While Bam Adebayo is probably a long shot to be named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year for this season, the Heat big man is one of the finalists for the first time in his career, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Prior to this spring, Adebayo had never finished higher than fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting. “They’re actually watching games, they’re actually looking at games,” Adebayo said of the award voters. “They’re paying attention to what I do. It’s not only what shows up in the stat book.” As Chiang writes, Adebayo blocked just 0.9 shots per game in 2023/24, wel ..read more

Jayson Tatum is just fine after Caleb Martin‘s hard foul in Game 1 of the Celtics’ series with the Heat on Sunday. Tatum practiced in full on Tuesday, the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn tweets. Game 2 will be held on Wednesday night ..read more

The Nets are hiring veteran assistant coach Steve Hetzel to be part of Jordi Fernandez‘s new staff in Brooklyn, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Hetzel was an assistant coach in Portland for the past three seasons under Chauncey Billups. Prior to his stint with the Blazers, he worked on Steve Clifford‘s staffs in both Charlotte (2014-18) and Orlando (2018-21). Perhaps most notably, Hetzel was the head coach of the Canton Charge in the G League during the 2013/14 season. Fernandez was an assistant on his staff that year before taking over as the Charge’s head coach for the nex ..read more

The Celtics got a very familiar playoff opponent when the Heat defeated Chicago Friday night, writes Khari Thompson of The Boston Globe. The teams have faced each other in three of the past four Eastern Conference finals, with Miami winning last year and in 2020 and Boston prevailing in 2022. With all the history between the two organizations, Jaylen Brown believed another meeting was inevitable. “I knew it was going to be Miami. I knew it from a few weeks back,” Brown said. “Just coming from last year to this year, it just makes sense, so we’re looking forward to it. It should be a great chal ..read more

The pool of bonus money for NBA playoff teams this season will be worth approximately $33.7MM, according to Kurt Badenhausen and Lev Akabas of Sportico, who say the figure represents a 25% increase over last year’s total playoff bonuses. The top six teams in each conference earn bonuses based on their regular season records, while the 16 playoff teams will also receive a chunk of money from the playoff pool, increasing the value of their payout with each series win. That bonus money will be divvied up among the players on each club’s roster. Teams eliminated in the play-in tournament won’t be ..read more

The NBA announced all of the major All-NBA G League teams on Thursday (All Twitter links found here), including the First Team, Second Team, Third Team, All-Defensive Team, and All-Rookie team. Several current and former NBA players are among the honorees. Here is the full list of winners for the 2023/24 season. All-NBA G League First Team: Mac McClung, G, Osceola Magic (McClung was NBAGL MVP) Alondes Williams, G, Sioux Falls Skyforce (Heat‘s affiliate) * Jason Preston, G, Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz‘s affiliate) * Kenneth Lofton, F/C, Salt Lake City Stars ^ Oscar Tshiebwe, C, Indiana Mad Ants ..read more

Charlotte native Seth Curry was only able to suit up eight times for the Hornets after being traded to his hometown team at February’s deadline. A Grade 3 right ankle sprain ended his season early, but he anticipates resuming regular workouts soon and being fully healthy for the start of next season, writes Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. While his $4MM salary for 2024/25 is non-guaranteed, Curry said this week that he’s hoping to stick with the Hornets. “Yeah, I definitely want to be a part of it,” Curry said. “It’s got a great, talented locker room. I think the health has been talk ..read more

With 11 of 12 roster spots reportedly locked in for USA Basketball’s 2024 Olympic roster, the program could go in a number of different directions with the 12th and final slot. The list of players in contention for that final roster spot includes plenty of big names, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports that Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard is currently viewed as the leading candidate. Leonard’s teammate Paul George, Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Magic forward Paolo Banchero, and Nets forward Mikal Bridges are also in the mix, sources tell Charania. Leonard hasn’t represented T ..read more

Third-year Nets shooting guard Cam Thomas is hoping to show the league at large that he is capable of being a two-way force in the NBA, reports C.J. Holmes of The New York Daily News. “My numbers are up there with some of the best of them, honestly,” Thomas told Holmes. “Mine are just overlooked because not that many people know me, I’m not the most vocal, talking and all that stuff. But if you just look at my numbers, my numbers are up there with some of the best of them… I think I just go under the radar a little bit because I’m not really on social media as much.” Across 66 bouts this seaso ..read more

The Team USA men’s basketball program has announced 11 of its 12 roster spots for this year’s Paris Olympics, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Woj suggests that the final roster opening could remain open for a while. Sources inform Wojnarowski that Hall of Famer Grant Hill, Team USA’s managing director, is waiting for a July training camp and some Las Vegas exhibition games before finalizing that 12th spot. 10 of the 11 players were honored as All-Stars this season, while the 11th was a key two-way force on the 2021 gold medal-winning team, which is officially considered the 2020 Olympic team ..read more