J-Speaks: Pelicans' All-Star Anthony Davis Request To Be Traded

After making the playoffs and winning a playoff series for the first time in a decade, the New Orleans Pelicans entered this season with the expectation of taking that next step with their All-Star centerpiece leading the way. Injuries and inconsistent play have really squashed those dreams and now said star player, who is eligible for a major extension this summer went to management and said players’ agent informed the Pelicans he wants out and soon. 

According to ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski, perennial All-Star power forward/center Anthony Davis through his agent of “Klutch Sports” Rich Paul, who also represents four-time Kia MVP LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers says that he requested to be traded from the team that he has played his entire seven-year career for. 

 “Although we are disappointed in this decision, our organization’s top priority is to bring an NBA championship to our city…Relative to the specific talks of a trade, we will do this on our timeline. One that makes sense for our team and it will not be dictated by those outside of our organization.”

Paul also informed the Pelicans that Davis has no plans on signing a long-term super max contract extension of five years at $240 million if and when he is offered. 

That means unless Davis were not to be traded, which is very unlikely now, he could become a free agent in the summer of 2020. 

“Anthony wants to be traded to a team that allows him the chance to win consistently and compete for a championship,” Paul told Wojnarowski. 

Paul added by saying for the timing of his client’s trade request, “Anthony wanted to be honest and clear with his intentions and that’s the reason for informing them of this decision now. That’s in the best interests of both Anthony’s and the organization’s future.” 

As for the presents, Davis prior to the announcement of him through his agent requesting a trade had conversed with his teammates prior to his decision and starting lead guard Jrue Holiday said to the media after practice on Monday afternoon that Davis is “like a brother to us.” 

“I’ve been here for six years with him and just the fact that he felt like he had that connection and that respect for not only me but everybody on this team.” 

He added per Will Guilory of “The Athletic,” “Anthony had to do what’s best for him. It’s business…he’s going to come in here and work.”  

Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry in speaking with Davis early Monday morning said that he would play the rest of the season once the swelling from his sprained left index finger that he injured in the team’s 128-112 loss at the Portland Trail Blazers (31-20) on Jan. 18 that was expected to sideline him up to two weeks.

This finger injury, along with an ankle injury earlier this season and a hip injury in November 2018 has limited Davis to just 41 games this season, he has averaged 29.3 points (3^rd NBA), 13.3 rebounds (4^th NBA), 4.4 assists, 1.7 steals and 2.6 blocks (2^nd NBA) per game this season. 

He has scored 30 points or more in 12 games this season and 40 points or more seven times but the Pelicans are just 11-8 in those 19 games. 

“He plans on playing out the season,” Gentry said on Monday writes Andrew Lopez of The Times-Picayune. “That’s my role as to try and win as many games as we possibly can. I think AD is a professional guy. He’s going to play as hard as he can once he gets well and we’re going to the best we can to try and put our team in a position to win games.”

Coach Gentry added about his best player’s trade request said per The Time-Picayune, “I spoke to the team this morning and I think everybody understands it’s part of the business. I thought we had a good practice. It was a spirited one. That’s all we can do. We have to come out and prepare the team. He’s still under contract. When he gets healthy, he’ll play.”

The news of Davis’ trade requests provides a great opportunity for two of the most prestigious franchises in “The Association” in the Los Angeles Lakers, winners of 16 Larry O’Brien trophies and the Boston Celtics, winners of 17 NBA titles. 

While the Lakers may have a slight advantage in terms of Davis as mentioned earlier having the same agent as James and they can do a deal with the Pelicans for Davis now. 

One person who wants to see this happen is former Laker, and former head coach of the New Orleans Hornets, now the Charlotte Hornets Byron Scott, who won three rings playing alongside Hall of Famer and Lakers team president Earvin “Magic” Johnson. 

The Celtics, who have been rumored over the past few years as the team to acquire Davis have a treasure chest of assets of young players like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown; draft picks, including two protected First-Round picks from the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers and veterans on favorable contracts that would not only provide the necessary assets that could make such a blockbuster trade possible. 

The current No. 5 Seed in the East at 30-19 cannot make this deal to happen now because of a tied rule tied to when Davis and Celtics All-Star Kyrie Irving signed their last contract extensions. 

That rule in the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement known as the “Rose Rule,” named after Minnesota Timberwolves guard Derrick Rose that allows certain players coming off their rookie scale deals to earn 30 percent of the salary cap as opposed to 25 percent. 

In order to be eligible for this deal, a player had to have won Kia MVP, Kia Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) or two All-NBA selections during their first four seasons of their career, which Rose did in the 2010-11 season becoming the youngest player to win Kia MVP. 

When Davis and Irving signed their extensions in 2015 and 2014 respectively, two All-Star starter nods was in place of DPOY in the rule.  

The Celtics acquired Irving via trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers in August 2017, which meant they cannot make a deal for Davis-or any other player who has signed such an extension until Irving leaves or agrees to a new deal, which is not expected to happen anytime soon. The only other option for the Celtics to acquire Davis now would be to include Irving in a trade but that is not expected to happen either. 

Irving will become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end and did express before the start of this season his intention to re-sign. The earliest he would be able to do so is the start of the free agency period on July 1, 2019.   

If the Pelicans trade Davis and he plays out the remainder of his current contract, the team that trades for him could re-sign him to a five-year, $205 million extension in the summer of 2020. 

If Davis were to be an unrestricted free agent in 2020, the most Davis could sign with a new team is a four-year, $152 million deal. 

The Pelicans, who have lost three in a row and seven of their last eight, putting them below the playoff line in the rugged Western Conference. Last season the Pelicans behind a 48-34 record made the postseason for the first time since 2015 and led by Davis the No. 6 Seeded Pelicans swept the No. 3 Seeded Portland Trail Blazers 4-0 winning their first playoff series since 2008. The season ended at the hands of the eventual back-to-back champion Golden State Warriors in the Semifinals 4-1. 

Davis is an elite superstar on a team that has not put together pieces around him to give them a chance to contend for a championship. In four of his first six seasons, the Pelicans missed out on the postseason and it looks like they will be on the outside looking in this spring. 

He joins fellow All-Stars Kawhi Leonard, now of the Toronto Raptors and current member of the Oklahoma City Thunder Paul George as the latest players to bluntly say: move me or lose me for nothing. 

The difference from how Leonard and George requested to be dealt from the San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers over the last two off-seasons respectively is the Pelicans do not want to trade the five-time All-Star and All-NBA First-Team selection in three of the past four seasons, who as mentioned is eligible for a five-year super max contract extension in 2020 for $240 million. 

The other difference with Davis’ situation as compared to that of Leonard and George is as Amin Elhassan pointed out on the Monday edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN that by him expressing to Pelicans management that he has no intention of signing that super-max extension this summer gives general manager Dell Demps and the front office of the Pelicans the necessary time and focus to get “maximum return on him. 

Davis could have kept quiet, been a team player and gone about his business and at the next trade deadline made a lot of noise about being moved and that would have put the Pelicans under the gun where getting the best deal for both parties involved would have been close to impossible. 

“So, he needs to be applauded for giving them this opportunity,” Elhassan said. 

Today’s NBA player, especially those of superstar status want to go to a place where they have the opportunity to maximize their prime years. 

The best example of this is future Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett who missed out on the postseason for three straight springs with the Timberwolves after they made it to the Western Conference Finals in 2004 falling to the Lakers in six games. 

He wasted those prime years before he was dealt to the Celtics in the summer of 2007 and teamed up with Paul Pierce, Hall of Famer Rajon Rondo to win it all in that season defeating the Lakers in six games. They made it back to The Finals two years later but lost to the Lakers in seven games that June. 

“When you hear that, it makes you think, I’m not going to lie, it makes you think,” Davis said in an interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols in Feb. 2018, “because you wonder if you’re following that same path, but then again you’re like, ‘This is year could be the year.’ You don’t know. So, you just got to take it year-by-year and see. 

Davis has seen the Pelicans basically stay pat, not re-signing All-Stars in Rondo or DeMarcus Cousins, who tore his Achilles on Jan. 26, 2018 and both left for the Lakers and Warriors respectably this off-season. 

The New Orleans Pelicans in the seven seasons with Anthony Davis on their roster have simply dropped the ball in terms of becoming a playoff perennial and now he wants out and there are plenty of teams that are interested in trading for him like the Celtics and the Lakers. 

As Pelicans owner Gayle Benson told “The Athletic,” “I really like what we have in place. I really like Anthony, but if he wants to leave, you can’t hold him back.” 

The reality of today’s NBA is that when you have a game-changing franchise player on your team, if you do not manage your franchise +correctly when you have player of that caliber like Anthony Davis in the seven to eight years you have them, it is just a matter of time when they want out. 

The ball, no pun intended is in the Pelicans court and they now have to make a big decision on what they will do with a star player that clearly wants to be somewhere he has a chance to compete for championships.  

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 11/26/18 www.boston.com story “Why the Celtics Can’t Trade for Anthony Davis Unless They Deal Kyrie Irving,” by Nicole Yang; 1/28/19 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Amin Elhassan, Byron Scott, Adrian Wojnarowski and Dave McMenamin; 1/28/19 6 p.m. edition NBATV’s “The Starters,” presented by Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey with Tas Melas, J.E. Skeets, Leigh Ellis, and Trey Kerby; and 1/28/19 www.nba.com story, “Anthony Davis Requests Trade From Pelicans.”

J-Speaks: Statement Making 10th Straight Win By Back-to-Back Defending Champion Warriors

For much of this season the back-to-back defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors have been mainly coasting, looking vulnerable at times. Well they have hit that proverbial switch and have gotten back on track recently and with the return from injury of an All-NBA center to their lineup they look every bit like a team that sees the finish line for this season. They continued their hot streak and made some history against another team with championship aspirations in front of a national audience over the weekend. 

On Saturday night, the Warriors (35-14) extended their winning streak to 10 games, the longest of this NBA season taking down the Boston Celtics (30-19) in a closely contested affair 115-111 on ABC, putting an end to not just the home team’s five-game overall winning streak but ending their 10-game winning streak at TD Garden and extending their road winning streak to nine.  

Kevin Durant, who was named to his 10^th All-Star team in a row as a starter for the Western Conference two days prior led the Warriors with 33 points with nine rebounds and two block shots. Two-time Kia MVP Stephen Curry, who was also named an All-Star starter, earning his sixth straight selection to the unofficial mid-season classic had 24 points, with 17 of them in the second quarter going 6 for 12 from three-point range. Fellow All-Star Klay Thompson scored 21 and All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins in his fifth game back from an Achilles injury that occurred this time last season when he was with the New Orleans Pelicans had 15 points, eight rebounds and three steals in just 24 minutes. 

The Celtics were led by the 32 points and 10 assists of All-Star lead guard Kyrie Irving, who was named as a starter for the Eastern Conference, earning his 6^th All-Star selection. Starting center Al Horford had a double-double of 22 points and 13 rebounds with two block shots and starting forward Jayson Tatum had 20 points. 

In perhaps their biggest test against a team that they may see in The NBA Finals this spring, the Warriors hung tough and made the plays they needed to in a game that featured 21 lead changes and did not see either team claim a double-digit lead. 

Throughout the contest, the Warriors starters made plays that kept the game close early on and eventually got them on the lead and they held on to win.

“We’ve been in so many close games throughout out our careers that this feels normal and it’s a great road win, man,” Thompson said to NBC Sports Boston after the win. “These are hard to come by, especially against a team like that, and to continue the streak to 10 we’re feeling good.” 

Durant got things started with 14 first quarter points, while Curry kept things on track in the second quarter scoring 17 hitting five triples after just his second scoreless first period all season, to which he said after the win about that, “Honestly I could care less. Next question.” 

The Warriors in the fourth period made nearly every key play necessary, especially down the stretch. 

They went 29 for 34 from the free throw line in the game, including 14 for 16 in the fourth period with Durant going 12 for 13.

Those two misses came in the closing moments of the game where All-Star forward Draymond Green, who had five points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and three steals on the night missed two foul shots with 08.6 seconds left but got the offensive rebound when he was not boxed out and got the ball to Curry who sealed the game at the foul line as he knocked in both his attempts from the charity stripe. 

“In this building is tough,” Curry, who hit five of his six triples on the night in the second quarter said after the win. “They can go on runs and tonight we knew that was going to happen but we was able to withstand them. Go right back at them. Get a bunch of stops in the fourth quarter to keep a little bit of distance.”

The Warriors as they have been known for during their championship run had 25 assists and committed just 14 turnovers.

“They started the fourth quarter on a nice little run to cut the lead. I think we stayed poised throughout it all. I made a bone-headed play throwing the ball all the way out of bounds, and I’m just grateful my teammates was there to have my back on that end to get us the possession back but for the most part coming in on the road in Boston and get a W is pretty solid for us,” Durant who went 10 for 23 from the field and 12 for 13 from the free throw line said to ESPN’s Israel Gutierrez after the win. 

While the Warriors made the plays necessary to pull out the victory, the Celtics did not especially their lead guard in Irving who took down the Warriors in their own house in the 2016 Finals with the game-winning three in Game 7 to clinch the Cleveland Cavaliers first ever NBA title and the Northeast Ohio’s first pro sports title in 52 years. 

With the game tied at 108-108, Irving at the 2:18 mark of the fourth turned it over which led to a Thompson three that gave the Warriors a 111-108 lead. 

After Celtics’ guard Marcus Smart tied the game at 111-111 with his own three moments later, Thompson came back and drew a foul going to the basket, making both free throws that put the Warriors on top 113-111. 

With three other chances to tie things up in the closing seconds, Smart’s triple try rimmed out, Irving shot an airball on a fadeaway jumper from the left side and Marcus Morris, Sr.’s three in the final seconds fell short. 

“It’s always tough to lose, but we had our chances at the end and we just couldn’t capitalize on them,” Irving said to reporters in the locker room after the loss. “So, it’s a game where we take the lessons and move on.” 

It is in games like this that can tell you a lot about the direction of each team. For the Warriors as mentioned they have been on cruise control for much of this season. They have had some adversity from injuries to some small friction between Durant and Green that stems from a game back in December where they lost at the Los Angeles Clippers in overtime. 

They have regained their focus and the addition of Cousins to the lineup has made them even more dangerous, especially offensively. 

To bring this into clearer context, the Warriors in the first 39 games of this season were an okay 25-14 averaging 116.3 points with a point per game differential of +4.4. In their 10-game winning streak, the back-to-back champions are averaging 128.6 points with a point differential of +16.0. Both of those averages are No. 1 in “The Association” during this span and so is their 51 percent average from the field and their 2.7 assists-to-turnover ratio. On top of that, that 128.6 scoring average is the most during a 10-game winning streak since the 1984-85 champion Los Angeles Lakers did it. 

“A lot of greatness on that team,” Irving, who posted his 11^th points and assists double-double this season, tying Hall of Famer Larry Bird’s mark in the 1986-87 season said of the Warriors. “So, you got to match greatness with greatness.” 

“That’s what you want on the biggest stage going against them. Playing them in The Finals, you just got to go blow-for-blow with them. Just got a lot of shooting. Make a lot of shots. I mean, those guys are great in that locker room like I said. I can speak all day about how great they are individually, but as a team you got to guard everybody.”

The other advantage that the Warriors had in this game is the fact that this moment is not foreign territory for them. They see games against a potential championship challenger like the Celtics as a good measuring stick to see where they are. 

This night showed that the defending champs are not ready to give up their crown and that they can go into another team’s building or take on any challenger whether they be in the rugged Western Conference or in the Eastern Conference and beat them.

“It’ll be interesting to see with LeBron (James) out of the East who comes out of the East and we got a lot of work to do also to get out of the West,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who became the fastest coach in NBA history to 300 wins said after the win about his team’s chances they see the Celtics in June. 

“A lot of good teams this year. I think the league is better this year than it’s ever been in a long time. A lot of great teams this year but Boston is clearly a great two-way team and that’s what it takes in the playoffs.”

That is how the Warriors for the third time in the last five seasons have ended a 10-game home winning streak of their opposition, which they did at the Celtics on Saturday night, and ended the 48-game home winning streak of the five-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs two seasons back and the 13-game home winning streak of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018. 

It also shows how head coach Steve Kerr has his team prepared night in and night out and that preparation has paid dividends not just for the team with three titles in the last four seasons but made him the fastest coach to 300 victories in just 377 career games as head coach. That is not only the fastest in NBA history beating out Hall of Famer and now executive with the Miami Heat Pat Riley, who reached 300 in 416 career games as head coach coach but the fastest in the four major pro sports teams in the USA. 

It took former MLB skipper Frank Chance 426 games to reach 300; Hall of Famer Don Shula needed 442 to reach 300 wins and Bruce Boudreau of the NHL needed 496 to reach 300 wins. 

“We needed this game,” Kerr said. “We needed to be challenged and we were challenged big-time and it could have gone either way.” 

For the Celtics, this game showed how they can hang with the defending champions but that they still have a lot of work to do if they want to be holding up their 18^th Larry O’Brien trophy in the late spring. 

After a 10-10 start to this season, the Celtics came into the game playing much better with a 20-9 mark and they too have to make adjustment like the return of Irving and fellow All-Star Gordon Hayward who were not a part of the C’s playoff run a season ago that had them one game from reaching The Finals last spring.  

A lot of it stems from a couple of weekends back where Irving basically chastised his young teammates like Tatum and Brown for their inability to raise their level of play in not just big games but throughout this season as they are trying to build championship habits. 

That each game is a test to see if the things you talk about from game plans to building trust amongst the squad as a whole are taking shape. 

After three straight losses all on the road from Jan. 10-14, the Celtics as mentioned won five straight games, which included a signature victory versus the No. 2 team in East the Toronto Raptors (37-15) 117-108 on Jan. 16 on ESPN. 

While this game was a loss, the Celtics did a lot of great things collectively but their unity still needs some fine tuning to have a better chance of beating a team like the Warriors. 

“I think we came in and we expected to win. So, we need to get better so we can have a better chance of winning that game,” Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said in his postgame presser after the loss. 

“We made errors on offense. They made us pay when we made errors on defense and made us pay. So yeah, I thought our guys played really hard. You got to lock down all of your controllables to have a chance to beat this team.” 

On Saturday night on ABC, a major tilt took place in Boston, MA where the back-to-back defending champion Golden State Warriors showed against a serious opponent from the opposite conference that keeping them from their third straight title and fourth in the last five seasons will not be an easy task. That it will take a herculean effort by a team in the West in the first three rounds of the 2019 Playoffs once they arrive and in the NBA Finals if they get there. 

The Warriors led by their All-Star starting quintet of Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and DeMarcus Cousins are primed and focused for a championship run, especially after the All-Star break in the middle of next month and whoever stands in their way like the Boston Celtics, they are ready. 

The C’s definitely got the attention of the back-to-back champs and if this game was special, the second tilt in the Bay Area on Mar. 5 on TNT should be just as special. 

“They’re definitely in the upper echelon and they’re not to be taken lightly come postseason,” Thompson said about the Celtics postseason chances this spring. They got too much talent.”

“Like I said, they got too much experience with what they went through last year.” 

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 1/24/19 7 p.m. edition of NBA on TNT’s “NBA Tip-Off,” presented by Autotrader “NBA All-Star Starters Reveal,” with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal;  www.nba.com/games/20190126/GSWBOS#/matchup/recap; 1/27/19 3;30 a.m. edition of ESPN’s “Sportscenter” on ESPNEWS with Steve Levy and John Anderson; 1/27/19 7:30 a.m. edition of NBATV’s “Gametime,” presented by State Farm with Kristen Ledlow, Richard “Rip” Hamilton, and Brendan Haywood; and www.espn.com/nba/standings.  

J-Speaks: Grizzlies to Possibly Deal Conley and Gasol

The Memphis Grizzlies came out of the gates strong to start the 2018-19 NBA campaign, thanks to the return to health of their starting lead guard and return to form of their big man in the middle. Unfortunately, this great story took a serious down turn behind a string of losses and injuries, which now has Grizzlies with the second worst record in the Western Conference. It has gotten so tough that now the Grizzlies are considering going the rebuild route and have put the two pillars of their franchise on notice that they are on the trading block. 

On the heels of their Martin Luther King Day loss, 105-85 versus the New Orleans (22-27) on Monday afternoon, and prior to their 118-107 setback versus the Charlotte Hornets (23-25) two nights later, Grizzlies (19-30) owner Robert Pera told starting point guard Mike Conley and starting center Marc Gasol that the organization was looking to move them before the Feb. 7 trade deadline. 

In moments like this when the team is in free-fall and there is a possibility of people being on the move where you learn a lot about someone’s character. 

Both Conley and Gasol, who have been the mainstays who helped the Grizzlies become a playoff perennial for seven straight seasons from 2011-2017, which included a Western Conference Finals appearance in 2013, which they were swept by the five-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs 4-0 displayed the same grit, and determination both in their words and in their play on the hardwood that has endeared them to the fans of Memphis, TN.

“It was just making us aware that our names would be thrown out there,” Conley, the Grizzlies all-time leader in assists with 4,351 and games played at 766 and counting told reporters on Wednesday of him possibly being traded before next Thursday. 

“Not that one of us or both of us are going to be gone by next Tuesday or by All-Star break. I just feel good about being here as the next person. I’m not worried right now. A lot can happen in a few weeks. Right now, I’m just taking it in stride.” 

In the loss versus the Pelicans, Gasol had a game-high 22 points with eight rebounds and six assists in 35 minutes, while Conley had 20 points, eight assists and four steals in 37 minutes. 

They brought it again despite falling versus the Hornets as Conley led all scorers with 31 points on 10 for 17 shooting and a perfect 9 for 9 from the free throw line in 36 minutes. Gasol posted his fifth career triple-double with 22 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists, with three steals in 39 minutes. 

In the Grizzlies eighth consecutive loss versus the Kings (25-24) on Friday night, Conley had 16 points, nine assists and six rebounds in 34 minutes, while Gasol, who had two strong games while dealing with back issues had 11 points and 10 rebounds in 26 minutes. 

“You just got to deal with the situation as good as you can and do your job as good as you can. You got to control what you can control” Gasol, the Grizzlies all-time leading scorer at 11,587 points and is second to Conley in games played at 764, and counting told reporters of the possibility of him being traded. 

There are many reasons that the Grizzlies find themselves in this predicament where it is possible Conley and Gasol could be on the move. 

In league that is now all about pace, space, shooting threes and high-octane offenses, the Grizzlies game is based off of playing great defense valuing each possession. 

While that work to the tune of a 12-5 mark early on this season, teams eventually caught on to their style of play and they have gone just 7-25 since, which includes an eight-game losing streak and 14 losses in their last 15 games. 

Injuries to key members of the team has not helped matters either as second-year guard Dillon Brooks, whose possibly lost for the remainder of this season following surgery to repair a ruptured ligament in his right big toe that he sustained in the Grizzlies 96-86 win at the Spurs on Jan. 5. Brooks had just returned from a 21-game absence earlier in the season from a sprained MCL. He was the No. 45 overall pick in the 2017 draft out of the University of Oregon. 

The Grizzlies also lost two valuable wings in Kyle Anderson, who they signed in free agency as a restricted free agent from the Spurs, who declined to match the offer sheet he was signed to is out with a sprained ankle. The other wing in sharp shooter Chandler Parson, whose career with the Grizzlies has been riddled by an injured knee is very much over as he and the organization agreed to mutually separate as the team and his agent James Dunleavy of ISE Sports are working on a resolution on the future for the former Houston Rocket and Dallas Maverick, according to an ESPN.com report earlier this month. 

It is one thing to trade away valuable assets. It is another thing to get the right compensation in return that puts you in a position to improve your current situation. 

I am sure there are plenty of teams that very intrigued about acquiring Conley or Gasol, especially a team in either the Western Conference or Eastern Conference that is on the fringe of being a contender to reach the finals; to make a serious playoff run or to just make it into the postseason. 

For the Grizzlies, what they are interested in as most teams would be in this tough situation is to acquire a high draft pick or draft picks to make your team better as quickly as possible or to bring in young talented that can grow with the current players already on the roster.    

The Grizzlies front office put that plan into motion earlier this month when they acquired Justin Holiday from the Chicago Bulls for guard MarShon Brooks, who the Bulls waived, swingman Wayne Selden Jr., and Second-Round picks in 2019 and 2020. 

This trade though came on the heels of a three-team swap that went horribly wrong between the Grizzlies, Washington Wizards and Phoenix Suns, where now Rockets’ guard Austin Rivers was supposed to be dealt to the Suns and two Grizzlies role players, one of who was supposed to be Dillon Brooks. The Grizzlies wanted though to trade MarShon Brooks, a former member of the Brooklyn Nets. That miscommunication stalled the deal and eventually killed it. 

Last season, the Grizzlies held out now Indiana Pacers guard Tyreke Evans in hopes of acquiring draft picks or a young player(s) for him. That too never materialized and left in free agency with his former team getting nothing in return. 

The Memphis Grizzlies are in that very tough spot to where in order to build themselves back into a perennial playoff participant, they have to deal two of the best players they have had in franchise history in Mike Conley and Marc Gasol. Two players who have grown as players and as people in a blue-collar town that has embraced them and has given their fans many cheerful and proud moments.

“My relationship with the Grizzlies might change, but my relationship with Memphis won’t,” Gasol, who went to high school in Memphis when his brother in current Spurs’ center Pau Gasol was with the Grizzlies in the early part of the last decade said to the Memphis' Commercial Appeal. 

“What I feel inside and how I feel about Memphis and its people, it has nothing to do with the franchise or a temporary thing.” 

So, if Pera and the Grizzlies front office to trade Conley, Gasol or both by the trade deadline in one week from this Thursday there is no guarantee the Grizzlies will get the compensation, they want to start their rebuild around the player they are counting on to lead them going forward in rookie First-Round pick from this past June in Jaren Jackson, Jr., the No. 4 overall pick out of Michigan State. 

For now, the Grizzlies players currently on the roster have to worry about the rest of this season and trying to make the best of a situation that will have them missing out on the playoffs for the second straight season. 

“When you’re in a win-lose results business, the losses pile up and they weigh on you,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said at the close of this week. 

“You have to find a way to find the positive and keep perspective. The perspective is each game is a new day. The last game has nothing to do with tomorrow’s game. You have to find a way to keep digging and keep pushing.” 

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 12/14/18 www.nydailynews.com story, “Bumbling Suns and Grizzlies Kill Deal After Mixup Over Which Brooks They Were Trading,” by Scott Chiusano; 1/7/19 www.espn.com story, “Chandler Parsons, Memphis Grizzlies Agree to Part Ways,” by Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim MacMahon; 1/9/19 www.espn.com story “Memphis’ Dillion Brooks To Have Surgery for Ruptured Toe Ligament;”  www.nba.com/games/20190123/CHAMEM#/boxscore; 1/23/19 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Jackie MacMullan, Tracy McGrady, and Zach Lowe; 1/24/19 5 a.m. edition NBATV’s “Gametime,” with Casey Stern, Steve Smith, and Ryan Hollins; www.nba.com/games/20190125/SACMEM#/preview;  www.nba.com/games/20190125/INDMEM#/preview; www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/3206/marc-gasol; www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/3195/mike-conley; www.espn.com/nba/standings; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Memphis_Grizzlies_seasons.

J-Speaks: A Major Loss for the Pacers

While the Indiana Pacers have won 11 for their last 15 games, they have gone just 3-7 against teams in the NBA that have a .600 record or better. That includes losing their first two matchups with the No. 2 Seeded Toronto Raptors, who they have not beaten in their last five meetings and have lost 11 straight to the Raptors in Toronto, including both meetings this season. While they beat the Raptors in their third title this time in their building, all the Indiana faithful in attendance could think about was the injury to the player that turned them from a nice story last season into a serious playoff threat this season. 

In the Pacers (32-15) 110-106 win versus the Raptors (36-14) on Wednesday night, they lost All-Star starting guard Victor Oladipo, who suffered a serious knee injury after he crumpled to the floor while defending an outlet pass to Raptors’ forward Pascal Siakam at the 4:05 mark of the second quarter. 

An MRI on Thursday confirmed the worse as the Pacers announced that Oladipo suffered a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee and will have season-ending surgery. 

Pacers’ head coach Nate McMillan said during the postgame that he was unsure when Oladipo will have surgery to repair that ruptured quadricep in his right knee or whether he would be ready for the start of the 2019-20 season. 

“That kid has a beautiful spirit about him and he is probably one or if not the most positive guy on this team,” McMillan said of Oladipo after the win. “He has always been one that tries to lift his team and lift us. We got to lift him now, and we got to support him now in this time.”

The No. 2 overall pick in 2013 out of Indiana University by the Orlando Magic, who was acquired two off-seasons ago from the Oklahoma City Thunder along with reserve big man Domantas Sabonis for All-Star Paul George was carried off the court on a stretcher after he could not get up on his own. 

The seriousness of the injury was evident by how quickly the Pacers training staff ran onto the court and draped a towel over the leg of Oladipo and that players from both teams surrounded him while he was down on the hardwood. 

“When you start having him waiving for the trainers and there’s no movement-players, you know, players try to come over and help you up, and he doesn’t want to help you up, you know it’s probably serious,” NBA analyst Steve Smith and former NBA player said of the severity of Oladipo’s injury at first glance. 

No replays were shown on the video screens in Bankers Life Fieldhouse which stretch from free-throw line to free-throw line and the 18,165 fans in attendance began chanting Oladipo’s name as he was being wheeled off the court and gave him a standing ovation. The former Hoosier waived back in response as he wiped a tear from his face. 

Following the Pacers 32^nd win this season, Oladipo’s teammates as well as players from around the league expressed their feelings of disappointment and hopes for a speedy recovery for Oladipo. 

“We wish him a speedy recovery and we wish him well, and we’re going to continue to fight for him each and every day, and we’re going to wear his heart in our body each and every day,” forward Thaddeus Young, who had 23 points and 15 rebounds said after the game to FOX Sports Indiana’s Jeremiah Johnson. 

“It’s tough, you know, watching out best player go down, but know just because he’s our best player but because he’s one of the best people to be around. I mean just his personality, how positive he is and you just hate to see that happen to him,” Pacers lead guard Darren Collison, who had 17 points and eight assists on the evening told reporters after the game. 

Over Twitter, George and four-time Kia MVP LeBron James chimed in their thoughts of support for Oladipo. 

George, who sustained a very serious knee injury while training with Team USA in 2014 tweeted @Yg_Trece to Oladipo, “Prayers up VO,” which was followed by four prayer emojis. 

George added when he met with the press on Thursday, “I feel for him. I feel for the fans. I feel for the city, the state for them to have to go through that again with my injury and now Vic’s. It’s tough. It’s tough for the franchise. I think he’ll come out on top through it all.”

James @KingJames tweeted with one prayer emoji and 14 exclamation point emojis @VicOladipo. 

Oladipo even got a shout out from two of former teams via twitter. The Magic @OrlandoMagic tweeted, “Our thoughts & wishes to@VicOladipo//#NBAFamily,” and the Thunder @okcthunder tweeted, “Wishing @VicOladipo the very best.”

McMillan said after the game that reserve guard Tyreke Evans will take Oladipo’s spot in the starting lineup and that First-Round pick Aaron Holiday will receive more playing time off the bench. It was also reported by NBA.com that Edmond Sumner will be brought up from the G-League. 

Then there is the possibility of the Pacers now being major buyers before the Feb. 7 trade deadline, perhaps trying to acquire point guard Mike Conley from the Memphis Grizzlies. 

On Thursday Coach McMillan said that the Pacers in terms of making a deal to bring in someone like Conley said he and the Pacers’ front office will “talk about that.” 

The Pacers coming into their tilt versus the Raptors were sitting third in the East. They as mentioned turned their surprising 2016-17 season where they pushed the then four-time defending East champion Cleveland Cavaliers led by James to game seven of the opening round of the playoffs before falling. 

A major reason for was the play of the 2018 Kia Most Improved Player who turned them from a lottery into one of the biggest surprises in the NBA a season ago.

We have to remember, Oladipo was a guy that was basically a bust both with the Magic and the Thunder at the beginning of his career. 

Most guys when that happens go into a shell and are basically tossed out the league. When Oladipo got to Indiana, he got his chance and he took full advantage of it becoming an All-Star for the first time a season ago and was well on his way to make it back to the unofficial NBA mid-season classic next month again as a reserve before this heartbreaking setback or as NBATV analyst and color analyst for the Los Angeles Clippers of FOX Sports Prime Ticket Ryan Hollins put it, “This is one of the real unfortunate moments and parts of sports.”

In this recent stretch where they have no won 12 of their last 16 games, they were making a pretty good case of the East now being a four-team race with them, the current No. 1 Seeded Milwaukee Bucks (34-12), the aforementioned No. 2 Seeded Raptors and the No. 4 Seeded Philadelphia 76ers (32-17), who were just one game behind them in the East. 

While the Pacers have shown they hold the fort when Oladipo missed 11 games earlier in the season with a sore right knee, going 7-4 after going 0-7 last season with him on the shelf due injury it will be a tall task to go the rest of this season with the 18.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.7 steals in 31.9 minutes no longer in the lineup. Not to mention that he led the team in scoring 17 times this season-which led the Pacers. 

To bring this point home even further, Oladipo was basically before he came to the Pacers was just a decent defender who was athletic but could not shoot the ball with any kind of consistency. He worked hard to become a shooter and he not only became that but he became an unbelievable skilled player who can now score, rebound, and make plays for others as well as defend. 

For each NBA teams from the top on down from the front office, to the coaching staff, to the players on the hardwood spend large portions of their lives laying the ground work for an NBA title run. A process that involves a lot of times years of careful, constructive planning from trades and signings of players and coaches. So often though a monkey wrench can get thrown into those plans that can ruin everything or delay that rise to that crowning moment. 

That wrench for the 2018-19 Indiana Pacers was the season-ending quad rupture tendon of Victory Oladipo’s right knee. The same injury that ended the career of Hall of Famer and NBA on TNT studio analyst Charles Barkley’s career 19 years ago. The same injury that failed now Charlotte Hornets’ reserve guard Tony Parker during the 2017 NBA playoffs while he was with the Spurs, who was able to work his way back after seven months, although it took him almost a year to full recover his athleticism. 

After last season’s near triumphant upset in the postseason against LeBron James and the then four-time defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers, the Pacers this season were supposed to be working on taking that next step to winning a playoff series and perhaps giving either the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks or Philadelphia 76ers a run for their money. 

The question now is do the Pacers have enough to even make the playoffs this spring? 

When this season concludes heading into this off-season, at least 10 of the players on the roster are set to become free agents this summer. 

So, all those laid plans of being a playoff perennial in the East and being in the conversation to winning a title all were put into question with the season-ending injury to Victor Oladipo, who is an even better person as he is a basketball player. 

Even without their best player and team leader for the remainder of this season, the Pacers still they can have a special season and still be a threat in the East. As Young put it earlier they plan on playing the kind of heart and spirit that Oladipo gave night in and night out from practice to game time. 

 “We’ve got to come together and player inspired basketball,” Myles Turner, who also had a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds said after the win. “We can’t let this get us stuck in the mud. It’s emotional, but we have to overcome it and play.” 

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of www.nba.com/games/20190123/TORIND#/preview;  www.nba.com/games/20190123/TORIND#/recap; 1/24/19 5 a.m. edition of NBATV’s “Gametime,” with Casey Stern, Steve Smith, and Ryan Hollins; 1/24/19 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Stan Van Gundy, Jackie MacMullan, Zach Lowe and Tracy McGrady; 1/24/19 www.nba.com story, “Oladipo To Have Season-Ending Surgery on Right Knee,” from NBA Twitter and Media reports, “The Associated Press;” www.espn.com/nb/player/stats/_/id/2527963/victor-oladipo; and www.espn.com/nba/standings.

J-Speaks: More Scoring History at MSG

There have been many history making nights when it comes to sports at “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” Madison Square Garden. Another chapter was added on Wednesday night by the greatest one-man scoring show the National Basketball Association’s (NBA’s) has had in recent memory. A game which brought a lot of things full circle and had a rookie who started this season on a two-way contract and showed why he earned a straight NBA contract earlier this season. 

Authoring another out-of-this world scoring night, the league’s most sensational scorer James Harden notched a career-high and a new franchise record of 61 points as he led the Houston Rockets (27-20) to a 114-110 win at the struggling New York Knicks (10-36), who lost their seventh straight contest, the 15^th loss out in their last 16 games, and their 20^th defeat in their last 22 games. 

For Harden, who historic streak of games with at least 30 points reached 22 in succession, which included his fifth 50-point performance of this season, he scored in double-figures in all four quarters in leading the Rockets to their ninth straight win over the Knicks at MSG. The Knicks last home win versus the Rockets came on Jan. 26, 2009 when current Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni was the Knicks leader on their sideline.  

He had 19 in the opening period. Scored 17 in the second quarter, which included a put back miss that capped his 36-point first half, which matched his career-best at MSG. He had 13 in the third quarter and 12 in the fourth period which was capped by a steal in the closing seconds that led to a game-clinching dunk. 

On top of that Harden, who was 17 for 38 from the field, including 5 for 20 from three-point range and 22 for 25 from the free throw line became the first player in NBA history to attempt 20 three-pointers and 20 free throws in the same game. He has also led his team or the opponent in scoring in 21 consecutive games.

“These are some of the best fans in the world, and every time you come to ‘The Garden’ you got to put on a show. They expect it and that’s what I gave them,” Harden, who helped the Rockets snap a three-game road losing streak said to AT&T Sportsnet Southwest’s Michelle Margaux after the win.  

He added about that last play where his steal on Knicks’ forward Noah Vonleh, which led to the game-clinching dunk with 03.8 seconds left in the fourth that set the single-game franchise record for scoring, “In order to give ourselves a chance, especially with most of the guys that’s injured we have to play defense and create defense with our offense. And so, first half we didn’t do it. Second half we did it and we won.” 

The Rockets needed every basket and free throw that Harden made because the Rockets’ 10-point was quickly erased early in the fourth quarter with Harden getting a rest.

The Rockets regained it thanks to Eric Gordon’s third three-pointer of the game from the top of the circle with 09.8 seconds left that gave the Rockets a 112-110 lead.

With less than a minute to go, the Knicks cut the deficit to 107-106 when Rockets’ forward PJ Tucker had a major lapse in concentration when he did not pick up Gordon’s inbounds pass that led to a Vonleh steal and layup. 

Then undrafted rookie Allonzo Trier, who scored a career-high 31 points on 12 for 18 from the field and grabbed 10 rebounds off the bench in 33 minutes hit a driving layup that put the Knicks ahead 110-109 with 20.0 seconds left before Gordon as mentioned recaptured the lead for the Rockets with his aforementioned third triple of the contest moments later. 

For Trier, this was his most productive game since coming back from a hamstring injury that has hampered him since he signed his new contract. It looked like the NBA figured him out and that he just had a good run. 

This game showed as Knicks studio analyst Alan Hahn said during the Knicks postgame show of Trier, “He’s as good as you thought he was. He can get to the basket.” 

“These last three games that he’s played he has looked like the strength is back and that’s the player that we saw early this season that captured everybody’s imagination as this guy that went undrafted. What we learned about Allonzo Trier is he’s a legit scorer.” 

The Knicks put themselves in position to win even without their head coach David Fizdale, who was ejected with his second technical foul with 1:08 remaining left. 

Referee Pat Fraher said to Fizdale that he was tossed because of his continuous complaining after he was warned to stop it, which led to his second tech for unsportsmanlike conduct.  

Harden along with spectacular scoring night pulled down 15 rebounds and had five steals. Gordon added 20 points on the night and the Rockets latest addition Kenneth Faried was the only other player to score in double-figures with 11 points adding eight boards, three steals and three blocks in just his second game and first start since being claimed off waivers. 

A day after saying he had yet to have his Madison Square Garden moment, Harden had one where he tied future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant’s 61-point performance at MSG, exactly a week to the day of Feb. 2, 2009 for not just the second most points scored by a player at MSG but tied the second most points scored by a visitor. It was four more than the famed double-nickel (55-point performance) by the great Michael Jordan on Mar. 28, 1995; five more than the 54-point explosion by two-time Kia MVP Stephen Curry of the now defending back-to-back champion Golden State Warriors on Feb. 2, 2013. Four-time Kia MVP LeBron James now the Los Angeles Lakers scored 52 at the Knicks on Feb. 4, 2009 in his first stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers and NBA champion Richard “Rip” Hamilton of the Detroit Pistons scored 51 points at the Knicks on Dec. 27, 2006. 

Harden finished one shy of the 62-point night, with 13 rebounds of a former Knick and the player the Rockets just traded earlier this week in 10-time All-Star Carmelo Anthony on Jan. 24, 2014 versus the then Charlotte Bobcats, now Hornets. 

Harden even out-performed the two spectacular scoring nights of former Knick Bernard King, who scored 60 on Christmas Day in 1984 at MSG, and had 55 points two months later on Feb. 16, 1985. 

Unlike those performances that Bryant and Anthony had, where they got drew cheers from those in the stands at MSG, Harden’s performance went from that to them booing him after he drew foul after foul, after foul sending him to the foul line countless times.

“James Harden is a very good offensive player. I know it’s not the prettiest thing to watch but as far as one-on-one goes it’s impressive what he does with the basketball,” Knicks’ studio analyst and former member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics, then Seattle Supersonics and Cleveland Cavaliers Wally Szczerbiak said during the postgame. 

“The way he can get by his defender. The way he can shoot with range. The way he can create his shot. The way he can get to the free throw line. Those are all characteristics of phenomenal offensive talent and he’s a phenomenal offensive talent.”  

To put into context how Harden has been producing the last four games, where he has scored a total of 204 points, he did not have an assist from a teammate. In this victory at the Knicks, the Rockets as a team had 10 total assists. 

Harden, who also became the first player with 60 points and 15 rebounds since NBA on TNT studio analyst Shaquille O’Neal did it in 2000 has been doing all of his scoring by himself and has been getting it done, which has shown the incredible shape he is in not just physically but mentally. It does not matter if you double him, triple team him, force him to help he is just finding a way to score to help his team win games. 

As Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady pointed out on Thursday’s edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN though that during his playing days when he got hot at the offensive end they got double-teamed, each and every single time they touched the basketball. 

“Harden is not getting double-teamed at all without his best players on the basketball court,” he said. 

Former NBA head coach Stan Van Gundy said the same thing that he has been surprised that Harden during this hot streak has not gotten consistently doubled as soon as he passes half court. 

“Look, you’re going to have to play 4-on-3 in a wide-open court. I’m taking my chances 4-on-3 against those other guys,” he said. “How many times does he have to prove that he can beat you, when we’ve seen teams double team him? I’m talking about from the opening tap, we’re going to try to take the ball out of your hands. I’m surprised no one has done that.”

Harden in the absence of nine-time All-Star Chris Paul, who missed his 16^th straight game due to a Grade-2 strain of his left hamstring and starting center Clint Capela recently had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb that will shelve him for 4-6 weeks has risen his game and the Rockets have climbed their way out of 11-14 hole that had them outside of the Western Conference playoff picture and now has them at the No. 5 spot. 

Chamberlin is the all-time leader in career 60-point games with 32. Bryant is second with six, followed by the four of Jordan; Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor with three and Harden just had his second. 

As Hahn also said this game really showed that James Harden is the perfect player for Coach D’Antoni’s offensive system of shooting threes, scoring at the rim, and getting to the free throw line, and not just Hall of Famer Steve Nash, who was D’Antoni’s point guard when he was with the Phoenix Suns and saw Nash win back-to-back Kia MVP awards in the middle of the 2000s.

The big difference between how Nash played in D’Antoni’s system and they way Harden has played, particularly during this great scoring run is that unlike those Suns teams where ball movement was a staple, this system with Harden at the forefront is one-on-one isolation basketball at the highest level. It is the kind of basketball that many do not like to see, which is a major reason Anthony did not last long with the guys from “Clutch City,” and D’Antoni was not a fan of it either, especially when he and Anthony were together in the “Big Apple” a few years back. 

This isolation style though is helping the Rockets win games as they have no gone 15-6 in their last 21 games and Harden is not only taking care of business at the offensive end, he is doing it at the defensive, which was not always the case dating back to the prior season.

 “This was a team that was in the cellar at the beginning of the season. He has them back in playoff respectability,” NBATV analyst Steve Smith said on Thursday’s edition of NBATV’s “Gametime.” 

Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady echoed that same feeling saying on the Thursday edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN, “As long as those guys are out, he can continue to do this.” 

“What I’m impressed by is his ability to put up these many shots every single night. The free throws. Just the burden he has on his shoulders. I’m not impressed by the numbers that he’s putting up because he’s taking a volume of shots…. To sustain this throughout the season and into the playoffs this could be a problem.”

On Wednesday night on perhaps the biggest and most famous NBA stage Madison Square Garden, James Harden showed out and his stellar performance put the Houston Rockets back in the win column again. He showed that he can not only take care of business at the offensive end but that he can make it happen at the defensive end. He did both to clinch another win and has put himself as the front runner for his second straight Kia MVP award. That said he is more concerned about making sure he leaves his mark on the game and that is why he puts in the work and time when no one is watching to be ready to capitalize on the moment like he had on “hump day.” 

“I got to keep going. I got to keep going. This is my legacy at stake man,” Harden said to Margaux. “So, while I’m here. While I have the opportunity to play basketball, something that I love doing. Something that I put the time and effort into, there’s no limit to what I can do.”

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 1/23/19 7:30 p.m. “Houston Rockets versus New York Knicks,” on Madison Square Garden Network, presented by Chase with Mike Breen, Walt “Clyde” Frazier, and Rebecca Haarlow; 1/23/19 10 p.m. edition of Ford Knicks Postgame with Al Trautwig, Alan Hahn and Wally Szczerbiak; www.nba.com/games/20190123/HOUNYK#/matchup/recap; 1/24/19 5 p.m. edition of NBATV’s “Gametime,” with Casey Stern, Steve Smith, and Ryan Hollins; www.espn.com/nba/standings; www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/3992/james-harden; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wally_Szczerbiak.