Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Giannis Antetokounmpo have been named the NBA's Players of the Week for Week 2.
Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 31.7 points, 7.7 assists and 5.3 rebounds as the Oklahoma City Thunder went 3-0.
Antetokounmpo averaged 35.7 points, 15.0 rebound and 6.0 assists as the Milwaukee Bucks went 3-0.
Josh Primo has gone unclaimed on waivers and will become a free agent.
The San Antonio Spurs waived Primo after a former employee of the team alleged he indecently exposed himself to her.
The Spurs recently had picked up their 23-24 option on Primo and he is owed $8.4 million over this season and next.
The NBA announced that the Philadelphia 76ers violated league rules governing the timing of this season’s free agency discussions and that the league has rescinded Philadelphia’s second-round pick in each of the 2023 and 2024 Drafts.
The rescindment of two Draft picks reflected findings, following an investigation, that the 76ers engaged in free agency discussions involving two players (P.J. Tucker and Danuel House, Jr.) prior to the date when such discussions were permitted.
The team fully cooperated with the investigation.
The Golden State Warriors have picked up the fourth-year option for center James Wiseman and third-year options for forward Jonathan Kuminga and guard Moses Moody ahead of Monday's deadline, sources confirmed to ESPN.
Wiseman's option is $12.1 million, while Kuminga's and Moody's are $6 million and $3.9 million, respectively. The trio is now under contract with the Warriors until the end of the 2023-24 season, but Wiseman will be extension-eligible next summer and could be a restricted free agent in 2024.
Our first bi-weekly look at the West.
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The Dallas Mavericks have assigned guard Jaden Hardy to the Texas Legends of the NBA G League.
Hardy (6-4, 198) has played 10 minutes in two games with the Mavericks this season, posting two rebounds and one assist. The rookie will be with the Legends through their back-to-back at the Austin Spurs on Friday, Nov. 4, and Saturday, Nov. 5.
Hardy has appeared in two games so far for the Mavericks.
Paolo Banchero recently confirmed that his national team commitment lies with Italy, and not with the United States. Banchero initially told Marc Stein that he was planning to play for Italy and confirmed that commitment again in a conversation with Orlando Magic teammate R.J. Hampton.
While on Hampton's "Young Person" show, Banchero explained that him playing for Italy has been in the works for a while.
"When I was 16, the Italian national team reached out to my dad," Banchero said. "They were like, 'Does he have Italian roots? Can he get citizenship?' And my dad told them yes. So, the whole process started. I flew to San Francisco multiple times to meet them at the Italian embassy, we had a few meetings, and I ended up getting my Italian passport."
Banchero said he doesn't know when he'll make his debut for Italy, but that he's excited for the opportunity.
"I'm planning to play for the Italian national team, but I'm not sure when," Banchero said. "I haven't been out there yet, but man, the amount of love I'm getting from there... it's crazy, man. It's crazy. I can't wait to go to Italy."
Luka Doncic's 2022-23 season is off to quite the start. Six games into the season, Doncic is leading the NBA in scoring at 36.7 points per game.
Doncic has scored between 32 and 44 points in each of the Dallas Mavericks first six games. That made Doncic the first player since Michael Jordan in 1986 to open a season with 30 or more points in his first six games of a season. Against the Orlando Magic on Sunday, Doncic hit the 30-point marker before halftime.
For his part, Doncic says he can play even better than he has. That's backed by the fact that the Mavs star is hitting only 22.6% of his three-pointers on the young season. Doncic is also averaging 9.5 rebounds and 8.7 assists, to go along with his gaudy scoring numbers.
Kyrie Irving found himself in some trouble after many spoke out against Irving shared a link to an anti-Semitic movie on Twitter. The Brooklyn Nets, the NBA and Nets owner Joe Tsai all shared messages disapproving of hate or discrimination in any form.
There doesn't seem to be any form of official punishment coming for Irving, either from the Nets or the NBA. Nets GM Sean Marks said anything further would be handled in-house, while a league source indicated there will be no fines nor suspensions for Irving.
While the Nets and the NBA shared broad, generalized statements against any form of anti-Semitism or hate speech, Brooklyn's primary governor Tsai called Irving out directly in a tweet.
“The social media posts from, @KyrieIrving, are troubling. The book and film he promotes trade in deeply #antisemitic themes including those promoted by dangerous sects of the Black Hebrew Israelites movement. Irving should clarify now," tweeted Tsai.
Irving initially refused to take down the tweet, saying “I respect what Joe said, but there has a lot to do with the, not ego or pride of how proud I am to be an African heritage, but also to be living as a free black man here in America, knowing the historical complexities for me to get here. So, I’m not going to stand down on anything that I believe in. I’m only going to get stronger because I’m not alone. I have a whole army around me.”
However, the tweet was deleted as of Sunday evening.
The Philadelphia 76ers have exercised the fourth-year contract option for Tyrese Maxey and the third-year contract option for Jaden Springer, both set to take effect for the 2023-24 season.
Maxey, now in his third professional season, holds career averages of 13.7 points (.480 FG, .403 3FG), 2.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 26.9 minutes in 143 games (89 starts). The Texas native played in 75 games (74 starts) in his second NBA season in 2021-22, upping his scoring average from 8.0 to 17.5 while shooting .485 from the floor. His points-per-game increase ranked as the largest among second-year players last season, while his .427 mark from three-point range was third in the NBA. A 2022 Rising Stars selection, Maxey reached the 20-point mark on 25 occasions, including five games of 30-plus points.
Originally selected by the 76ers with the No. 21 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Maxey, 21, has averaged 22.6 points on .504 shooting (.468 3FG), 3.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.1 steals in seven games (all starts) this season. He set career highs in both points (44) and three-point field goals (nine) at Toronto on Oct. 28, becoming just the second player in 76ers franchise history to tally 40-plus points prior to the age of 22 (Iverson, five times).
Springer, 20, has tallied seven points on 3-of-4 shooting in four career appearances for the 76ers. The No. 28 overall selection of the 2021 NBA Draft has competed in 19 career G League games (18 starts) for the Delaware Blue Coats, averaging 14.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals in 26.8 minutes per contest. Springer helped lead Delaware to its second consecutive appearance in the G League Finals.
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