Hoops Rumors

With the shock of getting traded wearing off, Luka Doncic is eager to see how this Lakers season will play out. The time off during the All-Star break should have him at full throttle. Doncic averaged only 15 points in his first two games with the club after recovering from a calf injury. “I think we can go very far,” Doncic said, per Grant Afseth of the Dallas Hoops Journal … [Read more...] about Pacific Notes: Doncic, Lakers Offense, Suns Arena, Durant

Mark Daigneault made a meteoric rise from an assistant on Billy Donovan‘s staff at the University of Florida to being a head coach at the All-Star Game. The Athletic’s Anthony Slater takes a deep dive into the Thunder coach’s career, noting that his former boss is proud of his accomplishments. “It’s crazy how life works,” Donovan said. “I remember when he was sitting there, and … [Read more...] about Northwest Notes: Daigneault, Edwards, Camara, Henderson

The Suns got off to an 8-1 start but it’s been a rocky ride since that point. They entered the All-Star break with a 26-28 record, 11th in the Western Conference. Kevin Durant gave his take on why they’ve faltered to the Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin. “We started well,” he said. “I feel like we definitely could be playing better. I feel like there’s a couple factors. We had … [Read more...] about Pacific Notes: Durant, Edwards, James, Harden

As we detailed on Friday, Ben Simmons‘ debut with the Clippers on Thursday went about as well as it reasonably could have, earning him praise from head coach Tyronn Lue. Lue wasn’t the only one impressed by the former No. 1 overall pick, who registered 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and three steals in his first game for his new team. Simmons’ Clippers teammates spoke … [Read more...] about Pacific Notes: Simmons, Bamba, Lakers, Tucker, Suns, Fultz

Ten NBA teams are still operating in luxury tax territory in the wake of last Thursday’s trade deadline, but this season’s total projected luxury tax payments – and the clubs projected to be taxpayers – have declined significantly in recent weeks. As of January 23, a total of 14 teams projected to be taxpayers, Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter links) observes, with the 16 … [Read more...] about Projected NBA Taxpayers For 2024/25