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Heat

MILWAUKEE (AP) &mdash; The NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks have signed veteran guard Goran Dragic as they continue adding depth to prepare for the postseason.
Dragic, 36, had averaged 6.4 points, 2.7 assists, 1.4 rebounds and 15.4 minutes in 51 games with the Chicago Bulls before getting waived on Tuesday. The 6-foot-3 guard was an All-Star with the Miami Heat in 2018 and a third-team All-NBA selection with the Phoenix Suns in 2014.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great point guard, can score and set the table,&rdquo; Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said Saturday night after his team&rsquo;s 133-130 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s competitive, smart, so we&rsquo;re excited to add him to our group.&rdquo;
Dragic has 60 games of playoff experience.
He has career averages of 13.3 points, 4.7 assists and 3 rebounds in 939 career regular-season games with 530 starts.
Dragic is the third player Milwaukee has added over the last month from the Miami Heat team that defeated the top-seeded Bucks in the 2020 Eastern Conference semifinals. Jae Crowder and Meyers Leonard also were part of that Heat squad.&nbsp;

Dragic has career averages of 13.3 points, 4.7 assists and 3 rebounds in 939 career regular-season games with 530 starts.

Bucks sign veteran Goran Dragic to add depth to backcourt

MILWAUKEE (AP) &mdash; Joel Embiid made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 41.4 seconds left and the Philadelphia 76ers rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat Milwaukee 133-130 on Saturday, snapping the Bucks&rsquo; 16-game winning streak.
Milwaukee had the longest winning streak by any NBA team since the Phoenix Suns had 18 straight victories early last season.
The 76ers trailed 125-121 before James Harden, who scored a game-high 38 points, hit a 3-pointer with 1:21 left. After Giannis Antetokounmpo missed a shot from around the basket, Embiid sank a 3-pointer that gave Philadelphia its first lead of the second half.
After Jrue Holiday missed a 3-point attempt with 25 seconds remaining, the 76ers went 6 of 6 from the line the rest of the way to seal the victory.
Harden added 10 assists and nine rebounds. Embiid had 31 points, 10 assists and six rebounds. Tyrese Maxey added 26 points and Georges Niang had 16.
Antetokounmpo had 34 points and 13 rebounds for Milwaukee. Brook Lopez and Holiday added 26 points apiece. Grayson Allen had 20, all in the third quarter.
The 76ers pulled off this comeback without a couple of key players.
Philadelphia&rsquo;s Tobias Harris didn&rsquo;t play in the second half due to left calf soreness and P.J. Tucker sat out the fourth quarter with back spasms. Harris scored three points in 13 minutes, while Tucker had two points in 19 minutes.
Milwaukee had built a 19-point lead in the second half thanks largely to Allen&rsquo;s hot streak.
After going scoreless and attempting just one shot in the first half, Allen scored 20 points in the first 9 minutes, 19 seconds of the third quarter. He went 6 of 6 from 3-point range during that stretch.
Allen capped his third-quarter scoring with a 3-pointer that gave Milwaukee a 95-77 lead with 2:41 left in the third.
The 76ers erased nearly all of that deficit in about 5 &frac12; minutes.
Philadelphia trailed 99-85 at the end of three quarters but scored the first nine points of the fourth. The 76ers cut Milwaukee&rsquo;s lead to 101-100 on Harden&rsquo;s three-point play with 9:07 left.
Antetokounmpo responded with a three-point play that gave the Bucks some breathing room, but the 76ers kept coming and eventually tied the game at 108 on Niang&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 6:23 left.
Milwaukee regained the lead as Antetokounmpo drove, scored and drew a foul on Embiid for a three-point play with 5:55 left.
Once again, the 76ers responded. And this time, they finally regained the lead and made sure it stuck.
TIP-INS
76ers: Dewayne Dedmon was available to play but didn&rsquo;t take the floor. Dedmon has been dealing with a sore left hip and hasn&rsquo;t played for the 76ers&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/philadelphia-76ers-miami-heat-nba-sports-montrezl-harrell-5691c1a683a9e5b70954ead21170c923">since signing with them</a>&nbsp;on Feb. 14. ... 76ers coach Doc Rivers, a former Marquette star whose jersey hangs from the Fiserv Forum banners, says he visited with Marquette coach Shaka Smart on Friday night during the team&rsquo;s trip to Milwaukee.
Bucks: Wesley Matthews missed a fifth straight game with a strained right calf. ... Antetokounmpo went 16 of 18 on free-throw attempts. One of the misses was a 10-second violation on his first attempt. Antetokounmpo had gone 4 of 15 from the line the last time the Bucks faced the 76ers, a 110-102 loss on Nov. 18. ... The Bucks signed C Meyers Leonard to a second 10-day contract. Leonard has averaged 2.8 points, 2 rebounds and 6.8 minutes in four appearances.
UP NEXT
76ers: At Indiana on Monday in the fourth game of a five-game road swing.
Bucks: At Washington on Sunday.

The 76ers rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat the Bucks 133-130 on Saturday, snapping Milwaukee's 16-game winning streak.

Sixers rally to win 133-130, snap Bucks’ 16-game streak

Sacramento Kings center Richaun Holmes has filed a defamation lawsuit against The Sacramento Bee, Robin Epley (an opinion writer at The Bee) and Allexis Holmes (Richaun's ex-wife).
Holmes is represented by Camille Vasquez &mdash; who famously represented Johnny Depp in his defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard &mdash; along with Leo Presiado, Jessica Meyers and Sam Moniz. Vasquez has also represented Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez among others.
Holmes is seeking damages for "defamatory content" across five articles published by The Sacramento Bee between March 2022 and May 2022. These articles detailed claims of child abuse and domestic abuse, but the lawsuit alleges that there were "ample reasons to doubt Ms. Holmes' credibility, including publicly-available court filings and orders contradicting Ms. Holmes' claims."
Richaun was ultimately awarded sole custody of his son, RJ. The lawsuit alleges that "despite being vindicated in court... [Holmes] has been wrongfully labeled an abuser in the public eye."
Also, the lawsuit argues that "this is a case about journalism at its worst," alleging that Epley and The Bee were "clinging to, and cashing in on, a false narrative steeped in harmful racial stereotypes, in the face of mounting evidence that their chosen narrative was blatantly untrue."
According to the lawsuit, Epley and The Sacramento Bee were given multiple opportunities to correct these claims yet they declined to do so.
Karl Olson, an attorney for The Bee, <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article272656680.html#storylink=cpy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that the articles about Holmes featured "a combination of fair and true reporting of judicial proceedings and opinion.&rdquo;
&ldquo;These actions were a coordinated and malicious effort to deliberately defame Mr. Holmes &mdash; a devoted father, son and teammate," Vasquez said in a statement. "We will pursue all available remedies to rebuild from the damage that The Sacramento Bee, Epley and Ms. Holmes have inflicted on Mr. Holmes.
"Despite the publicly available court decisions disproving each of these allegations, this narrative will have a lasting impact on Mr. Holmes&rsquo; life and career. Mr. Holmes will continue to be the outstanding father, player and community member he always has been, and we look forward to this matter being resolved.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Holmes is an eight-year NBA veteran with career averages of 9.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.0 block in 20.0 minutes per game. He currently plays for the Kings, and he previously had stints with the Phoenix Suns and Philadelphia 76ers.

Kings center Richaun Holmes has filed a defamation case against The Sacramento Bee, a journalist and his ex-wife.

Richaun Holmes files defamation lawsuit against The Sacramento Bee

MILWAUKEE (AP) &mdash; The Milwaukee Bucks sure didn&rsquo;t let Giannis Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s early exit bother them Friday night as they rolled to their most-lopsided victory of the season.
Now they wait to learn whether they might have to continue playing without the two-time MVP
Antetokounmpo left late in the first quarter with a right knee issue to spoil his rapid recovery from a sprained wrist, but the Bucks still trounced the Miami Heat 128-99 for their 13th consecutive triumph.
&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t gotten the full breakdown, but I&rsquo;m pretty sure either on a a drive or on a screen or something like that, he knocked knees with somebody and just wasn&rsquo;t able to return,&rdquo; said Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer, who had no update beyond that.
Antetokounmpo was in the starting lineup just four days after&nbsp;heading to New York to have his right wrist examined.
&ldquo;Sometimes you have to stop him from himself, being able to calm down and maybe even not play a couple of games, knowing that we&rsquo;re No. 2 (in the East), knowing that we&rsquo;re all right,&rdquo; said Jrue Holiday, who had 24 points. &ldquo;I know he doesn&rsquo;t like it. He tries to play every single game, which I completely understand. I feel like I&rsquo;m the same way.&rdquo;
Antetokounmpo was on the floor late in the first quarter when the two-time MVP&nbsp;passed the ball and immediately motioned to the bench as the Bucks called a timeout to enable him to head to the locker room.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Giannis has headed to the locker room. 👀<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FearTheDeer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FearTheDeer</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBA</a> <a href="https://t.co/IxLyOh1swN">pic.twitter.com/IxLyOh1swN</a>
&mdash; Bally Sports Wisconsin (@BallySportWI) <a href="https://twitter.com/BallySportWI/status/1629288207303974913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2023</a></blockquote>

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He had four points, four rebounds and four assists in just six minutes.
The Bucks still had no trouble extending the longest winning streak in the NBA this season. The Bucks pulled ahead for good four minutes into the game and rolled to their most lopsided victory of the season.
&ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t slow them down one bit when Giannis went out,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;They just put it in overdrive.&rdquo;
Holiday shot 5 of 9 from 3-point range, had seven assists and five rebounds. He drew perhaps his biggest ovation of the night when the scoreboard video caught him joining the crowd singalong to the Backstreet Boys&rsquo; &ldquo;I Want It That Way&rdquo; during a timeout late in the fourth quarter.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a classic song,&rdquo; Holiday said. &ldquo;And we were winning. So good vibes.&rdquo;
Bobby Portis had 18 points and 11 rebounds in his return from a sprained right medial collateral ligament that caused him to miss 11 games. Brook Lopez had 17 points, Grayson Allen 16 and Khris Middleton 12.
&ldquo;It was fun just to be out there, fun just to play the game I love to play,&rdquo; Portis said.
Jimmy Butler scored 23, Bam Adebayo 18, Tyler Herro 14 and Caleb Martin 13 for the Heat, who shot just 9 of 40 on 3-point attempts.
TIP-INS
Heat: Kevin Love and Cody Zeller made their Heat debuts&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/miami-heat-nba-sports-kevin-love-cody-zeller-5c28d3226b1e2ffaa5d13004d2cf5fe3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">after signing with Miami during the All-Star break.</a> Love, who had reached a buyout&nbsp;with the Cleveland Cavaliers, was in the starting lineup but went scoreless in his first game appearance in a month. He did have eight rebounds and four assists in 22 minutes. Zeller was playing his first game of the season and had 10 points in 16 minutes.
Bucks:&nbsp;Jae Crowder,&nbsp;acquired at the trade deadline, made his 2022-23 debut and had nine points in 16 minutes. Crowder hadn&rsquo;t played at all for Phoenix this season as the Suns attempted to deal him. ...&nbsp;Meyers Leonard,&nbsp;who signed a 10-day contract this week, had five points and six rebounds in 15 minutes while playing his first NBA game since January 2021. ... Pat Connaughton (left calf soreness) and Wesley Matthews (right calf strain) didn&rsquo;t play.
UP NEXT
Heat: At Charlotte on Saturday. The Heat are 2-1 against the Hornets this season with the home team winning each of the three games.
Bucks: Host Phoenix on Sunday in the first matchup of the season between the teams. The Bucks and Suns will face off again March 14 in Phoenix.

The Bucks didn’t let Giannis Antetokounmpo’s early exit bother them Friday night as they rolled to their most-lopsided win of the season.

Bucks rip Heat 128-99 after Giannis exits early with knee issue

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Meyers Leonard is getting another chance at the NBA, nearly two years after he used an anti-Semitic slur while playing a video game that was being livestreamed.
A person with knowledge of the negotiations said Leonard and the Milwaukee Bucks have agreed on a 10-day contract, opening the door for the 7-foot center to play in an NBA game for the first time since January 2021. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced.
ESPN first reported the agreement between Leonard and the Bucks.
Leonard&rsquo;s career was jeopardized and his reputation was seriously damaged on March 8, 2021 when it was discovered that he used a slur while playing an online game as others watched on a livestream. The Heat told him to stay away from the team indefinitely, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver fined him $50,000 and Miami eventually traded him to Oklahoma City.
Leonard said then that he knew he&rsquo;d used a bad term, but was unaware of the term&rsquo;s meaning. In an apology, he said &ldquo;my ignorance about its history and how offensive it is to the Jewish community is absolutely not an excuse and I was just wrong.&rdquo; He immediately began scheduling meetings with Holocaust survivors, rabbis in South Florida and other community leaders.
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That was the start of him spending much of the last two years trying to atone for what he did &mdash; almost all of it quietly, in a deliberate effort to quash any notion his work was simply done to get positive media coverage. He has spoken and worked with several Jewish groups on various things, put on a number of basketball camps for Jewish children and apologized countless times for what he said and his ignorance about what the term meant.
Leonard was not going to play in the remainder of that 2020-21 season after suffering a shoulder injury in January of 2021, two months before the incident. He has since dealt with ankle and other issues, but has been working toward an NBA return for months.
For the Bucks, the move carries almost no risk. They&rsquo;ll get 10 days to see if Leonard &mdash; who was with Miami for its run to the 2020 NBA Finals in the restart bubble at Walt Disney World &mdash; can help with their playoff push.
Most players and coaches chose to kneel in that bubble for the playing of the U.S. and Canadian national anthems when the NBA season resumed there. Leonard stood instead, his hand over his heart, and did so with the support of Heat teammates.
&ldquo;I am a compassionate human being and I truly love all people,&rdquo; Leonard told The Associated Press at the time.
For his career, Leonard has averaged 5.6 points and 3.9 rebounds on 48% shooting, 39% from 3-point range.
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After nearly two years, Meyers Leonard is getting another chance at the NBA, signing a 10-day contract with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Bucks give Meyers Leonard chance to resume career

The Los Angeles Lakers continue to look around the league and guage the trade market. One player the team has been linked to for months is Detroit Pistons forward Bojan Bogdanovic.&nbsp;
In an <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2023/01/13/nba-trade-deadline-teams-to-watch-lakers-wizards-jazz-raptors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article discussing the trade market, Howard Beck of Sports Illustrated</a> mentions that "the Lakers and Pistons have discussed a deal that would include both Bogdanović and Nerlens Noel".
The Pistons have shown reluctance to move Bogdanovic unless they get at least an unprotected first-round pick. The 33-year-old is having a banner year, averaging 21.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists shooing 48.7% from the field and 41.5% from three-point range.
Noel has been out of the Pistons rotation with the team giving playing time to young centers Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart. The Lakers have been looking for another big man and recently worked out <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/lakers-to-work-out-former-allstar-demarcus-cousins" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DeMarcus Cousins</a> and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/center-meyers-leonard-to-work-out-for-lakers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meyers Leonard</a>.
While previous talks between the teams had the Lakers including Patrick Beverley and Kendrick Nunn in a deal, the numbers wouldn't work with Noel's $9.24M salary unless LA also included three players on minimum contract.&nbsp;
The team could instead send Russell Westbrook and his $47.1M salary in a deal but the Pistons would have to add more players to match salaries.

The Lakers have reportedly spoken to the Pistons about a trade for both sharpshooter Bojan Bogdanovic and Nerlens Noel.

Lakers, Pistons have talked Bogdanovic, Noel deal

Even with <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/anthony-davis-begins-ramp-up-process-could-play-for-lakers-in-few-weeks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Anthony Davis ramping up towards a return</a>, the Los Angeles Lakers are still looking to add to its frountcourt and will work out center Meyers Leonard on Friday, <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1613662909300613120" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Shams Charania of The Athletic</a>.
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Free agent center Meyers Leonard will work out for the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, sources tell <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAthletic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheAthletic</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Stadium?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Stadium</a>.
&mdash; Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1613662909300613120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Leonard last played in the NBA during the 2020-21 season with the Miami Heat. That season, he was fined $50,000 by the league for an anti-Semetic slur during a live video stream while playing a video game. Just a week later, he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder but was never an active part of the roster.
He quickly apologized for his comment and began working with the Jewish community in South Florida to help learn more about the damage he has done and further educate himself.
The nine-year veteran averaged 5.6 points and 3.9 rebounds during his career.

The Lakers will work out center Meyers Leonard on Friday as part of their search for more size in its frontcourt.

Center Meyers Leonard to work out for Lakers

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Giannis Antetokounmpo is having issues at the foul line again.
Not with his accuracy &mdash; but his timing.
For the second time in his team's last three games, the Milwaukee Bucks&rsquo; star had a free throw taken away because he didn&rsquo;t shoot it within the allotted 10 seconds &mdash; a problem that has dogged him at various times throughout his career.
&ldquo;Sometimes I'm so tired I take a few extra seconds of resting,&rdquo; said Antetokounmpo, who turned 28 on Tuesday. &ldquo;If there's going to be a 10-second call, I expect it. I'll give them the ball and run the other way.&rdquo;
The latest chapter in this years-long saga came with 1:52 left in the third quarter of Milwaukee&rsquo;s 109-102 win over Orlando on Monday night. Antetokounmpo was fouled by Moritz Wagner and took about 13 seconds before taking and making his first attempt.
On what would have been the second free throw, Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s routine was much like the previous attempt. He caught the pass from official Nate Green, took a deep breath and held the ball on his left hip for about 6 1/2 seconds. He then moved the ball in front of him, holding it with both hands, spun it, dribbled once, gathered it again and took another deep breath.
All that took about 7 more seconds.
&ldquo;At the end of the day, that's my routine," Antetokounmpo said. &ldquo;Obviously, I have to respect the rules and shoot it before the 10 seconds. But anytime that it's 10 seconds, I'm OK with it. If they call it, I don't complain."
By then, referee Brian Forte had seen enough and blew his whistle. Antetokounmpo never got the shot away, and it wouldn&rsquo;t have counted at that point if he did.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s aware,&rdquo; Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said when asked if he talks to Antetokounmpo when the foul line becomes a struggle. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a brief conversation. He&rsquo;s got routines and sticks to them. I think he&rsquo;s overall in a good place this year. He&rsquo;s just got to tighten it up a little bit.&rdquo;
A similar scene happened Friday in Milwaukee&rsquo;s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, when Antetokounmpo was called for a 10-second violation in what became a 133-129 loss. He didn't play in Milwaukee's win over Charlotte on Saturday.
For the season, Antetokounmpo is shooting a career-worst 62% from the foul line. He had a three-game stretch in November where he shot a horrible 13-for-38 (34%) from the line &mdash; a 4-for-15 game in Philadelphia was part of that, the night where he returned to the court postgame for some practice and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-philadelphia-76ers-nba-sports-giannis-antetokounmpo-4ee4cc97c3bb26eb80af8252e059be9b">wound up sending a ladder toppling to the ire of arena workers.</a>
Since that three-game stretch, he's shot 49 for 67 (73%). He was 8 for 11 on Monday.
&ldquo;As I've said, 10 games ago, I wasn't at my best," Antetokounmpo said. &ldquo;Now I'm making some. I'm shooting it better and hopefully I can keep this up. And I believe I'm going to keep this up."
The wording of the NBA definition for free throws in the rulebook is this: &ldquo;A free throw is the privilege given a player to score one point by an unhindered attempt for the goal from a position directly behind the free throw line. This attempt must be made within 10 seconds.&rdquo;
That has been an issue for Antetokounmpo throughout his career &mdash; most notably in the 2021 playoffs, when he was called for 10-second violations multiple times. That didn't exactly cause lasting damage; Milwaukee won the NBA title and Antetokounmpo was NBA Finals MVP.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXwlXQ-fKCs&amp;t=16s">There was a game in 2016 against Portland when Meyers Leonard,</a> then of the Trail Blazers, held up his fingers while on the bench to silently count off the 10-plus seconds it took Antetokounmpo to shoot a foul shot. Fans in Toronto have used the tactic during some of Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s past trips there, too.
In the game against the Lakers on Friday, Russell Westbrook counted off 10 seconds as well &mdash; not silently, and got the violation called.
&ldquo;I did feel validated," Westbrook said. &ldquo;Glad they paid attention."
Antetokounmpo fought through whatever the issue is on subsequent trips to the line Monday.
He went back to the line with 2 minutes left in regulation and Milwaukee clinging to a four-point lead. He moved much more quickly, unofficially taking the full 10 seconds in both cases before releasing the basketball, and made one of the two shots.
With 40.2 seconds left, he went back to the line, again taking roughly 10 seconds before each shot. He made both to give the Bucks a 106-99 lead, unfazed by fans loudly (and a bit briskly) counting off seconds as he prepared to shoot.
&ldquo;It is what it is," Antetokounmpo said.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is having issues at the foul line again. Not with his accuracy — but his timing.

Giannis' 10-second (and more) free-throw routine draws more scrutiny

Steve Nash got paroled.
That&rsquo;s the easiest way to say it. Some will say fired, and the official term used Tuesday was that Nash and the Brooklyn Nets agreed &ldquo;to part ways,&rdquo; which is the popular phrasing these days when a coach leaves a team.
But the reality is this: He&rsquo;s free.
Whatever happens next in the never-ending string of Kyrie Irving developments won&rsquo;t be taking up Nash&rsquo;s time. The Earth can be flat. Alex Jones can be right about conspiracy theories. Links to antisemitic movies can be shared with millions of followers. The merits of vaccines can be debated.
Not Nash's problem anymore.
This was never going to work in Brooklyn, and the signs were there long before Nash&rsquo;s first game. Irving made a podcast appearance in the fall of 2020, while the bubble season &mdash; the one that Irving railed against and wouldn&rsquo;t join &mdash; was still going on at Walt Disney World. On that podcast, Irving offered up that the Nets didn&rsquo;t really need a head coach and that it could be &ldquo;a collaborative effort&rdquo; between himself, Kevin Durant and others.
For 99% of the players in the NBA, that statement would be considered wild.
It's just another entry on a long list of Irving stories.
Among some of what Nash had to deal with during his short tenure with the Nets: the failed attempt to turn Irving, Durant and James Harden into a Big Three; the failed attempt to turn Irving, Durant and Ben Simmons into a Big Three; Irving missing most of last season because he wasn&rsquo;t vaccinated; Harden getting traded; Simmons arriving but not playing last season; Simmons playing this season but not scoring; a slew of other injuries; Durant wanting a trade this summer before backing off that request; and now, the latest Irving saga.
For now, that distraction is in the hands of Nets interim coach Jacque Vaughn, who became the eighth coach that Irving has played for &mdash; Ime Udoka could soon become the ninth. The Nets&rsquo; answer to this circus will, apparently, be to go hire Udoka from rival Boston after he went to the NBA Finals last season but was suspended this season for having an inappropriate relationship with a female Celtics employee.
The Nets must love drama. Maybe that&rsquo;s why they wanted to part ways with Nash. Too boring and stable, perhaps.
&ldquo;Steve Nash is a good friend of mine, so more than anything, I feel for Steve," Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. &ldquo;I think he has all the qualities to be a brilliant coach. Brilliant. But it was a good reminder to me and I think to all coaches that we are all at the whim of players, front offices, ownership. You really need a solid situation in which to thrive as a coach in this league."
Irving will be a free agent this summer. There's no way to predict how that will go.
He has incredible talent. He may be the best ballhandler in the game, probably one of the best to ever play. An absolutely elite player, an NBA champion, a perennial All-Star. His skill cannot be argued.
Yet it&rsquo;s just impossible to imagine a team committing major money and many years to Irving ever again. Even if he apologizes for sharing the link to antisemitic content &mdash; Irving, for the record, insists he supports all people, all races, all religions &mdash; the damage may have really been done this time.
He would have fared better had he followed Meyers Leonard&rsquo;s example.
Leonard was with the Miami Heat in March 2021 when, while streaming himself playing a video game, he used an antisemitic slur. Leonard insisted he didn&rsquo;t understand the meaning of the word, apologized almost immediately, got fined $50,000, was admonished by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, was told by the Heat to not be around the team and got traded a few days later.
Leonard might not get back to the NBA because of injuries. But he has partaken in multiple acts of contrition &mdash; volunteering with Jewish youth, meeting with representatives from the Anti-Defamation League, holding camps, speaking to groups, and he&rsquo;s done it all with no intention of any of it publicly getting out. He didn&rsquo;t want to look sorry. He wanted to show he was sorry.
Irving didn&rsquo;t back down. He made a bad situation worse. And now the Nets will start over with a new coach, plus with some members of the fan base so turned off by Irving that they wore &ldquo;Fight Antisemitism&rdquo; shirts to a game this week.
Irving saw those fans. He spoke to them. One of those fans told the New York Post that the shirts weren&rsquo;t for Irving, but rather for the Nets. They want them to act.
A day later, Nash was gone. That probably wasn't the action they wanted.
This isn't what Durant signed on for, though the two-time champion in Golden State did ask for Nash to be fired during the offseason. Instead of being part of title contender, Durant has been part of exactly one playoff series win in his Brooklyn tenure. At 34, he doesn&rsquo;t have an unlimited number of title chances left. It will surprise no one if his trade request reappears later this season, or this summer.
It will also be no surprise when another controversy pops up in the next few weeks over something Irving said or tweeted. And when that happens, at least Nash won&rsquo;t be caught up in it all.
___
Tim Reynolds is a national basketball writer for The Associated Press. Write to him at treynolds(at)ap.org

The Nets must love drama. Maybe that’s why they wanted to part ways with Nash. Too boring and stable, perhaps.

Escaping the Kyrie Irving saga makes Steve Nash a big winner

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; Anthony Davis scored 28 points in his return to the Lakers lineup after missing two games due to injury, and Los Angeles defeated Golden State 124-121 Sunday night in the Warriors' first game since the practice altercation between Draymond Green and Jordan Poole.
Matt Ryan made a pair of free throws with 5.4 seconds remaining to seal the win. Davis, who sat out two games with lower back tightness, shot 9 for 18 for the Lakers, who won without LeBron James, Patrick Beverley and Russell Westbrook in the lineup.
Davis, who scored 24 points before halftime, played the opening shift of the second half before taking a seat after 21 total minutes. Kendrick Nunn scored 21 points and Ryan added 20 on 6-for-9 shooting from outside the arc.
Poole led the Warriors with 25 points on 10-for-19 shooting, and added six assists. Green fought with Poole during practice Wednesday. Green apologized to the team a day later and general manager Bob Myers said any potential discipline would be handled internally. Meanwhile, Green was unavailable, saying he will take some time away from the team.
Stephen Curry scored 24 points and Andrew Wiggins added 15 for the Warriors. Jonathan Kuminga (12 points) started in Green&rsquo;s place, while Poole replaced Klay Thompson, who is still building up for the regular season.
In the first half, Davis performed at the level the Lakers will need him if they are to improve on last season&rsquo;s 33-49 regular-season record that left them out of the postseason. Davis shot 7 of 13 before the break, making all eight of his free throws.
The game became close in the second half, and neither team led by more than six points in the fourth quarter.
BULLS 115, RAPTORS 98
DeMar DeRozan had 21 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and Chicago used a second-half rally to beat host Toronto.
DeRozan converted 7 of 12 shots and all seven of his free throws. Javonte Green scored 17 points and Ayo Dosunmu added 14. Nikola Vucevic finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.
Paschal Siakam led the Raptors with 18 points and nine rebounds. The starting Toronto backcourt of Gary Trent Jr. and Fred VanVleet carried the Raptors to a lead in the first half. Trent finished with 17 points and VanVleet had 13.
Both teams played their regular starters, except for missing Bulls guard Lonzo Ball, who is recovering from a meniscus tear suffered in January.
The Raptors built a 10-point halftime lead behind Trent and VanVleet. The tandem combined for 25 points before the break, including Trent connecting on all five of his shots. Defensively, they had six steals in the half, including four by VanVleet. The Bulls had 16 turnovers in the first half.
The Bulls erased the lead in the third and pulled away in the fourth. Chicago outscored Toronto 68-41 in the second half.
TIMBERWOLVES 119, CLIPPERS 117
Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points, six assists and six rebounds in his preseason debut to lead visiting Minnesota.
Naz Reid had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Timberwolves, while Bryn Forbes added 15 points on 5-for-6 shooting on 3-pointers. Anthony Edwards had 14 points.
John Wall led the Clippers with 20 points. Paul George scored 14 and Marcus Morris Sr. added 13 points.
The Clippers saw a vision of their regular rotation as Kawhi Leonard, George, Wall and Reggie Jackson all played. Meanwhile, Towns saw his first action of the preseason for the Timberwolves after missing games due to a hospitalization. Still, there was not a glimpse of the potential twin towers in Minnesota as Rudy Gobert, acquired from Utah over the summer, sat out.
The teams were tied at 115 with under two minutes to play when Austin Rivers scored on a layup and Luka Garza hit a 6-foot hook to create enough of a buffer for Minnesota to remain undefeated in its three preseason games.
PELICANS 111, SPURS 97
In San Antonio, Trey Murphy III had 27 points and eight rebounds, Zion Williamson finished with eight points, nine rebounds and five assists in 24 minutes to lead New Orleans over the Spurs.
Naji Marshall scored 15 points for the Pelicans, and Jonas Valanciunas added 14 as New Orleans continued to play with stars resting or recovering from injury. Among those not active were CJ McCollum, Brandon Ingram and Jaxson Hayes, who suffered a left elbow injury earlier in the week.
Murphy was 10 of 15 from the field, including 7 for 10 from beyond the arc.
Devonte Graham and Willy Hernangomez each scored 11 points. Graham added six assists and Hernangomez grabbed 10 rebounds.
Doug McDermott led the Spurs with 14 points, and Josh Richardson finished with 12. Veteran Gorgui Dieng had 10 points and nine rebounds for San Antonio.
KINGS 126, TRAIL BLAZERS 94
In Sacramento, Keegan Murray, the fourth overall pick in the draft from Iowa, scored 16 points and eight players reached double figures in leading the Kings past Portland.
Terence Davis and De&rsquo;Aaron Fox scored 14 points apiece for the Kings, while Domantas Sabonis added 13 points, four assists and seven rebounds.
Jerami Grant led Portland with 17 points. Anfernee Simons scored 16 and Jusuf Nurkic had 14 points and nine rebounds.
Damian Lillard was held to eight points, making only two of his 10 shots, including missing all four of his 3-points attempts. He did hand out six assists.
THUNDER 144, MACCABI RA&rsquo;ANANA 97
Eugene Omoruyi scored 25 points on 9-for-14 shooting in Oklahoma City's win over visiting Maccabi Ra&rsquo;anana.
Luguentz Dort had 23 for Oklahoma City, while Ousmane Dieng, the 11th pick in last summer&rsquo;s draft, had 16 points for the Thunder. Aleksej Pokusevski and Jalen Williams, the 12th overall pick from Santa Clara, scored 15 points apiece.
Jason Suggs led Maccabi with 40 points on 15-for-26 shooting, including 5 of 9 from long distance. Terrence Jones had 15 points and Norris Cole contributed 12.
Willy Workman finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for Maccabi.
Oklahoma City sat a number of key players, including Josh Giddey, Tre Mann and Darius Bazley. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, dealing with a left MCL sprain, remained unavailable.

Davis, who scored 24 points before halftime, played the opening shift of the second half before taking a seat after 21 total minutes.

Anthony Davis scores 28 in return, Lakers defeat Warriors 124-121

Damian Lillard&rsquo;s defiance has made him a social-media punching bag, as his Portland Trail Blazers are dissolving around him and looking like a completely different team.
Lillard hasn&rsquo;t played since New Year&rsquo;s Eve, and as he recovers from abdominal surgery, he watched his team <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/breaking-down-why-the-blazersclippers-deal-works-for-both-sides" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deal Norman Powell and Robert Covington</a> to the Los Angeles Clippers while the best player coming back is Eric Bledsoe. Keon Johnsn was also included in the trade and while Portland hopes he pops off, he's only 19 years old, so who knows how soon he can make an impact? The Blazers also received a 2025 second-round pick &ndash; the year Lillard turns 35.
Then, on Tuesday, Lillard watched his Blazers acquire Josh Hart, Didi Louzada, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Tom&aacute;&scaron; Satoransky and draft picks in exchange for Larry Nance Jr., Tony Snell, and the reason we&rsquo;re gathered here today: CJ McCollum.
#Narratives are already in motion. The jokes have been flying on social media about how people are, in hindsight, underwhelmed by the run that Lillard and McCollum had. But before we stomp on their Basketball-Reference pages and laugh in their comments about &ldquo;not having won anything,&rdquo; we should offer a massive amount of respect for what they accomplished in Portland.
You&rsquo;ve probably seen the photo of a 5-foot-2 McCollum as a freshman in high school, but even that symbolizes so much here.
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CJ McCollum was really 5&rsquo;2&rdquo; playing Varsity basketball as a freshman lol <a href="https://t.co/ukPiVyOUYC">pic.twitter.com/ukPiVyOUYC</a>
&mdash; Nothing Matter3D (@HiDefDee) <a href="https://twitter.com/HiDefDee/status/1376562700440965131?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2021</a></blockquote>

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The parallels Lillard and McCollum maintained were astounding; they were the reason the backcourt became divisive among NBA consumers &mdash; with some loving them and thinking that the Blazers could build a contender around them, while others refused to believe that a pair of 6-foot-3 scoring machines could lead a team to a title, even in this guard-friendly era.
These things need to be delivered out loud and thoroughly processed.
Lillard went to Weber State, and McCollum went to Lehigh. Both played in mid-major conferences, and they are two of the better mid-major players we&rsquo;ve seen this century. But really, the Big Sky and Patriot League are closer to the bottom of the NCAA&rsquo;s Division I conference rankings; take it from a Northeast Conference alum.
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Lillard was drafted No. 6 overall in 2012; the only Weber State player drafted in the first round, period. McCollum was taken No. 10 overall the following year and is <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/draft.fcgi?college=lehigh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">still the only Lehigh player to be selected in an NBA Draft</a>. One of the first things that people noted when Lillard got drafted was that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXXXDlzv0-U" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he never played against a top-25 team while in college</a>. And Bill Simmons <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJBwqmwfQbg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">couldn&rsquo;t believe a Patriot Leaguer was selected</a> in the top-10 in 2013.
Suddenly, we looked up and Lillard was the NBA's Rookie of the Year, <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/awards_2013.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">receiving every single first-place vote</a> over perennial favorite Anthony Davis, who won a gold medal with Team USA during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.&nbsp;And then, in 2013-14, Portland was in the playoffs, where they&rsquo;ve been every year since Lillard and McCollum became teammates &ndash; the longest active streak in the NBA. Even then, McCollum didn&rsquo;t have his coming out party until 2015-16, when he immediately filled an All-Star sized scoring role vacated by LaMarcus Aldridge (who left for San Antonio) and won the NBA's Most Improved Player award.
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They played similarly and complemented each other exceptionally. Lillard and McCollum would each produce 20 points a night, occasionally going off for 30 each, and in a brutal Western Conference, return to playoffs no matter what was around them. And then they&rsquo;d lose, which led some to dismiss them.
In 2015, it was a five-game gentlemen&rsquo;s sweep as a No. 4 seed against the Grit N&rsquo; Grind Memphis Grizzlies, who went up 2-1 on the Golden State Warriors in the semifinals before losing to the eventual champions. In 2018, as a No. 3 seed, it was that memorable sweep against the same Pelicans that McCollum now joins, who were the sixth seed.
Then, in 2019, we finally saw a breakthrough: a run to the Western Conference Finals. Thanks to a legendary 37-point performance from McCollum in Game 7 of the semifinals, the Blazers beat the Denver Nuggets on the road &ndash; still CJ's paramount performance to date. Portland met up with the Warriors in the Conference Finals, and Golden State ultimately swept them (even though they were missing Kevin Durant, who was out due to a calf strain).
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The Blazers followed up that Conference-Finals appearance with consecutive first-round exits. With that said, Portland's failures can't be blamed on Lillard and McCollum alone.
Their fellow starters and key teammates include Al-Farouq Aminu, Mason Plumlee, Meyers Leonard, Noah Vonleh, Jusuf Nurkić, Evan Turner, Mo Harkless, Jake Layman, Zach Collins, Trevor Ariza, Carmelo Anthony, Hassan Whiteside and Norman Powell. Despite having one of the best backcourts we&rsquo;ve seen in generations, the Blazers could never figure out how to properly surround them with talent. (And honestly, doing is probably harder in the real world than we realize).
But in spite of their nitpickable shortcomings, their rigorous conference, their identical 6-foot-3 statures, their style of play and the lack of an ideal supporting cast, Lillard and McCollum co-engineered (along with Aldridge the first two years) the NBA&rsquo;s longest playoff streak. And they did so defiantly, as underrecruited long-time college players who stunned scouts by becoming top-10 picks and high-end NBA talents.
They led five 50-plus-win teams and two No. 3 seeds out West. Lillard is a <a href="https://www.nba.com/news/nba-75th-anniversary-team-announced" target="_blank" rel="noopener">top-76 NBA player ever</a>, and McCollum is one of the best active NBA players to never make an All-Star team (and he probably would've made multiple appearances had he been in the Eastern Conference instead).
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People have been trying to separate this duo for years via trade machines, NBA 2K, forums, social-media posts, comments under those posts, text threads, direct messages, barbershop debates, radio call-ins, post-sex conversations, you name it. Finally, that day is here, and the circumstances suck.
Lillard <a href="https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/damian-lillard-loyalty-over-everything" target="_blank" rel="noopener">continually preached loyalty and wanting to win the hard way</a>. McCollum <a href="https://www.theringer.com/the-bill-simmons-podcast/2021/2/3/22263991/brooklyn-bliss-draymonds-dip-and-cj-mccollum-stops-by" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked us to stop putting him in trade rumors</a>.
The parallels between the two are why many loved them, and the parallels proved to be their demise. But dammit, they accomplished a lot. We could say that they were ultimately underwhelmed by their surroundings, but let&rsquo;s also acknowledge how hard this damn thing is. You can&rsquo;t take playoff streaks for granted &ndash; look at what the Pelicans, Cleveland Cavaliers and Sacramento Kings are doing this week in hopes of ending their postseason droughts.
This could&rsquo;ve had a happy ending, and it still might, but it doesn&rsquo;t appear that it&rsquo;ll be with Lillard and McCollum together. They didn&rsquo;t fail, and they probably didn&rsquo;t live up to your (or their own) expectations, but that&rsquo;s usually how our experiences on Earth go. Regularly, even if we don&rsquo;t want to admit it, that&rsquo;s OK, because more often than we acknowledge, that&rsquo;s life.

Bryan Fonseca looks back on what Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum accomplished together with the Portland Trail Blazers.

End of an era: Saluting the defiance of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum

The college basketball season is underway, which means BasketballNews.com's scouting coverage has been kicked into full gear. The bulk of my travel and scouting schedule is set through the entire season, and let me tell you &mdash; I have some terrific basketball to see! As I scour the map evaluating prospects at various levels, I'll be sharing my takeaways every step of the way. I hope you enjoy it!
Here&rsquo;s who I watched in-person this last week:
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-big-board/players/jabari-smith" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jabari Smith</a> - Auburn vs. South Florida MIN: 28 | PTS: 9 | REB: 10 | AST: 0 | STL: 0 | BLK: 1 | FG: 3-12 | 3PT: 2-7 | FT: 1-2 | TO: 1
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I am in Tampa, Florida tonight to watch top-rated Jabari Smith and his Auburn Tigers take on the South Florida Bulls. To start the season, Smith, a 6'10" forward is averaging 15.5 points and 8 rebounds per game. He is currently ranked at No. 3 on our 2022 NBA Draft Big Board. <a href="https://t.co/Yp1BgGkgEf">pic.twitter.com/Yp1BgGkgEf</a>
&mdash; Matt Babcock (@MattBabcock11) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattBabcock11/status/1461843250311045131?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2021</a></blockquote>

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A little over a year ago, I visited Phoenix, Arizona to attend Dinos Trigonis&rsquo; Pangos All-American Festival. There, Paolo Banchero and Chet Holmgren stole the show. However, I was also able to see Jabari Smith, a 5-star recruit that was committed to the Auburn Tigers. I loved his potential as a mobile, stretch 4, but he seemed to be quiet and somewhat unassertive, and I was left with some questions about his lack of strength and overall toughness. &nbsp;
Fast forward to this past Friday, and I had an opportunity to see Smith for the first time with the Tigers as they took on the South Florida Bulls in Tampa, Florida.
Although it was not Smith&rsquo;s best game &mdash; he only shot 3-for-12 from the field &mdash; I walked away thoroughly impressed. He possesses a unique combination of length, fluidity as an athlete and an ability to shoot the ball with range, giving him a ton of potential on the offensive end. On the defensive end, I&rsquo;m not sure he is getting enough attention for his talent and upside. He has aggressive hands, covers a lot of ground laterally with ease and makes quick reactions. He has gotten much stronger, has a frame that looks like it will fill out very well, and subsequently, has become tougher and more physical. Any questions that I had about his lack of toughness and assertiveness have been tossed out the window. In fact, I&rsquo;m not overly concerned about anything with him.&nbsp;
Paolo Banchero and Chet Holmgren are still top-tier prospects in my book, but Smith is not far behind, at all. He can score on all three levels and has a chance of being an exceptional defender. He checks a lot of boxes. I think he has a chance of becoming a prototypical stretch 4, which can&rsquo;t be said lightly. If someone wanted to make an argument for Smith as the top prospect for this year&rsquo;s draft, I&rsquo;d be more than willing to listen.
We currently have Jabari Smith ranked at No. 3 on the BasketballNews.com <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Draft Big Board</a>.
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-big-board/players/patrick-baldwin-jr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Patrick Baldwin Jr.</a> - UW-Milwaukee vs. Florida MIN: 34 | PTS: 13 | REB: 3 | AST: 1 | STL: 2 | BLK: 2 | FG: 6-15 | 3PT: 0-3 | FT: 1-2 | TO: 3
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I&rsquo;m in Gainesville, Florida tonight to see projected lottery pick Patrick Baldwin Jr. and his UW-Milwaukee Panthers take on the Florida Gators. Baldwin Jr., a smooth 6-foot-9 wing, is currently slotted as the No. 6 player on the <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@basketbllnews</a> 2022 NBA Draft Big Board. <a href="https://t.co/bne3hgnd9c">pic.twitter.com/bne3hgnd9c</a>
&mdash; Matt Babcock (@MattBabcock11) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattBabcock11/status/1461460374650343428?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 18, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Prior to arriving at the O&rsquo;Dome in Gainesville, Florida, I had seen freshman Patrick Baldwin Jr. before, but it had been a couple of years back at a USA Basketball mini-camp. Seeing him recently, his size was the first thing that grabbed my attention. Listed at 6-foot-9 and 220 pounds, he looked like a power forward and not a guard, the position he is listed as on the UW-Milwaukee website. I also noticed that he has huge hands, as he snatched the ball from the ground with ease like Kawhi Leonard might do. Once the Panthers began formal warmups, they split into two groups: guards and bigs. Baldwin worked out with the guards. I found all of that to be interesting. That said, it was immediately apparent that his skill level was very high. He handles the ball well and has a terrific shooting stroke, especially for a player of his size. Before tip-off, I was very intrigued, to say the least.
Once the game started, it was clear that UW-Milwaukee was far overmatched by an experienced Florida team. It was not a very good game overall. Baldwin showed flashes of his high skill level, consisting of abilities to shoot with range, dribble, pass and utilize advanced footwork. Despite Baldwin&rsquo;s translatable tools and skills, his casual approach was concerning. I left the arena torn; I felt teased and wanted to see more. The good thing is I&rsquo;m able to watch him again Tuesday night, as I&rsquo;ll be in attendance to see his UW-Milwaukee team take on Bowling Green in Fort Myers, Florida. I&rsquo;m also set to see him in Colorado on Dec. 10 &mdash; so stay tuned for more updates on him.
In the meantime, we currently have Patrick Baldwin Jr. ranked No. 6 on the BasketballNews.com 2022 NBA Draft Big Board.
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-big-board/players/matthew-cleveland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matthew Cleveland</a> - Florida State vs. Loyola Marymount MIN: 17 | PTS: 13 | REB: 1 | AST: 1 | STL: 1 | FG: 6-8 | 3PT: 0-1 | FT: 1-2 | TO: 0
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I have a close eye on Florida State&rsquo;s Matthew Cleveland tonight in Jacksonville, Florida, as the Seminoles take on the Loyola Marymount Lions. Through 3 games this season, Cleveland, a true freshman, is averaging 8.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. <a href="https://t.co/3WHjH4aSjG">pic.twitter.com/3WHjH4aSjG</a>
&mdash; Matt Babcock (@MattBabcock11) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattBabcock11/status/1462556486723330055?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Last spring, I was able to see Matthew Cleveland play for the first time, as his high school team (Pace Academy) was competing at GEICO Nationals in Fort Myers, Florida. I was impressed with him, as he was an aggressive and effective slasher and scorer. Although I can&rsquo;t say I had a firm grip of him as a prospect going into the season, he had made a big enough impression for me to justify including him in our initial 2022 NBA Draft Big Board.
Sunday night in Jacksonville, Florida, I was able to see Cleveland for the first time with his new team and school, Florida State. Despite not starting for the Seminoles and head coach Leonard Hamilton giving 11 players double-digits minutes of playing time, Cleveland was able to show a lot of the things that made me like him in the first place. Listed at 6-foot-7 (I question if he&rsquo;s actually that tall) with a reported 6-foot-11 wingspan, Cleveland is visibly long for a wing. Watching him, I found him to be extremely mature and poised, especially for a freshman; he made terrific decisions throughout the game. He has room for improvement as an outside shooter, but his ability to score as a slasher while also being a great defender is a valuable combination. I&rsquo;m quite confident that he will develop into a steady contributor in the NBA &mdash; he&rsquo;s solid! It is yet to be seen whether or not he&rsquo;ll play a big enough role for the Seminoles this season to generate widespread media attention for himself, but let&rsquo;s not forget that Patrick Williams was selected No. 4 overall in the 2020 NBA Draft after coming off the bench for Florida State as a freshman and only playing 22 minutes per game.&nbsp;
We currently have Matthew Cleveland ranked at No. 27 in our 2022 NBA Draft Big Board.
Last Week's Takeaways: <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/babcock-takeaways-banchero-agbaji-keels-and-more" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paolo Banchero, Ochai Agbaji, Trevor Keels, more</a>.

Matt Babcock details his scouting observations from this past week's trip around the state of Florida.

Babcock’s Takeaways: Jabari Smith, Patrick Baldwin, Matthew Cleveland

The NBA released the remaining 25 players of the league's 75th anniversary team Thursday night on TNT.
Here is the official release from the NBA, which lists all 75 players that made the team and the people that voted on the NBA's top 75 players of all-time team:
"A total of 158 NBA championships and 730 NBA All-Star selections. &nbsp;A combined 110 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Awards and Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Awards. &nbsp;More than 1.5 million points scored.
Those are just some of the collective accomplishments of the players who comprise the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, which was announced across TNT and ESPN from Oct. 19-21 as the league tipped off its landmark 75th Anniversary Season.
The NBA 75th Anniversary Team was selected by a blue-ribbon panel of current and former NBA players, coaches, general managers and team and league executives, WNBA legends and sportswriters and broadcasters. &nbsp;Voters were asked to select the 75 Greatest Players in NBA History without regard to position. &nbsp;Panelists did not rank their selections. &nbsp;Current and former players were not allowed to vote for themselves.
As a result of a tie in the voting, the 75th Anniversary Team features 76 players. &nbsp;Team highlights include:
&bull; Eleven active players have been named to the 75th Anniversary Team: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Carmelo Anthony, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, James Harden, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook.
&bull; All 50 members of the NBA 50th Anniversary Team, which was named in 1996, have been selected to the 75th Anniversary Team.
&bull; The 75th Anniversary Team includes four players who played in the first NBA All-Star Game in 1951 (Paul Arizin, Bob Cousy, George Mikan and Dolph Schayes), the first winner of the Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award (Bob Pettit for the 1955-56 season) and the first winner of the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award (Jerry West for the 1969 NBA Finals).
&bull; Bill Russell joins Cousy, Mikan and Pettit as the only four players who have been named to all four NBA Anniversary Teams: the 25th Anniversary Team (10 players named), 35th Anniversary Team (11 players named), 50th Anniversary Team and 75th Anniversary Team. (The 25th Anniversary Team was the only one of the four teams that did not allow for the inclusion of active players at the time.)
&bull; Six international players from six countries and territories have been selected to the 75th Anniversary Team: Antetokounmpo (Greece), Tim Duncan (U.S. Virgin Islands), Patrick Ewing (Jamaica), Steve Nash (Canada), Dirk Nowitzki (Germany) and Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria).
&bull; The five NBA legends who are serving as ambassadors for the 75th Anniversary Season are part of the 75th Anniversary Team: Clyde Drexler, Magic Johnson, Nowitzki, Pettit and Oscar Robertson. Representing different eras of the league&rsquo;s history, the ambassadors will make appearances throughout the 2021-22 season and have a significant presence at NBA All-Star 2022 in Cleveland.
The NBA 75th Anniversary Team is listed below in alphabetical order, followed by the list of voters. &nbsp;The balloting was tabulated by the independent accounting firm Ernst &amp; Young LLP. &nbsp;For player profiles on each member of the 75th Anniversary Team, click here and visit NBA.com/75."
<table style="width: 95.7926%; height: 464px;">
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<tr style="height: 27px;">
<td style="text-align: center; width: 149.879%; height: 27px;" colspan="4" width="691">NBA 75TH ANNIVERSARY TEAM</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kareem Abdul-Jabbar</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Clyde Drexler</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Damian Lillard</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Scottie Pippen</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Ray Allen</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Tim Duncan</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Jerry Lucas</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Willis Reed</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Giannis Antetokounmpo</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kevin Durant</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Karl Malone</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Oscar Robertson</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Carmelo Anthony</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Julius Erving</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Moses Malone</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">David Robinson</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Nate Archibald</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Patrick Ewing</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Pete Maravich</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dennis Rodman</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Paul Arizin</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Walt Frazier</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bob McAdoo</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bill Russell</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Charles Barkley</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kevin Garnett</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kevin McHale</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dolph Schayes</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Rick Barry</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">George Gervin</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">George Mikan</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bill Sharman</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Elgin Baylor</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Hal Greer</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Reggie Miller</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">John Stockton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dave Bing</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">James Harden</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Earl Monroe</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Isiah Thomas</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Larry Bird</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">John Havlicek</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Steve Nash</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Nate Thurmond</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kobe Bryant</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Elvin Hayes</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dirk Nowitzki</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Wes Unseld</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Wilt Chamberlain</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Allen Iverson</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Hakeem Olajuwon</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dwyane Wade</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bob Cousy</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">LeBron James</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bill Walton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dave Cowens</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Magic Johnson</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Robert Parish</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Jerry West</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Billy Cunningham</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Sam Jones</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Chris Paul</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Russell Westbrook</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Stephen Curry</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Michael Jordan</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Gary Payton</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Lenny Wilkens</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Anthony Davis</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Jason Kidd</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bob Pettit</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dominique Wilkins</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dave DeBusschere</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kawhi Leonard</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Paul Pierce</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">James Worthy</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
<table style="width: 97.1703%; height: 798px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center; width: 170.677%;" colspan="4" width="719">NBA 75TH ANNIVERSARY TEAM VOTING PANEL</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Kareem Abdul-Jabbar</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Tim Duncan</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Jack McCallum</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">David Robinson</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Marv Albert</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">David DuPree</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Brian McIntyre</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Bill Russell</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">David Aldridge</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Wayne Embry</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Ann Meyers</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Bob Ryan</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Sam Amick</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Julius Erving</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Yoko Miyaji</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Bill Simmons</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Giannis Antetokounmpo</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Patrick Ewing</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Earl Monroe</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Sam Smith</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Steve Aschburner</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Walt Frazier</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Steve Nash</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Stephen A. Smith</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Charles Barkley</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">George Gervin</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Rachel Nichols</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Marc Spears</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Rick Barry</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Russ Granik</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Dirk Nowitzki</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Erik Spoelstra</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Howard Beck</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Becky Hammon</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">John Stockton</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Dave Bing</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Elvin Hayes</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Robert Parish</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Hannah Storm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Sue Bird</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Ernie Johnson</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Candace Parker</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Sheryl Swoopes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Carol Blazejowski</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Magic Johnson</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Chris Paul</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Isiah Thomas</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Mike Breen</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Sam Jones</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Bob Pettit</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Rod Thorn</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Doris Burke</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Michael Jordan</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Scottie Pippen</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Rudy Tomjanovich</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Jerry Colangelo</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Steve Kerr</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Gregg Popovich</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Peter Vecsey</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Doug Collins</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Bob Lanier</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Shaun Powell</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Bill Walton</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Cynthia Cooper</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Kara Lawson</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Ahmad Rashad</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Rick Welts</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Bob Costas</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Lisa Leslie</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Willis Reed</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Jerry West</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Dave Cowens</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Nancy Lieberman</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Tim Reynolds</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Michael Wilbon</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Billy Cunningham</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Zach Lowe</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Bill Rhoden</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Lenny Wilkens</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Stephen Curry</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Jerry Lucas</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Pat Riley</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">James Worthy</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Clyde Drexler</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Jackie MacMullan</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Oscar Robertson</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Jeff Zillgitt</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Some notable snubs include Tracy McGrady, Bernard King, Alex English, Vince Carter, Tony Parker, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Bob McAdoo, and Pau Gasol to just name a few. This list was part of the NBA's marketing campaign for the league's historic 75th season and will surely spark a conversation/debate amongst NBA fans all over the world.

The NBA released the final 25 players of the 75th anniversary team Thursday on TNT.

Final 25 members of NBA's 75th Anniversary Team announced

MILWAUKEE (AP) &mdash; Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo acknowledges the incentive that comes from opening the postseason against the Miami Heat, who eliminated Milwaukee in the second round last year.
&ldquo;Obviously everybody on the team has a little bit of extra motivation,&rdquo; the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-milwaukee-bucks-hakeem-olajuwon-michael-jordan-nba-06ca728b06e0cef837c41592b7a41862#:~:text=LAKE%20BUENA%20VISTA%2C%20Fla.,season%2C%20receiving%20that%20award%20Friday." target="_blank" rel="noopener">reigning two-time MVP </a> said.
<a href="https://apnews.com/article/toronto-milwaukee-bucks-jae-crowder-khris-middleton-miami-5e27a4ba85d538d27947524e463921a8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Miami beat the top-seeded Bucks 4-1 </a> and went on to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/andre-iguodala-lebron-james-boston-celtics-jimmy-butler-charlotte-hornets-02822c581e2d765a3ea3e51e85c0460a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">win the Eastern Conference title </a> last year before <a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-nba-finals-nba-basketball-miami-heat-978c5c3dbe77046070439660921cf580" target="_blank" rel="noopener">losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. </a> Miami is seeded sixth and Milwaukee third in the East heading into the rematch that begins Saturday.
&ldquo;Totally different,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;The year is different. Both teams are different. ... It&rsquo;s just a totally new challenge. We feel grateful that we have this opportunity to be in the playoffs and compete against them. They&rsquo;re a great team.&rdquo;
The Bucks had the NBA&rsquo;s best regular-season record in 2018-19 and 2019-20, but they <a href="https://www.nbc12.com/2019/05/26/raptors-defeat-bucks-advance-first-nba-finals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blew a 2-0 lead to Toronto in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2019. </a> Those two early exits turn up the pressure on a franchise seeking its first NBA title since 1971.
&ldquo;I believe that pressure is earned,&rdquo; said Antetokounmpo, who injured his ankle early in Game 4 and didn&rsquo;t play the rest of last year&rsquo;s Heat series. &ldquo;If I wasn&rsquo;t who I am today and I didn&rsquo;t work as hard as I work and I didn&rsquo;t focus on the game, I didn&rsquo;t love the game and I didn&rsquo;t compete the way I am, we wouldn&rsquo;t be talking about pressure. Pressure is earned, and I love it.&rdquo;
The Bucks responded to last year&rsquo;s exit by rearranging the pieces complementing Antetokounmpo and two-time All-Star forward Khris Middleton. The most notable addition was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-orleans-pelicans-miami-heat-milwaukee-bucks-milwaukee-soccer-c02176165d5f18fc00cddcc7d0f26b0e">Jrue Holiday,</a> who averaged 19 points and shot 11 of 21 from 3-point range against the Heat during the regular season.
Milwaukee won two of its three regular-season meetings with Miami, but Heat star Jimmy Butler didn't play in any of them and two of those games took place in December. <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2020-nba-eastern-conference-semifinals-heat-vs-bucks.html">Butler averaged 23.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists in last year&rsquo;s Heat-Bucks series. </a>
He's ready to try knocking out the Bucks once again.
&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t hold anything back,&rdquo; Butler said. &ldquo;You leave it all out there. Best time of year for it.&rdquo;
DIFFERENT TYPE OF REMATCH
Both teams have made notable changes since their last playoff meeting
Only five of the 11 guys who played at least a minute for the Bucks in last year&rsquo;s Heat series remain on the roster: Antetokounmpo, Middleton, Brook Lopez, Donte DiVincenzo and Pat Connaughton.
Miami no longer has Jae Crowder, who averaged 15.2 points and shot 22 of 51 from 3-point range against the Bucks in last year&rsquo;s playoffs.
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SURGING FOES
The Heat were 7-14 early in the season and 22-24 and stuck at .500 in mid-April. But they enter the playoffs on a tear after winning 12 of their last 16 regular-season games. Milwaukee had won eight of nine games before closing the regular season with a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/cleveland-cavaliers-brooklyn-nets-milwaukee-bucks-chicago-bulls-nba-d0ef1e66e228bc0d4a77432eec000456" target="_blank" rel="noopener">118-112 loss at Chicago in which it rested all its starters.</a>
GIANNIS VS. HEAT
Very few teams do a better job defensively against Antetokounmpo than the Heat.
Antetokounmpo averages 18.6 points on 50.4% shooting in regular-season and playoff games against Miami. Only one team (Golden State, 18.4) holds him to a lower scoring average.
Miami holds a 17-14 series edge over the Bucks in games in which Antetokounmpo played.
SPO VS. BUD
There is no opening round series that pits coaches who have gone head-to-head more often than this one between Milwaukee&rsquo;s Mike Budenholzer and Spoelstra. They&rsquo;ve coached against each other 35 times, including playoffs. Spoelstra has an 18-17 edge.
The Denver-Portland series also has coaches that have opposed one other on 35 previous occasions. The Nuggets&rsquo; Michael Malone holds an 18-17 edge over the Blazers&rsquo; Terry Stotts.
THE NEW (OLD) GUYS
<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-milwaukee-bucks-pj-tucker-dj-augustin-houston-rockets-427083547a8494ea23d2786430d68b22" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Bucks acquired P.J. Tucker</a> and the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-oklahoma-city-nba-draft-oklahoma-meyers-leonard-858079fc0f34ba32eae1e22e4dee94ad" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Heat added Trevor Ariza</a> in March and both bring a wealth of playoff experience.
That&rsquo;s not all they have in common. The 36-year-old Tucker and 35-year-old Ariza played together for the <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/2018.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2017-18 Houston Rockets </a> team that went 65-17 and took Golden State to seven games in the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/69eda61ae5964738b34baccac03cebd9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">West Finals.</a>
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of my best friends, in the league or outside the league,&rdquo; Tucker said.
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TOP PERFORMERS:
Antetokounmpo is averaging 28.1 points, 11 rebounds and 5.9 assists for the Bucks. Jrue Holiday is averaging 18.1 points and 3.9 rebounds while shooting 44.0% over the last 10 games for Milwaukee.
Butler leads the Heat averaging 21.5 points and is adding 6.9 rebounds. Nunn is averaging 15.9 points and 2.7 rebounds while shooting 50.8% over the last 10 games for Miami.
LAST 10 GAMES
Bucks: 8-2, averaging 124 points, 48.6 rebounds, 24.5 assists, 7.1 steals and 5.1 blocks per game while shooting 49.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 120.4 points on 46.9% shooting.
Heat: 8-2, averaging 118.8 points, 40.5 rebounds, 28.1 assists, 8.3 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 51.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 113.6 points on 50.0% shooting.
INJURIES
Bucks: Khris Middleton: day to day (ankle).
Heat: Omer Yurtseven: day to day (not with team), Victor Oladipo: out for season (knee).
___
AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Later today, the Bucks and Heat will face off in Game 1 of their first-round series - a rematch of last year's second-round matchup.

Playoff rematch with Heat offers extra motivation for Bucks

Superstition has it that &mdash; of all numbers &mdash; seven is the luckiest.
The Brooklyn Nets are fully testing that theory.
When James Harden flew eastbound from the Lonestar state, he landed in Brooklyn and made Barclays Center more than the Eastern Conference&rsquo;s basketball talent armory. He made it a necessary stop for any team that sees the NBA Finals in its future.
At least, that&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;ve all been led to believe (and rightfully so).
The Nets enter play on April 29 as the conference&rsquo;s first team to clinch a playoff spot &mdash; a byproduct of Brooklyn also becoming the top team in the conference. Kyrie Irving has had no issue sharing the spotlight or shots, Steve Nash and his impressive coaching staff have found messages that resonate with their platoon and Kevin Durant has, well, looked just like Kevin Durant.
Lucky number, indeed? That ol&rsquo; No. 7?
To that, Brooklyn can wish upon its lucky star(s)...
And not only because it's embroidered on Durant&rsquo;s jersey&hellip; But because that&rsquo;s likely going to be the number of games Brooklyn&rsquo;s impressive triumvirate will have played together when the postseason begins.
Perhaps it&rsquo;s poetic justice. When Steve Nash and Mike D'Antoni were together in Phoenix, the point guard won two MVP awards and D&rsquo;Antoni took home a Coach of the Year trophy. Together, they revolutionized the game of basketball. The basketball court was their canvas, and Nash the artist. They treated the shot clock as nothing more than a friendly suggestion and defiantly decided that dunks and threes were a better combination than peanut butter and jelly.
So yes, perhaps it&rsquo;s poetic justice that the duo now gets to steer the most incredible offensive engine that we&rsquo;ve seen in modern times.
But alas, the game isn&rsquo;t played on paper.
Whether the Nets can actually play to their full potential in the postseason remains to be seen, and it&rsquo;s worth recognizing just how incredible of a case study they are.
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Of all &ldquo;super-teams&rdquo; that have shouldered the daunting pressure that such a collection of talent brings, only the 2008 Boston Celtics got it done in their first go-round.
We remember and continually cite those Celtics because they did the impossible, and nobody&rsquo;s done it since. As transient as the league has become over the past 10 years, we simply don&rsquo;t see teams come together, deploy completely new rotations and win immediately. Last year&rsquo;s Los Angeles Lakers came close, but LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Alex Caruso ruin the argument.
In Toronto, Kawhi Leonard joined a rotation that had scratched and clawed its way to the top of the conference. He was the final piece. With an asterisk, the same can be said of Durant&rsquo;s joining the Golden State Warriors. LeBron&rsquo;s Cavs, obviously, didn&rsquo;t get it done in his first year with the club, and neither did LeBron&rsquo;s Miami Heat for that matter.
You cycle back through the list of champions going back more than 20 years, and one thing becomes obvious: the teams that walk away with the Larry O&rsquo;Brien trophy almost universally feature rotational pieces who have endured some growing pains.
The Nets have, just not necessarily together.
If Irving missed his fateful three-point shot over Steph Curry&rsquo;s outstretched arm back in 2016, the world as we have come to know it today may never have been. Perhaps James never wins a championship in Cleveland. Does he still leave for Los Angeles? Would Durant have re-signed in Oklahoma City? Does Irving still ask out of Cleveland?
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To call that shot one of the biggest &mdash; and most consequential &mdash; in NBA history is no stretch. But after it fell and James cried for Cleveland, Irving got zero credit for the part he played in upsetting a 73-win team in the NBA Finals after trailing 3-1. From Game 3 onward, he scored 30.8 points per game on 50.8% shooting from the field, including 46.7% from three-point territory.
How could he not carry the feeling of being slighted with him to Boston? How does that baggage not find its way back home with him to the Nets?
Durability. Availability. Perhaps these are Durant's biggest foes. If the basketball gods were less cruel, it would be Durant, and not LeBron James, who gets to flirt with the idea of running down Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's scoring record &mdash; the biggest giant of them all.
Truth be told, there&rsquo;s an objective argument to be made that Durant is the greatest offensive basketball player who's ever played the game. His major downfall &mdash; aside from his body &mdash; is a willingness to defer touches and opportunities to his teammates. At one point, it was Russell Westbrook, then Steph Curry.
Of all the players we&rsquo;ve seen, Durant is the one who truly could have pushed Wilt Chamberlain&rsquo;s 100-point record. He just lacked the imagination, audacity and selfishness to ever consider pursuing it in a serious way. In Oakland, he became a champion, but anyone with two eyes could see that Durant wasn't fulfilled. Not a "true champion," they said. Draymond Green said his piece. So did the team's architect, Bob Myers. Finals MVP or not, Durant simply wasn't one of "them," so he took his napsack and his championship rings to Brooklyn.
And, of course, there's James Harden, the Beard.
At one point buried on Scott Brooks&rsquo; bench, the small-minded Oklahoma City Thunder couldn&rsquo;t dream big enough. Never could the ownership group imagine that three stars were worth paying $100 million. A trio of in-prime players good enough to one day be MVP? Impossible.
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A faulty showing in the 2012 NBA Finals helped the franchise conclude that Harden wasn&rsquo;t worth the max contract he sought. One whose individual scoring abilities are among the best we&rsquo;ve ever seen was traded for one year of Kevin Martin and the draft pick that became Steven Adams (in fairness, among other things).
But since then, Harden has become a special player who led a proud franchise to its genesis. He obviously couldn&rsquo;t push the Houston Rockets across the finish line, but one could fairly argue that he was just the latest in an infinitely-long list of players who&rsquo;ve existed as inliers because they had to compete against the likes of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, LeBron James and Steph Curry.
So here we have it. Irving, Durant and Harden have each found their way to Brooklyn. Now joined at the hip, their common thread is a faulted legacy that &mdash; in the case of Irving and Durant &mdash; a championship pedigree hasn't solved.
For years, Brooklyn's trio have tantalized us with their individual greatness, and at different points this season, have shown us that they are all capable of sharing the floor with one another and elevating their teammates.
An interesting case study, these Nets are. They&rsquo;ve come together wanting to build their own vibe in Brooklyn and establish New York City&rsquo;s largest borough as the new Mecca of pro basketball. Each searching for the same thing, each wanting to win, their individuals circumstances have joined them in a common quest.
But alas. Seven games is all these Nets will have played together.
With much less of an opportunity to play together than even the 2008 Celtics, they'll attempt to go where no team has gone before.
Indeed, if No. 7 is truly lucky, together, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden, these superstars... Well, they'll prove it to us all.

The 2008 Celtics are among the few teams to win a championship together in their first year. The Nets will now attempt to join them.

On the Brooklyn Nets, No. 7 and the slow, methodical march to a title

A bunch of really good players got traded to really good teams at the NBA trade deadline, and some of them are doing better than others.&nbsp;
Why is that?
...Dare we quote Allen Iverson?
Chatter around the NBA includes complaints that teams do not have enough time to conduct practices regularly, in part because they spend so much time adhering to COVID protocols and being tested. The condensed schedule doesn't help either.&nbsp;
NBA spokesman Tim Frank said teams have practiced anywhere from 15-to-40 times, declining to be more specific. It varies from team to team.&nbsp;
The Dallas Mavericks have practiced 25 times, spokesman Scott Tomlin said.
When asked how often the team has practice, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said, "Rarely.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Mostly because of the schedule -- 29 some games in 30 or so days is hard," Cuban added. "So any days off are needed rest days... But sometimes you have to force-fit a practice. It's not that we can't. It's just that the physical toll of the schedule and the need for recovery by players make it difficult.&rdquo;
For teams that made midseason moves, it's tougher than ever to get new players acclimated. &nbsp; The Mavs acquired JJ Redick from New Orleans, but he has not yet played for Dallas, who had won five games in a row before dropping a 102-93 decision against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.
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The best player in that game was Kelly Olynyk of Houston, who was acquired from Miami and is arguably Stephen Silas&rsquo; best or second-best player these days. Olynyk has averaged 17.4 points on 59.7% shooting since the trade.
But this column is about teams that are either in the playoff picture or in the hunt, so let&rsquo;s start with the best teams (listed by winning percentage), the player(s) they acquired and how things have been going since the March 25 deadline.&nbsp;
UTAH JAZZ (39-13): Acquired Matt Thomas from Toronto for a future second-round pick, but he has only seen spot minutes in four games and has done nothing of note.
PHOENIX SUNS (36-15): Acquired Torrey Craig from Milwaukee for cash, and he has been getting regular rotation minutes off the bench and scored in double figures in three of 11 games. He shot well, but was a minus-10 in 12 minutes in the Suns&rsquo; overtime victory over Utah on Wednesday.
PHILADELPHIA 76ers (35-16): Acquired George Hill from the Thunder and Ignas Brazdeikis from the Knicks. Hill has yet to play because of a thumb injury, but conceivably will help in the playoffs; Brazdeikis was waived Thursday. He played just eight minutes in one total game and missed all three of his shots.
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (35-18): Acquired Rajon Rondo from Atlanta for Lou Williams and two second-round picks. Prior to going for 15 points and nine assists (and a plus-24) in 19 minutes against Phoenix last night, he had taken seven shots in two games and made two of them. But he plays that way from time to time every regular season, and then the playoffs come -- and we all know what happens. That&rsquo;s why he is known as &ldquo;Playoff Rondo.&rdquo; Nobody ever had that nickname, not even Robert Horry, so stay tuned.
DENVER NUGGETS (33-18): Acquired Aaron Gordon and Gary Clark from the Magic for Gary Harris, R.J. Hampton and a future first-round pick; landed JaVale McGee from the Cavs for Isaiah Hartenstein and a future second-rounder. The Nuggets have not lost since Gordon arrived, and he has moved into the starting lineup in place of Paul Millsap. He has not been quite as proficient as teammate Michael Porter Jr., but he is shooting nearly 61% from the field while averaging 12.5 points. He was averaging 14.6 points in Orlando on 43.7% shooting. McGee has appeared only briefly in two games. Clark was waived on Thursday following the team's two-way contract signing of Shaq Harrison.
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MILWAUKEE BUCKS (32-18): Acquired P.J. Tucker and Rodions Kurucs from Houston for D.J. Augustin and D.J. Wilson, with some first-round picks and swaps changing hands, too. Tucker played in only three games, making one of four shots, before suffering a strained left calf that has sidelined him since March 24. Kurucs has not played.
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (30-21): Acquired Norman Powell from the Portland Trail Blazers for Gary Trent Jr. and Rodney Hood. Powell was playing like the best player on the Raptors for all intents and purposes, and with Portland, he is logging heavy minutes as a starter and had a 32-point game in a loss to the Clippers on Tuesday night. Terry Stotts has a heck of a starting lineup, but in the end, it will all come down to the Blazers&rsquo; defense, as it always does. The Jazz outscored them 40-19 in the third quarter last night.
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CHARLOTTE HORNETS (26-24): The best team that nobody ever talks about (especially given the fact that LaMelo Ball went down) acquired Brad Wanamaker from Golden State for a second-round pick, and the Danny Ainge castoff has been solid (8.2 points, 3.2 assists), if not spectacular as the backup point guard in his 20-plus minutes per game.
ATLANTA HAWKS (27-25): They are 4-1 with former Sixth Man Award winner Lou Williams coming off the bench, and he has shot 60% from three-point range in 24 minutes per game. The Hawks gave up 131 points to the Memphis Grizzlies, which is not the sign of a good defensive team, but Lou was not acquired for his &ldquo;D.&rdquo; And the Grizzlies have been playing well lately.&nbsp;
MIAMI HEAT (27-25): Acquired Victor Oladipo from Houston for Olynyk, Avery Bradley and a pick swap; landed Nemanja Bjelica from Sacramento for Moe Harkless and Chris Silva; picked up Trevor Ariza from Oklahoma City for Meyers Leonard and a second-round pick. The East&rsquo;s most confounding team not named &ldquo;Celtics&rdquo; is 5-3 since the deadline passed, having just beaten the Lakers. Oladipo has shot only 23.5% from three-point range and has contributed relatively little. Now, Oladipo will miss the Heat's four-game road trip due to a right-knee injury. Ariza has moved into the starting lineup and has been hot and cold like a leaky faucet; and Bjelica has played six games, with his best performance coming in a win over the Cavs when he had 10 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
BOSTON CELTICS (26-26): The team that got nothing in return for Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and Al Horford picked up Evan Fournier from Orlando for Jeff Teague and two second-round picks; they also landed Moe Wagner and Luke Kornet from the Bulls for Daniel Theis and Javonte Green. The Celtics sit at seventh in the East. Fournier had an inglorious debut in green, going 0-for-10, but had a couple of very nice games since then, going a combined 11-for-16 from three in his two most recent games. He averaged 3 points in his first two games and 20 points in his next two. Kornet has proven serviceable, and Wagner has started in a game.
SAN ANTONIO SPURS (24-25): Acquired an injured Marquese Chriss from Golden State, presumably so that somebody down the line could replace LaMarcus Aldridge (who eventually was bought out and signed with the Nets). This sinking ship has lost four in a row, including a 24-point defeat at the hands of the JuggerCavs; Chriss was released to make room for Gorgui Dieng, who they signed off the buyout market.&nbsp;
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CHICAGO BULLS (22-28): Acquired Nikola Vucevic and Al-Farouq Aminu for Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr. and a pair of first-round picks; landed Daniel Theis, Javonte Green and Troy Brown Jr. from Boston and Washington in a three-team trade. These moves made Billy Donovan the winner of the &ldquo;Figure It Out On The Fly&rdquo; award. Vucevic, an All-Star, has adapted quickly, going for 32 points and 17 rebounds against the Pacers on Tuesday; Aminu and Green have not been rotation players. Theis was okay before going for 14 points and 10 rebounds on Thursday, and Brown has come off the bench and provided depth as a defense-first, playmaking forward. Arturas Karnisovas perhaps earned the &ldquo;Executive of the Year&rdquo; award for getting Vucevic, who will be the best player on the court in every play-in game he participates in.&nbsp;
Donovan will eventually have to acclimate the new Bulls with the old Bulls through practice, and it&rsquo;ll be up to him how to make that happen.
Yes, Mr. Iverson, we are talkin&rsquo; about practice. NBA teams are averaging about 1.8 practices per week this year. Last year (pre-bubble), it was 1.9, and the year before it was 2.0.
Practice makes perfect, and nobody in the NBA is unbeaten. But somebody is going to emerge as a champion by the end of the season, and how to get there is every team&rsquo;s ongoing challenge.

Chris Sheridan checks in on the players who were dealt at the NBA trade deadline and how they've performed with their new teams.

How recently-traded players on good teams are faring

Last week, I traveled to Fort Myers, Fla. for the 2021 GEICO Nationals Tournament, which included some of the best high-school talent in the country. 
After spending several days evaluating players, it became apparent to me that there are many young players in the classes of 2022 and 2023 to be excited about moving forward, including Jalen Duren, Jarace Walker, Dariq Whitehead, Jaden Bradley, Adem Bona, M.J. Rice, Eric Dailey Jr., Gradey Dick, Vince Iwuchukwu, Jett Howard, Caleb Foster, and Kanaan Carlyle among others. 
However, as an NBA Draft Analyst, I&rsquo;d like to highlight a handful of the top seniors in the class of 2021 who will likely be high-priority prospects on my watchlist next season for the 2022 NBA Draft.
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Kennedy Chandler
Sunrise Christian Academy | Committed to Tennessee
Quarterfinal vs. Prolific Prep: 11 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 6 steals, 7 TOV, 5/10 FG, 1/3 3pt
Semifinal vs. IMG Academy: 25 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 TOV, 6/8 FG, 2/3 3pt
Final vs. Montverde Academy: 9 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, 1, TOV, 4/12 FG, 1/6 3pt
Although on the smaller side, Kennedy Chandler dazzled with his speed, scoring, and playmaking abilities at the 2021 GEICO Nationals, leading his Sunrise Christian team to the championship game where they came up just short, losing to a loaded Montverde Academy team. Chandler, a 5-star recruit and McDonald&rsquo;s All-American, is committed to head coach Rick Barnes and the University of Tennessee, where he will most certainly be a high priority for me to scout for the 2022 NBA Draft.&nbsp;
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TyTy Washington
AZ Compass Prep | Undecided
Quarterfinal vs. Wasatch Academy: 22 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 3 TOV, 6/16 FG, 2/7 3pt
Semifinal vs. Montverde Academy: 15 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, 0 TOV, 7/16 FG, 1/6 3pt
I have had the opportunity to watch TyTy Washington and his AZ Compass Prep team a lot lately, and as I continue to watch Washington, he keeps impressing me more and more. At 6&rsquo;3, Washington is not your typical star player, as he&rsquo;s not an elite athlete. However, his court vision, shot-making ability, and basketball IQ dramatically affects each game he plays in. Having recently decommitted from Creighton, Washington has become quite the hot commodity on the college recruiting front. I&rsquo;m not quite sure where he&rsquo;ll end up playing next year, but I do know wherever it is, I&rsquo;ll be going there to evaluate him some more.&nbsp;
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Caleb Houstan
Montverde Academy | Committed to Michigan
Quarterfinal vs. Oak Hill: 20 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 TOV, 7/11 FG, 1/4 3pt
Semifinal vs. AZ Compass: 5 points, 7 rebounds, 0 assists, 4 TOV, 2/9 FG, 1/5 3pt
Final vs. Sunrise Christian: 16 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal 6/12 FG, 4/9 3pt
A highly-touted prospect and McDonald&rsquo;s All-American, Caleb Houston showed why so many people within basketball circles are excited about his future. At 6&rsquo;8 and 200 pounds, it wouldn&rsquo;t surprise me to see some NBA scouts label Houstan as a &ldquo;tweener." However, I see him as a hybrid forward who can really stretch the floor with his outside shooting and provide defensive versatility. After seeing Houstan play for several days in a row, I, too, am excited about his future -- which will be taking him to Ann Harbor next season.&nbsp;
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Kendall Brown
Sunrise Christian Academy | Committed to Baylor
Quarterfinal vs. Prolific Prep: 21 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 0 TOV, 10/19 FG, 0/2 3pt
Semifinal vs. IMG Academy: 10 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 2 TOV, 5/9 FG, 1/3 3pt
Final vs. Montverde Academy: 11 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 2 TOV, 5/9 FG, 1/3 3pt
Although I had never seen Kendall Brown play in-person before, he quickly impressed me with his elite motor and athleticism, as he executed spectacular dunks and defensive plays regularly. He should be a welcomed addition to the national champion Baylor Bears as they look to reload (since they will most likely lose star players Jared Butler and Davion Mitchell to the NBA).
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Matthew Cleveland
Pace Academy | Committed to Florida State
Play-in round vs. Oak Hill: 30 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 TOV, 1 steal, 12/18 FG, 2/3 3pt
This was the first time I was able to see Matthew Cleveland in-person, and unfortunately, my sample size for evaluating him still remains small, as his Pace Academy team lost in the play-in game versus Oak Hill Academy. However, in the one game I saw, Cleveland was terrific, scoring 30 points while shooting 12-for-18 from the field and also grabbing 8 rebounds. At 6&rsquo;6, Cleveland was extremely assertive and efficient getting to the hole and finishing. He was also showed an ability to shoot the ball from outside, although I would like to see more from him in this area to have full confidence. Leonard Hamilton has put together a terrific program at Florida State that keeps pumping out pros. Matthew Cleveland may very well be next in line.
Others Worth Mentioning
Nathan Bittle&nbsp;
Prolific Prep | Committed to Oregon
Moussa Diabate
IMG Academy | Committed to Michigan
Nolan Hickman
Wasatch Academy | Committed to Kentucky
Langston Love
Montverde Academy | Committed to Baylor
Zach Clemence
Sunrise Christian Academy | Committed to Kansas

After attending the 2021 GEICO Nationals Tournament, Matt Babcock shares which players stood out to him.

2021 GEICO Nationals Recap: Which players stood out?

The Oklahoma City Thunder have cut ties with Meyers Leonard, according to The Athletic.&nbsp;
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The Oklahoma City Thunder have waived center Meyers Leonard, sources tell <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAthletic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheAthletic</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Stadium?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Stadium</a>.
&mdash; Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1375193263397859336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2021</a>
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Oklahoma City acquired Leonard from the Miami Heat in exchange for Trevor Ariza last week, but immediately announced that he would not report to the team and would not be an active member of the organization. This came in the aftermath of Leonard using an anti-Semetic slur while on a video game livestream while still a member of the Heat.&nbsp;

Leonard was not an active member of the organization.

Meyers Leonard waived by Thunder

Trevor Ariza remembers working out for the Miami Heat before the 2004 NBA draft, and how he could envision himself playing for the team.
He was 18 then.
He’s now 35, and that long-awaited Heat chance is about to happen.
More than a year removed from his most recent NBA game, Ariza joined the Heat this week after being traded to Miami by Oklahoma City. The Heat are the 10th team Ariza will play for, and he said Friday that he believes he can help the reigning Eastern Conference champions in their playoff push.
“I always wanted to play for this franchise,” Ariza said. “It’s just someplace I always wanted to be. Most of my family is here, so it’s exciting. I’m just ready to go out on the court and lace them up.”
The Heat swung the deal for Ariza on Wednesday, sending the Thunder a second-round pick. Meyers Leonard was also part of the trade to make the salary-matching component work; he won’t play again this season because of a shoulder injury, and the Thunder have said he won’t be an active member of their team. Leonard was suspended by the NBA earlier this month for using an anti-Semitic slur during the livestreaming of a video game.
For the Heat, it is a low-risk, potentially high-reward move.
“He’s everything that Miami Heat organization players are about,” Heat forward Jimmy Butler said. “Hard-nosed, defense, make shots, get everybody involved, team-first kind of guy. ... I’m glad that he’s a part of our team.”
Ariza has averaged 10.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals in his career, one in which he has been traded 11 times. He was drafted by Isiah Thomas with the New York Knicks in the second round of the 2004 draft, then was either traded to or signed with these teams: Orlando, the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston (three times), New Orleans, Washington (twice), Phoenix, Sacramento, Portland, Detroit, Oklahoma City and now, Miami — the city where he was born.
He’s felt like he would fit with the Heat for a while.
“I just feel like it matches my style of person, period,” Ariza said. “I work hard, extremely hard worker, what you see is what you get.”
Ariza didn’t accompany Portland to the bubble last summer for family reasons, and never played for Oklahoma City. He’s been working out in Miami, anticipating that he would eventually be traded someplace.
He’s learning the new NBA policies about masks, testing and other ways to stay safe. That’s the biggest adjustment he’s making; the on-court things are the easy part, he said.
“They let me know exactly what it is that I need to do, my spots,” Ariza said. “The players have been great as far as bringing me along and catching me up to what they do what they do here.”
___
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“I always wanted to play for this franchise,” Ariza said. “It’s just someplace I always wanted to be.

At long last, Ariza getting his chance to play for Heat

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry&rsquo;s tireless work off the basketball court campaigning for social justice, supporting women&rsquo;s causes and even interviewing Dr. Anthony Fauci about the coronavirus pandemic is drawing acclaim from civil rights leaders.
The NAACP has given him its Jackie Robinson Sports Award. And, for the first time, the nation&rsquo;s oldest civil rights organization is recognizing more than one person by honoring the WNBA Players Association.
&ldquo;This award is truly a humbling and honoring experience. It kind of came by surprise in terms of when you do things in the community and speak on things you believe, it&rsquo;s about the collective effort, not just myself but everybody who is around me in terms of accountability to change,&rdquo; Curry said in remarks provided to The Associated Press by a team spokesman. Curry was unavailable for a formal interview while resting a tailbone injury suffered Wednesday night in Houston.
&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t really do it for the acknowledgment, it&rsquo;s more so about the work that you&rsquo;re doing, that this is a great opportunity to continue to speak on things that are important and honor the legacy of Jackie Robinson and what he stood for and the change he was able to create and the barriers he was able to break and to continue these conversations,&rdquo; Curry added. &ldquo;So I&rsquo;m appreciative of the acknowledgment, the honor and if it gives more inspiration and energy to keep changing things in terms of what needs to happen for the Black community across the country then I&rsquo;m all about it.&rdquo;
The 33-year-old Curry, Golden State&rsquo;s two-time NBA MVP, held a YouTube question-and-answer forum with Fauci last March near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
&ldquo;I would borrow a Maya Angelou quote to describe Steph and his leadership: &lsquo;I&rsquo;ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel,&rsquo;&rdquo; Warriors general manager Bob Myers said in an email.
&ldquo;Steph has certainly made people in the Bay Area and all over the world feel joy. His commitment to social activism and support of women are another part of the fabric that makes up the person that he is. I&rsquo;m honored to know him for what he does both on and off the court,&rdquo; Myers added. &ldquo;And a much deserved congratulations to the women of the WNBA who continue to fearlessly pursue what is right.&rdquo;
The Jackie Robinson award &mdash; named for the late Dodgers great who broke baseball&rsquo;s racial barrier &mdash; recognizes athletes for their success as well as their commitment to social justice, civil rights and their communities.
&ldquo;He has a strong platform and he utilizes it to the best of his ability,&rdquo; said Curry&rsquo;s teammate, Kelly Oubre Jr. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great individual.&rdquo;
The WNBA players have been applauded for their activism in a unified movement that has featured kneeling for the national anthem, messages supporting Black Lives Matter and protesting the shooting of Jacob Blake in August by following the Bucks&rsquo; lead in not playing.
&ldquo;I am so proud of the WNBA players for this well-deserved recognition of their continued activism and advocacy for social justice and equality,&rdquo; WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement provided to the AP. &ldquo;Their platforms are bigger than basketball, and they are amazing role models for the next generation of athletes and leaders. The WNBA Social Justice Council continues their important work and you can definitely &lsquo;Count&rsquo; on more to come from the players.&rdquo;
WNBA players also notably called out former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a Republican and former co-owner of the Atlanta Dream, for her criticism of the league&rsquo;s social justice efforts.
Curry, too, applauded the women for their efforts.
&ldquo;The acknowledgement of the WNBA and what they&rsquo;ve stood for and how they&rsquo;ve used their platform to be bold and courageous and speak for change at every opportunity, that acknowledgement is very much deserved,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;They are game-changers and leaders in terms of using their collective voice and impact on and off the court, so a shoutout to them and all that they&rsquo;ve done and are continuing to do in terms of leadership and using their voice.&rdquo;
Some WNBA players sported T-shirts reading &ldquo;Vote Warnock&rdquo; in support of Atlanta pastor Raphael Warnock, a Democrat who defeated Loeffler in a runoff race in January. Warnock became Georgia&rsquo;s first African American senator.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, outspoken on many issues himself, admires the WNBA players for their activism.
&ldquo;I love what the WNBA players have done. They&rsquo;ve really taken the lead with creativity and unity in a lot of important causes, political causes but social injustice issues,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve made their voices heard. They&rsquo;ve done it very creatively and powerfully.&rdquo;
The awards are to be presented during next week&rsquo;s NAACP Image Awards Virtual Experience.
LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Jim Brown, The Harlem Globetrotters, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Sugar Ray Leonard, Eddie Robinson are among prior recipients.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Warriors' Stephen Curry has received the Jackie Robinson award from the NAACP.