Top quotes from Steve Aschburner’s interviews with NBA head coaches Wes Unseld Jr. (Washington Wizards), Taylor Jenkins (Memphis Grizzlies), and Mark Daigneault (Oklahoma City Thunder).
Unseld sees Corey Kispert and Deni Avdija making a jump this season:
NBA.com: Which of your gamers do you anticipate taking the largest leap this season?
Unseld: Corey Kispert is a man to regulate. Deni is one other one. Two guys who’ve been with me for a pair years. Have had nice summers. Hopefully, they’ll keep wholesome however each these two ought to take an enormous leap.
NBA.com: Your workforce faces some challenges this season, from Ja Morant’s suspension and the losses of Dillon Brooks and Tyus Jones to lingering accidents and having to mix in some new faces. How do you assess the Grizzlies’ offseason and the place issues stand heading into camp?
Jenkins: There are so many issues we will take away from this offseason. Obviously, some roster strikes that we made – super-thrilled to be welcoming Marcus Smart to the group. Elite participant, elite chief, elite competitor. Adding him, I feel, goes to take our group to the subsequent stage. Excited to get him acclimated and in control, however he’s been totally engaged along with his teammates all through the summer season, which has been cool to see, constructing these relationships.
Adding Derrick Rose, a man that, I imply, simply have a look at that resume. The impression he’s made within the recreation, what he’s going to do within the locker room and on the ground for us.
We needed to make powerful selections, and never having Dillon and Tyus with us have been very powerful calls. They’re going to get alternatives elsewhere, however including Marcus and Derrick can be a giant increase. And then, simply our total improvement. We [had] Jaren [Jackson Jr.] taking part in abroad with Team USA, Santi [Aldama] with the Spanish nationwide workforce, and different guys have taken benefit of this offseason.
Daigneault applauds Jalen Williams’ work ethic and overall game:
NBA.com: Jalen Williams, a steal out of Santa Clara with the twelfth choose a yr in the past, completed second for Kia Rookie of the Year and appeared to enhance by the day. What is his subsequent step?
Daigneault: Well, he’s labored actually exhausting. Physically and skill-wise, he’s had a extremely productive summer season. He was with the Team USA Select workforce. … It’s exhausting to put particular expectations on what’s going to change, however I do know he’s improved. I give him numerous credit score for the way in which he’s gone about it. He understands the significance of the little issues within the recreation. He understands reducing, he understands spacing, he understands operating, he understands easy ball motion. He’s a terrific defender as a result of he actually competes at his dimension.
So he’s somebody who has constructed a extremely sturdy basis for his recreation. In the video games the place he doesn’t have his finest output or get essentially the most utilization, he’s nonetheless extremely efficient as a result of he’s doing all these different issues.
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