Manu Ginobili is walking away from the Spurs and the NBA to a chorus of cheers from fans and former opponents.
Now the question turns to what’s next for the Spurs? I get into that in this latest PBT Extra video.
The short answer is a rebuild… eventually. But not for a couple more years.
It was a talking point going into the season: What teams we thought would be good will struggle, and then pivot to chase Victor Wembanyama in the lottery.
What about the 9-13 Chicago Bulls? They barely look like a playoff team, they miss Lonzo Ball, and even at their best where do they fall in the East? Would they blow it up? With DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic and Zach LaVine, they have players that would interest other teams and could bring quality picks (or young players) back to Chicago. Other teams are watching, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
"Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, I think those are all players — people in the league — teams are waiting to see: will any of them be available by the trade deadline."
🗣️ @wojespn pic.twitter.com/bw6Hp2m349
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) December 3, 2022
One of those teams: The Los Angeles Lakers.
That is according to ESPN’s Zach Lowe on the Lowe Post Podcast. He was discussing a potential trade floated by The Ringer’s Bill Simmons where the Lakers send Russell Westbrook and two future first-round picks (2027 and 2029) to the Bulls for DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic.
“The trade I saw on Twitter was Russ and both picks, one with light protections I think for DeRozan and Vucevic. I can tell you 100% for sure that the Lakers have had internal discussions about that very possibility, if it would ever come up. Not that they would do that. Let me be clear.”
None of this matters if the Bulls don’t decide to pivot, and they are not there yet. They may never get to that point. But the Lakers and other teams are surveying what teams might make game-changers available at the deadline, and the way the Bulls are stumbling has other teams keeping an eye on them. Expect the rumors to keep coming.
But for now, that’s all they are, rumors and speculation.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton initially said that making his 2022-23 debut in his return from offseason wrist surgery felt great.
Then he quickly corrected himself.
“I should actually say good,” Middleton said Friday night after the Bucks’ 133-129 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. “If we got the win, I think I would have been (feeling) great. It felt really good to be back out there with the guys competing and playing,”
Middleton, 31, had 17 points and seven assists while playing 26 1/2 minutes in his first game since spraining the medial collateral ligament in his left knee April 20 in Game 2 of the Bucks’ first-round playoff series with the Chicago Bulls. That injury caused him to miss the entirety of the Bucks’ Eastern Conference semifinal with the Boston Celtics, a series Milwaukee lost in seven games.
The 6-foot-7 forward then had surgery on his left wrist in the summer, having played through the injury late last season.
“Pretty impressive how kind of seamlessly he got back into the game on both ends of the court,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said.
Middleton said Friday at a post-shootaround availability that he might need some time to readjust, but the three-time All-Star didn’t show any signs of rust in his first game back. He shot 6 of 11 and went 3 of 4 from 3-point range.
“Just relying on my experience,” Middleton said. “Just (trying) not to rush and let the game come to me. Don’t try to do too much the first game back and try to fit in and play off my teammates.”
The most important thing is that Middleton felt just fine physically.
“Hopefully tomorrow when I wake up, I feel the same also and I won’t feel too sore or whatever,” he said.
The Bucks had gone 15-5 in Middleton’s absence. Milwaukee is second in the Eastern Conference, behind only the Boston Celtics.
Middleton’s teammates believe his return should make them even better.
“It takes us to a whole different level,” Bucks forward and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “We scored 129 points and we had a bad first half. That says a lot.”
Lakers coach Darvin Ham knows how much Middleton means to the Bucks’ title hopes. Ham was an assistant coach on Budenholzer’s Bucks staff from 2018-22, including their 2021 championship season.
“Giannis is the heart and soul and the engine, and Khris is like the steering wheel,” Ham said before Friday’s game. “He’s the GPS in terms of understanding what to do. Giannis is the focal point but Khris is the master of putting guys where they need to be. He’s like that quarterback.”
The Bucks aren’t going to overexert Middleton as he returns to the floor for the first time in about 7 1/2 months. Budenholzer said Middleton probably won’t play Saturday at Charlotte.
“We’ll talk about it on the plane, but my guess is he will not play a back-to-back,” Budenholzer said.
Middleton’s just happy he’s back on the floor at all.
“Just a range of emotions,” Middleton said. “(I’ve) been through a lot these last couple months. Happy, sad, anxious, nervous. To finally get out there and play and get a lot of those nerves past me felt pretty good.
Magic Johnson is one of the greatest, most creative passers the game has ever seen.
Friday night, LeBron James passed Magic for sixth all-time in assists in the NBA. For LeBron, doing that in a Lakers’ jersey like Magic wore was special.
"It's an honor for me to try to carry on his legacy while I play this game." @KingJames on passing @MagicJohnson for No. 6 on the NBA’s all-time assists list. pic.twitter.com/01iYFDrSwd
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) December 3, 2022
It happened with 8:41 remaining left in the game, LeBron found Anthony Davis for a 3-pointer on the right wing.
LeBron James has officially passed Magic Johnson for the 6th most assists of all-time.
History for the 👑 pic.twitter.com/tE5s3gSqSg
— NBA (@NBA) December 3, 2022
LeBron Passes Magic on the NBA's All-Time Assists List pic.twitter.com/Rai1m8o1QB
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 3, 2022
LeBron finished the night with 11 assists and 28 points, which along with a monster 44-point night from Anthony Davis led the Lakers to an impressive win over the Bucks in Milwaukee.
BOSTON (AP) — Bam Adebayo scored 28 points, Tyler Herro had 26 and the Miami Heat completed a split of two games in Boston, beating the Celtics 120-116 on Friday night after Jaylen Brown banked in a long 3-pointer to force overtime.
Heat leading scorer Jimmy Butler returned to the lineup and had 25 points in 36 minutes after missing the previous seven games with a sore right knee. He added 15 rebounds.
Jimmy Butler with ANOTHER clutch bucket to seal it for the Heat in OT 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ChNPpxUKoj
— NBA (@NBA) December 3, 2022
“Obviously having JB back is big time for us,” Herro said. “He helps us in so many different ways.”
Kyle Lowry chipped in with 20 points before fouling out in OT for the Heat, who sent Boston to just its second loss in 16 games.
“My team welcomed me back and let me do what I do,” Butler said. “It was a big `W’ for the team.”
🎥 Jimmy's full night… a return to remember pic.twitter.com/B81NsqzsO9
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 3, 2022
Brown sent the game to overtime by banking in his long 3 with 1.7 seconds to play in regulation. He finished with 37 points.
“It felt good coming off my hand,” Brown said. “I know we wanted to get a shot up off the rim as fast as possible, just in case we missed we could get a rebound, a tip out.”
The Celtics had won 10 straight at TD Garden.
Boston star Jayson Tatum scored just 14 points on a cold shooting night, going 5 of 18 from the floor, including 0 of 7 on 3-point attempts. He had 49 points in the Celtics’ 134-121 victory on Wednesday night.
“That’s the biggest thing about the league; you’re not going to stop anybody from just scoring,” Adebayo said. “I feel like (we’re) making him take tough shots every time we play him and living with the result.”
Butler hit a clutch jumper over Al Horford, making it 110-107 with 5.1 seconds left in regulation before Brown took a pass near midcourt, dribbled to his right and nailed his shot.
In OT, the teams were tied twice before Butler nailed a foul-line jumper over Horford with 1:45 left, but Brown hit two free throws to tie it.
Adebayo nailed two free throws and, after Tatum misfired on a 3, Butler hit a jumper to seal it.
“Jimmy made two tough, tough baskets,” Brown said. “That’s just a credit to his work and his skill and his development. He gets going in games like this; on the road in a hostile environment. … Tonight, two shots that in our defensive scheme we could live with, but Jimmy a big-time player made both of them.”
Unlike Wednesday, when shots were open more and both teams were making them effectively (each shot over 50%), defense was tighter and it resembled more of the postseason matchup last season between the pair that went seven games before Boston captured the Eastern Conference title.
