Bones Hyland suggested as potential Spurs trade target

LA Clippers guard Bones Hyland was recently suggested as a potential San Antonio Spurs trade target ahead of the deadline.

This year’s trade deadline will likely end up being a boring one for the San Antonio Spurs. They’re sitting at the bottom of the Western Conference with little hope of a Play-In birth. That said, they’ve been playing much better basketball as of late, putting up a solid fight against some quality teams.

While it may not make sense for the Spurs to make any significant moves at the deadline, there could be some room for them to take chances and add project pieces. Finding second-home (or third-home) players who could develop into useful rotation guys down the line would be a good plan.

Jonah Kubicek of Inside the Spurs suggested a trade that would see the Spurs take a chance on LA Clippers guard Bones Hyland in a trade. The potential move would see the Spurs send Doug McDermott to the Clippers for Hyland and PJ Tucker (who would likely be bought out).

“Hyland showed flashes of potential greatness in his rookie season in Denver but didn’t have a chance of receiving minutes on a win-now Clippers team with James Harden and Russell Westbrook in the backcourt,” Kubicek wrote. “Instead of flipping McDermott for picks (or nothing!), the Spurs could take a chance on Hyland while his stock is low.”

Hyland hasn’t been a part of LA’s rotation this year but, as noted by Kubicek, showed some real promise while with the Denver Nuggets. If the Spurs can help the 23-year-old get back to that point, he would be a decent scoring guard for them to have in the rotation.

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Paul George is excited to mentor Bones Hyland: ‘We’re going to open our arms’

“He’s coming into a situation with a lot of great veterans that can help him and mentor him.”

Paul George will represent the L.A. Clippers at the 2023 NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City, Utah.

This will be the eighth All-Star appearance for George, who has 23.3 points to go with 6.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game. The Clippers (31-28) are three games above .500 and just two and a half games back of the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

George’s Clippers made some significant changes at the NBA trade deadline, acquiring Mason Plumlee and Eric Gordon as well as Bones Hyland. The 32-year-old wing spoke to For The Win about these recent transactions and how it impacts their pursuit of a championship.

He also caught up with us about his plans for All-Star Weekend in Utah.

George spoke about his upcoming partnership with AT&T. He and Vince Carter will star in AT&T’s Playmaker Arcade VR game, which allows fans onsite at NBA Crossover to turn themselves into a 360 avatar while fans at home can play along through a web version of the game.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. 

Bones Hyland was told the Clippers were going to draft him, and now he finally gets to play there

Bones Hyland: “The Clippers told my agent that they was going to pick me.”

The Denver Nuggets have traded Bones Hyland to the L.A. Clippers.

Hyland, 22, is an exciting young scoring guard who made NBA All-Rookie Second-Team last season. Now in his second professional season, he is now averaging 12.1 points and 3.0 assists per game. He is shooting 37.8 percent on 3-pointers.

While he was originally drafted by the Nuggets, the former VCU standout initially expected to get selected by the Clippers in the 2021 NBA Draft.

Here is what Hyland explained to former NBA player JJ Redick when he was a guest on his podcast (via The Old Man and the Three):

“Two weeks before I was supposed to come out here [to Denver] for a draft workout and I told them no … I rolled my ankle … My range was like 15 to 23 or something like that. I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s over for Denver. I ain’t going out there.’ And the Clippers told my agent that they was going to pick me … They told me they were going to take me. So I’m like, ‘Yeah. I’m going to the Clippers.’”

You can watch the clip below, which begins around the 44-minute mark:

This was fascinating insight from Hyland, who finally gets to play in Los Angeles.

The Clippers originally had the No. 25 pick but traded it to the Knicks in order to move up and select Keon Johnson at No. 21 overall. Hyland was then selected by Denver at No. 26 overall.

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Ranking the 20 most interesting NBA players who could get traded and where each may go

A look at the players who could be dealt by Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.

The NBA trade deadline is one week from Thursday, and while it might seem quieter than normal, there could still be a lot of activity.

Even if there isn’t a looming blockbuster move like when the Nets and Sixers swapped James Harden and Ben Simmons last season, there are teams around the league that could have an entirely different roster before the beginning of the All-Star break.

While there are some obvious sellers (e.g. Pistons, Hornets, Spurs, Rockets), others (e.g. Raptors, Pacers, Jazz) have slightly less clear intentions.

Based on the latest rumors and intel provided by insiders around the NBA, these are the players considered most likely to get traded — and where each player is rumored to go.

But remember: The trade deadline is always full of surprises. No one in the league predicted the Kings would have traded Tyrese Haliburton last season! So in addition to these players, expect the unexpected.

Proposed trade sends Alex Caruso to Denver for Bones Hyland

The Bulls have been rumored to be seeking two first-round picks for Caruso.

The Chicago Bulls have been subject to trade rumors galore halfway through the season as they’ve failed to meet expectations in the second-year for this version of their core.

Among the trade rumors, everyone from their Big 3 in DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and Nikola Vucevic to role players like Alex Caruso, Ayo Dosunmu, Coby White, and Andre Drummond have been speculated as potential trade targets for contending teams around the league.

On Monday, Dan Favale of Bleacher Report proposed a deal in his trade deadline guide for the Bulls that would send Caruso to a contending team in the Western Conference.

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Re-ranking the 23 best NBA players under 23 years old, with a new star emerging at No. 1

None of these guys have even had their Jordan Year yet??

The next generation of NBA stars is incredibly promising, and many of them are still young enough to be undergraduate students in college.

Now that the NBA’s 2022-23 season is more than halfway done, we’ve decided to re-rank the 23 best players who are under 23 years old. But why 23? Well, it is not just because that was the number worn by Michael Jordan.

Typically, NBA publications rank 25 players under 25 years old. You can read versions of that here, here, and here. I wanted to try a similar thought experiment, but U25 was too much of a challenge because it is such a wide population.

By the time NBA players are 25 years old, many have already graduated to their second contract and are in vastly different chapters of their careers than the league’s young players. It is harder to compare players like Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum, who will each earn more than $30 million next season, to players on rookie scale contracts.

This story was originally published before the season began, and you can see each player’s previous ranking below their name.

For this exercise, all players included must be born after Feb. 1, 2000. We chose that date because the listed age on Basketball Reference is how old a player is on Jan. 31 of each season.

Additionally, the following rankings are based on performance so far this season, and it is not predictive of their future success or their potential in the league.

NOTE: That means players like Darius Garland (who was born on Jan. 26, 2000) and Cade Cunningham or Chet Holmgren (who are injured for the season) were excluded. 

Bones Hyland’s hilarious reaction after making this wild layup might be the NBA meme of the season

Nah, man. Bones Hyland is a menace.

The NBA season usually gives us some pretty incredible meme material year after year.

For example, the Darvin Ham clipboard joint from earlier this year is absolute gold — and not just because he coaches the Lakers. It’s just such a versatile one. It’s probably still circulating around group chats as we speak.

There are probably going to be a lot more great memes coming from this exciting season so far, too. But, man. This new Bones Hyland reaction that just dropped? That’s going to be a hard one to top.

Hyland made an incredible layup against the Clippers in a blowout win on Thursday night. His reaction to the layup was probably more incredible than the actual shot itself, though. Look at him.

Bones.

BONES.

BOOOOOOONES.

My man looks like the dramatic chipmunk. Hyland even translated the look for us himself.

This is absolutely hilarious. Well, to us, anyway. For the Clippers it’s pretty embarrassing. But, hey, man. Content!

Fans loved this.

Jamal Crawford: ‘I would’ve played even longer if I knew the stuff I know now’

“I scored 51 points off the bench in my last official game. I was 39 years old.”

Jamal Crawford, a three-time winner of NBA Sixth Man of the Year, played 20 professional seasons before officially announcing his retirement.

During a recent segment on his show, Jalen Rose argued that Crawford deserves to be in the Basketball Hall of Fame. Rose and former NBA player Matt Barnes both included Crawford as one of the top 5 ball-handlers of all time.

Crawford recently made headlines for his wildly popular Pro-Am league, the CrawsOver. Several notable NBA players, including rookies Paolo Banchero and Chet Holmgren, showed up to play in Seattle. Atlanta’s Trae Young and Dejounte Murray (who had this ridiculous highlight) also participated.

During a recent conversation with For The Win, Crawford discussed why his Pro-Am league is so important to him.

He also touched on predictions for the future of basketball in Seattle, which NBA players are carrying on his legacy, what he has learned while coaching his son’s AAU team, and why he highly recommends wearing Move Insoles.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Will Barton, Monte Morris trade grades: Who won the Nuggets and Wizards deal?

Will Barton will now play for fellow Baltimore native Wes Unseld Jr., who coaches the Wizards.

NBA free agency also means the trade market is as active as ever, and we had a trade between the Denver Nuggets and Washington Wizards this morning.

After trading JaMychal Green to the Thunder and gaining some draft capital (which was used on UCLA freshman Peyton Watson) in the process, Denver has been active in the trade market of late.

As we’ve done in the past, we’ll grade the trade for both sides to help break down who won and lost the deal.

This is a guard and a wing trade for … a guard and a wing. Let’s break it all down for you:

NBA draft sleepers: Get to know VCU wing Vince Williams Jr., a 3-and-D standout

VCU wing Vince Williams Jr. is one of the more enticing sleepers in the 2022 NBA draft. But he may not stay under the radar for much longer.

VCU wing Vince Williams Jr. is one of the more enticing sleepers in the 2022 NBA draft. But he may not stay under the radar for much longer.

Williams is a senior who has already played four years of college basketball. But he will still be 21 years old on the night of the draft, which makes him younger than sophomore Keegan Murray, a projected lottery pick in this draft class.

Once you look into the statistical profile for Williams, it’s easy to see the appeal. Williams, who says his wingspan is nearly 7-foot, is the kind of role player who can have a high impact in the pros.

Opponents were just 4-for-29 (13.8%) on jumpers off the dribble on possessions when Williams was the nearest defender, per Synergy. According to CBB Analytics, during the minutes when Williams was on the court, other teams shot worse than 30% on non-corner 3-pointers and from the midrange.

He was an irritant and menace on the defensive end of the floor, constantly forcing turnovers for his defensive unit, which fares significantly better with him playing relative to when he was not.

Very few players have notched the level of productivity Williams just showed when it comes to key defensive metrics (block percentage, steal percentage, defensive box plus-minus) and offensive metrics (assist percentage and 3-point attempt rate).

Some of the other players with that impact in recent years include: Herbert Jones, De’Anthony Melton, Gary Payton II, and Draymond Green. Within that group, Williams had the highest field-goal percentage both at the rim (68%) and on 3-pointers (38.7%).

Jones, who was a standout rookie during his first professional season in New Orleans, is a particularly interesting comparison for Williams — who sees the similarity in their games.

Williams will have a chance to show what he can bring to the next level while participating in the G League Elite Camp in Chicago between May 16 and 17 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. If he fares well there, he can earn an invitation to the NBA Combine.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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