defender, particularly one who can excel when defending the more explosive or shifty wings in the league, would also benefit the Jazz.

2020 NBA Draft Prospect Watchlist

What The Mocks Are Saying

Projected Roster

Team-by-Team NBA Draft Guides

More: SLAM’s 2020 NBA Draft Preview

The post Utah Jazz: 2020 NBA Draft Preview appeared first on SLAM.

Conley will earn $34.5 million in 2020-21 but could have technically opted out of the deal in order to test the market. Conley inked the $153M, five-year pact with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2016.

Conley averaged 14.4 points and 4.4 assists per game for the Jazz this season after arriving in Utah via trade last offseason.

The 33-year-old will now hit unrestricted free agency in the 2021 offseason.

Even if Conley were to exercise the early termination option, he wouldn’t be permitted to do so until the NBA’s transaction moratorium lifts closer to the Nov. 18 NBA Draft.

The post Mike Conley to Bypass Free Agency in 2020 appeared first on SLAM.

While the exact date is not yet known, this year’s free agency period could begin in early December after a mid-November draft.

Other things that are not yet known are the salary cap and luxury tax figures that teams will need to abide by in 2020-21. Our own Keith Smith has assumed a $109 million salary cap with a $139 million luxury tax threshold from his reporting on the subject and its those figures that will populate the data contained within this series of posts.

Of the 30 NBA squads, only six teams are expected to head into the offseason with salary cap space. That includes four teams that will have substantial room and two teams that could get there should they wish to renounce the rights they have to their own free agents. Consider these squads, the Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat, swing teams.

Given the free agent rush that unfolded during the 2019 offseason and the anticipation of a solid free agent class in 2021, it’s no real surprise that the well of free agent opportunity has mostly run dry.

For the purposes of this list and the subsequent team-by-team breakdowns, we’ve projected the cap space that each team could have available to them as free agency begins. Incorporated in the projection are not just guaranteed contracts that run through next season and beyond but also any cap holds that apply to that team.

Note the Toronto Raptors clocking in at nearly $90 million over the cap. This doesn’t mean they’re locked in at that amount, rather that the team has considerable cap space tied up in cap holds, including nearly $70 million to pending free agents Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka alone. If the Raps re-sign those players to lesser deals or renounce their rights altogether, the cap hold would of course be removed.

Also factored into Smith’s projections are estimated decisions for the various team and player options that will need to be made prior to free agency. This is to paint a more meaningful position for fans hoping to get a realistic look at what they can expect their team to face financially.

We’ve made the assumption, for one, that Mike Conley will not exercise the early termination option out of the final year of his contract with the Utah Jazz worth $35 million. Would you?

Similarly, teams that have no hope of getting below the salary cap are assumed to retain the rights their free agents, while those that can sneak under are assumed to renouce. There’s no tangible difference between being over the cap by $1 million, $10 million or more, so franchises have no reason not to preserve those free agent rights if they can’t get under the cap enough to make it worth it.

Moving on. Using the luxury tax projection from prior to the coronavirus pandemic, just four teams are expected to head into free agency on pace to exceed the luxury tax. If you notice that they aren’t the four teams with the highest salary cap projections, good observation. While cap holds are factored into a team’s available salary cap space, they do no impact the team’s luxury standing.

As is custom, teams will have until the final day of the 2020-21 campaign to skirt under the luxury tax, so there’s no guarantee that any of the teams currently over will remain that way and vice versa.

Comb through the tables below for links to each team’s salary cap outlook, a general summary of each team’s projected space and the current list of tax teams.

Hit @KeithSmithNBA or myself (@AustinKent) on Twitter with any additional cap space questions and, of course, turn notifications on for @SLAMnewswire for consolidated real-time reporting when the transactions start flying.

Related: The Top NBA Free Agents in 2020

NBA Salary Cap Space Projections by Team

Projected Salary Cap Space

Projected Luxury Tax Teams

The post NBA Salary Cap Comparison 2020 appeared first on SLAM.

In addition to a summary for each of the 30 teams (accessible in the link grid below), we’ve also tiered the top NBA free agents league-wide and published a general comparison of all teams’ cap space. Follow @SLAMnewswire on Twitter for constant offseason updates as we head into free agency.

Projected Roster Players

Projected Free Agents

2020 NBA Draft Picks

Exceptions Available

• Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception – $9,258,000
• Bi-Annual Exception – $3,623,000

Key Offseason Decisions

• How quickly can the Jazz sign Donovan Mitchell to a max extension? Utah messed around with Gordon Hayward and it ultimately cost them when they had to match an offer sheet. They won’t make the same mistake with Mitchell. He’ll likely get a full, five-year max offer as soon as Utah can make it.
• While Utah sign Rudy Gobert to an extension or let him reach free agency in 2021? The Jazz can sign Gobert to a near-max extension this offseason. He’s an annual contender for Defensive Player of the Year and a key member of the team alongside Donovan Mitchell.
• Which of the five partial/non-guaranteed players stick? The most likely scenario is that all five of them are back with the Jazz, at least to start the 2021 season. All had moments and all are on minimum deal. That will probably see them back in Utah.

Projected Team Salary

$147,792,720

Mike Conley is going to pick up his player option. That removes almost all of the intrigue from the Utah offseason. It’s all about Donovan Mitchell’s rookie scale extension and then a possibly extension for Rudy Gobert. If Gobert isn’t interested in locking in long-term, then a trade becomes possible. At that point a relatively quiet offseason could become an exciting one really quickly. (@KeithSmithNBA)

Cap Space Forecast

-$38,652,720 (12^th out of 30). $17,976,946 under the Luxury Tax.

Team Salary Cap Outlooks

The post Utah Jazz: Salary Cap Space 2020 appeared first on SLAM.

We’ve listed the entire roster with comparisons to last year’s launch rating below. We’ve also identified some general NBA 2K21 ratings trends for the league as a whole.

Jazz NBA 2K21 Ratings

View the NBA 2K21 player ratings for other teams below.

The post Utah Jazz: NBA 2K21 Ratings appeared first on SLAM.

This year’s version of the game faced unusual circumstances as the 2020-21 version of the game is technically dropping before the conclusion of the previous campaign. Such is life in the year 2020.

Without so much as a 2020 offseason, let alone a rookie draft, the rosters themselves in the launch version of NBA 2K21 are in line with where they were in the most recently updated patch of NBA 2K20 but discrepancies among the ratings still exist. The game is geared toward next season, after all.

We’ve rounded up and sifted through the team-by-team overall rating data below. It’s on you to hit us here or on Twitter with the decisions you think the 2K developers nailed – and where they struck out.

Below the team-by-team grid, we’ve broken down additional trends, so scroll liberally.

The average player ratings were down across the board compared to last year which could indicate a slight game-wide recalibration but the numbers are indicative of how the teams stack up from top to bottom. Any generic average that weighs every single player on a team equally will be flawed, so don’t read more into this than you should, but it’s interesting to note the relative differences between the teams. It’s also a good reminder of just how scary the Warriors and Nets can be when fully healthy.

Average Overall Rating By Team

Biggest NBA 2K21 Ratings Increases

Biggest NBA 2K21 Ratings Decreases

The post NBA 2K21 Ratings: Team-by-Team Lists appeared first on SLAM.

Nov. 20 Update: The Top 2020 NBA Free Agents Available, 24 Hours In

Rather than focus on specific rankings for players, a process limited by the fact that a given individual’s value fluctuates based on the needs of each team, I’ve broken down the league’s available free agents into general tiers.

Not all of the players that you see listed here will end up hitting the open market. Any team with (player) or (team) next to them has an option built into their contract. If that option is picked up, they’re immediately under contract for a pre-negotiated amount in 2020-21.

Players with (restricted) next to their names are restricted free agents, meaning the teams that they currently play for hold the right to match any contract that they’re able to draw from outside organizations.

The actual date for the start of NBA free agency is unknown but it stands to reason that the official negotiation period will fall after the now locked in Nov. 18, 2020 NBA Draft. Earlier this summer, the league had floated a potential Oct. 15 draft with free agency set three days later. The October dates are moot now but the three-day buffer could still apply.

While I stayed away from floating any potential contract figures for these pending free agents, the tiers were constructed under the assumption that the 2020-21 NBA salary cap would fall in line with what it was in 2019-20 ($109 million). Originally it was set to increase but the league’s economic forecast is less optimistic than it was pre-pandemic.

The exact cap number will impact how teams approach free agency but the value of the players available remains relative. Scroll through the complete list below but remember that different teams will prioritize different tiers depending on where they are as an organization.

The Pre-Packaged Superstar Tier

• Anthony Davis (declined PO)
• Brandon Ingram (restricted)

There are two players in this year’s free agent class that you could envision as the No. 1 option on an NBA playoff team. Anthony Davis and Brandon Ingram are, all things being equal, players that a front office could legitimately plan their offseason strategy around. In reality, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which Anthony Davis leaves the Los Angeles Lakers given the trouble he went through to get there, even if that means he turns down his player option and signs a new deal. Ingram bet on himself in 2019-20 and fortified his case for max money. If such a deal doesn’t come from the New Orleans Pelicans ahead of free agency, it’ll certainly come via restricted free agent offer sheet, even if the 2020-21 salary cap remains right where it was this season.

The Established Star Tier

• DeMar DeRozan (exercised PO)
• Andre Drummond (exercised PO)
• Gordon Hayward (declined PO) -> Agreement with Charlotte
• Danilo Gallinari -> Agreement with Atlanta
• Mike Conley (declined ETO)

There won’t be too many teams lining up to poach an established star in or at the end of their prime this offseason, even if they come with the All-Star resumes and accolades that this lot comes with. Without question, these are the types of players that could make good teams great but that’s not much help if the price point isn’t feasible for the teams that need them. With a shortage of cap room around the league this year, expect most of the players in this group to exercise their player options. If they do end up on the market, as both DeMar DeRozan and Andre Drummond have at different times implied, their best bet may be to trade a pay cut in the short-term for a longer duration deal like Al Horford and Jonas Valanciunas did last season.

The Emerging Star Tier

• Fred VanVleet – > Back with TO
• Montrezl Harrell – Agreement with Lakers

Both Fred VanVleet and Montrezl Harrell have made their names providing immense value in supporting roles for teams with first-class championship aspirations. As a result, fans and opposing teams alike have no shortage of chances to see what they’re capable of. What nobody truly knows, however, is how either of these teams would fare as a primary or secondary option on another squad, the type of role that comes with max or near-max money. Both Toronto and Los Angeles are well positioned to give their guys a substantial pay raise and keep them in town but things could get complicated in a hurry if outside teams hungry for assets they can grow with start to court them. 

The Brimming with Potential Tier

• Davis Bertans -> Back to DC
• Christian Wood -> Agreement with Houston
• Malik Beasley (restricted) – > Back in Minny

In certain offseasons, teams flush with cap space would be happy to throw money at players who’ve shown the glimpses of high ceiling potential that this group has. This year though, with a shortage of spenders and much of the league’s financial outlook still uncertain, things are different. While all of these particular individuals had shown promising signs with other teams, it wasn’t until they landed on their current squads that they started to truly gain momentum as potential long-term building blocks. For that reason, any outside team eager to pluck one would likely need to spend more on a relatively unproven commodity than they’re comfortable with. That’s a risk that may seem especially hard to justify in 2020, leaving incumbent teams in prime position to bring them back.

The Proven Impact Player Tier

• Serge Ibaka
• Bogdan Bogdanovic (restricted) -> Offer from ATL expected
• Jordan Clarkson -> Back in Utah
• Goran Dragic -> Back in Miami
• Otto Porter Jr. (exercised PO)
• Carmelo Anthony – > Back with Portland
• Evan Fournier (exercised PO)
• Aron Baynes
• Derrick Favors -> Agreement with Utah
• Marc Gasol -> An “option” for Lakers
• Jerami Grant (declined PO) -> Agreement with Detroit

This group of starting caliber impact players can be one of the most interesting to monitor every offseason. None of the players will command max money or even a featured role in any new team’s offense but they can immediately tilt the scales for whichever franchise they land with. These players are safe, often nomadic, with a track record of performing consistently. If the fit and the price are right, it’s a perfect marriage with postseason implications.

The Elite Role Player Tier

• Tim Hardaway Jr. (exercised PO)
• Joe Harris –> Back with Nets
• Marcus Morris -> Back with Clippers
• Paul Millsap -> Back with Denver
• Kelly Olynyk (exercised PO)
• Dario Saric (restricted)
• Dwight Howard -> Agreement with Philly

While these players may not have the luxury of demanding heavy usage wherever they go, they’re capable of specifically thriving in certain ideal situations. Fit is key with these players and that can completely shift the narratives that follow them around for the rest of their career. There’s a thin line between heroic supporting veteran and onerous contract and it usually depends on how competitive the team ends up being after they’ve signed them.

The Re-Purposed Veteran Tier

• Tristan Thompson
• DeMarcus Cousins
• Isaiah Thomas
• Austin Rivers (declined PO)
• Enes Kanter (exercised PO)
• Jeff Teague
• Hassan Whiteside
• Bobby Portis (declined TO) – >Agreement with Milwaukee

This group of players with histories of featuring heavily into team rotations will always garner interest because of their track records but they may be forced to accept reduced roles if they’d like to play meaningful basketball come playoff time. Alternatively, they could opt instead for larger, albeit temporary, roles with developing programs in need of starters.

The High Ceiling Rotation Piece Tier

• De’Anthony Melton (restricted) -> Back with Memphis
• Harry Giles
• Jakob Poeltl (restricted) -> Back with Spurs
• Svi Mykhailiuk (exercised TO)

Teams looking to stockpile assets that they can grow and work with will always have an interest in this mid-level group. Inevitably, these players appeal more to teams with room and patience to focus on player development since there’s no guarantee that they’d be able to consistently excel on a team contending for a title. Not all will blossom into major rotation pieces down the road but they’re simultaneously capable contributors in the short-term and low-risk investment opportunities in the long term.

The Veteran Support Tier

• Jae Crowder -> Agreement with Phoenix
• Nerlens Noel -> Agreement with New York
• D.J. Augustin -> Agreement with Milwaukee
• Mason Plumlee – > Agreement with Detroit
• Nicolas Batum (exercised PO)
• Reggie Jackson
• Kyle Korver
• Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
• Avery Bradley (declined PO) -> Agreement with Miami

Teams less inclined to take on development projects may prefer mid-rotation pieces that they can plug into their lineup without stress. None of these players are going to move the needle for a team on a season-to-season basis but they can still make a difference from game to game. Given that they wouldn’t likely yield big contracts, they’re the perfect building blocks to slide into contending rosters to fortify already impressive lineups.

The Mystery Value Tier

• Rodney Hood (declined PO) -> Back in Portland
• Kenrich Williams (restricted)
• Josh Jackson -> Agreement with Detroit
• Jevon Carter (restricted)
• Juan Hernangomez (restricted)
• Mario Hezonja (exercised PO)
• Chris Boucher (restricted)
• Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
• Allonzo Trier
• Chandler Parsons

Whether a team is ready to compete now or still in the rebuilding phase, they’ll need to fill out the middle portion of their rotation with reliable players. This particular group would appeal more to teams still developing their core as the players within it have room to grow on a personal level. The fact that a young team could commit now and groom a potential long-term supporting cast member carries a lot of weight. The fact that they could settle on a contender and then blossom into something more is scary.

The Veteran Reinforcement Tier

• Andre Roberson
• Alec Burks -> Agreement with NY
• Langston Galloway
• JaVale McGee (exercised PO)
• Michael Carter-Williams ->. Agreement with ORlando
• Kent Bazemore
• Markieff Morris
• Matthew Dellavedova
• Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
• Maurice Harkless -> Agreement with Miami
• Pat Connaughton -> Back with Milwaukee
• Marco Belinelli
• Frank Kaminsky (declined TO)
• Meyers Leonard -> Back in Miami
• Justin Holiday -> Back with Indy

While unlikely to grab many headlines, these veterans are necessary components of the NBA workforce. Equally equipped to slot in as prominent bench players for contending teams or help guide a developing team through a rebuild in more of a leadership role, there’s an impressive amount of flexibility here. They’ll get minutes wherever they end up and can be some of the most affordable sources of value in the league.

The Low-Risk Gamble Tier

• Kris Dunn -> Agreement with Atlanta
• Rajon Rondo (declined PO) -> Agreement with Atlanta
• Evan Turner
• Torrey Craig
• Thon Maker
• Stanley Johnson (exercised PO)
• Bryn Forbes
• Jonah Bolden
• Dragan Bender

Teams don’t necessarily go looking for prominent contributors at the bottom of their rotation but these are players that could start there and work their way up. These players aren’t so much budding prospects as they’re veteran players capable of more if things break right. So long as the price is right, these are low-risk gambles with intriguing rewards.

The Dormant Game Changer Tier

• Shabazz Napier
• Cameron Payne (declined TO)
• JaKarr Sampson
• Anthony Tolliver
• Marvin Williams -> Retired
• Raul Neto -> Agreement with Washington
• Mike Muscala (exercised PO)
• Garrett Temple (declined TO) -> Agreement with Chicago
• Wesley Matthews (declined PO) -> Agreement with Lakers
• Bismack Biyombo
• Brandon Knight
• Robin Lopez (declined PO) -> Agreement with Washington
• J.J. Barea
• Iman Shumpert

It’s unrealistic to expect a deep rotation piece to be able to produce above their weight class consistently but any time a utility player can step up as an injury replacement or even just flex a unique skill set, it provides additional value for the team. These players may slide by undetected in the box score on most nights but are capable of much more.

The Depth on Depth Tier

• Gary Payton II
• Emmanuel Mudiay
• JaMychal Green (declined PO) -> Agreement with Denver
• DeMarre Carroll
• Jeff Green -> Agreement with Brooklyn
• Dwayne Bacon -> Agreement with Orlando
• Wilson Chandler
• Chris Chiozza
• Glenn Robinson III
• Derrick Jones Jr. -> Agreement with Portland
• Wes Iwundu -> Agreement with Dallas
• Treveon Graham
• David Nwaba (exercised TO)
• Wenyen Gabriel (restricted)
• C.J. Miles
• Dion Waiters
• James Johnson (exercised PO)
• E’Twaun Moore
• Solomon Hill
• Isaiah Hartenstein
• Tim Frazier

What can make or break a season is the depth at the bottom of the roster. There are no shortage of quality hoopers in this world who can fill in at the end of the bench for an NBA squad but if those players have the skills, experience and gravitas to make the most of the fleeting action they do get, the sky is the limit. These players won’t demand consistent court time but they’re a luxury to have at the bottom of a rotation.

The Scrapping for Opportunities Tier

• Damyean Dotson (restricted)
• Skal Labissiere (restricted)
• DeAndre’ Bembry (restricted)
• Ian Mahinmi
• Corey Brewer
• Yogi Ferrell
• Caleb Swanigan
• Kyle O’Quinn
• Hamidou Diallo (exercised TO)
• Patrick Patterson -> Back with Clippers
• Willy Hernangomez
• Denzel Valentine (restricted)
• Shaquille Harrison
• Bruno Caboclo
• Alize Johnson (restricted)
• Noah Vonleh
• John Henson
• Frank Mason (restricted)
• Jahlil Okafor -> Agreement with Detroit
• Frank Jackson (restricted)
• Sterling Brown (restricted)
• Tyler Johnson
• Kadeem Allen

Securing a consistent job in the NBA is incredibly difficult, leaving this group the most susceptible to churn as 60 new rookies enter the league every offseason. These players will have their work cut out for them landing new roles and some could even spend time on the outside of the league looking in if they don’t find a good fit. We’ve seen time and time again examples of players that left the league only to return after a brief hiatus in the G League or overseas.

Update #1, Sep. 17, 2020: Post updated with new NBA Draft date, additional free agents added to existing tiers.

Special Offer: Click Here To Get 15% Off NBA Store With Code NBASLAM15

The post Top 2020 NBA Free Agents List appeared first on SLAM.

We broke down Tuesday’s matchups below.

No. 3 Celtics 102 at No. 1 Raptors 99

BOS leads series 2-0

The Celtics looked every bit as solid in Game 2 as they did in their second-round opener over the weekend and ended up taking a serious two-game lead on the reigning champions. Toronto showed resilience in the third quarter but couldn’t defend a lead in the fourth thanks to the balanced attack of Boston’s deep core. Marcus Smart came up big for the C’s for a consecutive game, knocking down six triples. He’s now shot 11 of 20 over the course of the last two games. The Raptors, in contrast, struggled from beyond the arc, hitting just .275 from deep in 40 attempts. Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet combined to shoot 4-of-16 from beyond the arc.

No. 3 Nuggets 80 at No. 6 Jazz 78

DEN wins series 4-3

Mike Conley was mere inches from securing a permanent spot in promotional playoff commercial history but his desperate three-point heave at the buzzer of Game 7 rimmed out. A triple would have given Utah the walk-off series victory over Denver but instead the Nuggets held on, restoring a sense of balance to the Western Conference playoff picture. Both teams looked mortal in the series finale, as evidenced by their combined 158 point total, and series stars Donovan Mitchell and Jamal Murray were similarly limited. Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic was anything but, on the other hand, and dropped 30 points and 14 rebounds. It’s a good thing, too, as Denver’s fate in the postseason will help determine Jokic’s place among the league’s upper echelon.

• Aug. 31: Post Up: The Jimmy Butler Effect
• Aug: 30: Post Up: A Guard Duel For The History Books
• Aug. 24: Post Up: Thunder Rally Back
• Aug. 23: Post Up: Where Luka Happens
• Aug. 22: Post Up: Lakers Hit Next Level
• Aug. 21: Post Up: Kawhi Carries Clippers
• Aug. 20: Post Up: The Empires Strike Back
• Aug. 19: Post Up: The Cavalry Has Arrived
• Aug. 18: Post Up: Crazy Eights
• Aug. 17: Post Up: Donovan Mitchell Makes History

The post Post Up: Nuggets Grind Through Game 7 appeared first on SLAM.

We’ve broken down each of Friday night games below.

No. 2 Raptors 117 at No. 7 Nets 92

TOR leads series 3-0

The Raptors continued to flex their plethora of offensive options and depth on Friday. They hopped out in front of Brooklyn early in their Game 3 matchup and didn’t look back. Pascal Siakam led all scorers with 26 points but Fred VanVleet once again punished from beyond the arc, connecting on 6-of-10 threes. The overmatched Nets spun their tires against the defending champions and will now face the brooms their next time out.

No. 3 Nuggets 87 at No. 3 Jazz 123

UTA leads series 2-1

The Jazz demolished an uninspired Nuggets team to take command of their knotted first round series, leaving Denver with an uncomfortable amount of questions to answer before Game 4. Utah welcomed veteran guard Mike Conley back to the lineup with open arms after he had left the bubble to attend the birth of his son. Conley went off for 27 points in the game, despite logging just 25 minutes in the blow out. The Nuggets were existential crisis-level horrendous.

No. 3 Celtics 102 at No. 6 Sixers 94

BOS leads series 3-0

The Sixers played the Celtics close for the majority of their Game 3 matchup but sputtered out in the end, succumbing to a late Boston run that cost them the game. Joel Embiid cracked 30 for the second straight time but the Sixers shot just .295 from the field as a whole. Kemba Walker and Jaylen Brown led the C’s with 24 and 21 points respectively in a game that saw Jayson Tatum sidelined early with foul trouble.

No. 2 Clippers at No. 7 Mavericks

LAC leads series 2-1

The reigning Finals MVP carried his new team to a tie-breaking win over the Mavs on Friday but the Clippers will need to provide him with slightly more support if they intend on doing much beyond the opening round. Kawhi Leonard dropped 36 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in the win while Paul George struggled, shooting 3-of-16 from the field to the tune of just 11 points. Perhaps more damaging for Dallas than the lone loss, however, was the ankle sprain suffered by Luka Doncic. There’s no status update on Doncic’s ankle at this point but his attempt to return to action shortly after the initial injury resulted in his getting shut down for the rest of the contest.

Aug. 20: Post Up: The Empires Strike Back
Aug. 19: Post Up: The Cavalry Has Arrived
Aug. 18: Post Up: Crazy Eights
Aug. 17: Post Up: Donovan Mitchell Makes History

The post Post Up: Kawhi Leonard Carries Clippers appeared first on SLAM.

The seeding games came down to the wire, with some teams relying on their final regular season game to earn a spot in the playoffs or jump higher in the standings. In fact, three Western Conference teams finished with identical records, meaning tiebreakers decided who was seeded where. Players will face off against former teams, rivalries will be showcased, and the best players in the game will square off with one goal in mind.

With the playoff matchups finally set, let’s take a look at each Western Conference series in the first round. Our Eastern Conference series preview is available here.

1 Los Angeles Lakers (52-19)
8 Portland Trail Blazers (35-39)

Upon entering the bubble, the Portland Trail Blazers were 3.5 games back of the Memphis Grizzlies for the final spot in the 2020 NBA Playoffs. After an incredible run behind 2020 Kia NBA Player of the Seeding Games, Damian Lillard, they took control of the No. 8 seed and won the play-in game to solidify their spot against the Lakers in the first round.

In three games head-to-head this season, the Lakers beat the Trail Blazers twice. As good as Lillard has been, it will take high-level play from the rest of his Portland teammates if they are going to challenge Los Angeles in the first round. Although LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the rest of the Lakers didn’t look all that great in the bubble, going 3-5, we all know that they will be ready to compete in the playoffs.

2 LA Clippers (49-23)
7 Dallas Mavericks (43-32)

The Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers were first and second, respectively, in offensive rating this season. Both of these teams have a high-powered offense that can score points in bunches. The only issue here is that while Los Angeles has one of the best defenses in the league, Dallas struggles on that side of the ball. This is probably why the Clippers won all three of their head-to-head matchups this season.

While Dallas does have two young superstars in Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, Los Angeles might be the best team in the NBA to defend them. Doncic will shine and show the world just how good he is, but with two elite wing defenders in Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, nothing will come easy for him all series. The Clippers also have the most depth in the entire league, which gives them a huge advantage over the Mavericks whose bench will likely struggle to keep up. Regardless, this matchup should still be one of the most fun to watch in the first round.

3 Denver Nuggets (46-27)
6 Utah Jazz (44-28)

This series will feature a battle between two of the league’s best big men in Rudy Gobert and Nikola Jokic. While the No. 3 seed seems much higher than the No. 6 seed, Denver finished just 1.5 games ahead of Utah in the Western Conference standings, meaning these two teams are a very even match. One thing that sticks out in this series is that while the Jazz lost a premier scorer in Bojan Bogdanovic over the past couple of months, Denver found a premier scorer in Michael Porter Jr., who led the team with 22.0 points per game in the bubble.

The Nuggets beat the Jazz in all three of their regular season matchups, although just by a total of 11 points. While the battle between each team’s center will be important in this series, so will the guard play. To this point in the season, Mike Conley has been fairly underwhelming and he’ll now miss the first few games of the series to quarantine after leaving the bubble to attend the birth of his son. Both him and Donovan Mitchell will need to play well against Jamal Murray and the variety of long wings that Denver will throw at them.

4 Houston Rockets (44-28)
5 OKC Thunder (44-28)

Last summer, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets swapped point guards. Russell Westbrook would play for a new team for the first time in his career and Chris Paul would be moved to a team that nobody thought would be a playoff contender. Fast forward to today and these two teams have identical records as they match up in what might be the most intriguing first-round series. In three games played against each other this season, the Thunder took home the crown winning two of those three matchups.

There are two key injuries that could have an impact on this series. Russell Westbrook has a strained quadriceps muscle and is expected to miss at least the first couple of games against his former team and OKC’s lockdown defender Lu Dort is day-to-day with a knee injury. With a ton on the line, Chris Paul will look to prove to his former team that they never should have traded him away. It will be interesting to see how the small-ball Rockets fare in the 2020 playoffs.

The post 2020 NBA Playoff Matchups: Western Conference appeared first on SLAM.

After a dominant February, Donovan Mitchell’s March production hit somewhat of a snag. The 23-year-old struggled from the field and put up just 17.8 points per game during the month (versus the 24.8 he put up previously).

If Mitchell can reverse that trend and Mike Conley can continue to make his own progress, the club could be better equipped for the postseason as a result. Conley averaged 16.4 points and 5.6 assists per game in March, up from the 13.5 and 4.2 he put earlier.

The additional time with the Jazz coaching staff and playbook will only help the veteran.

SLAM’s Heat Check series compares each individual player’s personal production in the month of March with their production prior. The goal is to get a sense of the direction in which players were trending when the league stood still. For a more in-depth description, check out our Heat Check (Hiatus Edition) introduction.

Heat Check Utah Jazz

Tony Bradley
Mike Conley
Joe Ingles
Royce O’Neale
Miye Oni	–
Bojan Bogdanovic	–
Georges Niang
Rudy Gobert
Jarrell Brantley
Jordan Clarkson
Donovan Mitchell
Emmanuel Mudiay

Team-by-Team Breakdown

The post Heat Check (Hiatus): Utah Jazz appeared first on SLAM.

“I don’t support going into Orlando,” said Irving, per The Athletics‘ Shams Charania. “I’m not with the systematic racism and the bullshit. … Something smells a little fishy. Whether we want to admit it or not, we are targeted as black men every day we wake up.”

The call, which reportedly lasted 90-100 minutes, focused on “combating systemic racism, investing in black communities and sticking together through this process,” reports Yahoo’s Chris Haynes. Several players suggested that they’d be willing to sit out the remainder of the season, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

While Irving made it known he was against resuming the NBA season, he said he would travel to Orlando if the players agreed it was the right decision.

“If it’s worth the risk, then let’s go and do it,” said Irving, per Haynes. “But if you’re not with it, it’s OK, too. We’ve got options for both ways. Let’s just come to a middle ground as a family.”

According to Haynes, WNBA players on the call vowed to stand united with the NBA counterparts, as they prepare for a season tipoff in July.

NBA players on Friday’s call included:

• Kyrie Irving, Nets
• Kevin Durant, Nets
• Spencer Dinwiddie, Nets
• Garrett Temple, Nets
• Chris Paul, Thunder
• Russell Westbrook, Rockets
• CJ McCollum, Blazers
• Carmelo Anthony, Blazers
• Zach Collins, Blazers
• Joel Embiid, Sixers
• Tobias Harris, Sixers
• Dwight Howard, Lakers
• Avery Bradley, Lakers
• Donovan Mitchell, Jazz
• Mike Conley, Jazz
• Malcolm Brogdon, Pacers
• Myles Turner, Pacers
• Justin Holiday, Pacers
• Al-Farouq Aminu, Magic
• Mo Bamba, Magic
• Kyle Lowry, Raptors
• Lou Williams, Clippers
• Andre Iguodala, Heat
• Rudy Gay, Spurs
• Harrison Barnes, Kings
• Mason Plumlee, Nuggets

WNBA players included:

• Tiffany Hayes, Dream
• Renee Montgomery, Dream
• Kristi Toliver, Sparks
• Natasha Cloud, Mystics

RELATED: NBA Players Planning To Take Stand Against 2019-20 Season Restart

The post Kyrie Irving Plays Key Role in Conference Call Featuring 80+ NBA Players appeared first on SLAM.

Morant, 20, is averaging 17.6 points and 6.9 assists for the Memphis Grizzlies.

Zion Williamson was limited by injuries to just 19 games so far—but played spectacularly—and appears headed for a distant second-place finish in the ROY race.

Per ESPN:

After trading Mike Conley last summer, the Grizzlies were projected to finish last in the Western Conference. Instead, led by Morant, Memphis found itself with a 3 ½-game lead for the final playoff spot over the Portland Trail Blazers and Williamson’s New Orleans Pelicans when the season was suspended. If the NBA were to play an abbreviated regular-season schedule upon resuming the season, Morant’s Grizzlies would be more likely to hold onto that spot, solidifying his Rookie of the Year case even more.

If Morant were to win the award unanimously as he did in this straw poll, he’d join Karl-Anthony Towns, Damian Lillard and Blake Griffin as the only players to do so over the past 30 seasons.

Williamson has played only 19 of the Pelicans’ 64 games. No player has won Rookie of the Year playing fewer than 50 games (Patrick Ewing played exactly 50 in winning the award in 1985-86).

Related Ja Morant: ‘I Honestly Don’t Care About Rookie of the Year’

The post POLL: Ja Morant is the Unanimous Rookie of the Year appeared first on SLAM.

Also included in the team-by-team breakdowns are all partial/non-guaranteed players for the 2020-21 season, essentially expanding the list to include any individual that could plausibly hit free agency this summer.

Related: CBA Explained – Different types of NBA free agency

Denver Nuggets

Minnesota Timberwolves

Oklahoma City Thunder

Portland Trail Blazers

Utah Jazz

The post 2020 NBA Free Agents – Northwest Division appeared first on SLAM.

GRAB YOUR COPY OF SLAM 227 FEATURING JA MORANT

—

It’s a rainy Monday in Memphis, and for once, the NBA is at rest. One evening earlier, the All-Star Game finished with such a flourish that it actually made the players sweat, and now everyone is enjoying a few days off before things kick in for the stretch run.

Well, not everyone. Right around lunchtime, Ja Morant shows up in his teal throwback uniform, in the practice gym of the team that wasn’t supposed to be able to draft him, where he’s been the season’s best rookie in a league where he wasn’t even on the radar two years ago.

Here in the 901, hope abounds. A team that within the last year traded the two most decorated players in franchise history has managed to hit the reset button with the quickness, in large part thanks to the sparkling play of Morant.

Yet, even as 12 straightens his headband and glares into the camera, he is clear about his priorities with the Grizzlies fighting for the final Western Conference playoff spot: “I’m not here for the fame or none of that. I don’t want it at all, honestly. I’m here to handle business.”

It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. Because the truth is, the Memphis Grizzlies were in the most precarious of places. We had, by almost any NBA standard, a really good run—pairing Mike Conley with Marc Gasol, then fitting in guys like Zach Randolph and Tony Allen. We reached the postseason seven years in a row, including a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2013, before things started to fizzle out in 2017.

And to be clear, I am allowed to use the royal “we” when talking about the Grizzlies. I spent over a decade of my life sitting at a desk in the SLAM Dome, mixing and matching words, trying my best to describe the audacity of hoop. Three years ago, the Grizzlies hired me to make cool stuff for our own content arm (Grind City Media), as well as run Grizz Gaming, our team in the NBA2K League. So we flew South for good.

I arrived in Memphis just as the Grit and Grind era was grinding out. Z-Bo and TA got big paydays elsewhere, and even with the arrival of Jaren Jackson Jr, it was increasingly clear that the ground-bound Grizzlies were going to have to find a different way forward in an NBA defined by pace and space. 

Everything changed on May 28, 2019, thanks to the NBA Draft Lottery. There were seven teams with a better chance of winning the lotto than the Grizzlies, and if we fell outside the top six, the Grizz wouldn’t even get a pick.

Then Mark Tatum started cracking open envelopes and…we didn’t see the Grizzlies logo. Finally, the show went to a commercial break and just three teams remained: New Orleans, New York and… Memphis! I made my wife and son freeze in place until the commercial break passed, lest we screw up whatever ridiculous luck was happening at that moment. 

As it turned out, the Pelicans won the Zion derby, which is fine. 

Because we got Ja.

Penny Hardaway once noted that Memphis wants all the smoke, and that’s because way down deep, Memphis just wants the chance to prove itself, to show that this city is as great as we all know it is. Sure, it’s smaller than some NBA cities, but we got soul. Memphis has glorious sunsets and a mighty river and music and the world’s best barbecue and, more than anything else, as long as you put in the work, Memphis will give you the chance to be great. 

“One thing you can’t do with Grizzlies fans, you can’t cheat them with your work ethic,” says “The Grindfather” himself, Tony Allen. “They have a bar that they live up to. Playing hard can cover up for some of your mistakes or some of your flaws [and] it’s OK as long as you’re giving 110 percent.”

Memphis was the perfect place for Ja Morant, a player who put in unseen work on his backyard cement court to go from an overlooked prep prospect to the No. 2 pick in the draft. Plus, Ja is a Southern kid, born in Georgia, raised in South Carolina, college in Kentucky. And now he’s brought the show to Tennessee. It almost feels like some sort of bigger design is at work. 

“I feel like God has a plan for everybody,” says Ja. “You can’t put a time on it. It’s his timing. I feel like everything that’s been happening to me and the positions that I’ve been put in is because of my hard work and what God blessed me with, the talents He blessed me with, and just him. So, I’m thankful for everything and I’m just going to keep pushing.”

Ja was different from the jump. For the Grizzlies’ first official public outing with him, the team held an open practice at a local high school. When Ja was announced to the crowd, he stopped and broke into a perfect Milly Rock. Then the games started, and immediately we saw it all: Ja can score, push the tempo and make perfect reads on breaks and in the halfcourt. But what makes him so much fun are all the moves he sprinkles in throughout every game. They are pure jazz, equal parts improvisation and imagination.

We all have our favorite moments. Like that time against Utah, when he Eurostepped around a defender while simultaneously moving the ball behind his back, finishing with a scoop layup off the glass. Later in that same game, Ja caught an alley-oop and dunked on his own teammate, Jaren Jackson Jr. A few weeks later, Ja dunked on a different teammate, Brandon Clarke.

Almost every night when I come home late from our games, my son rolls over in bed and asks, “Did Ja do any tricks tonight?” And the answer is always, “Yes.” Ja has a well that never seems to run dry: ball fakes, cut dribbles, pass fakes, spin moves, around-the-back dribbles, which is ironic considering Ja’s father, Tee, wouldn’t let him watch basketball trick videos as a kid. “I never watched them for a reason,” Ja recalls. “Like, I don’t need to add that stuff in my game. I just start with my fundamentals and it will carry me a long way. People think that we did crazy workouts and stuff, but it was mainly just learning the basics and then once I learned the basics, it allowed me to just keep going, dribbling and stuff got easier, and it just made me a good player.”

But you can’t spell fundamentals without fun, and every impact play seems to come with some sort of Ja embellishment: the “too little” celebration; the “rock the baby” motion when he scores on someone smaller; how he glares at the ball after a hard dunk or the wide-eyed stares at his hand as if even Ja can’t believe what it just did. When he broke out a headband a few weeks ago, Ja asked to be introduced as “Headband 12.” After assists, Ja holds his hands up to his eyes to mimic a pair of goggles. Now everyone on the court and bench joins him. (“It was supposed to be binoculars, but everyone started saying goggles, so that’s what I’m going with,” he says.) 

“My pops always told me to have fun whenever I am on the floor,” Ja explains. “If I’m not having fun, I’m probably not playing my game. So, each and every night I step on that court, I just try to have fun, bring some excitement to the table, and I’m just trying to help my team win.”

The Grizzlies started this season with six wins in their first 22 games, and it certainly seemed like 2019-20 was going to be more about development than results. But things changed, and the new year kicked off with seven straight wins. Heading into the All-Star break, the Grizz had won 15 of 19. New coach Taylor Jenkins was named Western Conference coach of the month in January, as the Grizz found their hustle and flow. 

“It was all about growing together and jelling as one team,” explains Ja. “I just felt like we went from a group of individuals at the beginning of the season to one team, and we just go out with the same mindset and just play basketball.”

Meanwhile, Ja remains the straw that stirs the drink. From day one, it wasn’t the scoring that was so impressive to me—it was the vision. Ja genuinely seems to enjoy piling up assists as much as he does getting buckets. Whether it’s dotting guys in the corners, throwing no-looks to rim-running bigs, slinging passes along the baselines or threading the needle in halfcourt sets, Morant has assisted on 30 percent of his teammates’ baskets.

Along the way, he has won the Rookie of the Month award three months in a row. Does he deserve to be the Rookie of the Year?

“We’ll find out,” he answers.

—

For the first time in a long time, maybe ever, Ja Morant is no longer underrated. As a high school player, he made some noise, but still ended up at a mid-major. 

After two years of dominating against college competition—Ja was the first player in the history of college basketball to average at least 20 points and 10 assists per game—the excuse was Ja was playing subpar competition.

Now there’s no excuse. Now Ja is in the NBA, playing basketball night after night against the best players in the world, and he’s not only shown that he belongs, he’s shown that he’s one of the best. Or, as he told a random person on Twitter who said Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were killers: “didn’t say they wasn’t killers. didn’t say I wasn’t a fan of their game either…but I’m a killer, too.”

“I always had that mindset,” Ja says. “I feel like there’s no reason to fear anybody. They put their shoes and stuff on the same way you do.”

Ja wants that smoke, too. The next gen in Memphis is just getting started. 

“We just can’t get satisfied now,” Morant says. “We still have a half a season to go. Still got places we can get better in. We’re just going to stay locked in and continue to do what we do. Go out and compete each and every night, continue to play together and just try to get better in places that we know we need to get better in to help us come out with more wins.”

—

GRAB YOUR COPY OF SLAM 227 FEATURING JA MORANT

Follow Lang Whitaker on Twitter @langwhitaker.

Portraits by Pier Nicola D’Amico.

The post Memphis Grizzlies Star Ja Morant Covers SLAM 227 appeared first on SLAM.

Bradley Beal went off for 35 points on 7-of-10 shooting from deep to help the Wizards earn the home win. Cam Reddish scored 28 points for the Hawks.

Spurs 120 (26-35), Nets 139 (28-34)

Caris LeVert notched his first career triple-double (27 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) in the Nets’ victory over the Spurs. DeMar DeRozan led San Antonio with 24 points.

Thunder 126 (39-24), Knicks 103 (19-44)

The duo of Danilo Gallinari (22 points) and Chris Paul (21 points, 12 assists) took charge against the Knicks, guiding their team to a win. Six Thunder players hit double-digit scoring against New York.

Jazz 99 (40-22), Celtics 94 (42-20)

The two hopeful playoff contenders fought valiantly in this tight contest, but it was the visitors that came out on top. Mike Conley contributed a team-high 25 points to the Jazz’s winning effort.

Pacers 108 (38-25), Bulls 102 (21-42)

Indiana received a boost from their All-Star big man, Domantas Sabonis, to overcome the Bulls. Sabonis posted a double-double of 24 points and 12 rebounds. Bulls rookie Coby White continued a string of strong performances with 26 points against the Pacers.

Magic 132 (28-35), Timberwolves 118 (19-43)

Nikola Vucevic (28 points, 12 rebounds) and Markelle Fultz (24 points) led a two-headed attack to fend off the Wolves. Malik Beasley impressed with 29 points.

Heat 104 (40-23), Pelicans 110 (27-36)

Miami made a late run to pull within one bucket, but New Orleans locked down in the final minutes to send the Heat packing. Jrue Holiday led a balanced attack for the Pelicans with 20 points and 6 assists.

Grizzlies 96 (31-32), Mavericks 121 (39-25)

Kristaps and Luka continue wreak havoc on opposing defenses. Porzingis put up a team-high 26 points and 11 rebounds, while Doncic added 21 points and 6 assists in the Mavs’ home win.

Blazers 117 (28-35), Suns 127 (24-38)

Aron Baynes notched a career-high 37 points as the Suns overwhelmed Portland. CJ McCollum’s 25 points weren’t enough for the Blazers.

Bucks 103 (53-10), Lakers 113 (48-13)

This matchup of heavyweights didn’t disappoint. The duo of LeBron James (37 points) and Anthony Davis (30 points) proved too much to beat for the Bucks. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points for Milwaukee.

The post Post Up: Caris LeVert Notches First Career Triple-Double in Nets’ Win appeared first on SLAM.

The Magic played incredible, with Terrence Ross recording a season-high 33 points, Nikola Vucevic having 27 points and 10 boards and Aaron Gordon enjoying his first triple-double of his career with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists.

D’Angelo Russell was solid for the Wolves, scoring 28 points and dishing 7 assists with a respectable +8 plus/minus on the night.

Hawks 141 (18-43), Nets 118 (32-36)

This wasn’t just a promising game for the Hawks because they won, but also due to the fact that their young core of players were the biggest contributors to their success. Trae Young dropped 22 and 14 assists. John Collins popped off for 33 and 12 boards. Kevin Huerter scored 15 on an efficient 60% from the field. The rook DeAndre Hunter had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Cam Reddish had perhaps his best game of the season with 26 points on 6-9 from deep.

As for the disappointing Nets, Spencer Dinwiddie did his best with 24 points and 13 assists, but it simply wasn’t enough.

Hornets 99 (21-38), Raptors 96 (42-17)

Well, this was a surprise.

The Raptors usually steamroll objectively inferior opponents, but not tonight, apparently. No Hornets starter even scored 20 points, but they all reached double figures. Solid performances from Pascal Siakam, Norman Powell and Kyle Lowry weren’t enough to offset a bench that only mustered nine points.

Despite all that, there was still a chance to win, with the game tied at 96 with about two seconds left, Hornets ball. But Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was called for an off-ball foul. Tough way to lose.

Heat 126 (37-22), Mavericks 118 (36-24)

This was a very quality win for the Heat, beating a bona-fide playoff team in the West and one of the best offenses in league history. Jimmy Butler predictable led the way in scoring with 26, but Duncan Robinson (24 points, 6-9 from deep, +24 plus/minus) and Kelly Olynyk (13 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists in only 19 minutes) were the unsung heroes.

For Dallas, despite a Seth Curry explosion of 37 points and stars Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis both scoring in the 20’s, Miami was too tough.

Kings 104 (25-34), Grizzlies 101 (28-31)

The Kings are closer to the 8th seed than you think. After beating the Grizzlies, a team currently above them in the chase, Sacramento is only three games out of a playoff berth. De’Aaron Fox led the way with 25 points in what was a very solid all-around team win.

The Grizzlies are crumbling right now, through no fault of their own. Young bigs Jaren Jackson Jr and Brandon Clarke are out with injuries, and they traded two reliable wings in Jae Crowder and Solomon Hill for a Justise Winslow, who is still recuperating from injury. Dillon Brooks led all scorers with 32.

Bucks 133 (51-8), Thunder 86 (37-23)

This was simply an annihilation. The scary part is OKC is a tough, gritty and respectable team with the second best record in the entire damn league since Thanksgiving. But they were no match for Milwaukee and their unskilled star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, who dropped an easy 32 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists in 27 measly minutes.

Pelicans 116 (26-33), Cavaliers 104 (17-42)

The Pelicans have now won six of their last 8 games thanks to a mixture of superhuman Zion Williamson efforts and excellent supporting cast members in Brandon Ingram (an All-Star!), Jrue Holiday and Lonzo Ball, plus a deep cadre of role players.

Ingram led the Pels with 29 points, Zion followed with 24 and Holiday had 22.

Pistons 113 (20-41), Suns 111 (24-36)

We were just treated to a throwback Derrick Rose game.

Rose dropped 31 points and the game-sealing bucket, a beautiful driving, off-balance floater. Also, shoutout to Brandon Knight, who has endured many tough injuries, for scoring 19 points in the win.

Jazz 129 (37-22), Wizards 119 (21-37)

Between a losing streak, uncharacteristic drop in efficiency and some epic role confusion over who is starting and sitting between Mike Conley, Joe Ingles and Royce O’Neale, Utah needed this. Donovan Mitchell once again put the team on his back, going for 30 points and this monster dunk on poor Rui Hachimura.

Bradley Beal can’t be happy after dropping 42 points, 5 boards, 10 assists and 2 steals and still coming away with a loss.

Clippers 132 (40-19), Nuggets 103 (40-19)

Big win for the Clips, who inch closer to the Nuggets for 2nd place in the Western Conference standings.

It was quite the balanced victory, with all ten rotation players notching between 19 and 25 minutes.

Paul George had 24 on an efficient 9-15 shooting, and Kawhi had 19 points on 50% shooting.

The post Post Up: Giannis Antetokounmpo Goes Off Against Thunder appeared first on SLAM.

• Dallas Mavericks – Dallas is continuing to deal with injuries. Dwight Powell is out for the season, and now Luka Doncic (ankle) and Jalen Brunson (shoulder) are nicked up. For Doncic, it doesn’t seem serious, but it is a bit troubling that he continues to have ankle troubles. Brunson has a torn labrum in his right shoulder, but he’s a lefty and is planning to try to play through it. The Mavs have lots of guard depth, but getting healthy for the playoff run is key.
• Denver Nuggets – The Nuggets aren’t catching the Lakers for the top spot in the Western Conference, but they’ve been able to hold off the Clippers and Rockets so far. A big reason why is Denver is finally healthy. With their full roster, the Nuggets are legitimately 10 deep. Mike Malone can now use the rest of the regular season to figure out his playoff rotation.

• Golden State Warriors – One star back, one star out for the Dubs. Stephen Curry’s return is right around the corner, but Klay Thompson was ruled out for the season recently. Steve Kerr will get a look at how Curry, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins can work together over the season’s final 20 games or so, and then Thompson will slide in as a plug-and-play addition next season. Golden State also continues to cycle through 10-day players, as Dragan Bender and Mychal Mulder have both signed on recently.
• Houston Rockets – Houston is fully committed to the small-ball style. Unless Tristan Thompson is shockingly bought out in the next couple of days, the Rockets will stick with a “center” rotation of P.J. Tucker and Jeff Green, the latter of whom will sign for the rest of the season. It’s worked so far, as Houston has won five straight games. One worry: Will Tucker have enough in the tank to make this a multi-month thing in a playoff run?
• Los Angeles Clippers – Doc Rivers and a handful of players have recently intimated that it’s time for the Clippers to figure out who they are. Due to injuries, load management and recent trades/signings, LA has about a month and a half to figure out their rotation. Sure, the roster is stacked with talent. But it’s up to Rivers to figure out how all that talent fits and time is starting to running out.
• Los Angeles Lakers – Markieff Morris is now in the fold for the Lakers. That might be the final move for Los Angeles, as the buyout market has really dried up. Morris gives the Lakers some additional depth up front, and that could be key down the stretch. LA hasn’t had a real backup for Anthony Davis, as Kyle Kuzma is more of a swing forward than a true four. With Morris, Frank Vogel can now spot Davis some rest days or keep him out when the inevitable bumps and bruises come. With a 5.5-game cushion in the standings, expect the Lakers to turn the focus to being healthy and rested for the playoffs.
• Memphis Grizzlies – Memphis’ Cinderella season seems to be closing in on midnight. The Grizzlies lead for the last playoff spot in the West is down to just three games, and five teams have closed to within 4.5 games. With Jaren Jackson Jr., Brandon Clarke and Justise Winslow sidelined with injuries for at least a few weeks, it’s going to be tough for Memphis to hold off the charge.
• Minnesota Timberwolves – The Wolves hope at the trade deadline was to get their new additions on the floor with Karl-Anthony Towns and get a glimpse of their future. Now, Towns is out for at least a couple of weeks with a fractured left wrist. On the flip side, Malik Beasley is playing great since getting to Minnesota. He’s averaged 21.7 PPG on nearly 42% as a Timberwolf. D’Angelo Russell got the headlines as a trade addition, but Beasley may be just as big a part of the future in Minnesota.
• New Orleans Pelicans – Have you seen this Zion kid? He’s pretty good! In all seriousness, Williamson’s debut has jolted the Pelicans into the Western Conference playoff race. New Orleans is now just three games behind Memphis. And the Pels have a very easy closing schedule. Would you like to see a Lakers vs. Pelicans series in Round 1? Us too!

• Oklahoma City Thunder – The Thunder have gone from a nice story to a full-scale playoff team. Did you know OKC is only four games behind for the two-seed? Didn’t think so. And they’re getting some wings back, as Terrance Ferguson and Hamidou Diallo are both healthy now. Neither is a star, but for a team that needs wing depth, they’ll take what they can get.
• Phoenix Suns – Phoenix simply can’t have nice things. Deandre Ayton is back and dominating. Key veterans Aron Baynes and Ricky Rubio are healthy. Devin Booker is an All-Star. So, of course, they lose a key player to injury. Kelly Oubre Jr., who was having a career-year, suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee and will likely miss the rest of the season. Oubre is seeking a second opinion, but the Suns are preparing for life without him.
• Portland Trail Blazers – Even without Damian Lillard, the Blazers have hung around the playoff race. Portland is three games behind Memphis and they have one of the easier closing schedules left. There is still no clear return timetable for Jusuf Nurkic or Zach Collins, but if the Trail Blazers can hang in there, they’ll add as much talent as anyone for the final playoff push.

• Sacramento Kings – The Kings are making an improbable run at the playoffs. Sacramento has gone 6-4 over their last 10 games to get back in the race. Luke Walton’s lineup swap of Bogdan Bogdanovic and Buddy Hield has worked as well. Bogdanovic has averaged 14.2 PPG as a starter, while Hield has been instant-offense off the bench at 20.2 PPG on 48.9% from behind the arc.
• San Antonio Spurs – San Antonio is scratching and clawing to extend their playoff streak to 24 years. They’ve been passed by New Orleans in the standings, which means the Spurs will have to pass the Pelicans, Trail Blazers and Grizzlies to get into the postseason. Gregg Popovich is leaning heavily on LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan, but is finally getting improved play from the Spurs role players. It’s a tall task, but bet against San Antonio at your own peril.
• Utah Jazz – To put it simply, the Jazz are a mess right now. Utah has lost four straight games and this week Quin Snyder made a messy lineup shuffle. On Wednesday morning, Mike Conley was informed he’d go back to the bench and Royce O’Neale would open games again. By the time players showed up at the arena, Conley was back in the opening group and Joe Ingles was coming off the bench. That confusing back-and-forth sums up where the Jazz are at right now.

The post Newswire Notebook: Malik Beasley’s Emergence and More appeared first on SLAM.

Dinwiddie is in the first year of a three-year contract extension he signed with Brooklyn during the 2018-19 season. That extension comes with a combined $22M over this season and next, and Dinwiddie holds a player option of $12.3M for the 2021-22 season.

Dinwiddie was originally drafted by Detroit in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft. After two non-descript years with the Pistons, Dinwiddie was traded to the Chicago Bulls. He never appeared in a regular season game with the Bulls and was waived prior to the 2016-17 season.

Marks then plucked Dinwiddie off the scrap heap. Dinwiddie earned regular minutes under Kenny Atkinson as Brooklyn launched a rebuild. Over the course of his four years with the Nets, Dinwiddie has blossomed into a near-All-Star, as he’s shuttled between the starting lineup and bench.

This season, Dinwiddie is averaging a career-high 20.8 points and 6.6 assists per game. He’s started in 42 of his 57 appearances, mostly due to Irving being out of the lineup with a shoulder injury. The 6-6 guard was also reportedly a key figure in the Nets’ recruitment of Durant and Irving as free agents this past summer.

The challenge is Brooklyn has guard depth and is believed to need athletic players who can play off the ball. Begley speculates that a trade of Dinwiddie for Aaron Gordon could be a move that makes sense for both the Nets and Magic.

Gordon is seen by some as expendable for the Magic due to the emergence of fellow young forward Jonathan Isaac. The two overlap positions and neither are considered a pure scorer, which can make it tough for Orlando to put together lineups with enough scoring punch. Gordon is under contract for slightly more money than Dinwiddie, but his deal does decline in value each season through 2021-22.

Even though Markelle Fultz has had easily his best season as a professional, the Magic still lack players who can create offense, especially off the dribble. Dinwiddie would solve that, while being comfortable as either a starter alongside Fultz or in a bench role.

Ultimately, no deal was reached, but often in-season talks can lead to a deal over the summer. This was most recently seen in the case of the Memphis Grizzlies and Utah Jazz discussing a Mike Conley deal at the 2019 trade deadline. Trades involving big contracts can be hard to swing in-season, due to cap and roster issues but sometimes the groundwork is laid for teams to re-connect in the offseason.

It’s unclear how Marks will build out his roster around Durant and Irving, but it seems more changes may be on the horizon.

Brooklyn was never really building just for this year, with Durant sidelined due to a torn Achilles but they are hoping the 2020-21 season will be the first in a string of years as a title contender.

A Dinwiddie trade could bring in the depth and lineup balance to help put Brooklyn on their way.

The post Report: Magic, Pistons Discussed Spencer Dinwiddie Trade appeared first on SLAM.

Only 12 players will be selected to participate in the actual games, so we’ll see a number of these players withdraw from consideration and then a select 12 hand-picked from those that remain.

A total of nine players represented the country at the Olympics four years ago in Rio de Janeiro and the only three from that squad not on this list are Carmelo Anthony, DeMarcus Cousins and DeAndre Jordan.

All of the 12 players who represented America during last summer’s FIBA World Cup have been selected to participate in the preliminary stages of the Olympic roster selection process.

A total of five players have been selected from both the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers.

The post Team USA Men’s Basketball Roster For Tokyo Olympics appeared first on SLAM.

In this post, just one of a series of 30, we’ll break down the reports that have started to trickle out about Grizzlies players that may or may not be on the move. While there’s no guarantee when it comes to a league as wild as the modern NBA, it doesn’t hurt to brush up on each squad’s roster as the deadline draws near.

Players Unlikely To Be Traded

• Ja Morant
• Jaren Jackson Jr.
• Brandon Clarke
• Dillon Brooks

How many young cores would you take over the Grizzlies’ collection of talent? Ja Morant, who is as untouchable as they come in trade talks, is the clear front-runner for the Rookie of the Year award. Jaren Jackson Jr. has the tools to become an elite big man. Brandon Clarke, who was selected with the No 21 overall pick in the 2019 draft, has been electric and Dillon Brooks has been on fire of late, showcasing his ability as a major scoring threat. With a stable of young, promising contributors, Memphis is set for years to come.

Biggest Name Available On Market

• Andre Iguodala

When the Grizzlies acquired Andre Iguodala, some expected them to buy out the veteran but Memphis’ front office was clear that they wanted an asset in exchange for the former Finals MVP. The team and Iguodala came to an agreement that he would train away from the team, staying active in preparation of a trade. Iguodala appears antsy to return to the court and a trade before Feb. 6 appears likely; the only question is which contender brings him (and his $17.2M salary) on board. 

Logical Trade Pieces

• Jae Crowder

While he hasn’t been consistent this season, Jae Crowder could help a contender solidify the back end of their rotation. He’s making $7.8M this season and will be a free agent after, so prying him from Memphis shouldn’t be difficult. Knee soreness has slowed him down lately, however.

Trades Are Possible

• Jonas Valanciunas
• Solomon Hill
• Tyus Jones
• Kyle Anderson
• Josh Jackson
• Marko Guduric
• Grayson Allen
• Bruno Caboclo
• De’Anthony Melton

In an unlikely event, Jonas Valanciunas re-signed with the Grizzlies this past summer. He’s proven to be a nice veteran contributor for this young team, leading the team in win shares. He’s under contract through the 2021-22 season. Solomon Hill is on an expiring deal worth $12.8M. If Memphis is willing to take on future salary, it’s easy to envision Hill elsewhere at the deadline. Tyus Jones came to the Grizzlies via the Mid-Level Exception. He filled in nicely when Morant was injured and missed time earlier this season. Kyle Anderson has been a nice complementary piece to this Grizzlies team.  No player on the team has a lower usage percentage than Anderson’s 13.7. Josh Jackson has seen all of his playing time this season in the G League, though he was recently recalled. Memphis hopes that they can revitalize the former No. 4 overall pick. Efficiency has been a major issue for Marko Guduric during his first season in the league. The 24-year-old Serbian-native is making just 27.7% of his looks from beyond the arc. Grayson Allen came to the team in the Mike Conley deal and has worked through bumps and bruises during his sophomore campaign. He appeared in 30 of the team’s 46 games before being ruled out indefinitely. Bruno Caboclo was once considered two years away from being two years away. In year six of his NBA career, he was a solid contributor for Memphis before a bone bruise in his knee sidelined him. De’Anthony Melton came over in the Josh Jackson trade and ranks second on the team in steals (45) despite playing just 627 minutes (10th-most of the team). If he ever gets to the point where he’s earning starter minutes, he has the potential to lead the league in the category.

The post 2020 NBA Trade Deadline Primer: Memphis Grizzlies appeared first on SLAM.

In this post, just one of a series of 30, we’ll break down the reports that have started to trickle out about Jazz players that may or may not be on the move. While there’s no guarantee when it comes to a league as wild as the modern NBA, it doesn’t hurt to brush up on each squad’s roster as the deadline draws near.

Players Unlikely To Be Traded

• Rudy Gobert
• Donovan Mitchell
• Joe Ingles
• Royce O’Neale
• Juwan Morgan
• Rayjon Tucker

The Jazz have rebounded nicely from a rocky start and as many expected prior to the season, the team appears to belong in the top echelon of the Western Conference. It’s unlikely that the franchise makes major changes to its core, meaning Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell aren’t going anywhere.

Joe Ingles is also not going anywhere, as he’s not eligible to be traded this season as a result of signing an extension with Utah earlier in the year. Royce O’Neale, who just signed an extension as well, is also not eligible to be traded. Neither is Juwan Morgan, who inked a deal with Utah in late November, nor Rayjon Tucker, who signed his in December.

Biggest Name Available On Market

• Ed Davis

The Ed Davis signing hasn’t worked as well as the team had hoped. The big man was expected to be a major part of the team’s bench, though a leg injury and ineffective play after returning has blanketed hope. He’s making $4.8M this season and $5.0M next and it wouldn’t be surprising if the Jazz attempt to shop his deal.

Logical Trade Pieces

• Mike Conley

There have no reports of the Jazz shopping Conley nor any of his discontent in Utah. Conley recently returned from a hamstring injury that robbed him of 19 games and by all accounts, he’s embraced his current role off the bench for the club. However, if the Jazz want to be a true contender, they’ll either need the point guard to revert to Memphis Conley or they’ll need to search for a trade.

The offseason deal for Conley, who is making $32.5M this season, sacrificed some of Utah’s depth and if the team searched for a trade before the deadline, it could certainly regain some of that depth. The team’s trade for Jordan Clarkson alleviated some of those concerns, though Utah’s biggest weakness is its frontcourt rotation behind Gobert. Additionally, adding another wing wouldn’t hurt, especially since the club will have to best the likes of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and LeBron James if it wants to reach the NBA Finals. Trading Conley, who has an ETO worth $34.5M for next season, could be the answer for the Jazz.

Trades Are Possible

• Bojan Bogdanovic
• Tony Bradley
• Georges Niang
• Emmanuel Mudiay
• Nigel Williams-Goss
• Miye Oni

Offseason signing Bojan Bogdanovic has worked out quite well for the Jazz. He’s one of just six players league-wide who is making at least three shots from behind the arc at a 40% rate. Tony Bradley has assumed the back-up center spot in Utah. He’s eligible for a rookie-scale extension after the season. Georges Niang has knocked down 44.1% of his triples this season, proving to be a nice offensive piece for the club. Emmanuel Mudiay, who’s on a one-year deal in Utah, has solidified another contract in the league with his play this season. The 23-year-old has shown flashes this season of what made him an intriguing prospect leading up to the 2015 draft. Nigel Williams-Goss has only appeared in nine games for the Jazz. He’s gotten most of his run with the Salt Lake City Stars of the G League. Miye Oni is another player who’s likely known more by Stars season ticket holders than he is with Jazz season ticket holders.

The post 2020 NBA Trade Deadline Primer: Utah Jazz appeared first on SLAM.

In his first game back after a five-game absence with a left hamstring issue last night, Conley re-aggravated the injury and was forced back out of action.

Conley may have pushed his initial rehabilitation a little bit too far the first time around, something that the team’s medical staff cautioned him against.

“That’s why they’re like, ‘Be patient, be patient, don’t push it.’ And I’m just trying to push it every day,” he told Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune.

Conley has averaged 13.6 points and 4.6 assists per game for the Jazz this season, after arriving in Salt Lake City in an offseason trade.

The post Mike Conley Could Miss Weeks With Hamstring Issue appeared first on SLAM.

In an update to the list we published last summer, we’ve expanded our rankings of the top available free agents and removed all of the players that have since signed contract extensions.

Not all of the players you see in this list will be available come July, many have player options or team options, but that’s part of the fun as the offseason approaches and we get a better idea of the type of market that teams and players can expect.

The post 2020 NBA Free Agents: Newswire’s Top 50 appeared first on SLAM.

Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but James Harden is ridiculous.

The Beard dropped 54 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 10 3-pointers, 2 steals and 3 blocks. Pure dominance. Russell Westbrook added 23 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists and some exhilarating fast-break dunks for good measure.

76ers 116 (20-7), Pelicans 109 (6-20)

After a hard-fought win in Boston, the 76ers turned around to take care of business against the slumping Pelicans. Tobias Harris was phenomenal with 31 points and 5 boards on efficient shooting. Joel Embiid put up 24 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists, and Ben Simmons bounced back for a stat-stuffing with 24 points, 11 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks.

For the Pelicans, they can at least bask in JJ Redick’s warm reception back in Philly, and Brandon Ingram’s continued scoring dominance.

Lakers 113 (23-3), Heat 110 (18-7)

This was a barnburner.

The Lakers snapped Miami’s previously 11-0 home record to start the season, even amidst an uncharacteristically tough start to the game for LeBron, who had 7 turnovers in the first half. But the Lake Show pulled it together. Bron still got his, with 28 points, 9 rebounds and 12 assists, while Anthony Davis dropped 33 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks. Also, shoutout JaVale McGee, who had five monster blocks on the game, many of which were stuffing Bam Adebayo (no slouch himself!) at the rim.

Pacers 110 (17-9), Hawks 100 (6-20)

The Pacers are one of the most well-rounded teams in the league; and they don’t even have Victor Oladipo back.

All five starters hit double digit points again, with Malcolm Brogdon leading the way with 19 points, 8 rebounds and 12 assists. The Hawks have been, to put it mildly, awful. Trae Young had a rare rough game, going 9-30 from the field, DeAndre Hunter chipped in 21 points and Jabari Parker had 20, but overall, just another bad loss for a Hawks team that could use reinforcements.

Hornets 83 (12-16), Bulls 73 (9-18)

It’s legitimately shocking to see such a low scoring game. Nowadays, this is commonly the score at the end of 3 quarters.

Every Hornets starter scored in double digits, while no Bulls player scored more than 12 points. Honestly, the less we discuss this game the better.

At least we were offered this awesome Lauri Markkanen slam:

Bucks 127 (23-3), Grizzlies 114 (8-17)

The Bucks could be on an all-time run if they keep this up. They have not lost since Nov. 8 and have now won S-E-V-E-N-T-E-E-N games in a row. And Giannis is barely playing! He dropped 37 points and 11 rebounds in only 27 damn minutes.

But this is not a one man team. The Bucks are deep, and full of capable players who can comfortably play multiple positions and knock down 3-pointers. Right now, they’re the clear favorite to represent the East in the Finals.

On the bright side, the Grizzlies finally got that breakout Jaren Jackson game. Jackson, who has been mired in consistent foul trouble virtually all season, blew up for 43 points on 9-15 from 3-point range. He is dripping with potential and brief glimpses of production, but my man has got to stay on the court.

Jazz 114 (15-11), Warriors 106 (5-22)

This game was probably closer than it should have been considering the Warriors’ depleted state, but ultimately, the Jazz got the W, and sometimes that’s all that matters.

Bojan Bogdanovic stayed hot from deep, converting 8 of his 13 attempts for 32 points, while Donovan Mitchell had 28 points, and Gobert added a solid 15 points, 15 rebounds and 2 blocks. The Jazz are not perfect and Mike Conley has struggled to fit in, but they usually flip the switch as the season progresses. Also, check out this wicked move by Mitchell for the slam:

Clippers 124 (20-7), Timberwolves 117 (10-15)

Despite a roaring and inspired Timberwolves comeback from 27 points, the Clippers put them away when the going got tough. Missing Lou Williams, Patrick Beverley, Landry Shamet and JaMychal Green, the dynamic duo of PG and The Klaw took it upon themselves to wreck absolute havoc. Kawhi scored 42 on 19-19 from the free throw line, while George dropped a monstrous 46, making them the first Clippers duo to ever score 40 points each.

The game was a blowout, until it was not, and that was mostly thanks to the grit of Karl Towns (39 points, 12 rebounds) and Andrew Wiggins (34 points) putting the team on their back. There are no moral victories in professional sports, but the Wolves’ refusal to give up should be commended.

Knicks 103 (6-20), Kings 101 (11-14)

The Knicks have won two in a row! Repeat, the Knicks have won two in a row! Thanks to Julius Randle’s 26 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists, and good bench contributions from Mitchell Robinson, Elfrid Payton and Damyean Dotson, New York now has their first winning streak of the season. There is talent on this team, but it is either raw, repetitious or misused. The tide may be turning.

The Kings fought their way into the playoff chase after a brutal 0-5 start to the season, but losing to the Knicks will not keep them there for long. Buddy Hield was a flamethrower from deep, draining 6 3’s en route to 34 points and 12 rebounds. A minor silver lining: Marvin Bagley has worked his way back from a thumb surgery and is quietly putting up numbers in limited minutes.

The post Post Up: Lakers Snap Heat’s Perfect Home Game Streak in Barnburner appeared first on SLAM.

Well, that was certainly surprising. The surgically consistent Spurs have now dropped four losses in a row. Seeing the record “5-7” next to the Spurs looks like a typo, but it’s not. DeMar DeRozan led the squad with 21 points, with jitterbug Patty Mills adding 13 points and three steals off the bench.

The Magic, albeit missing rising star defender Jonathan Issac, got a very quality win behind Evan Fournier’s 26 points. They also got double-doubles from both Nikola Vucevic and Al Farouq-Aminu.

Hornets 109 (5-7), Pistons 106 (4-9)

Hello Malik Monk! The former Kentucky Wildcats star has had a quiet start to his career, but he splashed a cold-blooded dagger to send the Pistons packing.

It’s been a season of injuries thus far for the Pistons, but on the bright side, reserve guard Langston Galloway exploded for 32 points off the bench.

Rockets 111 (9-3), Pacers 102 (7-5)

James Harden is really about to average 40 points per game, isn’t he? The Beard dropped another absurd statistical line of 44 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals. Also, shoutout to Ben McLemore for stepping into the starting lineup and contributing 21 points. Good to see him thriving.

The Pacers lost Malcolm Brogdon to an early injury, but stayed in the game until the Beard put them away with step-back dagger after dagger.

Wizards 137 (3-7), Timberwolves 116 (7-5)

This was certainly an unexpected outcome! Good for the Wizards, who got a standout game from Bradley Beal (44 points, 10 assists), as well as an impressive game from Mo Wagner (30 points and 15 rebounds on 86 FG%). Wagner’s stat line makes him the first player since Yao Ming in 2002 to put up 30 points and 15 rebounds off the bench, per The Athletic’s Fred Katz.

To be fair, the Timberwolves were missing Andrew Wiggins, who has been fantastic thus far this season. Birthday boy Karl Towns may not have gotten the result he wanted, but he still put up an impressive 36 points and 10 rebounds (and seven turnovers).

Grizzlies 107 (5-7), Jazz 106 (8-4)

Awesome win for the Grizzlies, getting a win against an old friend in Mike Conley. Rookie point guard Ja Morant has become a must-watch; it seems like he has at least two jaw-dropping highlights a game. He finished with 25 points and eight assists.

Donovan Mitchell (29 points, nine rebounds and five assists) and Rudy Gobert (23 points, 17 boards and five blocks) both had stellar performances, but it clearly was not enough.

Thunder 127 (5-7), 76ers 119 (7-5)

Quite a night for upsets. The gritty Thunder gutted out a tough victory against the imposing 76ers. It was a full team effort, with Danillo Gallinari scoring 28, Chris Paul scoring 27 (with the dagger), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 24 and Terrance Ferguson pouring in 19.

It’s definitely a disappointing loss for a heavily favored 76ers team, but at least they can take solace in the fact that offseason acquisition Josh Richardson scored 28 points and has acquitted himself nicely over this first few weeks.

Lakers 99 (10-2), Kings 97 (4-7)

In a thrilling back-and-forth duel, the Lakers emerged victorious thanks to some LeBron James brilliance and a clutch Anthony Davis rim denial. Also, LeBron had the dunk of the year, so no big deal.

The Kings hung on until the very end, thanks to Bogdan Bogdanovic’s contorting layups and contested threes, but it wasn’t enough to stop the rollicking Lakers.

Celtics 101 (10-1), Warriors 100 (2-11)

The Celtics remain the only team in the league with a single loss, edging out the Warriors late in the game. Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker and Jaylen Brown all showed out, putting up a combined 66 points.

The shorthanded Warriors played their tails off, and they may have found something in rookie Eric Paschall, who has looked like a mini-Draymond. Alec Burks also chipped in 20 points off the bench.

The post Post Up: LeBron James Slams Home Poster Dunk of the Season as Lakers improve to 10-2 appeared first on SLAM.

Blake Griffin’s return to the court was spoiled as the Pistons fell at home. The All-Star forward put up 19 points in 23 minutes. Andrew Wiggins continued a string of strong performances with a game-high 33 points in the win.

Mavericks 106 (6-4), Celtics 116 (8-1)

Kemba Walker and Luka Doncic went toe-to-toe, but it was Walker’s Celtics who walked away with the win. Kemba finished with 29 points and hit eight 3’s to lead Boston. Doncic poured in 34 points for Dallas.

Grizzlies 113 (3-7), Spurs 109 (5-5)

Jaren Jackson Jr. (24 points) and Dillon Brooks (21 points) stole the win in San Antonio.

After the game, the Spurs celebrated Tony Parker’s jersey retirement.

Rockets 122 (7-3), Pelicans 116 (2-8)

James Harden and Russell Westbrook combined for a blistering 65 points as Houston edged out New Orleans. JJ Redick connected on seven 3’s and contributed 24 points in the loss.

Jazz 122 (7-3), Warriors 108 (2-9)

The short-handed Warriors couldn’t keep up with the Jazz in this one. Utah enjoyed 20+ points from Rudy Gobert (25), Donovan Mitchell (23) and Mike Conley (22). D’Angelo Russell was hot all night, ending with 33 points to lead Golden State.

Raptors 88 (7-3), Clippers 98 (7-3)

A tight game down the stretch ended up in the Clippers’ favor. Los Angeles scored 25 points in the fourth quarter, compared to just 10 points for Toronto in the final frame. Kawhi Leonard almost notched a triple-double, registering 12 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.

The post Post Up: Kemba Hits Eight 3’s as Celtics Win Eighth Straight appeared first on SLAM.

Orlando was powered to the win thanks to performances from Nikola Vucevic (21 points, 13 rebounds) and Aaron Gordon (15 points, 11 rebounds). Julis Randle led the Knicks in scoring with 16 points.

Bulls 111 (1-4), Cavaliers 117 (2-2)

Chicago led coming into the fourth quarter, but Cleveland outscored them 37-29 in the final frame to steal the home win. Kevin Love put up 17 points and 20 rebounds. Collin Sexton (18 points) sealed the game with an exclamation point.

Timberwolves 95 (3-1), 76ers 117 (4-0)

This game was interrupted in the third quarter as Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns were both ejected for fighting. Both teams had to step in and break it up.

Philly cruised to the win behind six double-digit scorers, led by Embiid’s 19 points in 20 minutes.

Bucks 105 (2-2), Celtics 116 (3-1)

The Celtics erupted with 38 points in the third quarter to get back in the game before closing it out in the fourth. Kemba Walker (32 points) and Jayson Tatum (25 points) fueled Boston’s offensive attack.

Pacers 118 (1-3), Nets 108 (1-3)

Indiana lost big man Myles Turner to a right ankle sprain early, but gutted out the win in his absence. Domantas Sabonis dominated with 29 points. Kyrie Irving finished with 28 points for Brooklyn.

Pistons 113 (2-3), Raptors 125 (4-1)

Toronto rode hot shooting from the field (59%) and from deep (48%) to earn their fourth win in five games to start the season. Pascal Siakam continues to shine; he put in 30 points in 30 minutes to lead the Raptors in scoring.

Rockets 159 (3-1), Wizards 159 (1-3)

James Harden and the Rockets took home the win in this high-scoring affair thanks to a last-second free throw made by Harden. The former MVP finished with 59 points. Bradley Beal notched 46 points in the heartbreaking loss.

Blazers 102 (3-2), Thunder 99 (1-4)

Damian Lillard (23 points, 13 rebounds, seven rebounds) helped rally his team in the fourth quarter to finish their road trip with a win. Chris Paul registered 21 points in the loss.

Clippers 96 (3-2), Jazz 110 (4-1)

Utah took control in the second half against the Kawhi-less Clippers. Mike Conley set the scoring tempo for the Jazz with 29 points, leading all scorers. Lou Williams popped off for 24 points as a starter.

Hornets 118 (2-3), Kings 111 (0-5)

Hornets rookie PJ Washington impressed with a team-high 23 points on 10-13 shooting from the field. Buddy Hield scored 23 points for Sacramento.

Suns 121 (3-2), Warriors 110 (1-3)

An already rough game for Golden State got infinitely worse when Stephen Curry left the game with what’s now been as a broken left hand. The injury is just another blow to the defending champs, who are also without Klay Thompson.

The post Post Up: James Harden Drops 59 Points in High-Scoring Win appeared first on SLAM.

The last time the league held its All-Star Game in Utah, franchise legends Karl Malone and John Stockton roamed the court. These days, fresh off a 50-win 2018-19 campaign, the team is a legitimate Western Conference force, led by Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert.

Salt Lake City is no stranger to big events, they hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Before Jazz fans get too excited about the 2023 event, however, they’ll have plenty of time to root for their own players in the three All-Star events that will unfold in the meantime. All of Mitchell, Gobert and offseason addition Mike Conley could contend for nods at this year’s game in Chicago.

The 2021 NBA All-Star Game will take place in Indianapolis while the city of Cleveland plays host to the 2022 rendition.

The post Utah Jazz To Host 2023 NBA All-Star Game appeared first on SLAM.

We’ve broken down the overall ratings for each player and sorted them by team so that you can see how your squad stacks up against the rest of the league.

Utah Jazz NBA 2K20 Ratings

This table is updated as of Nov. 22, 2019

Can’t get enough 2K? SLAM’s dedicated gaming channel, @SLAMftw, is blowing up. Hit us with your best uploads and watch our streams!

More NBA 2K20 Ratings

The post NBA 2K20 Ratings: Utah Jazz appeared first on SLAM.

“The biggest thing is just to get back to my roots,” says the 22-year-old, who adds that defense is what got him drafted into the NBA.

Mitchell credits San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich with making him take extra pride in locking up opponents as a member of Team USA this summer.

Per The Salt Lake Tribune:

“For me, the biggest thing is just to get back to my roots. The biggest thing is to elevate my defense, to get back to what got me drafted,” Mitchell told The Salt Lake Tribune after defeating Canada in the USA’s final pre-World Cup exhibition game. “I think that’s one thing I’ve prided myself on, and I think (USA head coach Gregg Popovich) has really put that in my head as well.”

Mitchell says that’s “something I want to really take on” in the Jazz’s upcoming season.

“Whether it’s vocally, off the floor in the hotel room with the guys, or on the floor, I’m just trying to find ways to become a leader,” Mitchell said. “Being a captain of the team, it allows me to try to improve my leadership skills. It’s a big year coming up, and I think those will be really evident in this upcoming year.”

And the Jazz’s big additions this year, in the form of Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic, will only help Mitchell’s life on the offensive end, opening him up to 100% effort on defense, too. “I’m excited. The biggest thing is spacing on the floor, guys who can create and knock shots down. Bogey, who shoots damn near 40%, Mike can get into the paint, hits about 36% from 3, that opens up a lot,” Mitchell said. “And being able to play off each other, that’s something that will be really huge for me.”

Related Donovan Mitchell: ‘I Got Drafted Because of My Defense’

The post Donovan Mitchell: ‘The Biggest Thing is to Elevate My Defense’ appeared first on SLAM.

Below is a list of the contract types the Utah Jazz have heading into training camp. This resource will be updated as players are signed and waived. Check back often to see if your team’s roster configuration has changed.

Utah Jazz

For a complete list of all the NBA teams and links to each team’s roster breakdown, check out our 2019 NBA Training Camp Index. Follow the curators of this database, Chris Crouse and Austin Kent, on Twitter.

More NBA Training Camp Rosters

The post Utah Jazz Roster Count: 2019 Training Camp appeared first on SLAM.

For the past few months, boys and girls ages 13-14 have competed in regional tournaments, fighting for the opportunity to represent their city and country in the world championship. 

The winning teams from each U.S. region (Central, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, Northwest, South, Southeast, West) have advanced to the Orlando-based tournament, where they will face off from August 6-11. Teams from Westchester, NY to San Diego, CA will fill out the sixteen total U.S. boys and girls teams. Last year’s boys world champion, Drive5 Power Elite of Overland Park, KS, will return as the Central region’s representative. 

But the tournament won’t just feature teams from the United States—it will host sixteen additional teams from across the globe (Africa, Asia Pacifc, Canada, China, Europe & Middle East, India, Latin America, Mexico). In just its second year of competition, the regional tournaments featured 15,000 youth hoopers from 75 different countries, according to the press release.

In a format similar to the Little League World Series, international and U.S. teams will compete within their respective divisions before the top two teams convene for the Global Championship.

“It was a great idea having an All-Star weekend for these kids. To get to know new cultures, new backgrounds,” Vince Carter said in a promotional video. The future Hall of Famer will serve as a TV announcer for the event.

Carter isn’t the only basketball star involved. Dwayne Wade, Mike Conley, Swin Cash and Breanna Stewart will also “attend the event to watch the competition, interact with the youth teams and participate in leadership development programs,” per the press release. 

Throughout the six day event, FOX Sports‘ family of networks will broadcast sixteen of the tournament’s games.

For more information visit the Jr. NBA website.

The post NBA and WNBA Players Set to Attend Jr. NBA Global Championship in August appeared first on SLAM.

The 38-year-old veteran has shot a staggering .429 from beyond the arc over the course of the past 16 seasons and will help open the floor for club superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.

In a subsequent tweet about the signing, Wojnarowski reports that Korver was torn between Milwaukee and Philadelphia. Korver’s arrival in Milwaukee will reunite him with head coach Mike Budenholzer. Budenholzer coach Korver as a member of the Atlanta Hawks.

The post Kyle Korver, Milwaukee Bucks Agree To One-Year Deal appeared first on SLAM.

Well, I hear that, and for that reason I give you permission to avert your eyes from the table below… if you must. Maybe go sit back and relax in a hammock or something. When you’re done, come back here and peep this early list of what we can expect from free agency next summer. This league…

This table could look significantly different come this time next year, not just because players’ values will fluctuate over the course of the 2019-20 campaign but because we might see some players avoid free agency altogether.

Players and teams can pick up options for the 2020-21 seasons and the two parties can even work together for contract extensions, as seems likely to be the case for Ben Simmons.

Disagree with this list? Weigh in with the comments below or find me on Twitter at @AustinKent. I’ll be the one in the middle of a 73-tweet thread about my love for Thomas Bryant.

The post The Top 25 2020 NBA Free Agents appeared first on SLAM.

Toronto’s triumph is “confirmation” that a smartly constructed roster—not necessarily a super team—can indeed contend for the ultimate prize, according to Conley.

The Memphis Grizzlies dealt the 31-year-old veteran point guard to the Jazz this summer, who he believes will be there “at the end of the year knocking at the door.”

Per ESPN:

“I think we all see that it’s an opportunity for all of us to have that aspiration,” Conley said. “We all want to win a championship. And especially myself, it’s something I’ve really been looking for my whole career and have gotten close and never been able to push through.

“And now it seems like it’s the time — this year especially, there’s not too many teams with three big-time, top-five, top-10 guys on a team. It’s kind of split up, so it’s a great opportunity for the Jazz to just be ourselves, continue to improve as the season goes on, and we’ll be there at the end of the year knocking at the door.”

It’s been 20-plus years since the Jazz last made the NBA Finals, making back-to-back appearances in 1997 and 1998 with the John Stockton-Karl Malone teams that fell to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, and more than a decade since Utah was in the conference finals with Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer in 2007.

“We embrace the expectations because we’re trying to field the most competitive team that we can in pursuit for a championship,” Jazz general manager Justin Zanek said. “We got a lot of work to do. We got to have the team jell and spend time with each other, and we have time to do that. But again, we’ll embrace everything because we’re here to compete.”

Related Mike Conley: ‘I Want to Be an Impact Player on a Championship Team’

The post Mike Conley: Raptors’ Title Serving as Inspiration in Utah appeared first on SLAM.

Korver ended the season on the Jazz. He was traded to the Grizzlies as part of the Mike Conley deal before he was acquired by the Suns in the Josh Jackson trade.

The Lakers, Bucks, and Sixers were previously linked to the veteran wing. Korver will clear waivers on Wednesday evening.

The post Suns Waive Kyle Korver appeared first on SLAM.

The Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks are among the teams with reported interest in Iguodala.

Memphis acquired the 35-year-old via Golden State as part of the three-team, sign-and-trade deal for D’Angelo Russell with the Warriors.

Per ESPN:

It was widely speculated that Iguodala would land with the Los Angeles Lakers if he received a buyout. Rob Pelinka was Iguodala’s agent before he became the Lakers’ general manager, and Iguodala would likely be eager to join a contender.

The Grizzlies used a trade exception acquired in the Mike Conley trade with the Utah Jazz to acquire Iguodala, getting the future first-round pick for facilitating the deal that sent Kevin Durant to the Brooklyn Nets and Russell to Golden State.

Memphis, under the leadership of recently promoted executive vice president of basketball operations Zach Kleiman, has made accumulating young players and future picks a priority this summer.

Related Andre Iguodala Thinks the NBA ‘Blackballed’ Mark Jackson for Religious Beliefs

The post Report: Memphis Grizzlies Exploring Andre Iguodala Trade appeared first on SLAM.

The 27-year-old Neto played four seasons with the Jazz and will now step in to provide backcourt depth for the Philadelphia 76ers after their own backup point agreed to sign on in Indiana.

In 37 games for the Jazz, Neto averaged 5.3 points per game. His deal will be guaranteed and for the veteran’s minimum.

The post Sixers Agree To Contract With Point Guard Raul Neto appeared first on SLAM.

Mudiay will join a Jazz team that’s fast becoming one of the low-key deepest teams in the Western Conference. Mudiay will serve as a backup to incoming Jazz guard Mike Conley Jr.

The Jazz will add Mudiay fresh off of a career year. Although Mudiay posted 14.8 points per game in 2018-19, the Knicks had little choice but to opt against extending him a qualifying offer given their pursuit of cap space.

He’ll now get a fresh start on a Western Conference squad that could look competitive in the postseason.

The post Emmanuel Mudiay Agrees To One-Year Deal With Jazz appeared first on SLAM.

Neto played four seasons with the Jazz franchise and averaged 5.3 points per game over the course of the 2018-19 campaign. Neto was drafted in the second round of the 2013 draft out of Brazil.

Neto’s $2 million deal for 2019-20 was fully non-guaranteed so the Jazz won’t sustain any cap hit.

The post Utah Jazz Release Point Guard Raul Neto appeared first on SLAM.

In 81 games for Indiana, Bogdanovic averaged 18.0 points per game. He shot .425 from beyond the arc this season and .402 from three in 2017-18.

Bogdanovic’s new pact will represent a significant pay raise over the two-year, $21 million deal he inked in 2017 but his impact on the Pacers justifies it. He’ll join another new addition, Mike Conley, on a Jazz club eager to take advantage of the uncertainty in the Western Conference.

The post Jazz To Sign Bojan Bogdanovic To Four-Year Deal appeared first on SLAM.

Memphis-bound, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, are the No. 23 pick in this year’s draft and a protected future first-rounder. That future first-rounder could convey as early as next year but comes with particular protections, as Chris Herrington of the Daily Memphian lays out.

The Grizzlies will get the first-rounder if it falls within the 8-14 range next year. If not, the same protection will apply in 2021. The protections decrease from there to top-6 six in 2022, top-3 in 2023 and top-1 in 2024 before converting to two second-round picks in 2025.

We wrote about the Jazz stepping up as frontrunners to land Conley earlier this week, giving them a top-rate veteran point guard as they look to compete in the Western Conference. Conley now will suit up alongside Donovan Mitchell in a dynamic backcourt.

According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, the two clubs won’t be able to make the deal official until July 6, when the Jazz can absorb Conley’s deal with cap room. That would mean that Utah will make the No. 23 pick on behalf of Memphis tomorrow night.

Although Conley’s contributions will give the Jazz a level of depth they haven’t seen in their previous postseason runs, he does come with a substantial price tag. Conley will earn $32.5 million in 2019-20 and then $34.5 million the next.

The Grizzlies will have the chance to cut some costs by waiving Korver, something the veteran may be amenable to if he’s looking to play for a contender. According to Basketball Insiders, only $3.4 million of Korver’s $7.5 million is guaranteed and the deadline for the team to waive him by is July 7.

The post Grizzlies Trading Mike Conley To Utah For Package With Grayson Allen, Picks appeared first on SLAM.

The veteran guard has been a likely candidate to be traded given the team’s change in direction over the past two seasosn and the fact that the Grizz will have an opportunity to draft point guard Ja Morant to fill that spot in their lineup later this week.

This isn’t the first time that Conley’s name has come up in trade talks. Last week Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN spoke about Utah’s interest in the veteran during their draft show, also linking the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers to him as well.

Despite Memphis unsuccessful campaign last year, Conley managed to average a career high of 21.1 points per game. He added 6.4 assists per contests.

Although Conley is the type of established winner that would make any team better, the 31-year-old does come with a substantial cap hit, owed $32.5 million in 2019-20 and then $34.5 the next season. If the Jazz are to acquire him, they’ll need to get creative.

The Jazz have $91 million in guaranteed money on their books for next season, according to Basketball Insiders, and can knock that down further by cutting ties with any combination of their five non-guaranteed contracts.

The post Jazz ‘Frontrunners’ To Land Mike Conley In Potential Grizz Trade appeared first on SLAM.

Opting out of the $17.6 million he could have earned with the Grizz next season doesn’t mean that Valanciunas doesn’t intend to return to Memphis, however. Not necessarily.

Instead of cashing in on that final year of the extension he signed back in 2015, Valanciunas could look to re-up with Memphis on a long-term deal even if it comes with a lesser yield in 2019-20.

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks lays out, the two parties would have only been able to discuss two-year extensions because Valanciunas was acquired by Memphis less than six months ago.

A multiyear deal with a lower annual hit would certainly appease the rebuilding Grizzlies as they look to juggle the $50 million tied up between veterans Mike Conley and Chandler Parsons and still develop a new core.

Valanciunas’ decision comes just days after it was revealed that the Grizz would be bringing Taylor Jenkins aboard as the club’s new head coach.

According to Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian, Jenkins spoke with Valanciunas prior to this decision.

The post Jonas Valanciunas To Decline 2019-20 Player Option appeared first on SLAM.

Rubio, 28, will be an unrestricted free agent July 1.

The Jazz explored trade options for the veteran point guard this season, who averaged 12.7 points and 6.1 assists in 27.9 minutes per game, and says he wants to play for an NBA title contender.

Per The Salt Lake Tribune:

In a recent interview with Catalunya Radio, Rubio was quoted as saying [in Catalan], “[Utah has] let me know that I am not priority number one. Then, we have to look for other options.”

The Jazz front office declined to comment on the report.

Rubio himself seemed to recognize in the immediate aftermath of the season that the likelihood of him returning was apparently slim, in spite of his professed desire to remain with the team.

“When free agency comes, now that the season is over, I can start thinking and see where I want to go, where I can go,” Rubio told the SLC media. “But one thing I’m gonna look [at] for sure is the best situation for me, with the coach and the team. … I want to be happy. I’m gonna try to find the best situation for me to perform and be happy.”

Related Report: Grizzlies, Jazz Discussing Conley-for-Rubio Trade

The post Ricky Rubio: ‘I Am Not Priority Number One’ for the Utah Jazz appeared first on SLAM.

Two other teams had good fortune today, both the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Lakers vastly improved their draft standing heading into June. The Grizzlies will have a shot at Ja Morant at No. 2 (and thus an existential crisis on their hands with regard to Mike Conley).

The Lakers have crept into the top four and will have a shot at the likes of R.J. Barrett and Jarrett Culver, depending on what the Knicks do at No. 3.

All told, the Lakers climbed seven places in the lottery while the Pelicans and Grizzlies each climbed six. The losers of the day were the four worst teams in 2018-19, all of whom had bad-to-horrible results. The Knicks fell two spots and the Cavaliers and Suns saw their 52.1% chance of a top-four pick evaporate.

Here’s the complete list of the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery order…

No. 1 Pick: New Orleans
No. 2 Pick: Memphis
No. 3 Pick: New York
No. 4 Pick: Los Angeles
No. 5 Pick: Cleveland
No. 6 Pick: Phoenix
No. 7 Pick: Chicago
No. 8 Pick: Atlanta
No. 9 Pick: Washington
No. 10 Pick: Dallas -> Atlanta
No. 11 Pick: Minnesota
No. 12 Pick: Charlotte
No. 13 Pick: Miami
No. 14 Pick: Sacramento -> Boston

Of course the rest of the draft picks have been set since the league broke it’s win-loss tiebreakers last month. Here’s how the back half of the first round will look like…

No. 15 Pick: Detroit
No. 16 Pick: Orlando
No. 17 Pick: Brooklyn
No. 18 Pick: Indiana
No. 19 Pick: San Antonio
No. 20 Pick: L.A. Clippers -> Boston
No. 21 Pick: Oklahoma City
No. 22 Pick: Boston
No. 23 Pick: Utah
No. 24 Pick: Philadelphia
No. 25 Pick: Portland
No. 26 Pick: Houston -> Cleveland
No. 27 Pick: Denver -> Brooklyn
No. 28 Pick: Golden State
No. 29 Pick: Toronto -> San Antonio
No. 30 Pick: Milwaukee

Other Stories From The NBA Draft Lottery:
Draft picks that will and won’t change hands due to previous trades
The financial impact of NBA lottery picks
The newest rules that changed the way the lottery worked

The post Pelicans Win NBA Lottery, Full Draft Order Revealed appeared first on SLAM.