Breaking down the Derrick Williams for Mbah a Moute trade: It’s as win-win as it gets

By Kurt HelinNov 26, 2013, 12:16 PM EST

The first rule for a GM in “winning” a trade is to make the other GM think he’s winning it. Even if you think you’re fleecing him.

The swap sending Derrick Williams to Sacramento and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute to Minnesota — which has become official — would have been an easy sell for both GMs. Both these teams are in different places with different goals. The trade works for both teams because of that.

For some Timberwolves fans there’s an emotional part of this — Williams was the No. 2 pick, they drafted him on potential and in theory that potential is still there.

But Minnesota has moved on from “we’re a young team waiting for our potential to develop” into “we need to make the playoffs” mode. This trade fits with that — Minnesota gets a solid veteran they can count on off the bench to help them make the playoffs. Williams is not that.

Mbah a Moute gives the Rick Adelman a defensive specialist to turn to off the bench. Put him in a rotation with Chase Budinger and Ronny Turiaf once they get healthy, plus Dante Cunningham, and that’s a pretty good bench front line.

Williams got run last season as the Timberwolves power forward because Adelman was out of bodies — Kevin Love and Andrei Kirilenko missed a lot of time — but by the end of that season Adelman had made his decision and was done with Williams. Williams is a tweener really and he doesn’t create good shots for himself or defend well. Then two things happened that really signaled the end for Williams in Minny: 1) Flip Saunders came in as defacto as GM for David Kahn (who always defended his draft picks); 2) Robbie Hummel emerged as a solid option off the bench. Williams became expendable and has gotten just 14.7 minutes a game and shooting just 35.2 percent when he does get on the floor.

Consider this the “change of scenery” move for Williams, and occasionally those work out. Sacramento is still trying to develop its talent and is looking to the long term. Expect Williams to get run in Sacramento, but remember coach Mike Malone has options — John Salmons, Jason Thompson, Patrick Patterson and Travis Outlaw, plus eventually Carl Landry will return from injury and be better than any of them.

Williams has not been a good defender, if that continues he’s not going to get past those guys ahead of him on the forward list. But he’s going to get a chance to show off that athleticism and figure out how to fit it the Kings offense. He has his option for next season already picked up.

Williams gets a chance, Minny gets a defender.

Both sides get something they can use.

As expected, Alabama’s Brandon Miller says he will enter NBA Draft

By Kurt HelinMar 31, 2023, 7:48 AM EDT

Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

This is far from a surprise, but it’s now official.

Brandon Miller, the Alabama wing projected as likely top-three pick, told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski he would enter this June’s NBA Draft.

Miller, a 6’9″ sharpshooting wing, has climbed draft boards over the course of this season as he has shown off more aspects of this game. He has good size, impressive athleticism and projects as a three or four in the NBA (two high-value positions). His skill set starts with being an elite shooter (39.9% on 3-pointers this season) who has the size to shoot over the top of many defenders, but this season showed off improved finishing at the rim and playmaking off the bounce.

Brandon Miller with the dagger dunk 🤯🔥pic.twitter.com/Kr8gqJ0VPV

— Alabama DieHards (@DiehardsAlabama) March 12, 2023

The development and growth of Miller’s game (while Scoot Henderson played well but missed a lot of 3s in the G-League) put Miller in the mix for the No.2 pick (Victor Wembanyama remains the clear No.1). Most teams likely still lean toward Henderson and his otherworldly athleticism, but whoever the basketball lottery gods gift the No.2 pick will have a conversation.

Miller made more headlines this season for his off-the-court troubles than his play on it. Tuscaloosa police say he brought a gun to former Alabama teammate Darius Miles, who allegedly used it to shoot and kill Jamea Jonae Harris. Miller was never charged with a crime and multiple front office sources told NBC Sports that unless something changes and he is, this will not impact his draft status.

Watch Tatum score 40, Brown 30, Celtics blow out Bucks (again) 140-99

Associated PressMar 30, 2023, 11:06 PM EDT

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jayson Tatum scored 40 points, Jaylen Brown added 30 and the Boston Celtics steamrolled the NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks 140-99 on Thursday night.

The Celtics (53-24) shot 22 of 43 from 3-point range and moved within two games of the Bucks (55-22) in the Eastern Conference standings. The Celtics won the season series with the Bucks 2-1, which would give Boston the tiebreaker if both teams finish with the same record.

Boston’s performance in those three games with Milwaukee should give the Celtics plenty of confidence they could knock out the Bucks again if they meet in the postseason. The Celtics beat the Bucks in seven games in last season’s East semifinals.

HIGHLIGHTS: The Celtics went out and DOMINATED the Bucks in Milwaukee

Presented by: @TMobile pic.twitter.com/dvdN2qdmyn

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) March 31, 2023

The Celtics beat the Bucks 139-118 in Boston on Christmas Day and lost 131-125 in overtime on Feb. 14. The Celtics didn’t play Brown, Tatum, Marcus Smart or Al Horford in that overtime loss.

Milwaukee took a hit on the floor as well as in the standings. Bucks forward Khris Middleton left the game midway through the third quarter after taking an elbow to the face from Brown. The play resulted in a charging foul on Brown and caused Middleton to receive stitches on his upper lip.

Boston built a 114-74 lead through three periods, causing most of the starters for both teams to sit out the entire fourth quarter.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 24 points.

This matched the Bucks’ most lopsided loss of the season. They fell 142-101 at Memphis on Dec. 15.

The Bucks were playing one night after a 149-136 victory at Indiana in which they shot a season-high 62.4% from the floor with Jrue Holiday scoring 51 points and Antetokounmpo having 38 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists. This marked the first time an NBA team had one player score at least 50 points and another have a triple-double with at least 35 points in the same game.

Milwaukee found the going quite a bit tougher Thursday.

Antetokounmpo shot just 11 of 27, including 0 for 5 from 3-point range. Holiday started his night by sinking a 3-pointer, but went 1 of 7 the rest of the way and finished with just six points.

After the first 8½ minutes of the game featured nine lead changes and five ties, the Celtics seized control by going on a 29-9 over the last seven-plus minutes. Boston capped that spurt by scoring 13 straight points.

Boston didn’t let up the rest of the night.

Milwaukee’s Thanasis Antetokounmpo was ejected with 1:25 left for head-butting Boston’s Blake Griffin. The head-butting came after Griffin committed a flagrant-1 foul against Antetokounmpo.

Knicks’ Julius Randle out at least two weeks with sprained ankle

By Kurt HelinMar 30, 2023, 5:21 PM EDT

Dustin Satloff/Getty Images

In just a little more than two weeks, April 15 or 16, the New York Knicks will open the playoffs, likely on the road in Cleveland.

They hope to have Julius Randle back for that game.

The Knicks’ All-Star forward and leading scorer, Randle suffered a sprained ankle against the Heat on Wednesday night and will be re-evaluated in two weeks, the team announced.

Julius Randle sustained a sprained left ankle in last night’s game against Miami. He will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) March 30, 2023

That timeline has him re-evaluated days before the playoffs tip-off. He will not play again this regular season.

Randle rolled his ankle leaping for a rebound and landing on Bam Adebayo‘s foot in the second quarter, and he left the game not to return. Friday night against those Cavaliers (in Cleveland) will be the first game Randle has missed all season.

Randle is playing at an All-NBA level again this season, averaging 25.1 points and 10 rebounds a game. The Knicks have five games remaining in the season and are almost locked in as the No.5 seed, four games back of the No. 4 Cavaliers and 2.5 games up on the No.6 seed (and stumbling) Nets.

Kevin Durant: ‘I don’t care about legacy… I used to… Nowadays, I truly, truly don’t care’

By Kurt HelinMar 30, 2023, 1:35 PM EDT

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

In the neverending debate around sports, we become obsessed with a player’s legacy. What is LeBron James‘ legacy and does he need another ring in his GOAT battle with Michael Jordan? What will Damian Lillard‘s legacy be if he chooses to spend his entire career in Portland and doesn’t jump teams to chase a ring? What will Kevin Durant‘s legacy be with him getting ripped by some fans for going to Golden State and joining forces with Stephen Curry in the first place, then other fans ripping him for leaving that situation?

Durant doesn’t care.

That’s what he told Shams Charania of The Athletic.

“I don’t care about legacy,” Durant told The Athletic. “I used to. I used to want to carve out a lane or space in this game for myself that people can remember, but it’s become too much of a thing now. It just becomes too much of a focus on other people. What’s he done, what’s he done? Comparisons. Before, when we wasn’t doing all this debating, I cared about it … I’m about to be in the same breath as these top guys. It was big.

“Nowadays, I truly, truly don’t care. I truly just want to go out there and produce, be the best that I could be, go home, hang with my family, that’s it.”

Durant’s legacy as one of the great pure scorers the game has ever seen is unquestioned. If he walks away from the game right now, he goes down as likely a top 15 player of all-time (that may be low) and a lock first-ballot Hall of Famer. His ability to create a shot for himself, or just hit a jumper over his defender even if there isn’t a good look, may be unparalleled in league history.

Beyond that, it’s the eye of the beholder. Durant is back on the court in Phoenix trying to extend that legacy, however people choose to define it.

What you say about Durant’s years in Golden State — with a couple of rings and a couple of Finals MVPs — says more about what you want and expect from a superstar than it does Durant. He told Charania he saw no logic in what people said about him as he left Golden State, so he stopped worrying about it. He went to Brooklyn, which went worse than just about everyone expected, so he moved on and said he is ignoring the critics again. (Except the occasional foray into Twitter may suggest he cares more than he lets on.)

Durant has cast himself as a guy who just wants to hoop because, at his core, that’s who he is. This is a guy who loves the grind, the competition, he’s an ultimate process-over-results guy. He’s embraced that about himself, he sees that as his legacy even if others will pile more on top of it.

Durant can’t end the legacy debate around him. But he doesn’t have to care about it, either.

Check out more on the 2023 NBA Draft

Check out more on the Celtics

Check out more on the Suns