Alex Kennedy

Associated Press

BasketballNews.com Staff

Chris Sheridan

Clipps and Drew

Corey Brewer

Dishes & Dimes

Etan Thomas

Ethan Fuller

James Posey

Jeff Pearlman

Jonathan Concool

Katie Heindl

Kelsea O'Brien

Kenyon Martin

Matt Babcock

Mo Speights

Nekias Duncan

Quinn Cook

Scott Hale

Spencer Davies

Troy Brown Jr.

Vinny Del Negro

Yasmin Duale

The Utah Jazz have traded Rayjon Tucker and a second round pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers for cash.
Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1332409384736071681" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adrian Wojnarowski/ESPN</a>
ANALYSIS:&nbsp;The Jazz offload the athletic Tucker and a second round pick for cash relief. As a rookie, Tucker initially signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, and tore up the G League with some highlight-reel dunks while averaging 23.8 points per game with the Wisconsin Herd.
Utah took notice and signed Tucker to a multi-year contract on Christmas Eve 2019, and he then bounced between the Jazz and Salt Lake City Stars. Now the 23-year-old should have a real chance to earn a role on a young, rebuilding Cavs team.

The athletic guard averaged over 23 points per game in the G League last season.

Jazz trade Rayjon Tucker, second round pick to Cavs

The Sacramento Kings have agreed to terms on a two-year, $3 million contract with DaQuan Jeffries.
Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1332036013422731266" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shams Charania/Twitter</a>
ANALYSIS:&nbsp;Sacramento claimed Jeffries on a two-way contract last season, and the rookie moonlighted in 13 games at the NBA level while largely staying with the Stockton Kings in the NBA G League. The 23-year-old put up 16.5 points per game in Stockton, and is a low-risk flier for the franchise due to his high motor and athleticism.

Jeffries played for Sacramento on a two-way contract last season.

Kings agree to two-year deal with DaQuan Jeffries

Kostas Antetokounmpo has agreed to a second two-way contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1332045547314827264" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shams Charania/Twitter</a>
ANALYSIS:&nbsp;The younger brother of Giannis Antetokounmpo enters his third year in the NBA and has previously played on two-way contracts with the Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. The 23-year-old has scarcely played at the league's top level, with only 31 total NBA minutes to his name thus far. With the G League's South Bay Lakers, Antetokounmpo averaged 14.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game last season.

The 23-year-old forward has agreed to his third consecutive two-way contract.

Lakers bring back Kostas Antetokounmpo on two-way deal

The NBA will open its preseason slate on December 11, with the Lakers and Clippers headlining the preseason's opening night.
Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1332434061093179395" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shams Charania/Twitter</a>
ANALYSIS: In an earlier statement, the NBA said:&nbsp;
The NBA today released its game schedule for the 2020 preseason, which will tip off on Friday, Dec. 11 and conclude on Saturday, Dec. 19.
Each NBA team will play a minimum of two and a maximum of four games as part of the league&rsquo;s 49-game preseason schedule.&nbsp; Every team will play at least one home game and one road game in the preseason.&nbsp; The national television schedule for preseason games will be announced at a later date.&nbsp;
The 2020-21 regular season will tip off on Tuesday, Dec. 22 and feature 72 games for each team.&nbsp; As previously announced, the regular-season schedule will be released in two segments.&nbsp; The schedule for the First Half of the season (Dec. 22, 2020 &ndash; March 4, 2021) will be released in the coming days.
The schedule for the Second Half of the season (March 11 &ndash; May 16, 2021) will be released during the latter part of the First Half portion of the schedule.&nbsp; The Second Half schedule will include the remainder of each team&rsquo;s 72 games not scheduled in the First Half as well as any games postponed during the First Half that can reasonably be added to the Second Half schedule.

The Battle for Los Angeles will be part of the NBA's opening night of preseason action.

NBA preseason to start Dec. 11 with Lakers-Clippers showdown

Guard JJ Barea is signing a guaranteed one-year, $2.6M deal to return to the Dallas Mavericks, sources tell The Athletic NBA and Stadium.
Source: <a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1332343990134448136" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter) </a>
ANALYSIS: The 36-year-old veteran has spent 11 of his 14 seasons with the Mavericks and is set to return to Dallas on a short, one-year deal. Barea has been the perfect backup point guard for Dallas in recent years, but with Doncic taking on more minutes, there has been less of a need for JJ. Nonetheless, Barea is a part of the Mavericks championship culture from 2011 and can still produce on the court. JJ averaged 7.7 points and 3.9 assists in 15 minutes off the bench for the Mavs last year.
&nbsp;

JJ Barea will return to the Mavericks on a one-year deal.

JJ Barea to return to Mavericks on one-year deal

Free agent F/C Frank Kaminsky has agreed to a one-year deal with the Sacramento Kings, his agent tells ESPN.
Source: <a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1332075552920973316" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter)</a>
ANALYSIS: Frank Kaminsky put up 9.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game in his first and only season with the Suns. Kaminsky played a reserve role for Phoenix and figures to do the same in Sacramento next year with the Kings just recently signing Hassan Whiteside.&nbsp; 
Kaminsky will stretch the floor for Sacramento as he is a big that can step back and shoot the three ball at a high percentage.
&nbsp;

Frank Kaminsky has agreed to a one-year deal with the Kings.

Frank Kaminsky, Kings agree to one-year deal

Free agent G Kelan Martin has agreed to a two-year deal with the Indiana Pacers, agent Mike Lindeman tells ESPN.
Source: <a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1331721285991354374" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter)</a>
ANALYSIS: Kelan Martin spent his rookie campaign with the Timberwolves and appeared in just 31 games averaging 6.4 points and 3.1 rebounds. The 25-year-old guard out of Butler will join the Pacers on a two-year deal and will try to work his way into the Pacers rotation under first year coach Nate Bjorkgren.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Kelan Martin agrees to two-year deal with Pacers.

Kelan Martin agrees to two-year deal with Pacers

Free agent F Noah Vonleh has agreed to a one-year deal with the Chicago Bulls, agent Jim Tanner tells ESPN.
Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1331980885114163202" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter)</a>
ANALYSIS: The six-year forward out of Indiana University is set to re-join the Bulls after playing half a season in Chicago during the 2017-18 campaign. Vonleh split time between the Timberwolves and Nuggets last year and was unable to establish himself in the rotation for either team. Vonleh has career averages of 5 points and 5.2 rebounds and it is unclear what his role on the Bulls will be next year. 
&nbsp;

Free agent Noah Vonleh has agreed to a one-year deal with the Chicago Bulls.

Noah Vonleh agrees to one-year deal with Bulls

Hawks GM Travis Schlenk: &ldquo;We had our conversations with Danilo and his reps, we made it clear to him that the role he was signing up for was to come in and be a backup behind John.&rdquo;
Source: <a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://twitter.com/jphanned/status/1331701929764765696" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Justin Phan of Fantasy Labs NBA (Twiiter) </a>
ANALYSIS: This news comes as quite the surprise considering Gallinari was given $61.5 million over three years with Atlanta. The 12-year veteran out of Italy is set to back up 23-year-old John Collins who had a monster season last year, putting up 21.6 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. As for Gallinari, he has proven to still be effective at this stage in his career and will be a luxury for Atlanta coming off the bench. Gallinari averaged 18.7 points and 5.2 rebounds in his first and only season with the Thunder and will look to provide instant offense for the Hawks next year.

Danilo Gallinari reportedly agreed that he would come off the bench when signing his deal with Atlanta.

Danilo Gallinari to come off the bench in Atlanta

We are omitting Anthony Davis from this list. Sure, he has not signed his max contract yet, but there are mitigating factors as to why that has not happened, and he&rsquo;ll be back with the Los Angeles Lakers when camp opens next week. The only question is how the deal will be structured.
Other free agents? Let&rsquo;s just say their turkey went down a little more slowly Thursday.
Take Reggie Jackson, for instance. Last season, he started 10 games for the Detroit Pistons and six games for the Los Angeles Clippers as part of Doc Rivers&rsquo; 33 different Clipper starting fives. He wasn&rsquo;t great but he wasn&rsquo;t bad, shooting 41 percent from behind the arc with the Clippers and averaging nearly 15 points per game with Detroit. But the nine-year veteran will turn 31 in April, and there is an NBA expression that nothing ages faster than a guard on the wrong side of 30. He remains unsigned as the workweek closes out, and the number of available roster spots shrinks. A veteran&rsquo;s minimum deal is about the best he can hope for, and Philadelphia has a need at backup point guard.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was a useful bench player for the Toronto (Tampa) Raptors last season, making six spot starts in 61 games after coming over from the Brooklyn Nets, where he earned a reputation as a better-than-average defender who could knock down an open shot when needed, though not from three-point range. Still, the 26-year-old&rsquo;s averages have dropped each of the past two seasons, and he is one of the many players stuck waiting out the interminable delay in the Al Horford deal, which reportedly cannot be completed until Dec. 8, to see where and how it may open roster spaces.
Shabazz Napier has been kicking around in the league since being the No. 24 overall pick in the 2014 draft, spending time with Miami, Orlando, Portland, Brooklyn, Minnesota and Washington. He made nine starts for the Wizards last season, including the final eight before the March shutdown. But Washington will get John Wall back, and Raul Neto has been signed to be his backup. The 29-year-old has played for six NBA teams, so he'll likely will have to wait for vet minimum contracts to become available; and this is at a time when many teams are more interested in developing draft picks than adding so-so backups, even one who averaged 11.6 points per game last season, but was turnover prone.
Taj Gibson got a $1 million buyout from the Knicks and is still waiting for someone to sign him, and he has a strong reputation around the league as the type of glue guy who can be a strong locker room presence while also filling it at forward in a pinch. The 12-year veteran has bounced around since spending the first eight seasons of his career with the Chicago Bulls, and he had shot above 50 percent in each of the past seven seasons. A vet minimum is about the best he can hope for, but there are teams out there (such as Atlanta) trying to find the right mix of young studs and older mentors.
New Bulls general manager Arturas Karnisovas did not even extend a qualifying offer to Shaquille Harrison (which also was the case with Kris Dunn), opting instead for Denzel Valentine and Adam Mokoka. The 6-foot-7 combo guard made 10 starts but did not particularly distinguish himself on a horrid Bulls team that had way too many backcourt players, as Harrison would seem to be the epitome of the intelligent journeyman who has not yet been surrounded by a group of winning players (he spent two seasons with bad Suns teams before playing for Chicago). Combo guards are a dime a dozen in the winding-down moments of free agency, so he will need to have a patron saint in some NBA front office who believes his potential has still not been realized, even at age 27. It does not hurt that he is viewed as a defensive specialist.

Chris Sheridan looks at the free agents still available as the offseason begins to calm.

Who’s left in winding-down NBA free agency?

Free agency is starting to grind to a halt, with Hassan Whiteside&rsquo;s return to the Sacramento Kings -- on a veteran&rsquo;s minimum deal, no less -- representing the last notable name coming off the board. 
As rosters are nearly set, let&rsquo;s take a look at how some of the biggest acquisitions of this accelerated offseason will fit on their new team.
Seth Curry and the Helping Hand(Off) 
The Sixers regressed on offense last season.&nbsp;
They ranked 14th in offensive rating (110.7), slightly down from their placement the year before (111.6, 8th). Though the dip was small statistically, the offense looked and felt worse due to their personnel. Gone was the half-season excellence of Jimmy Butler and the virtuosic shooting of J.J. Redick. In came Josh Richardson, a solid-but-streaky shooter, and Al Horford, whose floor spacing capabilities were a bit capped because of how much time he spent at the 4.&nbsp;
There was an underlying stylistic shift with the new additions. The Sixers were the NBA&rsquo;s most efficient handoff team during the 2018-19 season, generating 1.05 points per possession per Synergy. Dribble handoffs accounted for more than eight percent of their possessions.&nbsp;
Redick was the primary driver of their volume. His ability to shoot off movement put defenses in a bind. Not closing out would give one of the league&rsquo;s deadliest shooters a clean look. Trapping those looks weren&rsquo;t fruitful because Redick was a good enough passer to keep the chain moving, giving the Sixers a bevy of advantage situations.&nbsp;
The Redick-Joel Embiid handoff was the third-most-frequent pairing in the league during the '18-19 season, according to a source with access to Second Spectrum tracking data. The Redick-Ben Simmons duo ranked fourth. In terms of efficiency, the Sixers actually got more out of Butler operating in handoffs. His partnership with Embiid (1.23 PPP on direct hookups) and Simmons (1.14 PPP) ranked 5th and 11th among the 65 duos to run at least 100 dribble handoffs together last season.
With Redick and Butler out of the picture, the volume and effectiveness of Philly&rsquo;s handoffs plummeted. They only accounted for 5.2 percent of their possessions, and their 0.92 points-per-possession clip ranked 13th in the league.&nbsp;
Enter Seth Curry, who has ranked in the 75th percentile or higher in handoff efficiency in each of his last three seasons. Like Redick, Curry has the touch and body control to sink shots on the move. Unlike Redick, Curry has the on-ball chops to create for himself and others beyond the simple quick dump-off against a hedge or trap. There&rsquo;s legitimate manipulation in his bag, making handoffs a pick-your-poison exhibition for opponents.
Most of Curry&rsquo;s handoff possessions come from the wings, either quick pitches after inbounding from the sideline, or common actions like Chicago -- a pindown that flows into a handoff. If his defender falls behind the play, Curry can make defenses pay with jumpers or floaters.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/curry-floater.gif" alt="" width="620" height="AUTO" />
You can see how much strain is put on Al Horford after Furkan Korkmaz gets caught. He has to navigate Curry dribbling into space and also keep eyes on a rolling Dwight Powell. Horford decides to hang back and concede the middle, and Curry obliges with a soft floater.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/seth-curry-chicago-action.gif" alt="" />
Here&rsquo;s an example of Chicago action being run to Curry&rsquo;s dominant hand. This unlocks him more as a passer. Bogdan Bogdanovic gets clipped by Justin Jackson, which puts Nemanja Bjelica in No Man&rsquo;s Land. Bjelica steps up to prevent Curry from turning the corner; Curry counters by delivering a live-dribble bounce pass to Maxi Kleber for the flush.
Curry has never been the voluminous handoff threat that Redick was, but his skill set is apparent in those actions. With the Sixers still lacking a true hand-the-keys-to-him pick-and-roll threat, I would anticipate a rebound in handoff frequency for the Sixers' half-court offense to compensate.
Lakers Juice Their Pick-and-Roll Attack
Speaking of pick-and-rolls, let&rsquo;s talk about the Lakers a bit. The defending champs mauled their way to a title last season. Their overwhelming size, or rather, their overwhelming skilled size was simply too much for teams to deal with. Their physical dominance overshadowed how uneven and clunky their half-court offense was at times last season.
LeBron James is one of the greatest playmakers the NBA has ever seen. He has superb passing vision. His size allows him to see windows that smaller guards can&rsquo;t; his brute strength allows him to fling crosscourt darts that weaker players can&rsquo;t. That, combined with his driving ability and improved jumper, has made him one of the most complete pick-and-roll weapons the NBA has ever seen.
The issue is that the Lakers didn&rsquo;t have much of anything behind him in terms of playmaking. Rajon Rondo filled the gaps during the postseason, but was ineffective (40th percentile, passes included via Synergy) over a larger regular-season sample. Alex Caruso was more comfortable as a secondary attacker than a floor general in that sense.
Here&rsquo;s a stat to drum things home, according to the Second Spectrum source: the Lakers generated 88.2 points per 100 possessions on trips featuring a pick-and-roll with LeBron off the floor. To put that into perspective, that&rsquo;s three points per 100 possessions worse than the 2002-03 Denver Nuggets, who hold the claim for the worst offensive rating over the past 20 years (91.2 per 100).
To remedy that, the Lakers swung a trade for Sixth Man of the Year finalist Dennis Schroder, then later signed last year&rsquo;s Sixth Man of the Year in Montrezl Harrell.
Schroder is coming off the most efficient campaign of his young career, dropping nearly 19 points per game on a career high 57.5% True Shooting percentage. He posted career-highs in two-point percentage (51.3%), three point percentage (38.5%) and three-point volume (5 attempts, 33.7% three-point rate).&nbsp;
Schroder has always been a speed demon, but he complemented his rim exploits with a reliable jumper for the first time in his career. Teams have always ducked under picks in an effort to force his (shooting) hand. In the past, he&rsquo;d use that runway to jet down the lane. He can still do that.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/dennis-pnr-drive-vs-under.gif" alt="" width="620" height="AUTO" />
Schroder displayed newfound confidence in his jumper against conservative screen defense. This fluidity was not present in, say, Atlanta:
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/dennis-pull-up-pnr-vs-under.gif" alt="" height="AUTO" />
Giving the Lakers an extra scoring option is huge. Pairing him with a screening partner like Harrell should give the Lakers one of the better benches in the league.&nbsp;
Harrell is a quick-twitch athlete with the ability to: 
1) Set solid screens
2) Quickly flip the angle of said screens, and... 
3) Transition from screener/slipper to roller in a split second. 
You can see all of that in the example below:
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/montrezl-dive.gif" alt="" height="AUTO" />
What separates Harrell from other dive-hard bigs is his ability to put the ball on the deck. He&rsquo;s comfortable catching an early pass in space, then putting the ball on the deck for a dribble or two to generate a rim attempt for himself.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/montrezl-spin.gif" alt="" height="AUTO" />
The speed and ferocity of his movements should be a natural fit to Schroder&rsquo;s turbo-charged game. Having a starting caliber one-two punch off the bench should also help the Lakers through the inevitable slog of a condensed regular season. Lowering LeBron and Anthony Davis&rsquo; regular-season workload should be priority number one.
Double Down: Hawks Edition
More like Hawks Addition.
Sorry.&nbsp;
Moving on.
If you&rsquo;ve watched a singular Hawks game over the past couple of seasons, you&rsquo;ll quickly recognize their Double Drag sets, a staple of their early offense. A ball-handler, usually Trae Young, will cross half-court and dribble horizontally over a pair of staggered screens. One screener, usually John Collins, will dive to the basket; the other, a shooter (in theory, at least) will pop out and hover behind the three-point line. The action is designed to make you wrong because of the skill sets of Young and Collins.
Show too high, and Young can sling passes across the lot or find a rolling Collins for a slam. Switch the action, and you&rsquo;ll have Collins rolling into the paint with a baby on his hip or Young with a big on an island. Give too much attention to that duo, and there&rsquo;s still the popper waiting to fire an open triple.
Young was the NBA&rsquo;s most frequent Double Drag navigator by a wide margin last season, per the Second Spectrum source. The difference between Young&rsquo;s frequency and second place (Kemba Walker) was nearly larger than the difference between Walker and 12th place De&rsquo;Aaron Fox. Young will still be the primary ball-handler in these actions, but he&rsquo;ll have shiny new toys to play with.&nbsp;
Though waves were made recently concerning Danilo Gallinari&rsquo;s status in the lineup, there will be times that Gallinari and Collins operate in the frontcourt together. Offensively, they&rsquo;re primed to blitz teams, especially when they flow out of Double Drag together. The Thunder generated an obscene 1.17 points per possession in those actions when Gallinari was the screener, per the Second Spectrum source.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/gallo-double-drag.gif" alt="" width="620" height="AUTO" />
Neither Rondo nor Bogdan Bogdanovic pressures the rim like Young can, but both have the passing chops to navigate those screens to find open teammates. Rondo gives a reasonable facsimile of the cross-court passing that Young provides:
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/rondo-corner-skip.gif" alt="" width="620" height="AUTO" />
Bogdanovic is a good passer in his own right, though he&rsquo;s more of a probe-and-dump-off guy than a cross-court passer. Still, he can make the primary reads when getting downhill, and that&rsquo;s accentuated by a reliable pull-up jumper if he&rsquo;s given space to fire.&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/bogdan-pull-up.gif" alt="" width="620" height="AUTO" />
Young may actually get meaningful off-ball reps this season. You don&rsquo;t want to take too much off his plate -- there are only a handful of players in the league that provide the intersection of passing, shooting and finishing that he does -- but putting him in positions to attack bent defenses instead of being tasked with bending the defense all the time will be huge. This is going to be a fun team to watch on offense.

Nekias Duncan analyzes a number of key offseason moves and how each of those players fit with their new NBA team.

NBA film breakdown: How top acquisitions fit with their new team

Former Knicks interim coach Mike Miller is joining Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault's staff as an assistant, sources tell ESPN.
Source: <a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1331624405408092161" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter) </a>
ANALYSIS: Mike Miller spent most of last season as the interim head coach for the New York Knicks after they let go of David Fizdale. Miller also has G League coaching experience and will be a nice addition to the new coaching staff in Oklahoma City.

Former Knicks interim coach Mike Miller will join the OKC coaching staff.

Former Knicks interim coach Mike Miller to join OKC coaching staff

As expected, NBA postpones 2021 All-Star in Indianapolis. 
Source: <a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1331659584155643905" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter) </a>
ANALYSIS: With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the NBA will postpone the 2021 All-Star game as COVID-19 cases surge across the country. The NBA went on to say that the city of Indianapolis, which was set to host its first All-Star game since 1985, will host the 2024 All-Star game.
&nbsp;

The NBA officially announces the 2021 All-Star game in Indianapolis has been postponed.

NBA postpones 2021 All-Star game in Indianapolis

Golden State Warriors All-Star G Klay Thompson underwent surgery today to repair his torn Achilles, source tells ESPN. He is expected to make a full recovery.
Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1331720858839166977" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter)</a>
ANALYSIS: According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Dr. Richard Ferkel performed the surgery on Thompson today in Los Angeles and it was considered a success. This is the first step in Thompson's long road of recovery, but the expectation is that Klay will be ready for the 2021-22 season.
&nbsp;

Klay Thompson has underwent successful surgery on his torn Achilles.

Klay Thompson undergoes successful surgery on torn Achilles

Free agent center Hassan Whiteside has agreed to a one-year deal with the Sacramento Kings, sources tell ESPN.
Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1331731440225177600" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter) </a>
ANALYSIS: Hassan Whiteside will return to the team that originally drafted him in the 2010 draft on a short one-year deal. The Kings just last night declined to match the Hawks offer sheet on restricted free agent Bogdan Bogdanovic and now will use some of their remaining cap space on the 31-year-old out of Marshall University.
Whiteside is coming off another strong season where he averaged 15.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game and he figures to be the starting center for the Kings next season.

Hassan Whiteside agrees to a one-year deal with Kings.

Hassan Whiteside agrees to one-year deal with Kings

The toughest part of Klay Thompson&rsquo;s surgical rehab for his torn Achilles tendon may be the first four-to-six weeks. He will not be able to put any weight on his right leg, which means a heck of a lot of TV time for a guy who has made a living on his feet.
What may make it even tougher is the mental side of his recovery, as other athletes who ruptured their Achilles tendon have said that depression was a very real side effect.
Golden State&rsquo;s superstar is going to miss the entire 2020-21 season because of the injury he suffered in a workout the day of the NBA draft. This comes after he missed the entire 2019-20 season while recovering from a torn ACL that he sustained during the 2019 NBA Finals.
&ldquo;Kobe Bryant and Dominique Wilkins had this injury and came back from it, but it may take two full years to get back to his full performance level,&rdquo; said Dr. Paul Ledesma, a podiatrist and surgeon at&nbsp;<a href="https://phoenixspineandjoint.com/">Phoenix Spine &amp; Joint</a>. &ldquo;So it is a long haul, but there have been a lot of medical advancements that may make it easier.&rdquo;
Dr. Ledesma is not actually treating Thompson, but he has operated on athletes in the past and described two procedures for repairing a torn Achilles.
The first is the percutaneous approach, which is noninvasive and almost never used on pro athletes, although it works for weekend warriors. Small incisions are made and the specialist is somewhat at a disadvantage and &ldquo;operating kind of blind.&rdquo;
The second approach involves making an incision along the back of the leg and making reinforcements with small steep plates attached to the heel bone. In this type of procedure, tendons from a cadaver or from the same leg are woven together with the damaged Achilles to strengthen it. The heel anchors can be made with steel or with a dissolvable material, depending on the severity of the Achilles tear.
&ldquo;Thompson&rsquo;s leg is then placed in a stable position with the toes pointed down to relax the repair site,&rdquo; said Dr. Ledesma. &ldquo;It cannot be walked on, and we don&rsquo;t let you walk for four-to-six weeks before any weight-bearing is allowed. It is a long haul in terms of conditioning the leg muscles and getting your balance back.&rdquo;
The next stage of recovery could involve a rehab machine known as Alter G, which was developed by NASA. With this machine, a plastic bag is inflated with air while a player walks on a treadmill, reducing the load being carried by the leg by 80 percent, but still allowing for a full cardiac workout. It is often used in conjunction with swimming-pool rehab, in which full buoyancy reduces the stress on the injured leg by 100 percent.
Numerous NBA players have undergone surgery for a torn Achilles, and the results have varied on a case-by-case basis. Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets still has not played since being injured in the 2019 NBA Finals and by the time he returns this winter, it will have been more than a year-and-a-half since he last played.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/kd8_lg.jpg" alt="" width="796" height="AUTO" />
Isiah Thomas was 35 years old when he had to retire because of an Achilles tear. Patrick Ewing was 36 when he was sidelined for seven months by the same injury. Voshon Lenard was 30 when he missed almost an entire season. Mehmet Okur recovered in eight months when he was 30. Kobe Bryant (34) recovered in nine months, Wes Mathews (28) recovered in seven months, Rudy Gay (30) recovered in 10 months and DeMarcus Cousins (27) missed an entire year.
There is no one-size-fits-all rule when it comes to the expected recovery time for Thompson, 30.
&ldquo;It is different with every person and every body,&rdquo; Dr. Ledesma said. &ldquo;On average, people heal in a certain amount of time. There are outliers. Our biological nature means not every body is the same.&rdquo;
Ledesma said that a national study of Achilles injuries in baseball, football, hockey and basketball players revealed that a stunning 30 percent never recover.
&ldquo;That is a significant percentage, but it is the largest tendon in the body and it endures the first strain and stress because of the nature of the sport,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;And then there is the mental aspect of what this does, because it is ingrained in athletes&rsquo; brains to be active and working with their bodies&hellip; yet they have to rest.&rdquo;
When asked what he would recommend for Thompson, Dr. Ledesma said: &ldquo;Klay has been in the league a long time. I would tell him to rely on his experience and the ability he has. And don&rsquo;t be too hard on yourself.&rdquo;
Thompson underwent successful surgery on his Achilles on Wednesday, the Warriors announced.

Klay Thompson underwent successful surgery to repair his Achilles tendon on Wednesday. Now, what's next as he begins his rehab?

What will Klay Thompson's Achilles rehab entail?

I&rsquo;m not sure if I could play in today&rsquo;s NBA.&nbsp;
When I watch NBA games now and see some of the calls -- and some of the non-calls that these guys complain about -- I&rsquo;m blown away. I always tell people, &ldquo;I never could&rsquo;ve played in this generation.&rdquo; I didn&rsquo;t know how to flop or how to not play defense. I never backed down from anyone and I played hard defense on every possession of every game.&nbsp;
I probably would&rsquo;ve adapted to the shooting and stuff, but as far as my style of play, this is who I am. I&rsquo;m not compromising that for nobody. People always told me that I was in the wrong generation, that I would've fit right in if I played in the &lsquo;80s or &lsquo;90s.&nbsp;
When I first got the league, I had to learn how to concede two points to my opponent (like if I picked up an early foul or was in foul trouble). I had a hard time with that; that was something I had to learn. Now, a lot of these guys don&rsquo;t seem to care very much on the defensive end. They see a certain guy coming toward the basket and they move out of the way.&nbsp;Now, refs will call a flagrant foul for something that would&rsquo;ve just been a foul 10-15 years ago. If I played in today&rsquo;s NBA, I would probably lead the league in ejections!
I witnessed this shift during the last three years of my NBA career. During my two seasons with the New York Knicks and my cup of coffee with the Milwaukee Bucks, there were a few instances where I committed (what I thought were) hard fouls, but they would walk over to the scorer&rsquo;s table and announce that it was a Flagrant 1. After that happened a few times, I remember thinking, &ldquo;Where did this come from?! Things are changing.&rdquo;&nbsp;
As my career was coming to an end, that&rsquo;s when they started emphasizing a scorer&rsquo;s &ldquo;freedom of movement&rdquo; and implementing those rules. Honestly, I understand it (to a certain degree) because you want the game to be free-flowing and you don&rsquo;t want it too gunked up. But physicality is a part of the game too.
There&rsquo;s more flopping nowadays than physical play. At times, it&rsquo;s tough to watch. These are really good players -- they have better skill sets than we did -- but they resort to trying to get a call. Every time these guys drive, they&rsquo;re looking for a call. If they get hit a certain way, they&rsquo;re looking for a flagrant. They want every play to be reviewed. When there&rsquo;s a hard foul, these guys act like they just got shot (when, in reality, the defender tapped their lip). The league has allowed it. They wanted more flow, more offense (which I get), but you shouldn&rsquo;t compromise every aspect of the game for that. Being physical should be allowed, especially in the post. That&rsquo;s part of the game.
I had to play physical in order to succeed in the NBA. Remember, I was very undersized for my position. I was playing at 6-foot-9 and 225-to-230 pounds throughout my whole career. Most guys I played against were taller than me and damn near everybody weighed more than me, so I had to beat them up. I didn&rsquo;t have a choice. I had to meet Tim Duncan early at the free-throw line and be physical, forcing him to the spots where I wanted him to go. Same thing with Kevin Garnett, Elton Brand, David West and all of the bigs that I faced. Getting switched out, I guarded Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal on the block. I don&rsquo;t stand a chance in hell against Shaq unless I&rsquo;m physical!
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/k3_lg.jpg" alt="" width="778" height="AUTO" />
I saw what David West <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-david-west-andrea-bargnani-chris-bosh-blow-current-league-out-water-toronto-raptors-ryan-hollins-big-men">said recently</a> about how Andrea Bargnani would be dominant in today&rsquo;s NBA, and I totally agree. We used to beat the shit out of Bargnani and he wanted no part of it. In today&rsquo;s NBA, he&rsquo;d be fine. Nobody could get physical with him, so he&rsquo;d be a superstar these days. In today&rsquo;s NBA, Bargnani would be Joel Embiid.&nbsp;
A lot of Europeans are having success in today&rsquo;s NBA as stretch-4s and stretch-5s, but the reason many of those players didn&rsquo;t succeed before is because the game was too physical for them (aside from Dirk Nowitzki, who had no problem banging and getting physical for 20 years). When I was playing, you&rsquo;d see these guys with great skill sets, but they wouldn&rsquo;t succeed because they wanted no part of the physicality. They'd struggle in the NBA and go back home and star in the overseas leagues that weren&rsquo;t as physical.
I understand that it&rsquo;s important for the game to evolve. But I think there&rsquo;s a way for the game to evolve without compromising so much. Maybe I&rsquo;m naive, but I still think there&rsquo;s room for dominant traditional bigs in today&rsquo;s NBA. I know that shooting is important, but I think both things can be true.&nbsp;If another Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal showed up today with that same ability to dominate the block, are you telling me that there&rsquo;s no place for that player in today&rsquo;s NBA? That&rsquo;s really hard for me to believe. I think in the future, we&rsquo;ll see the league shift back to using big men more -- those bigs will just have a jump shot in their arsenal, too.
In today&rsquo;s NBA, there are no enforcers. You can&rsquo;t be an enforcer these days; the league won&rsquo;t allow it. You&rsquo;ll just get ejected. Also, there aren&rsquo;t really hard fouls anymore and nobody is fighting, so you don&rsquo;t need an enforcer to run in and stand up for your guys. The NBA&rsquo;s evolution made the enforcer go extinct. They simply aren&rsquo;t needed.&nbsp;
Today&rsquo;s players don&rsquo;t want to fight. They bark and get face-to-face, but they&rsquo;re all just hoping that someone comes over to break it up. I see a whole lot of guys acting tough and getting face-to-face, but never throwing any punches. A lot of these dudes have never been in a fight. They&rsquo;ve been in the spotlight since they were a kid and not many people are going to pick a fight with a dude their size. These guys don&rsquo;t want to fight because they can&rsquo;t fight. They don&rsquo;t know what they&rsquo;re doing (and they sure as hell don&rsquo;t want their first fight to be on national TV). Also, so many of today&rsquo;s players are friends, so they aren&rsquo;t about to beat each other up.
There are a few guys who seem like they can actually fight and who want the smoke. James Johnson is a maniac and he&rsquo;s a black belt! He&rsquo;s out there looking for a reason to fight! I was watching him play one time and he got into it with someone; the guy pushed him. I&rsquo;m sitting there thinking, &ldquo;Man, that&rsquo;s the wrong guy to mess with! Leave that boy alone!&rdquo; The Morris twins are the same way -- they&rsquo;re from Philly, they&rsquo;re ignorant and they&rsquo;re always looking for problems. They want a reason to fight!
I played against guys who were physical and who really wanted the smoke. Derrick Coleman didn&rsquo;t take shit from nobody. I faced guys like Zach Randolph, David West, Antonio Davis, Dale Davis and Kurt Thomas. They didn&rsquo;t back down and I had a lot of respect for those guys.&nbsp;
You can&rsquo;t turn a porch dog into a guard dog, and there are a lot of poodles in the NBA right now.&nbsp;
There were some guys like that back when I played, too. Kevin Garnett was a porch puppy -- a miniature chihuahua in a Dobermann&rsquo;s body. I told him to his face, &ldquo;You&rsquo;re a porch puppy. All you do is bark.&rdquo; He never wanted smoke from me. I told him straight up, &ldquo;You better take your ass back to your huddle before I get mad.&rdquo; Dahntay Jones heard it; you can ask him.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/kg_lg.jpg" alt="" width="782" height="AUTO" />
My approach to fighting was this: I&rsquo;m not going to start something, but I&rsquo;ll definitely finish it. It&rsquo;s just like my approach to alley-oops. If you just let me be, we won&rsquo;t have a problem. But don&rsquo;t take it there because I&rsquo;ll finish it. Your mad don&rsquo;t equal my mad.&nbsp;
I would tell people on the court, &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t get disrespectful." Here&rsquo;s the difference between you and me -- I don&rsquo;t mind getting suspended. Been there, done that. If you get out of line and start being disrespectful, I&rsquo;m gonna be on your ass. There were plenty of times where I pointed at a guy and told the ref, &ldquo;If he says or does one more thing, I&rsquo;m going to lose it.&rdquo; And they&rsquo;d say, &ldquo;Who, Kenyon?&rdquo; And I&rsquo;d point to the dude. And they&rsquo;d say, &ldquo;Okay, we&rsquo;ll watch him. But just let us handle it. Please.&rdquo; They knew that I was reasonable and there to hoop, but they also knew that I had no problem taking it there. 
If we&rsquo;re just playing basketball and getting physical, that's fine. When I was on the Clippers, we faced Zach Randolph and the Grizzlies in the playoffs and it was very physical, but there was mutual respect and no bad blood after each game. But if someone is being disrespectful, at the drop of a dime, I&rsquo;ll slap the shit out of them. Then, I&rsquo;ll deal with the three- or four-game suspension, whatever the consequence is. Years from now, I&rsquo;ll forget about those three games I missed due to suspension, but you&rsquo;re going to remember the time Kenyon Martin slapped the shit out of you.&nbsp;
I don&rsquo;t tolerate disrespect. And I&rsquo;m kinda fucking crazy.
I&rsquo;m not a big talker. I&rsquo;m not here for the lip boxing. But if someone walks up on me and I feel threatened, I&rsquo;m going to punch. Bottom line. Simple as that. If you&rsquo;re going to disrespect me and piss me off, you better not be within arm&rsquo;s reach because I&rsquo;ll start swinging. Here&rsquo;s the beauty of it: Once everyone knew that I was down to fight and didn&rsquo;t take any shit, I didn&rsquo;t have to fight anyone. The threat alone was enough to stop people from trying to start shit with me. And I would warn them too. If I am warning you, take heed. It&rsquo;s just like a rattlesnake. If you see a rattlesnake rattling, go the other way! The rattle is your warning to get out of there. If I warn you, go the other way, bruh. Because I&rsquo;m willing to take things left.
I haven&rsquo;t won every fight that I&rsquo;ve been in. I&rsquo;m not going to lie and say that I have. But unlike a lot of basketball players: I&rsquo;m always willing to go there. A lot of these dudes ain&rsquo;t.&nbsp;
Now don&rsquo;t get it twisted, I don&rsquo;t want the NBA to be a wrestling match. I played in the BIG3 and they tried to implement rules to encourage a physical style of play, but they went too far with it. Dudes were basically tackling each other. It felt like we were wrestling at times. Al Harrington was on my team and nobody could stop him, so they just tackled him. I think there&rsquo;s a happy medium between the BIG3&rsquo;s extremely physical style of play and the NBA&rsquo;s soft style of play.
Unfortunately, I think the game is only going to get softer and less physical going forward because the next generation -- the up-and-coming players -- are watching the league now and seeing this style of play and how the games are called, so they&rsquo;ll learn from that and adjust accordingly.&nbsp;
I&rsquo;m just glad this shift didn&rsquo;t happen during my playing days. I was looked at as a defender, a tough guy, an enforcer type, so who knows how my career goes if I&rsquo;m playing in this era.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/km_lg.png" alt="" width="800" height="AUTO" />
Kenyon Martin is launching a new podcast called <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/kenyon-martin-podcast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Neat and Unfiltered"</a>&nbsp;on the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Basketball News Podcast Network</a>! This is a weekly podcast that drops every Friday. The first episode drops on 11/27. Kenyon will talk hoops and be joined by high-profile guests such as athletes and entertainers. You can listen on <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/kenyon-martin-podcast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BasketballNews.com</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/neat-unfiltered-with-kenyon-martin/id1541073998" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2QPqI56BKEnTJKiH6VyLhX?si=z9eEsUyHQ42hlWgKfl6E9Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spotify</a>&nbsp;or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Kenyon Martin writes about the NBA's shift away from physical play, which has basically caused enforcers to go extinct.

The death of the enforcer: How the NBA lost its physicality

Alex Kennedy and Spencer Davies play "Buy or Sell" and analyze the biggest moves of this condensed NBA offseason.

NBA Offseason Buy or Sell: Lakers, Bucks, Clippers, Hornets, Hawks, more

Howard Beck and Chris Sheridan discuss the NBA's free-agency period, Giannis Antetokounmpo's future, the Lakers' moves and more.

The Sheridan Show: Howard Beck on Giannis' future, Lakers' moves, more

There have been plenty of rumors that Kings guard Buddy Hield wants out of Sacramento. The most-recent evidence that Hield is disgruntled came on Tuesday night when Hield liked the following tweet:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Buddy Hield seeing Woj say the Kings still consider him part of their core <a href="https://t.co/FHc22BtDue">pic.twitter.com/FHc22BtDue</a>
&mdash; Blue Wire Podcasts (@bluewirepods) <a href="https://twitter.com/bluewirepods/status/1331418768313114627?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2020</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Here's a screenshot of Hield's account liking the tweet:
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/i_lg.jpg" alt="" width="561" height="AUTO" />
It remains to be seen whether Hield will remain with the Kings long-term. He is under contract with Sacramento through the 2023-24 season.
Last year, the 27-year-old averaged 19.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 3.8 threes per game, while shooting 42.9 percent from the field and 39.4 percent from three-point range.

Kings guard Buddy Hield liked an interesting tweet on Tuesday night, fueling rumors that he wants out of Sacramento.

Buddy Hield takes shot at Sacramento Kings on Twitter?

"They played us, we were not supposed to start (the season) this fast... 70 days for Bron &amp; the Heat."- CJ McCollum on the restart.&nbsp;
Source: <a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://twitter.com/ComplexSports/status/1331329240160215048" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Complex Sports (Twitter)</a>
ANALYSIS: The Lakers and Heat played well into October and with the season starting Dec. 22nd, there will be about a 70-day gap from the last game played to the beginning of next season. It will mark the shortest offseason period in sports history, which has marquee players like CJ McCollum and LeBron James upset about the quick turnaround.
McCollum also went on to say the league has not formalized any COVID-19 protocols yet for the 2020-21 season.

CJ McCollum says the NBA's 2020-21 season was not suppose to start this fast.