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Good day, Hoops Heads! Right here’s the newest NBA information from across the league.
NBA Information: Is Toronto planning an enormous commerce?
Toronto Raptors GM Masai Ujuri is thought for making daring strikes, and different executives count on him to just do that earlier than the commerce deadline if the Raptors aren’t higher, in accordance with ESPN’s Zach Lowe (subscription required).
They’ve been linked to Spurs center Jakob Poeltl and had been prepared to surrender a first-rounder however have but to satisfy their asking value.
It stays to be seen if they’ll in the end purchase him, however Gary Trent Jr. and Fred Van Vleet’s names had been additionally talked about as attainable commerce candidates given their contract conditions. If Van Vleet, Anunoby, and a primary are what Uruji is prepared to commerce, then it appears that he’s certainly trying to make an enormous splash forward of February’s commerce deadline.
NBA Information: Kevin Durant powering the Brooklyn Nets’ surge.
The Brooklyn Nets are quietly surging proper now, thanks largely to Kevin Durant, who’s averaging almost 30 factors per recreation for the second straight season. Although he’s 34 years outdated.
His offensive brilliance, together with a well-timed teaching change, has resulted within the Brooklyn Nets going 9-3 of their final 12 video games, they usually’re now fourth within the East. Higher but, they only bought reinforcements in Yuta Wantanabe and TJ Warren rejoining the workforce, with Wantanabe lacking eight video games and Warren lacking greater than a season.
Contemplating the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat are struggling right now, a case might be made that the Nets are certainly one of many 4 greatest Jap Convention groups, behind the Cavs, Bucks, and Celtics.
NBA Information: An NBA exhausting wage cap?
With negotiations for a brand new collective bargaining settlement underway, it seems that the house owners are in search of a tough cap of types. According to Marc Stein, the house owners need an “higher spending restrict” for aggressive steadiness.
Whereas there are groups such because the Golden State Warriors which might be spending properly over the wage cap, they will also pay $170 million in luxury tax. In the meantime, most groups could be silly to stay within the luxurious tax. Is {that a} aggressive imbalance? Not likely.
The luxurious tax system hammers groups that spend properly over the wage cap, much more so in the event that they make a behavior of it, and that basically serves as a tough cap. And it’s not just like the Warriors are dominant; as a substitute, they’re solely 14-13, even with their outrageous spending.
That is because of aggressive steadiness, and the house owners’ makes an attempt to restrict how a lot groups can spend on salaries are simply them being low-cost. Particularly for the reason that NBA TV contract expires in 2025 and a brand new deal will lead to a major enhance within the wage cap. There’s no means the NBAPA will comply with restrict gamers’ incomes potential earlier than that.
NBA Information: Dunk gate
On Friday evening, the then high two seeds within the West the New Orleans Pelicans and Phoenix Suns confronted off, however the final result of the sport rapidly turned an afterthought. This was a results of the “controversy” surrounding a powerful Zion Williamson 360-degree windmill dunk within the closing seconds of their 9-point win over the Suns.
The Suns discovered it disrespectful, and there was even an altercation between each groups instantly following the throwdown. Suns backup level guard Cam Payne defined why the Suns took difficulty with Williamson’s dunk.
Nonetheless, CJ McCollum had this to say about this example.
Nonetheless, unwritten sports activities guidelines are unwritten for a purpose; they don’t matter. If the Suns didn’t need Williamson to throw it down late within the recreation, then they need to’ve stopped him like McCollum mentioned. Or, higher but, they need to’ve crushed them. As an alternative, they take difficulty with two factors scored late in a recreation that they misplaced.
NBA Information: The San Antonio Spurs bounce again.
After going greater than a month and not using a win, the San Antonio Spurs have strung collectively back-to-back wins. Snapping an 11-game shedding streak has to come back as a aid for the gamers who don’t have that stink cloud hanging over them. That mentioned, their shedding streak had loads to do with accidents, with the Spurs typically having no less than three rotation gamers out.
That may simply be the damage bug, or it may very well be partially strategic. In spite of everything, through the shedding streak, they dropped to the second-worst report within the NBA, however now have solely the fifth-worst report within the league.
That’s probably non permanent, contemplating they don’t determine to win many video games this season anyway, however they must steadiness competing with staying within the race for Victor Wembanyama.
Lots of dangerous groups must do the identical factor since a bottom-three end provides every of these groups a 14% likelihood at profitable the lottery. Simply one thing to keep watch over. That’s all for now, Hoops Heads.
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