Tag: Hawks

Ben Simmons finally explained why he passed up an easy dunk against the Hawks in the 2021 playoffs

Ben Simmons finally broke down the dunk that never was.

The last time we saw Ben Simmons playing basketball it didn’t look good for him. At all. He struggled offensively throughout the 76ers’ series against the Hawks.

The last significant play he made was passing up this *easy* dunk over Trae Young in Game 7. The 76ers were up 78-77 with about 3 minutes left. If he just dunks the ball, they’re up 3 in a game where no one can score. Maybe they actually win the game.

Instead, he passes it up. And the rest is really history. The 76ers go on to lose the game and lose the series as the no. 1 seed. He never plays for the team again.

Now, look. This isn’t necessarily the play that lost the Sixers the game. They played themselves into a hole as a team. But, at the same time, this is the play that sticks out. It’s the one everyone talks about. And it’s the last play of significance we saw from Ben Simmons.

JJ Reddick brought him on his podcast, The Old Man and the Three, to ask him about it. And Simmons explained it all. He basically explained that he thought Trae Young was coming over to him quicker and that Matisse Thybulle would be able to easily dunk it.

He didn’t realize how much space there was between Thybulle and the basket.

Here was his breakdown:

“In the moment I just spun and I’m assuming Trae’s going to come over quicker. So I’m thinking he’s going to come full blown and I see Matisse [Thybulle] going — you know, Matisse is athletic, can get up. So I’m thinking quick pass he’s going to flush it. Not knowing how much space there was.”

He continued to explain his mindset and what went wrong.

“It happened so quick, that you just make a read. And in the playoffs, you need to make the right decisions a majority of the time. It happened and I was like “Ok. F*** now we’ve got to go make another play. That’s what I’m thinking. Then I didn’t realize how, you know, everyone was posting…like, it was that big?” 

And there you have it, folks. That’s the explanation for the dunk that never was. Simmons also had one final point to make about all the blame being placed on his shoulders. “Also, I’m guarding the f******* best player on the other team the whole game.” Which, you know, that’s a totally fair point. He doesn’t deserve as much blame as he’s getting for that loss, even all this time later.

Still should’ve dunked it. But hey. The past is the past. Maybe everyone can finally put this to bed and move on.

Dejounte Murray: Trae Young wanted me as bad as I wanted to go over there to help

After becoming an All-Star for the first time with the Spurs, newly acquired Hawks guard Dejounte Murray is excited to form a backcourt tandem with fellow All-Star Trae Young and try to take Atlanta to the next level in the East.

Murray, who led the league in steals (2.0) and finished second in triple-doubles (13) last season, discussed his time in San Antonio, what to expect from pairing with Young, his expectations for the Hawks, and previewed his New Balance player exclusive sneakers in an interview with HoopsHype.

Kevin Durant: His potential trade destinations

The 2019-2022 Brooklyn Nets truly will be the biggest what-if team in NBA history. Last week, a contractual dispute between Kyrie Irving and the Nets started to give Kevin Durant a wandering eye. Now Durant has reportedly asked for a trade, according to Shams Charania.

Several teams must have been preparing for this moment after last week’s reports of Durant’s uncertain future in Brooklyn. Last week, we discussed Irving’s potential trade destinations and how his departure could trigger an immediate rebuild for the Nets. Durant is still one of the best players in the league and maintains enough trade for the Nets to extract every asset playoff teams have to offer. The HoopsHype staff voted Kevin Durant as the 13th best player in NBA history, which would make him the second-best player to ever get traded in the modern era under Shaquille O’Neal.

Unless traded to a team with enough cap space to fit Durant’s $44.1 million salary, the magic number for over-the-cap teams to acquire him is $35.2 million. assuming a deal gets done in the 2022-23 league year. Durant may not have the ultimate say towards which team he goes to considering he has four years, $198 million left on his deal, but the veteran superstar would likely still get to one of his preferred teams.

Hawks Rumors: John Collins, Deandre Ayton, Clint Capela, De’Andre Hunter, More

NOTE: This podcast was recorded Wednesday at 11 AM EST before the Dejounte Murray trade happened

HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto and Hawks beat writer Chris Kirschner discuss the trade market for John Collins, the chances of a Deandre Ayton sign-and-trade, De’Andre Hunter’s potential contract extension value, and more on the latest edition of the HoopsHype podcast.

For more interviews with players, coaches, and media members, be sure to like and subscribe to the HoopsHype podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and anywhere else you listen to podcasts. Listen to the podcast above or check out some snippets of the conversation in a transcribed version below.

Aggregate NBA mock draft 7.0: Ousmane Dieng moves into lottery, Jalen Williams top 20; trade talks

The NBA Draft is less than a week away, with more potential big trades on the horizon following the Christian Wood acquisition by the Dallas Mavericks, as noted throughout our new HoopsHype aggregate mock draft.

To get a better projection of where all of the projected top prospects stand currently, we compiled mock drafts from ESPN, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, The Ringer, Sports Illustrated, NBADraft.net, CBS Sports, SB Nation, Yahoo, Basketball News, and USA TODAY’s For The Win.

The most notable risers within the projected lottery selections included Dyson Daniels moving up further within the top 10 picks, Ousmane Dieng becoming a projected lottery pick, and Jalen Williams vaulting into the Top 20 range. Jake LaRavia and Dalen Terry, two of the biggest risers throughout the draft process, have moved into the late first round.

Other risers in the second round include Ryan Rollins, Andrew Nembhard, David Roddy, John Butler, Michael Foster, Gabriele Procida, and Dereon Seabron.

The notable name that fell was MarJon Beauchamp, who now is projected outside the top 20 picks despite receiving a green room invite. Josh Minott and Jean Montero were among those whose stock fell in the second round.

NOTE: These rankings reflect the composite score to get a feel for the overall consensus, not our own opinion. For example, if a player was the first pick on a publication’s mock draft, he received 58 points. If a player was second, he received 57 points and so on. We then tabulated the total number of points for each player’s consensus ranking. 

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report

Aggregate NBA mock draft 6.0: Dyson Daniels moves into top 10; Christian Wood trade rumors

Following the withdrawals of several prospects, the aggregate NBA mock draft has shifted noticeably, and more intel on teams have surfaced with the draft nearing.

To get a better projection of where all of the projected top prospects stand currently, we compiled mock drafts from ESPN, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, The Ringer, Sports Illustrated, NBADraft.net, CBS Sports, SB Nation, Yahoo, Basketball News, and USA TODAY’s For The Win.

The most notable risers within the projected lottery selections included Keegan Murray leaping Shaedon Sharpe into the top five range, Dyson Daniels entering the top 10, and Malaki Branham cracking the end of the lottery. Dalen Terry also vaulted 12 spots since our last aggregate mock draft and is currently positioned as an early second-round pick.

Some of the more notable names that fell slightly included TyTy Washington, Max Christie and Leonard Miller.

NOTE: These rankings reflect the composite score to get a feel for the overall consensus, not our own opinion. For example, if a player was the first pick on a publication’s mock draft, he received 58 points. If a player was second, he received 57 points and so on. We then tabulated the total number of points for each player’s consensus ranking.

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report

Hawks offseason preview: Despite down year, future still looking bright

The Atlanta Hawks came back down to Earth after a surprising run to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. The rest of the East got stronger and Atlanta’s defense stagnated them, keeping them from finishing above the play-in tournament. The Hawks are by all means a good team, but perhaps were playing over their heads last year in a weaker conference compared to this season. Still, they have a great foundation going forward and have a reasonable path to eventually contend with this group.

Atlanta will be entering the 2022 offseason with a relatively high payroll now that Trae Young‘s maximum extension is kicking in. Key decisions for them could include clearing up money to open up spending power, reshaping their core through trade, and potentially extending some of their starters.

LAYUP LINES: We are way too fixated on the future when it comes to the NBA

Enough about the future. Let’s focus on this weekend’s playoff picture.

Welcome to Layup Lines, our daily NBA newsletter where we’ll prep you for a tip-off of tonight’s action, from what to watch to bets to make. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every afternoon.

What’s good, family! Welcome to Layup Lines. It’s your boy Sykes here to lead you into tonight’s NBA action. But first a quick thought.

I know things have been this way for a while, but can we stop looking so far ahead into the future when it comes to the NBA?

ESPN’s Jay Williams did just that today when he made waves on the internet by saying LaMelo Ball is not long for Charlotte. He’s literally putting the kid on the Lakers already.

Never mind the fact that he’s just finished his 2nd season as an NBA player or the fact that there’s this whole restricted free agency thing that makes it all the more likely he’ll be in Charlotte until, at least, 2027.

Forget all that. The dude is just a Laker already.

This is a huge problem with NBA coverage. And it’s not just a Jay Williams thing or an ESPN thing. People everywhere are more obsessed with the transactions in the NBA than basketball itself. This is what Kevin Durant meant when he said NBA fans don’t like anything about the NBA last year— there’s plenty to talk about, but we never talk about it.

Instead of talking about Ball being the youngest player ever to make 200 3-pointers in a year, we’re shipping him to the Lakers.  Before Giannis Antetokounmpo re-signed with the Bucks and won a title, we shipped him to the Warriors. You get the drift by now.

We’re way too focused on the future with the NBA and what will come as opposed to what’s happening right now. We just had 4 awesome play-in games. We’ve had a historic MVP race. There are plenty of awesome playoff matchups to talk about.

And instead? LaMelo to the Lakers dominated the online conversation. We need to do better. Much, much, much better.

The Tip-Off

Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.

Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Don’t trick yourself when it comes to the Hawks vs. the Cavaliers tonight. We tend to get a bit too caught up in the regular season at times, my colleague Prince Grimes writes.

But the Hawks than the Cavaliers coming into the season. They certainly feel like the better team right now. Roll with that.

Atlanta has a bottom five defensive rating over the course of the season but ranks 11th in the last 15 games, better than the Cavs who are 24th in that time. Paired with a top 10 offense in that span, the Hawks have the league’s seventh-best net rating. As hard as it is to do, I’m ignoring what we’ve seen over the course of most of 82 games and taking the Hawks to ride this momentum and end up in the playoffs where they always belonged.

One to Watch

(All odds via Tipico.)

Clippers (-105) vs. Pelicans (-1.5, -115), O/U 215.5, 10 PM ET

Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The play-in game out west is probably going to be the most interesting one tonight with Paul George missing time in the NBA’s health and safety protocol. The Pelicans looked dominant against the Spurs and CJ McCollum can’t miss right now. I’m going Pels -1.5 tonight.

Who’s in and out?

Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

— Paul George (health and safety protocols) is out for Friday night’s game against the Pelicans

—Jarrett Allen (finger) is probable for the Cavaliers for Friday’s game against the Hawks.

—Bogdan Bogdanovic (ankle) is questionable for the Hawks for Friday’s action against the Cavs.

—Luka Doncic (calf strain) will miss game one against the Jazz on Saturday and will be day-to-day after that game.

—Steph Curry (foot) says he’ll be ready to go for game 1 against the Nuggets.

Shootaround

(AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

—The Clippers and Pelicans game will determine how the Trail Blazers’ rebuild goes this summer, our Cole Huff writes.

—Joel Embiid has some advice for James Harden ahead of the playoffs, from Ky Carlin Sixers Wire. Advice for the playoffs never feels great.

—The Rockets G-League affiliate just won its 4th NBA G-League title which is pretty incredible,  per Ben DuBose of Rockets Wire.

—Brad Stevens just shut down the possibility of him coaching the Lakers, from Justin Quinn of Celtics Wire.

That’s all, folks! Have a great weekend.

Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. SeeTipico.com  for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA).

LAYUP LINES: The NBA’s Play-In tournament is extremely fun…but it shouldn’t be a thing

The Play-In is fun but it’s fertile ground for disaster.

Welcome to Layup Lines, our daily NBA newsletter where we’ll prep you for a tip-off of tonight’s action, from what to watch to bets to make. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every afternoon.

What’s good, party people? It’s Sykes here to usher you into tonight’s NBA Play-In action. Speaking of the Play-In, a quick word on that.

This little tournament the NBA has put together for its bottom four playoff seeds is pretty fun — I have to admit that. Tuesday’s action with the Timberwolves and Clippers was particularly exhilarating.

But…I’m also not the biggest fan of the Play-In. Now, look. I’m sure this comes off as a bit of hate. But I have good reason, though!

The league is lowering its playoff standard while it punishes teams in the 7 and 8 slots. Imagine a world where the Timberwolves as a 7 seed don’t make the playoffs because they couldn’t win a Play-In game due to some unforeseen circumstance. At 46-36 they’d be 12 games better than the Spurs as the 10 seed and out of the postseason completely. Make that make sense.

That’s going to happen someday. A star player will get injured or a team will just go ridiculous cold in the last week of the season and they’ll lose out. It won’t make sense but it’s Play-In chaos, baby. That’s what y’all want.

Look, I get it. This is fun. It’s NBA-style March Madness and this is what everyone loves to see. But this isn’t how you determine the NBA’s best teams.

The Play-In is here to stay because y’all love it so much. But don’t be mad when your favorite team falls victim to the chaos. Because it’s bound to happen at one point or another.

Anyway, let’s jump in.

The Tip-Off

Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.

(Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)

The NBA world hated so hard on Patrick Beverley and the Timberwolves after their admittedly over-the-top celebration of a Play-In win.

It was really like they won a title. Especially for Beverley as my colleague Charles Curtis writes.

“He celebrated by tossing his jersey. He talked a lot of trash in the postgame press conference. He got on a live social media feed and said some more wild stuff.”

Beverley had real tears in his eyes after beating his old team. Anthony Edwards jumped up on the scorer’s table with his point guard. Karl-Anthony Towns had a celebratory kiss on the sidelines with his boo, Jordyn Woods. These dudes were happy.

Honestly? I can’t really blame them. This is their second postseason appearance since 2004. Let them go crazy — even if it’s just for one night. They deserve at least that.

One to Watch

(All odds via Tipico.)

Hawks (-5.5, -230) vs. Hornets (+180), O/U 234.5, 7 PM ET

Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

For a 9 seed vs. 10 seed matchup, this sure is an exciting game. You’ve got Trae Young going head to head against LaMelo Ball. Their season series is tied 2-2 with each team taking one on the road. The key here is the Hornets defense on Trae Young, who they’ve guarded exceptionally well this season. He’s only shooting 38% from the field against Charlotte.

I think the Hawks win outright at home. But I think it’ll be close so I’m taking the Hornets +5.5.

Who’s in and out?

Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

—Pelicans: Brandon Ingram (hamstring) is probable for the Pelicans’ Play-In matchup against the Spurs on Wednesday.

—Pelicans: As expected, Zion Williamson (foot) is still listed as out for New Orleans.

—Hornets: Gordon Hayward (ankle) remains out for the Hornets.

—Hawks: John Collins(foot) has also been ruled out for Atlanta.

Shootaround

(Wendell Cruz/Pool Photo via AP, File)

—Speaking of the Hawks, our Bryan Kalbrosky got a chance to chat with Trae Young about the playoffs, acting alongside his brother and so much more.

—I wrote a bit about Karl-Anthony Towns still struggling with physicality on the basketball court.

—A fan really glued herself to the Timberwolves’ court on Tuesday. Seriously. That’s a thing that happened.

—Here are some potential candidates for the Lakers head coaching vacancy from Robert Marvi.

That’s all, folks!

Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. SeeTipico.com  for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA).

Zion Williamson wasn’t mentioned on a Pelicans season ticket email and now everyone has questions about his future

Zion Williamson’s future might really be in question

Most of the chatter about Zion Williamson wanting to go elsewhere or trying to force his way out of New Orleans has fallen on deaf ears to this point.

I mean, sure. He could leave New Orleans. But it’d take a whole lot for that to happen and none of it really seems likely.

He’ll be a restricted free agent after next season. The Pelicans would have first right of refusal on an open market for any long-term deal at the very least. It never felt likely that Williamson would be in anything other than a Pelicans jersey for the foreseeable future.

But one email to Pelicans’ season ticket holders just brought out all of the collective eye emojis on the internet.

The Pelicans sent out an email to their season ticket holders doing the usual prodding to see who would renew. Y’all know how that goes. In those emails, the teams always include their best and most popular players. The ones that sell the tickets.

You know who wasn’t on there? You guessed it. The Pelicans’ number one overall pick from 3 seasons ago — Zion Williamson.

“Led by new Head Coach Willie Green and players Brandon Ingram, Jonas Valanciunas and CJ McCollum, the Pelicans are building something special across the street from the Caesars Superdome.”

Sheesh. Now, look. There’s plausible deniability here. Ingram, Valanciunas and McCollum are playing right now. They’re currently building something. Zion is obviously not, because he’s out and away from the team.

But they could also easily change that copy to include Williamson. That’s not a hard thing to do at all. And this — along with a report that executives around the NBA are bracing for a potential trade demand from Williamson — will not inspire any confidence in Pelicans fans or Williamson’s future in New Orleans.

This situation is starting to balloon into a big mess. NBA fans are loving it, of course.

[listicle id=1849423]

[mm-video type=video id=01fwf52zw6sqnz8qthkd playlist_id=01f09p3bf720d8rg02 player_id=01evcfkb10bw5a3nky image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fwf52zw6sqnz8qthkd/01fwf52zw6sqnz8qthkd-9efeaca12ef44400322c55e870e6ec38.jpg]