The big news of today is that Derrick Rose has another knee injury. This time, it’s not an ACL tear, but it is a meniscus tear, which obviously isn’t a good thing.
This is terrible news for the Bulls, of course, but it could be good news for any team shopping a point guard. Orlando and Jameer Nelson, I’m looking at you. Also, do the Suns really need Goran Dragic right now?
There’s not many prospective playoff teams in the market for point guards right now. The position is more important than ever, and it seems like it’s near-impossible to be even a remotely plausible contender with a weakness at the point.
So now the Bulls could be looking for someone to shoulder the load with Rose out for some time. Although they could just go with Marquis Teague. There’s certainly an argument that trading for a new PG would be an overreaction.
Regardless, the Bulls are not in an enviable position.
Now let’s get to the latest from around the NBA:
Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News has an Omer Asik idea: “The Trail Blazers are off to one of their best starts in years, but they’re not kidding themselves. They know they’ve taken advantage of a pillow-soft schedule and have surprised themselves with their shooting (46% entering Friday). So they’re quietly looking to improve, talking to the Rockets about trading for Omer Asik. They can send back Robin Lopez in a deal, but don’t have the “stretch four’’ the Rockets are looking for as they search for a home for their disgruntled backup center. Houston wants a power forward who can shoot threes to pair next to Dwight Howard. That led them, predictably, to the New Orleans Pelicans, home of Ryan Anderson. But the Pelicans refused to part with Anderson, even though putting Asik in the middle and moving Anthony Davis to power forward makes a lot of sense.”-
Injury Update: @andre has been diagnosed with a strained left hamstring. He will not play tonight vs. Portland & is out indefinitely.
— Golden St. Warriors (@warriors) November 24, 2013
The Nets are 3-9, and in their loss to the Timberwolves, they looked like a 3-9 team. Roderick Boone of Newsday sums it up: “The guy on a giant hamster wheel during halftime got more of a rise out of everyone in the arena than anything the Nets did in their 111-81 loss to the Timberwolves. The margin of defeat was the worst of their 3-9 start, and that’s saying something. “I can’t speak for everybody, but [I] know I’m embarrassed,” said Andray Blatche, who led the Nets with 16 points. “With the players that we have in this locker room, there’s no way possible we should be losing games like this or even have our record this way. We have enough talent, enough vets to be a great team. So there’s no excuse for the way we are playing right now. There’s no excuse. No excuse at all. It’s just real embarrassing.” This one was so out of hand that Wolves coach Rick Adelman had mercy on the Nets, who’ve dropped eight of nine and fallen to 1-7 on the road. Adelman emptied his bench with 3:01 remaining — in the third quarter. By then, the Nets were in a 34-point hole, already having checked out mentally and showing no fight or spirit at all. The Timberwolves (8-6) were led by Kevin Love’s impressive 17-point, 16-rebound effort. Minnesota had more than twice as many offensive rebounds (17) as the Nets had assists (seven).”-
Deron Williams tells me he will not play tomorrow. Wouldn’t say when he thinks he’ll return to the lineup #Nets
— Mike Mazzeo (@MazzESPN) November 23, 2013
- Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has some words from Mark Cuban about the Rockets. Looking for Rockets tickets? Look no further: “Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said the Houston Rockets called his organzation this past summer and asked if they were interesting in trading forward Dirk Nowitzki. Cuban said the call came a few hours after the Rockets had acquired center Dwight Howard. “They didn’t make an offical offer, they just asked if we would trade (Nowitzki),” Cuban said on Friday night. Asked when that call came from the Rockets, Cuabn said: ‘About three hours after Dwight signed.””
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No Gasol surgery because Griz doctor Fred Azar prefers a conservative approach in line with most MCL injuries.
— Ronald Tillery (@CAGrizBeat) November 23, 2013
Josh Smith missed the Pistons’ practice on Thursday because his father was sick, and then was benched for Friday’s game. But as David Mayo of mlive.com reports, he doesn’t think it’s an issue: “Smith said he learned about 12:30 a.m. Thursday that Cheeks had scheduled an 11 a.m. practice. But by then, Smith had skipped the team charter flight. “Generally, 99.9 percent of the time, on back-to-backs, you have a day off,” Smith said. “And considering that I was at home and my father was dealing with a real serious illness, I thought it was self-explanatory. But I should have made better communication on my part, as far as letting these guys know that I was going to stay over. “I apologized to Joe Dumars and Mo Cheeks the following day. It’s a situation that’s very minor and I really want to move past it, because it’s a situation where I thought it was a day off.” Smith said his teammates “understood the concern that I had, as far as my family is concerned, and they were behind me 100 percent.””-
BJ: “I’m a realist. My confidence isn’t high. I’m thinking too much, to prove to everybody I can be this pass-first PG instead of playing”
— Vincent Goodwill (@vgoodwill) November 23, 2013
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Sense I get is that Clippers and Lamar will have a better sense of where things stand in a few weeks. Neither side in a hurry at moment.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) November 23, 2013
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Nick Young on Rihanna: “I seen her end up saying ‘Swaggy P.’ She called my name … Hey, I’m just having a good day today, you know?”
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 23, 2013
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Dan Malone is in his fourth year as a journalism student at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and spent this summer as a features intern at the Cape Cod Times. He blogs, edits and learns things on the fly for Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on Twitter.