Chris Mannix’s Notes: Giannis Antetokounmpo on the Clock, Portland’s Early Hotel Checkout

Plus, Kon Knueppel’s Rookie of the Year stock watch and examining Doug Christie’s return as Kings coach.

The Bucks’ season is over so now all eyes move toward forward Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Greetings from Los Angeles, where I’m headed to the Intuit Dome on Wednesday for Warriors-Clippers, the marquee event on the NBA’s play-in calendar. The season-ending, mini tournament, among the greatest achievements in Adam Silver’s time as NBA commissioner, got off to a fantastic start on Tuesday, with Charlotte outdueling Miami in overtime and Portland winning a thriller against Phoenix. Silver has a lot on his agenda this offseason but when it comes to the play-in, the NBA got it right. 

But first, a few free throws …   

Giannis Antetokounmpo on the clock

With the Bucks’ season (mercifully) coming to an end on Sunday and Doc Rivers gone, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future is agenda item No. 1 in Milwaukee’s offseason. And while the Bucks refuse to close the door on retaining Antetokounmpo—who continues to send mixed messages in interviews—the expectation among rival officials that I have talked to is after what is expected to be a robust bidding war, the team will move Antetokounmpo to the highest bidder. 

And really—they should. Antetokounmpo has had a celebrated career in Milwaukee. There will be a statue of him someday in front of Fiserv Forum. But the clock has run out. Even if the Bucks were able to land an impact player with the three picks they can move on draft night, will it make a difference? Does Zach LaVine bump Milwaukee up the contender list? Does Dejounte Murray? Does anyone? 

Milwaukee has an opportunity here. Antetokounmpo, despite his recent history, is still a coveted player. Golden State, Minnesota and Miami all bid for Antetokounmpo before the trade deadline. New York, Houston and the L.A. Lakers could join them this summer. The Bucks have an opportunity to seize a haul of picks and young players that will form the foundation of its next iteration. Painful? Sure. Necessary? Absolutely. 

Kon Knueppel’s Rookie of the Year stock watch

Technically, NBA awards voters aren’t supposed to consider play-in games on end-of-the-year ballots. But because media members are still waiting on them—the result, presumably, of independent arbitration to settle eligibility grievances from Luka Dončić and Cade Cunningham—Kon Knueppel’s six-point stinker in Charlotte’s 127–126 overtime win over Miami will be fresh on the minds of voters when they cast Rookie of the Year ballots. Knueppel shot 2 of 12 against the Heat and didn’t play a minute of the overtime period. 

Will it matter? I locked in my vote on Sunday (no spoilers!) so it won’t with me. But you have to wonder if in a coin flip kind of race between Knueppel and Cooper Flagg if a handful of minds are changed. Either way, expect the NBA to address this issue before next season. 

Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel had a clunker in the NBA play-in tournament, but it should not be considered for his Rookie of the Year candidacy. | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Checkout time for Portland

On Tuesday afternoon, a strange scene played out at the Trail Blazers’ Phoenix-area hotel. Onlookers noted people in Blazers gear hanging out in the lobby. According to four sources with knowledge of the situation, a number of staffers were asked to check out of their rooms at noon, hours before the first bus left for the arena. The reason, multiple sources say, was for the team to avoid the cost of a late checkout. 

Strange, to say the least. Last month, the Trail Blazers were officially purchased by Tom Dundon, the Texas billionaire who also owns the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes. Dundon has a history of being cost conscious. Among his early moves in Carolina was to eliminate the team’s radio broadcast, choosing instead to simulcast the local television broadcast. He also has a history of being successful: Carolina has advanced to the conference finals in two of the last three seasons and finished this one with the second-best record in the NHL. 

Dundon has expressed sticker shock at some of the costs associated with running an NBA team, sources familiar with the Blazers owner tell Sports Illustrated. In a recent interview with The Oregonian, Dundon denied lowballing interim coach Tiago Splitter on a contract extension, but people who have spoken to him about Portland’s coaching job say he isn’t inclined to pay top dollar for a new one. 

The Blazers’ win on Tuesday pushes that conversation out a couple of weeks, but the team is ascending—Deni Avdija, who scored 41 points in Portland’s playoff-clinching win over the Suns on Tuesday, is a true franchise player, and Damian Lillard is set to return next season—and expectations for everyone will be sky high. Will Dundon open up his wallet for coaches and staff? Or will he try to reinvent the Blazers in the Hurricanes’ image? 

Kings head coach Doug Christie will return for another season. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Doug Christie coming … back?

Doug Christie will return to the Kings bench next season, multiple outlets reported this week. On the surface it seemed a strange decision: Sacramento finished tied with Utah for the fourth-worst record (22–60) and with Brooklyn for the second-worst point differential (-10). Christie punctuated the season by (allegedly) intentionally fouling Seth Curry late in a Kings loss to Golden State, a screwup significant enough it sparked a league investigation into intentional tampering (Sacramento was ultimately cleared). It was the kind of season that frankly would have any coach cleaning out his office Monday morning. 

So what gives? ESPN reported that Kings brass felt Christie never got a fair shake, with injuries to Domantas Sabonis, LaVine, et al., and that the team liked what Christie did with some of the young talent. Fine. There could be a simpler explanation. Sacramento knows it is going to be bad again next season, so it is letting Christie take the bullet. It’s similar to what Washington did with Brian Keefe, who absorbed back-to-back 64-plus loss seasons while the Wizards reset the roster. 

It’s not an absurd theory. I mean, does anyone really want the Kings job? The franchise has one playoff appearance in the last two decades. It’s been dysfunctional for most of it. They are projected to have $225 million in payroll next season, $24 million over the luxury tax and $3 million over the second apron. The best path forward is to hit on a high pick, let the onerous contracts come off the books a year from now, get another high pick and enter the coaching market with some direction. 

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