Star guard Bradley Beal fully participated in the Suns‘ practice on Thursday, but he’s not quite ready to return from his back injury, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. The team wants to get Beal some more practice reps before reinserting him into its lineup, according to head coach Frank Vogel. “We want to see him stack together a few practices where he responds well,” Vogel said. “No timeline on how many that is or what that looks like, but we want to continue to make sure he’s responding well before we put him back in there. Stay away from being in and out.” The shorthanded Suns ..read more

Returning to Toronto on Wednesday to face his old team, Heat point guard Kyle Lowry said he still calls the city home and that his plans to eventually retire as a member of the Raptors haven’t changed, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. “I’m definitely retiring as a Raptor,” Lowry said. “That’s something I’ve said since I left here. I will sign that one-day contract and I will retire as a Toronto Raptor.” Lowry’s three-year contract with Miami will expire at the end of the 2023/24 season, but he doesn’t envision that being the end of the line for his playing career. The 37-year-o ..read more

The Kings‘ NBA G League affiliate, the Stockton Kings, are trading for the rights to forward Stanley Johnson from the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Heat‘s affiliate, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. Johnson had auditions with Golden State and Phoenix during the offseason but was unable to get a contract offer. Johnson has played for five organizations since being picked in the lottery by Detroit in 2015. He saw action in 30 games off the bench for the Spurs last season. The Kings have an open roster spot, so this could be an opportunity for Johnson to work his way back into the NBA. We have mor ..read more

Bam Adebayo has already been ruled out of the Heat’s game against Toronto on Wednesday. The Heat big man is uncertain whether he’ll be ready to go for Friday’s contest against Cleveland, he told Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald ..read more

With Jalen Johnson unavailable due to a wrist injury, the Hawks have been experimenting a little more with different frontcourt combinations, including playing centers Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu alongside one another, writes Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscription required). The pairing is very much a work in progress, particularly on the offensive end, but it showed some intriguing potential against bigger teams like San Antonio and Milwaukee, according to Williams. “There’s certain times in the game where that allows itself and there’s certain matchups where I ..read more

Thunder big man Chet Holmgren and Heat wing Jaime Jaquez have been named the rookies of the month for the Western and Eastern Conferences, respectively, the NBA announced on Monday (via Twitter). Since the 2023/24 season started in late October, the awards count games played for both October and November. The No. 2 overall pick of the 2022 draft, Holmgren missed all of last season due to a foot injury. In his first taste of regular season action, he filled the stat sheet in impressive fashion, averaging 17.9 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.1 blocks on .537/.410/.871 shooting in 18 game ..read more

Jaime Jaquez knew where he wanted to go in the draft, and he got his wish when Miami selected him with the 18th pick, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Projected as a mid-first rounder after spending four years at UCLA, Jaquez was aware that he might still be on the board for Miami’s selection and he was hoping for the chance to work with two legends. “I think when it comes to basketball, just being under (team president) Pat Riley and coach Spo (Erik Spoelstra), I don’t think you could ask for two better guys when it comes to basketball to play under and learn from,” Jaquez said. “So ..read more

Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton is expected to miss Saturday’s game against Miami, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports. Indiana’s best player is officially listed as questionable. As Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star tweets, Haliburton missed the team’s shootaround this morning due to a right knee bone bruise and an upper respiratory infection. The Pacers went just 6-20 without Haliburton last season, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter). Haliburton, who signed a five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension in the offseason, is off to an All-NBA-caliber start to 2023/24, averagi ..read more

Chicago figures to be at the center of many trade conversations around the league after a disappointing start has the team sitting with a 6-14 record — 13th in the East — after 20 games. Along the same lines, scouts and executives Sam Amick of The Athletic has spoken to believe Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan is “very likely” to be traded prior to the February deadline. According to Amick, the Heat and Knicks are teams that appeal to DeRozan, who is on an expiring $28.6MM contract. DeRozan, 34, was an All-Star each of the past two seasons for Chicago and earned an All-NBA Second Team nod in 2021/2 ..read more

Heat center Bam Adebayo went to the locker room in the second quarter of Miami’s Thursday victory over the Pacers after re-aggravating a hip injury, later being ruled out for the rest of the game. “He came in those last four minutes of the second quarter and he was just getting some treatment at halftime with the intention to come back,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said, per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “I basically talked to him in my office and just said, ‘Look, you’re laboring like the fourth quarter of the New York game and it’s November right now. I’m not putting you back in in the s ..read more