In today’s NBA news, Kevin Durant will make his debut for the Suns and the Raptors and Bulls are putting the finishing touches on their roster for the play-in.
NBA news: Kevin Durant will make his debut for the Suns tonight
After getting traded to the Suns at the deadline, Kevin Durant will finally make his debut tonight against the Hornets. The world will finally get to see Durant in a Phoenix Suns jersey, the team announced in a very hype video that was posted on Twitter. Durant will be playing on a minute restriction. It is unclear what the restriction will be but one could assume that he will not be playing 28+ minutes in his first game back.
The Suns will have a difficult road to getting to a top-two seed in the west but with Durant, they have a really good shot to have homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
NBA news: Bulls waive Dragic before the playoff eligibility date
After having multiple DNPs, Goran Dragic has been waived by the Bulls (according to Shams Charania). According to Marc Stein, Dragic is still playoff eligible but it remains to be seen where he ends up. The Heat would make a lot of sense for a reunion.
The Suns would be another team that could make sense. The choice between the two teams depends on whether Dragic wants a chance to get his first title or more minutes with his career winding down. While the veteran will most likely have a job in the NBA next season, he certainly is on his way out of the league due to age. Dragic is 36 years old and showing signs of age.
NBA news: The Raptors add another player for a run in the play-in tournament
According to Shams, the Raptors are adding Will Barton after waiving Juancho Hernangomez. Toronto didn’t choose to trade their veterans at the deadline and decided to add Jakob Poeltl instead. While Barton was getting DNPs in Washington, he can still play quality minutes at the back of the rotation.
This move doesn’t add to the Toronto ceiling but does add depth to their rotation and make them better against Miami, Atlanta, Brooklyn/Chicago, and Washington (obviously not all of those teams will be in the tournament but those are the range of teams that Toronto could be facing) in a play-in tournament.
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