Greetings from Los Angeles, where the MVP race is really heating up. JJ Redick served up his support for Luka Dončić’s candidacy on Monday, saying Dončić has earned it by way of being the best player in the first and third portions of the season. “If we continue to finish the season the way we’re playing right now, and he continues to play that way,” said Redick, “to me, he is the MVP.”
There’s no doubt Dončić has been on a tear recently. Since Feb. 28, Dončić is averaging 36.5 points per game on 49.3% shooting, including 39% from three. He’s collected 8.1 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 2.3 steals per game. His defense, his most glaring weakness, has been better, as have the Lakers. In March, Los Angeles ranks in the top 10 in the NBA in defensive efficiency.
Dončić is unquestionably the most potent offensive player in the NBA today. Has he had a more complete season than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the front-runner? Can he compete with the two-way play of Victor Wembanyama, an MVP in waiting? Or the statistical brilliance of Nikola Jokić, who is poised to become the first player in NBA history to lead the league in rebounds and assists per game? And let’s not forget what Jaylen Brown is doing in Boston.
We’ll see. Voters are not a monolith, and I have a feeling ballots this season could be all over the place. I’ll have more on the MVP race later in the week. In the meantime, I sent in my ballot for ESPN writer Tim Bontemps’s final straw poll. The results of that should be a good indicator of where the voters are at this late in the season.
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleHas Giannis Antetokounmpo played his last game in Milwaukee?
On Sunday, shortly after Milwaukee was eliminated from playoff contention, Bucks head coach Doc Rivers lamented over the last two seasons. “It’s been disappointing, obviously,” said Rivers. “Since I’ve been here, I haven’t had a healthy stretch and it’s been your key guys. It’s been Giannis. It’s been Dame [Lillard] … This year, having only one quote-unquote star, every other team has two and three. We needed health. We were thin … All the talk [around Giannis] and all that stuff probably didn’t help either.”
With 29 wins, Milwaukee is likely to finish with its worst record since the 15-win 2013–14 season—Antetokounmpo’s rookie year. Antetokounmpo has played a career-low 36 games in this one and, barring something surprising, won’t play in another. Not this season, anyway.
Will he ever wear a Bucks jersey again? Jon Horst, Milwaukee’s uber creative top basketball exec, won’t give up easily, and the Bucks will have three first-round picks available to be traded on draft night, along with the moveable contracts of Myles Turner, Kyle Kuzma and Bobby Portis. Still, while Horst has pulled some rabbits out of his hat before—see Holiday, Jrue and Lillard, Damian, two trades that led to Antetokounmpo signing extensions—it will be more difficult this time around. Meanwhile, Bucks co-owner (and team governor) Wes Edens said the quiet part out loud in an interview with ESPN: If Antetokounmpo declines to sign an extension, Milwaukee will have no choice but to trade him.
And that may be what’s best for both sides. Despite the recent injuries, Antetokounmpo still has enormous value. The teams that lined up for him before the February trade deadline—Golden State, Miami, Minnesota—will still be there, as could contenders like the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston and New York. Two teams can create a bidding war. A half dozen? That’s a bidding bonanza, one that could set Milwaukee up nicely for a post-Antetokounmpo future.
Jayson Tatum’s Player of the Week
Often, the NBA’s Player of the Week award gets announced with little fanfare. This week was different: Jayson Tatum, weeks after returning to Boston’s lineup following an Achilles injury, earned this week’s Eastern Conference honors. Tatum’s numbers last week: 25.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists per game. Impressive for any player. For one coming off a 10-month recovery from the most significant soft tissue injury any NBA can deal with? Sports doctors will be studying Tatum’s comeback for years to come.
Jaden Ivey’s ugly exit
Jaden Ivey has played his last game in Chicago, with the Bulls waiving Ivey following his controversial comments on social media about the LGBTQ community. And it may be a while before he plays in the NBA again. An informal poll of several top team executives suggests that the market for Ivey, the fifth pick in the 2022 draft, will be chilly this summer. “I couldn’t sign him,” said one exec. Said another, “If he wants to play basketball, he will likely have to go overseas.”
‘‘There’s a certain level of expectations and standards that are here,’’ Bulls coach Billy Donovan told reporters on Monday. ‘‘We have people from all walks of life working in the building and players from all different walks of life, so the first thing is [that] everybody comes with their own personal experiences, right? But we have to all be professional. There has to be a high level of respect for one another, and we’ve got to help each other and be accountable to those standards.”
Ivey looks bad here. But the Bulls front office takes a hit, too. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Ivey, who was acquired from Detroit last month, had a reputation for being a “preacher” in the Pistons’ locker room. Did Chicago check him out? Or were the Bulls so eager to buy low on an ex-lottery pick that they ignored everything else? Interestingly, Chicago’s director of player development, Austin Dufault, was on the Detroit staff during Ivey’s first season. Was he consulted? Fortunately, the Bulls didn’t give up much for Ivey. But now they have nothing to show for it.
Who will run things in Dallas?
As the dust settles on the Mavericks’ season, interest is building in who will lead Dallas in the next one. Armed with Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving and another high lottery pick, the Mavs’ top front office job is an appealing one. And I’m told that Patrick Dumont, the team’s governor, is aiming high. Among the names on Dumont’s wish list, per league sources: Oklahoma City executive vice president and general manager Sam Presti, Minnesota president of basketball operations Tim Connelly and Boston president Brad Stevens. Cleveland top exec Koby Altman’s name is also in the mix, a source said. Jason Kidd has had conversations throughout the season about transitioning to a front office role, sources say, though the Mavericks appear more inclined—for now—to keep Kidd on the bench to continue the development of Flagg.
Most of these names are fanciful, of course (Stevens isn’t going to Dallas, folks). But it strongly suggests that Dumont is looking for someone with a proven track record of success to lead the Mavericks moving forward.
The referee red line
There were some strong reactions last week to referee Scott Foster’s decision to eject Timberwolves forward Naz Reid early in overtime of Minnesota’s game against Houston. The ejection appeared quick—Reid had not picked up a technical and he wasn’t aggressively approaching Foster. From what I’m told, it was the substance of what Reid said that crossed the line. Speaking to Foster, Reid said, “Ya’ll need to stop cheating, bro,” sources familiar with the situation tell Sports Illustrated. There are lots of things you can say to referees. That isn’t one of them.
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