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I really wish Jimmy Butler would pull a Bobby Valentine on his own team and show up in a disguise to the games in Milwaukee and Brooklyn this week.
The Midseason Bouncies 🏆
The most prestigious award we partially offer
As is tradition, we here at The Bounce hand out the highest honors when the regular season ends, but we also do so at midseason! Just so you know: The Bouncies are among basketball’s most prestigious awards — not just anybody can receive this honor.
The Bouncies’ selection process is one of the most scientific and complicated awards systems ever created. I don’t even have time to explain it to you, so let’s just hand out some hardware! (Note: There is no actual hardware. Importing and exporting issues got in the way.)
Best Rookie: Jared McCain (16th overall), 76ers
McCain won’t win Rookie of the Year because of his season-ending knee injury, but he’s the best rookie we’ve seen so far this season. My dark horse candidate for best rookie for the rest of the season is Kel’el Ware in Miami, but it’s a bummer we didn’t get more of McCain. | Runner-up: Jaylen Wells, Grizzlies
Most Disappointing Rookie: Reed Sheppard, Rockets
The Kentucky product was never expected to play much right away, even as the third pick in the draft, because he was joining a loaded Rockets backcourt. But even when Sheppard has played, the dead-eye shooter has made just 31.5 percent from the field and 27.4 percent from deep. | Runner-up: Cody Williams, Jazz
Most Frustrating Team: Pelicans (12-32, 14th in West)
I was really hoping for a fun, healthy Pelicans season, and it’s been anything but that. (I didn’t pick the Sixers here because I never believed in them in the first place. The injuries have been a bummer, though.) I just want the Pelicans to be fun. | Runner-up: Timberwolves
Best Surprise Team: Cavaliers
So many of us were clamoring for the Cavs to trade Jarrett Allen and/or Darius Garland to even out the roster. Instead, Kenny Atkinson turned a good team into an elite squad. We knew the Rockets would be better. We knew the Grizzlies would be back on some level. But this 36-7 Cavs team? Nobody saw this coming. | Runner-up: Pistons
Funniest Fight: Amen Thompson tosses Tyler Herro
From Herro getting thrown around like a sack of mulch to Terry Rozier diving in to defend his teammate to Herro’s trash talk after the game to Kevin Love’s social media coverage of it, this was by far the funniest fight of the season thus far. | Runner-up: Isaiah Stewart telling Myles Turner he plays with Legos
Best Acquisition: Karl-Anthony Towns, Knicks
The Knicks’ transformation from relying on Julius Randle to what they look like with Towns is pretty significant. Maybe you don’t believe in the Knicks as true contenders, but they’re playing like they’re capable. What an upgrade at the big-man position for New York, and Towns has acclimated quite well. | Runner-up: Chris Paul, Spurs
Worst Acquisition: Julius Randle, Timberwolves
On the flip side of the Towns acquisition is the Randle aspect for Minnesota. Donte DiVincenzo getting off to a slow start didn’t help, and the toe injury that knocked him away from his recent good play is frustrating. Randle has disrupted Minnesota’s offense, and the paint is too crowded for Anthony Edwards. | Runner-up: Paul George, 76ers
Dunk of the Year: Ja Morant on Victor Wembanyama
We don’t care that it didn’t count. We don’t care that Morant didn’t touch the rim. A dunk is a dunk. A poster is a poster. And Morant has now thrown it down on Wemby multiple times. Morant called him “another person at the rim” and said that Wemby has dunked on plenty of people, “so he don’t get no pass neither.” What a phenomenal dunk. | Runner-up: Keyonte George dunks all over Jalen Duren
Bucket-getter of the Year: Norman Powell, Clippers
How did we measure this? We looked at players averaging at least 15 points per game while having an assist rate under 15 percent. Then, we got rid of the big men in this category. Powell is the leading scorer of the bunch at 23.7 points per game, and he’s at 11.6 percent for assist rate. Get those shots up! | Runner-up: Jalen Green, Rockets
Most Valuable Player: You, the readers of this newsletter and The Athletic. 🥹 Just kidding, it’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Having a historic season on the best team in the league? Crazy impact with him on the court versus off? He gets the slight edge right now. Tune in for more about this award in tomorrow’s Bounce. | Runner-up: Nikola Jokić, Nuggets
The Last 24
This is not looking great for the Suns
💣 Myopic Suns. It’s starting to feel and read like Mat Ishbia is acting like I would if I owned an NBA team. John Hollinger detonates all hope.
🏀 All grown up. This is a fantastic piece by Sam Amick on Alperen Şengün’s ascension in Houston. He should be an All-Star.
🩼 Big injury. Dereck Lively II has a broken bone in his ankle.
📺 Don’t miss this game tonight. Kings (23-20) at Nuggets (27-16), 9 p.m. ET on League Pass. Two of the hottest teams in the league square off.
📺 Remember the ’80s? Celtics (31-13) at Lakers (23-18), 10 p.m. ET on TNT. Maybe the Celtics already got it together, but the Lakers want to keep them reeling.
📺 Un jeu amusant. Spurs (19-22) at Pacers (24-19), 2 p.m. ET on NBA TV or Fubo (try for free). Wemby gets to play an NBA game in Paris! Catch it midday.
Another One
Heat suspend Jimmy Butler for 2 more games
We’re deep in the Jimmy Butler trade request saga, which means, over the next couple weeks, we’re going to find out who has a more hardlined stance on this between Butler and the Miami Heat front office. How messy will Butler get? How stubborn can the Heat be? It’s the ultimate game of chicken when it comes to the NBA’s Feb. 6 trade deadline. (Check out Sam Vecenie’s NBA trade board here.)
Well, another wrinkle hit the situation yesterday, when Butler missed the team’s flight to Milwaukee to start a quick two-game road trip there and in Brooklyn this week. The Heat are suspending him for those two games, bringing his team-issued bans to nine games so far this season. It’s fair to wonder, with two weeks left before the trade deadline, if Butler will ever put on a Heat uniform again. The team announced:
“We have suspended Jimmy Butler for two games for continued pattern of disregard of team rules, insubordinate conduct and conduct detrimental to the team, including missing today’s team flight to Milwaukee.”
After this suspension is up, the Heat will have five more games before the trade deadline. Do you expect Butler to play in any of them? Don’t forget the NBA’s Player Participation Policy means the Heat just can’t sit Butler outright, and continuing to suspend him is going to raise questions and action from the union. But the Heat are clearly through with Butler, and he’s doing what he can to get dealt. The thing I wonder: What happens if they can’t get a deal for him before the deadline?
About Last Night
Rockets get some clutch help in signature win
When we ran our poll last week regarding the chances of Western Conference teams being able to take down the Thunder (36-7), the Rockets were given almost no chance by you, the readers. Ninety-four percent of readers said Houston couldn’t beat OKC in a series, with 47 percent of responses blaming the Rockets’ lack of experience. That’s a reasonable way to look at the state of their team, even as they currently own the No. 2 seed in the West.
Last night, however, they ended up beating the 36-7 Cavaliers, 109-108, after nearly squandering their lead and scoring ability in the fourth quarter. Cleveland came charging back in the fourth to erase the deficit. And the Cavs had a chance to take the lead with 2.1 seconds left in the game. Houston’s Tari Eason was called for a flagrant-1 after his foot slid under Darius Garland on a 3-point attempt with the Cavs down two. That meant three free throws and the ball for Cleveland.
Garland, a 90-percent free-throw shooter this season, missed the first two attempts but made the third. Then, Donovan Mitchell tossed up a desperation 3 from the corner that didn’t come close to going in. That’s a great win for the Rockets (29-14). Fred VanVleet led with 26 points. Amen Thompson had 16 points, 16 rebounds (nine offensive), four assists and four steals.
Other action from last night:
Wolves 115 (23-21), Mavs 114 (23-21): The Mavs are missing seven guys due to injury, including Luka Dončić, Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall and Lively. The Wolves barely beat them in Dallas behind 27 from Jaden McDaniels.
Kings 123 (23-20), Warriors 117 (21-22): The Warriors were so back … for 24 minutes. They led the red-hot Kings by 17 at halftime. Then, it was tied going into the fourth quarter. From there, the Kings won by six points thanks to 32 from DeMar DeRozan and a 26-point, 18-rebound night from Domantas Sabonis.
Celtics 113, Clippers 107 (24-19), OT: Great effort from the Clippers without James Harden or Kawhi Leonard, but the Celtics’ inevitability finally struck in overtime.
Pistons 114 (23-21), Hawks 104 (22-21): Cade Cunningham became the 15th player in league history to have at least 25 points, 10 assists and 10 turnovers in a game. Harden (seven) has the most ever.
Suns 104 (22-21), Nets 84 (14-31): This one finally decided who won the Kevin Durant trade.
Thunder 123, Jazz 114 (10-32): Gilgeous-Alexander dropped 54 points on 17-of-35 shooting from the field. It marked the first 50-point game of his career.
Grizzlies 132 (29-15), Hornets 120 (11-29): And finally, Memphis was up 30 at the half, but more impressively, Mark Williams scored 38 for the Hornets without taking a single shot outside of the paint.
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(Top photo: Michael Gonzales / Getty Images )
