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Utah Jazz point guard Mike Conley thought he was heading to the Los Angeles Clippers as part of Utah's offseason overhaul that featured the departures of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert.

Conley told Tony Jones of The Athletic on Monday he received a message from a "person he trusted" suggesting a move to the Clippers, a team that has interested him in recent years, could be on the horizon. Instead, the Clips opted to sign free agent John Wall.

"We tried to handle it as well as it could be handled," Conley told Jones about himself and his wife, Mary. "It was tough because there weren't really many answers to the questions that we had. We didn't know who was staying or going. We had no clue what to expect. It felt like every day I was being traded somewhere else."

The 2021 All-Star ultimately stayed in Utah, and he's played a key role in the team's red-hot 9-3 start to the 2022-23 season.

After the offseason whirlwind of moves, it seemed like the Jazz might struggle to reach .500, let alone sit atop the Western Conference standings as they do now. It's still a small sample size, but they're on track to far exceed expectations.

Conley has averaged 12.5 points, 7.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals through 11 appearances. He's also knocking down 2.4 threes per game at a 42.6 percent clip.

"This was tough at first because I'm 35 and I'm so used to having championship aspirations," Conley told Jones. "I came to the Jazz to play for championships. So I was wondering what would end up happening. But once we got a new coach (Will Hardy) in here and he started laying things out, I knew that I wanted to be here. We are building and developing."

The Ohio State product added he's "loved every second" of playing for the rebuilt Jazz.

Depending on how Utah plays over the next few months, it's still possible Conley ends up on the trade block ahead of the deadline. His three-year, $68 million contract includes a partially guaranteed salary for next season, per Spotrac.

For now, the three-time winner of the NBA Sportsmanship Award said he's focused on the present.

"Honestly, these young guys are keeping me in the moment," Conley told Jones. "Everyone is constantly asking questions and constantly wanting to watch film. I kind of feel like a coach now. I love playing this game and I'm enjoying it."

The Jazz are back on the floor Wednesday night when they visit State Farm Arena to take on the 7-3 Atlanta Hawks.

Prior to Steve Nash agreeing to step down as head coach and part ways with the Brooklyn Nets on Nov. 1, Kyrie Irving and other Nets players reportedly defied Nash on the court.

According to Brian Lewis of the New York Post, an anonymous veteran advance scout said he witnessed Irving ignore play calls by Nash on 10 different occasions during an Oct. 29 loss to the Indiana Pacers.

The scout added, "I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Nash would call something, and he'd run the opposite. I've never seen anything like that."

Regarding a lack of respect for Nash as coach, the issue reportedly wasn't limited to Irving, as a source close to the team said the Nets players "did whatever they wanted" regardless of the game plans Nash came up with.

Another anonymous scout called the Nets "the most dysfunctional team I’ve seen [in years]."

Nash was aware of the issue, as Nets general manager Sean Marks said Nash told him the team was "not responding to me," per ESPN Radio's Alan Hahn.

The Nets hired Nash, who was a two-time NBA MVP as a player, in 2020 in hopes that he would be able to relate well to Irving and Kevin Durant. Brooklyn also traded for James Harden early in the 2020-21 season.

Brooklyn experienced a second-round playoff exit that year, however, and amid controversy last season, including Irving missing significant time because of not being vaccinated against COVID-19, the Nets fell well short of their goals again.

Harden was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for a package headlined by Ben Simmons, and the Nets were swept out of the first round of the playoffs by the Boston Celtics.

There was a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the team prior to the 2022-23 season, as Durant had requested a trade, there were trade rumors regarding Irving and it was unclear if Simmons would be healthy after missing the entire 2021-22 campaign.

The Nets moved forward with all of those pieces, but they didn't click under Nash, and he left following a 2-5 start.

Brooklyn has looked better under interim head coach Jacque Vaughn, posting a 2-2 record, with Irving missing three of those games because of a suspension for sharing the link of a movie that includes antisemitic views on his social media.

The dysfunction has seemingly continued even after Nash's departure, but there is still belief that the Nets could accomplish something big thanks to the top-flight talent they possess.

Based on how rocky things have been and the fact that Irving is in the midst of the final year of his contract, however, this season likely represents the final opportunity for the core of Durant, Irving and Simmons to go on a deep run.

The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly waiting for a "specific player" to become available in order to trade point guard Russell Westbrook and their first-round draft picks in 2027 and 2029.

Howard Beck of Sports Illustrated reported Tuesday on The Crossover NBA Show (via Peter Dewey of Lakers Daily) that L.A. doesn't plan to circle back to previous discussions involving the Brooklyn Nets' Kyrie Irving or the Indiana Pacers' Myles Turner and Buddy Hield.

"And in those discussions, when I brought up the Lakers, the pushback I was getting was they're waiting for a specific player," Beck said. "That they're not doing the Pacer deal, that they won't do the Kyrie deal now that we for sure thought they would do a couple months ago, is an indication that the Lakers are waiting for a bigger piece to come loose that they think they can trade Westbrook and the two future firsts for."

Los Angeles was widely expected to make a blockbuster trade over the summer after failing to make the playoffs with a 33-49 record last season, but that never materialized.

Pressure on the front office to shake things up has further amplified during the team's 2-8 start to the current campaign.

During an interview with ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Turner caused a stir last week when he urged the Lakers to seriously consider trading for him.

"If I'm the Lakers, I take a very hard look at this with the position that you're in," Turner said. "I know what I can provide for a team—my leadership, my shot-blocking, my three-point ability and just my ability to make plays out there on the floor. And I take a very long look at it. But as far as pulling the trigger, I get paid to shoot. I'm not paid to make these calls, so I couldn't answer that."

While Turner and Hield wouldn't solve every problem facing the Lakers, they would bring some much-needed outside shooting to the roster, which makes it somewhat of a surprise L.A. isn't even at least considering more talks with Indiana.

It's less surprising the Irving talks have faded away while he serves an indefinite suspension of at least five games from the Nets for his promotion of an antisemitic film on social media.

Brian Lewis of the New York Post reported Tuesday that scouts also expressed concern about Irving's on-court actions prior to the firing of Brooklyn head coach Steve Nash, as he failed to run plays that were called.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing," an unnamed scout said. "Nash would call something, and he'd run the opposite. I've never seen anything like that."

What player the Lakers are waiting to become available is unknown, but the good news for the front office is that Westbrook has started to bolster his trade value since moving to the bench.

The 33-year-old UCLA product, who endured a mostly forgettable first season in L.A., has averaged 19.3 points, 6.8 assists and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 51.3 percent from the field as a reserve for the past six games.

That push toward a return to form by the nine-time All-Star should allow the Lakers to get a little more value in return if he's ultimately moved.

For now, it doesn't sound like general manager Rob Pelinka and Co. are rushing to get a deal done, though.

The Los Angeles Lakers don't exactly have a slew of first-round draft picks at their disposal, which may limit their ability to make a major trade in an effort to turn their season around after a 2-8 start.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium explained the Purple and Gold only have two more of their own first-round picks for the rest of the decade (2027 and 2029) and will be hesitant to trade them in a deal to improve a team that may be a lost cause anyway.

"They're probably looking at marginal changes around the edges at best," Charania reported. "… The organization seems to be moving in a direction where they're going to resist moving first-round picks if the season continues to go down this path."

It seemed almost inevitable that the Lakers would trade Russell Westbrook this offseason, but a deal never materialized. There were reports the team had no interest in attaching one of those picks to Westbrook in a trade, which surely impacted interest.

Now Los Angeles has reached a point where the veteran point guard is actually playing well in his sixth-man role off the bench even though the team is losing.

But things aren't clicking overall on the court, and the result is separate losing streaks of five and three games on the way to an ugly first 10 contests. A championship run seems like the longest of long shots even with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and it may take more than peripheral moves to even reach the playoffs.

That Los Angeles' front office wouldn't be particularly interested in mortgaging even more of its future by trading those picks should come as no surprise.

After all, James turns 38 years old in December, Westbrook is under contract through just this season and Davis has dealt with durability concerns a number of times even ahead of his 30th birthday in March.

The franchise will have to start thinking about building a new core in the future, and moving one or both of those first-round picks in a desperate trade to try to salvage what may be a lost cause in 2022-23 would undercut those efforts.

That means Los Angeles fans may be stuck watching the playoffs without their team for the second straight season.

It's unlikely to provide much solace, but the NBA acknowledged Sacramento Kings players and fans have a right to be upset about the lack of a foul call on Klay Thompson as time expired in Monday's 116-113 loss to the Golden State Warriors.

The league's Last Two Minute Report ruled Thompson committed a foul on Kings guard Kevin Huerter's game-tying three-point attempt. Officials swallowed their whistles on the floor, much to the chagrin of Kings players, who expressed their displeasure after the game:

Kevin Huerter & De'Aaron Fox's response to the refs not calling a foul on Klay Thompson trying to block Huerter's game-tying Three attempt. pic.twitter.com/QvRABV6o2T

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) November 8, 2022

The Last Two Minute Report also said officials missed a traveling call on Stephen Curry with 16.6 seconds remaining. Had the referees made the call, the Kings would have gotten possession down only one point and had a chance for a game-winning shot.

This is the second time in a week that officiating has arguably cost the Kings a close game. The league said officials missed a travel by Tyler Herro before the Miami Heat guard hit a game-winning three in last Wednesday's 110-107 win over Sacramento.

"I feel bad for our guys," Kings coach Mike Brown told reporters. "It's tough being a Sacramento King, I think, because Kevin got fouled. … I just want, at the end of the game, somebody to step up and make the right call. A guy gets hit on the arm shooting a three, that's a foul. A guy takes six steps, or three, four steps, that's a travel.

"We just want an opportunity to win in overtime, but just like in the Miami game, I asked the ref if it was a foul, and he said no. It was clearly a foul."

Monday's loss dropped Sacramento to 3-6 on the season. The Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers are the only two Western Conference teams with worse records.

Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving had a "productive and understanding visit" with NBA commissioner Adam Silver on Tuesday, according to Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic.

Irving was suspended by his team for a minimum of five games after sharing an antisemitic film on social media and failing to disavow antisemitism.

Silver, who is Jewish, said in a statement last week that he planned to meet with Irving in person to discuss the situation.

"Kyrie Irving made a reckless decision to post a link to a film containing deeply offensive antisemitic material," Silver said.

Irving later took responsibility for his actions in a post on Instagram, acknowledging that the film he shared featured antisemitic statements and narratives.

"To All Jewish families and Communities that are hurt and affected from my post, I am deeply sorry to have caused you pain, and I apologize," he wrote.

The apology was one of several tasks for Irving to complete before he could return to the Nets:

Sources: Nets have delivered Kyrie Irving six items he must complete to return to team:

- Apologize/condemn movie
- $500K donation to anti-hate causes
- Sensitivity training
- Antisemitic training
- Meet with ADL, Jewish leaders
- Meet with Joe Tsai to demonstrate understanding

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 6, 2022

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown, who is also a vice president for the National Basketball Players Association, said the NBPA takes issue with these imposed requirements and could appeal the suspension on behalf of Irving, per Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.

The meeting with Silver could still be the first step toward making his way back to the court.

Brooklyn is 2-1 without the seven-time All-Star this season, but the squad still needs help after its 4-7 start to the season. Irving is averaging 26.9 points, 5.1 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game in eight appearances in 2022-23.

Isiah Thomas is not ready to leave his beef with Michael Jordan in the 1990s.

The Detroit Pistons legend shared comments he made while speaking to the Greek NBA rights holder Cosmote TV during the Abu Dhabi NBA games (h/t Eurohoops) in early October in which he was not pleased with how his relationship with His Airness was portrayed during The Last Dance documentary:

https://twitter.com/IsiahThomas/status/1590080258417790976

"When I was watching The Last Dance, I'm sitting there and I'm watching it with my family and I'm thinking everything is good," Thomas said. "And then this guy comes on television and he says that he hates me and then he calls me an assh--e. And then I proceed to watch a whole documentary about him being an assh--e. I'm like wait a minute, time out. Until I get a public apology, this beef is gonna go on for a long long time, 'cause I'm from the west side of Chicago."

The 10-part documentary largely celebrated Jordan's on-court greatness, but there were times, such as when he chewed out teammates and punched Steve Kerr, when he didn't come across in the best light.

Some of those moments are surely what Thomas was referring to, but the rivalry between the Pistons and the Chicago Bulls was also a central storyline of the documentary.

After all, Jordan's Bulls lost to Thomas' Pistons during the second round of the 1988 playoffs, the 1989 Eastern Conference Finals and the 1990 Eastern Conference Finals. Detroit took a particularly physical approach with No. 23 as it developed its Bad Boys reputation.

During The Last Dance, Jordan credited the Pistons' style when explaining what motivated him to add strength and change his own approach as his career progressed.

The proverbial passing of the torch then came when Chicago swept the Pistons in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals before beating the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals. The Bulls proceeded to win six of the next eight championships as one of the best dynasties in the sport's history.

Many of the Pistons, including Thomas, infamously walked off the court without shaking hands while there was still time on the clock in the final game of that 1991 series, which clearly didn't sit well with Jordan.

He mentioned as much during the documentary and didn't exactly hold back when discussing his dismay with Thomas.

And Thomas seemed to return the favor with his latest comments.

The Capitanes de Ciudad de Mexico made their G League debut on Sunday, and the team reportedly could play a major role in the NBA's plans of future expansion.

According to Andscape's Marc J. Spears, the league confirmed that Mexico City is being eyed as a site for a possible expansion team "if all goes well" with the Captaines, who defeated the Rio Grande Vipers 120-84 on Sunday night in front of 7,391 fans at Arena CDMX.

"Expansion is currently not on the docket, but at some point, if we were to turn to expansion, there’s no doubt that Mexico City would have to be one [of] the cities that would be in consideration along with a host of other very big and relevant cities in North America," NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum said.

Tatum further explained that the prospect of international expansion has been hindered by travel issues and facility issues, but neither of those are prevalent in Mexico City. Per Spears, Tatum and other G League executives also don't have safety concerns over having a team in Mexico City, as the G League "has several safety measures in place, including a police escort to and from games."

The last time the NBA expanded was in 2004 with the Charlotte Bobcats, who later relocated and became the New Orleans Pelicans. While Tatum reiterated that further expansion is not on the horizon, Spears noted that it appears to be an inevitability.

"If and when the NBA does expand, it is expected that Seattle will land a team that can finally replace the SuperSonics, which were relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008," Spears stated. "Silver has acknowledged Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James’ interest in wanting to be a part of an ownership group for a potential expansion team in Las Vegas."

The benefit of also bringing a team to Mexico City would be boosting the NBA's popularity internationally. Not only would most Mexicans support the team, but it would likely generate interest from the rest of Latin America as well.

Mexico City has hosted many NBA games over the years, beginning with a preseason game in 1992 and the first regular-season matchup in 1997.

Former NBA forward Eduardo Najera, whose 619 career games are the most of any Mexican-born player, believes his home country is ready for a professional team and will display that with how they support the Capitanes.

"Mexico has been ready for quite some time," Najera said. "If you look at the metrics and the fans here in Mexico City alone, it’s quite significant. If you do it the right way, an NBA team can galvanize an entire [country]. We’re ready. Certainly, the G League is the first step. It is going to be up to the baby steps. If NBA fans in Mexico support this, it will be great to have the big boys here."

The Phoenix Suns are suddenly very thin on the wing after Cameron Johnson underwent surgery Tuesday to remove part of the meniscus in his right knee, an injury that could keep him out for up to two months, per ESPN's Brian Windhorst.

That doesn't mean Jae Crowder will be returning to the team amid his desire to be traded, however. Per that report, "there is no change to the situation with Crowder, and there are no current plans for him to return to the team, sources said."

The two sides mutually agreed to pursue a trade for Crowder in late September, though the veteran wing pushed back on the narrative that losing his starting job to Johnson was the reason for his discontent:

The Suns’ statement on Jae Crowder not attending training camp in a mutual agreement: pic.twitter.com/IaYCFRheth

— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) September 25, 2022

My @NBAonTNT in-game report on my conversation with Suns forward Jae Crowder, who is away from the team and waiting on a trade: ‘It’s definitely not true of the narrative being pushed about me starting or not.’ pic.twitter.com/QL41N3Njub

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) October 26, 2022

"The business of basketball has taken its course, and changes have come," Crowder said in a statement to TNT's Chris Haynes. "I do not want to give the details just yet, but it's definitely not true of the narrative being pushed about me not starting or not. I can honestly say that."

It's more likely that the dispute comes down to money, with Yahoo Sports' Jake Fischer reporting in October that "with Crowder’s three-year, $29.1 million deal expiring at the conclusion of this 2022-23 campaign, the Suns, sources said, are unwilling to offer an extension of similar value that Crowder is once again commanding."

The standoff had already left the Suns with a gap in their rotation, but the added injury to Johnson now has the Suns turning to their bench for help on the perimeter.

Thus far, the team has managed the situation to the tune of a 7-3 record, but Torrey Craig is now in the starting lineup in place of Johnson, while Damion Lee, Landry Shamet and Josh Okogie should see their roles increase.

While Shamet and Lee were already fixtures in the lineup, Okogie should get the chance to prove he can produce in a limited role at the back of the rotation. It isn't ideal for the Suns, who may now have added incentive to find a new home for Crowder and bring back a serviceable player or two in the process.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards isn't happy with the team's effort after falling to 5-6 on the season.

"We just play soft, man," Edwards told reporters. "Like, every bump, we flying all over the place, including myself. Teams just coming in like, 'We're going to take their heart,' and that's what's going on. We're down 20 every game! We've got to figure it out."

The Timberwolves have lost four of their last five games, with the only win coming at home against the last-place Houston Rockets. The latest loss came Monday against the New York Knicks, falling behind in the first quarter while never really getting competitive the rest of the game.

It's a disappointing stretch for a team with high expectations entering the year, adding Rudy Gobert to a squad that went 46-36 last season.

Talent is clearly not the issue with a team featuring Edwards, Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns and more. It seems the mentality has to change in order for Minnesota to emerge as a legitimate contender.