NBA Southwest

Zion Williamson missed the entirety of last season while recovering from a foot injury, and his absence capped the New Orleans Pelicans' upside en route to a 36-46 record and a first-round exit from the playoffs.

Now Williamson is preparing to return after signing a five-year, $192.9 million contract extension, and the 2021 All-Star selection is aiming to change some narratives.

"I want to prove that I'm a winner," Williamson told reporters in July. "It's as simple as that. I want to win with coach. As well as with my teammates. The ultimate goal is to win the championship. I feel like that's what we're all striving for."

The Pelicans certainly feature enough talent to emerge as a sleeper in the Western Conference if their core group is able to stay healthy throughout the 2022-23 season.

Williamson is joined by Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum, Jonas Valanciunas, Herbert Jones and Devonte' Graham to form a promising foundation. Dyson Daniels, the No. 8 pick in the 2022 NBA draft, also figures to push for ample playing time as a rookie.

While New Orleans' potential is evident, the West is once again loaded with title hopefuls, led by the reigning champion Golden State Warriors, so the Pels have several obstacles on their road toward contention.

Let's check out all of the important details about the team's regular-season slate following the NBA's schedule release. That's followed by a closer look at what lies ahead for Zion and Co.

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2022-23 Pelicans Schedule Details

Season Opener: Oct. 19 at Brooklyn Nets

Championship Odds: +4900 (via FanDuel)

Full Schedule: NBA.com

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Top Matchups

Los Angeles Lakers (First Game: Nov. 2)

The Pelicans and Lakers forged similar paths last season as talent-laden squads that fell short of high expectations, with injuries playing a key role in their sub-.500 records. New Orleans did at least make the postseason before its campaign came to a close, though.

Both teams are looking to make more noise in 2022-23.

A key for each side will be trying to make sure they land inside the top six seeds in the West to avoid the play-in tournament. It's far from a guarantee, even with better health, because there are so many squads with the potential to join the race atop the conference.

There is always no shortage of storylines when New Orleans and L.A. face off. It starts with the battle between Williamson and LeBron James, but there is also Ingram facing off with his former team after being drafted by the Lakers in 2016.

Games against fellow midconference teams will be the foundation of potential success for the Pels, and a firm winning record against those who end up seeded between Nos. 5 and 10 will be a good indicator they are breaking through as a threat.

A couple of statement wins over the Lakers would be a nice boost along the way, especially if they come with both LeBron and Anthony Davis in the lineup for L.A.

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Minnesota Timberwolves (First Game: Dec. 28)

The Wolves showed a sense of urgency to move up the standings with their blockbuster trade for the Utah Jazz's Rudy Gobert, who will take a lot of defensive pressure off Karl-Anthony Towns as they create one of the NBA's best frontcourt tandems.

It puts Minnesota in the same category as New Orleans as teams looking to make a leap after some offseason roster reconstruction, which for the Wolves also included the addition of Kyle Anderson to provide some do-it-all production on the wing.

The Pelicans and Timberwolves both could lay claim to being the squad with the best chance to join the West's elite, though it's also possible they may be fighting around the play-in line. Either way, their games are going to carry a lot of meaning.

Minnesota could be a tricky matchup for New Orleans because of its defensive versatility on the wings and down low, so these clashes will put some extra pressure on McCollum and the backcourt.

Should the Pelicans show they can overcome those stylistic issues, it will be a good sign they can match up with just about every type of opponent.

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Season Forecast

If you're making a list of teams with a realistic chance to win the 2023 NBA title, the Pelicans belong on it.

They face more variables than some of the surefire contenders like the Warriors, Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks, starting with Williamson's health, but if everything falls into place, they have enough talent to make a deep playoff run.

Is New Orleans going to win the 55-60 games likely necessary to compete for the No. 1 seed? Probably not, as it will likely take a while for Zion to get back up to full speed, and some load-management absences are a strong bet throughout the regular season.

David Griffin, the Pelicans' executive vice president of basketball operations, said in July the franchise is in position for a "run toward sustained success for quite a long time."

"We really like the group we have," Griffin told reporters. "We feel like it has a chance to do something special together. It has the requisite versatility it needs, the upside talent it needs. We feel like with the team we have assembled, with Zion as an enormous part of that, coach [Willie] Green and his staff are going to be able to put together an incredible run."

The optimism is warranted, but it's going to take consistent on-court results for the Pelicans to start turning the doubters into believers.

On the flip side, if New Orleans doesn't make significant progress this season, the front office could face tough questions next summer about whether it's time to shake up the roster.

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Record Prediction: 46-36

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If Kevin Durant remains a Brooklyn Net, he'll open the 2022-23 season against Zion Williamson.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported the Nets are set to open their regular season against the New Orleans Pelicans on Oct. 19. The game should also mark Zion Williamson's return to the floor after missing the entire 2021-22 campaign with a foot injury.

Ben Simmons is also slated to make his return after he missed all of last season because of a holdout from the Philadelphia 76ers and a back injury.

There may be no game on the NBA's early slate with more proverbial balls up in the air.

Durant requested a trade in June and has not backed down on his stance. The 12-time All-Star met with Nets governor Joe Tsai earlier this month and demanded head coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks be fired if the team wanted Durant to return, sources told Charania. Tsai refused and took to social media to back Nash and Marks.

While the Nets have focused on Durant talks, there is also the possibility Kyrie Irving has played his last game for Brooklyn. The Los Angeles Lakers have been linked to an Irving trade for months, though their lack of available assets has made things difficult. Irving's future with the franchise will likely be impacted, at least in part, by the end result of Durant's trade demand.

As training camp draws closer, it's increasingly likely a disgruntled Durant and Irving will be on the floor for opening night.

The statuses of Simmons and Williamson remain great enigmas, ones that will determine how their respective teams fare next season.

Simmons' shattered confidence on the offensive end was the most glaring aspect of his game that stood out the last time we saw him on an NBA floor. If he was able to get his mental health and body right with a season off, it's likely Simmons will return to All-Star form and rank among the best defenders in basketball.

Williamson landed a max contract extension in New Orleans despite playing only 85 games over his first three NBA seasons. If he stays healthy, the Pelicans will be a clear playoff team that could sneak into the top half of the Western Conference. If the injury issues continue flaring up, Oct. 19 will be the start of another long season in New Orleans.

Few players will be under more of a spotlight when the NBA season starts than New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson after he missed the 2021-22 campaign with a foot injury.

While being the face of a franchise expected to bounce back and lead the way for the foreseeable future at just 22 years old comes with plenty of pressure, he explained to Tres Dean of GQ that he sees a bit of himself in and takes inspiration from Naruto, which is a long-running manga/anime franchise.

Williamson is such a fan of the phenomenon that launched in Japan in 1999 that he worked with the Jordan Brand to design a sneaker collection incorporating parts of the story that, as Dean put it, "have resonated with him over the years."

The Duke product also sees some parallels to his own life from when his stepfather, Lee Anderson, coached him as a youngster.

"For a while nobody took Naruto seriously," he said. "And then he went and trained with [master shinobi] Jiraiya for three years, right? And he came back at 16 years old, goated."

Williamson looked well on his way to becoming "goated" when he was a highly regarded recruit who then became a household name during his one collegiate season with the Blue Devils. He made the most of that one season as the Associated Press Player of the Year, Wooden Award winner, Naismith Award winner, consensus All-American, ACC Rookie of the Year and ACC Tournament MVP.

New Orleans then took him No. 1 overall in the 2019 NBA draft in a move that immediately made him the cornerstone of the franchise.

While Williamson played just 24 games as a rookie, he looked well on his way to superstardom during his second season when he averaged 27.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 61.1 percent from the field.

Yet that individual momentum came to a grinding halt when he missed the 2021-22 season with a foot injury. Throw in a report from Christian Clark of NOLA.com in September 2021 suggesting there was some tension between him and the organization centered around how it handled his injuries, and there was plenty of uncertainty.

"It's been a lot," Williamson said. "I can sit here and explain it, but nobody will really be able to feel it the way I did. My foot was broken and I couldn't magically heal it. It hurt, because I love the game of basketball. But because of it I was experiencing hate and pain from people I don't know every day, and it started to wear on me."

Despite some speculation the forward may want to leave New Orleans, he and the team agreed to a five-year max contract extension this offseason.

He figures to be healthy and on the court again in 2022-23 and is drawing inspiration from one of his favorite sources.

"I had to come to a realization," he said. "No matter what the world is saying, I have to remember that I am who I am and stay true to that. That's what Naruto did, and that's what I'm going to do."

If Williamson fulfills expectations while doing just that, there may be a lot more Naruto fans in New Orleans in the future.

Willie Cauley-Stein is going to get an opportunity to play for the Houston Rockets next season.

Per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, the veteran center has agreed to a one-year deal with the Rockets and will compete for a roster spot during training camp.

Cauley-Stein split last season between the Dallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers. He was waived by the Mavs in January after they signed Marquese Chriss.

The Sixers signed Cauley-Stein to a 10-day contract on Feb. 24. The 28-year-old appeared in two games before being waived on March 3.

In 20 games between the two teams, Cauley-Stein averaged 1.7 points and 2.0 rebounds.

Prior to entering the NBA, Cauley-Stein had a successful three-year stint at the University of Kentucky. He was named to the All-SEC team and won SEC Defensive Player of the Year as a junior during the 2014-15 season.

The Wildcats reached the Final Four in each of Cauley-Stein's final two seasons with the program. They lost to Connecticut in the 2014 national title game and Wisconsin in the 2015 Final Four.

The Sacramento Kings made Cauley-Stein the No. 6 pick in the 2015 draft. He spent four seasons with the club before signing with the Golden State Warriors in July 2019.

The Mavs acquired Cauley-Stein from Golden State in January 2020 for a second-round pick.

The Rockets are still rebuilding, with Jalen Green and Jabari Smith Jr. as the centerpieces. Cauley-Stein will compete with Usman Garuba and Boban Marjanovic to be the primary backup 5 behind Alperen Sengun.

After a couple of years of taking criticism for his seemingly inconsistent commitment to staying in peak shape during the offseason, Luka Doncic is apparently motivated to prove his doubters wrong.

Doncic's svelte frame is already making waves across social media, and his personal kinesiologist, Anze Macek, said the slights have been a factor in keeping the Dallas Mavericks star working this offseason.

"Luka is a global star. In plain sight. People follow him every step of the way, as far as possible. Therefore, evil tongues also appear very quickly. Maybe they are trying to get to him by commenting on each photo. But that's really not a good way," Macek told SportKlub Slovenija. "He always has an answer. This only further motivates him and drives him forward."

Doncic has been working with fellow Slovenian and Chicago Bulls guard Goran Dragic throughout the offseason as they prepare to represent their country in the 2022 EuroBasket tournament.

"He remains active," Macek said. "I am in contact with him almost on a daily basis. He keeps his shape. He will improve everything during the national team practices where he will prepare with maximum effort."

Doncic admitted to taking too much time off last offseason, which led to him arriving at Mavericks camp out of shape and playing his way into form as the season went along. He reached the apex of his form in the postseason, spearheading the Mavs' surprising run to the Western Conference Finals while averaging 31.7 points per game.

If Doncic can be in playoff-caliber shape at the beginning of the regular season, we could be looking at the 2022-23 NBA MVP.

The Houston Rockets are reportedly in no hurry to trade veteran guard Eric Gordon despite significant interest on the trade market.

According to Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype, the Rockets view Gordon as an asset on the court and a leader, and thus, they have "no urgency" to move him.

Scotto added that Gordon's $19.5 million salary could be valuable in facilitating a big trade at the deadline next season, which may be the ideal time to trade him since contenders would undoubtedly love to add a player of his ilk.

The 33-year-old Gordon has spent the past six seasons in Houston after beginning his career with the Los Angeles Clippers and also enjoying a stint with the New Orleans Pelicans.

While Gordon's counting statistics were down last season, he had one of the most efficient seasons of his career from a shooting perspective.

Gordon averaged 13.4 points per game in 57 contests, which was down from the 17.8 points he averaged in 27 games the previous season, plus he put up 2.7 assists, 2.2 made three-pointers and 2.0 rebounds.

He also shot 47.5 percent from the floor, marking the best field-goal percentage of his career. Meanwhile, his 41.2 percent shooting percentage from beyond the arc was the second-best of his career behind only the 44.8 percent he shot in 2014-15.

Gordon showed last season that he is capable of producing both as a starter and a bench player, which is no surprise given that he was the NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 2016-17, his first season with the Rockets.

In 2022-23, Gordon figures to be one of the few true veterans on a young team that is in the thick of a rebuild.

D.J. Augustin, Daniel Theis, Dennis Schroder and Danuel House are some of the other vets who were on the team last season, but all of them are gone. The Rockets also parted ways with veteran point guard John Wall, who didn't appear in any games last season.

Gordon's experience makes him a hugely valuable player in terms of helping develop younger players like Jalen Green and Jabari Smith Jr., so it is understandable why the Rockets are seemingly content to enter the season with him on the roster.

Former NBA shooting guard Vernon Maxwell said that he planned to chase down Basketball Hall of Fame center and ex-Houston Rockets teammate Hakeem Olajuwon and "stab the s--t out of him" if police didn't break up a fight between the two during halftime of a road game against the Seattle SuperSonics.

Maxwell made the remarks on the No Chill With Gilbert Arenas podcast (h/t TMZ Sports). The confrontation reportedly occurred after a tough first half in which the Rockets performed poorly and Maxwell didn't do much offensively.

Maxwell expressed displeasure to his teammates that he wasn't getting the ball enough, and he also said that he was spitting on the floor during the walk back to the locker room.

Olajuwon allegedly caught wind of the remarks, noted Maxwell's behavior and didn't take kindly to any of it, to the point where the big man eventually slapped Maxwell in the face in the locker room.

Maxwell then said he threw a chair at Olajuwon and broke a lot of glass that shattered all over the locker room. He then picked up a big piece of the glass and said he intended to stab Olajuwon before police intervened.

"I said, 'God damn, this motherf--ker slapped the s--t out of me,'" Maxwell recalled. "That motherfu--er hit me so hard, man, [he] knocked me out the chair.

"I jumped up, grabbed my chair, and throwed it at [that] motherf--ker, bust the glass in the locker room. Everybody running out. Police come in with the guns drawn, like 'what the hell goin' on in here?'"

"Damn, they got the guns on me at a professional halftime. At a professional game," he said.

The fight ended, and Maxwell said he and Olajuwon eventually constructed a far more cordial relationship as time went on. Maxwell said that Olajuwon's conversion to Islam led to him becoming a better teammate.

"After that, [Hakeem] became Muslim. He was so quiet. So humble. So, [he] wanted me to become Muslim. I couldn't do it. But, he was a great teammate after that."

Maxwell has told the story in the past, most notably on The Right Time with Bomani Jones podcast (h/t Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle) in Jan. 2021.

One year later, the ex-Florida star addressed it on Twitter:

I don’t remember trying to stab anyone but if I did it was out of love. https://t.co/IvGN5LqyQS

— Vernon Maxwell (@VernonMaxwell11) January 2, 2022

Olajuwon and Maxwell played together on the Rockets from 1990-95. They won back-to-back NBA titles for the Rockets in 1994 and 1995. Olajuwon and Maxwell were notably first and second on the team in scoring during the 1994 NBA Finals, when they led the Rockets to a seven-game series win over the New York Knicks.

This just in: Mark Cuban thinks Luka Doncic is very good at basketball.

The Dallas Mavericks governor appeared on the Full Send podcast recently and called Doncic one of the two best players in the NBA.

"Top one or two. He's a beast. He's so good and he's adding stuff to his game this summer. I mean he's gonna come back even better," Cuban said (via Basket News).

Cuban did not say which player he'd put in the conversation with Doncic, likely wanting to avoid a fine from the league office for tampering.

Doncic has been an All-Star and first-team All-NBA selection each of the last three years, putting together a Hall of Fame-caliber resume at the age of 23. He's finished no worse than sixth in MVP voting each of the last three seasons.

The 6'7" guard is coming off the apex of his NBA career, leading a less-than-stellar Mavericks team to the Western Conference Finals before losing to the Golden State Warriors.

There's little question Doncic is one of the building blocks to the NBA's next generation. Once Cuban gets a more championship-caliber team around Doncic, it's likely the Mavs governor's star player will get recognized in the way he wants.

Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans made headlines this offseason when they agreed to a five-year contract extension, but it reportedly comes with a notable clause.

According to Christian Clark of NOLA.com, the extension that is worth $193 million over five years and could increase to as much as $231 million with incentives has a weight clause. The Duke product will have periodic weigh-ins, and his combined weight and body fat percentage must be below 295.

If it isn't, the money can be reduced.

Williamson is listed at 284 pounds by the Pelicans.

Clark noted the 22-year-old "has struggled to stay in shape" for much of his NBA career, with "poor conditioning" playing a role in the decision to sit him out for most of summer league after New Orleans selected him with the No. 1 pick of the 2019 draft.

Health concerns also haven't helped, as he played 24 games as a rookie because of a knee injury and missed the entire 2021-22 season because of a foot injury.

Yet Williamson is working with Jasper Bibbs, who is a personal trainer, and Christian Green, who is a private chef, ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.

Green said:

"Definitely getting him in tiptop shape. My boy says he wants the league MVP this year. I see it. I believe it. I believe Zion is going to be the face of the NBA once LeBron James retires. I believe it. I see it. Just getting him in great health. He's in great health now. But once the season starts, he's going to be in even better health."

It might not be much of a stretch to suggest Williamson can win a league MVP. He averaged 27.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per night while shooting 61.1 percent from the field in 61 games during his second season in the league.

He will also be surrounded by plenty of talent in New Orleans this season, with Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum as the headliners and a solid group of secondary playmakers in Jonas Valanciunas, Herbert Jones, Jose Alvarado and more.

Anything less than a deep playoff run would be considered a disappointment after the Pelicans emerged from the play-in tournament and challenged the top-seeded Phoenix Suns last season without Williamson.

If he is back, healthy and in shape, the team's ceiling is far higher.

The Houston Rockets and guard Kevin Porter Jr. reportedly have "mutual interest" in agreeing to a contract extension before the start of the 2022-23 NBA season.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported the two sides could strike a deal before the Oct. 17 deadline for rookie extensions. Porter is heading into the final year of his rookie contract after being taken with the No. 30 overall pick in 2019.

Negotiations for a contract extension will be interesting, in large part because Porter is a decidedly non-max player. Rookie max extensions tend to be generally straightforward. There's only a certain amount the team can offer, and negotiations often come down to whether a player gets an option in the final year of the deal.

Non-max players are trickier because, in nearly all cases, the player sees his value as much higher than the team. Porter is coming off a season where he averaged 15.6 points, 6.2 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game while shooting 37.5 percent from three-point range. He's a solid 22-year-old player with upside, but he's also shown significant decision-making flaws—both on and off the floor.

On the floor, Porter tends to be a combination of trigger-happy with his shot and turnover-prone. His advanced stats are almost unilaterally concerning, particularly on the defensive end, where he's been a sieve. When Porter is at his best, his potential to develop into a quality NBA point guard is obvious; his on-court maturity has just been lacking to this point.

The Cleveland Cavaliers traded Porter after a locker room outburst saw him throw food in the locker room. That incident was predated by Porter being arrested on gun charges after he was involved in a November 2020 car crash. Those charges were later dropped.

The Rockets suspended Porter and Christian Wood last season for their actions in a January loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Porter reportedly left the arena at halftime after a heated confrontation with assistant coach John Lucas.

Houston traded Wood to the Dallas Mavericks this offseason but seemingly remains committed to Porter. That said, Porter's history of questionable behavior behind the scenes likely limits what he can demand in contract talks.