The Spurs’ arena plan has run into a fresh complication, and it now looks like San Antonio voters may get another say.
City council had already approved $489MM in municipal bond funding for the new arena, but the city is staring at a projected budget deficit over the next two years. Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones wants residents to reauthorize the city’s share of the arena money this fall, and the clock is ticking: the deadline to get the question onto the November ballot is Monday, according to The Athletic’s Jared Weiss.
The San Antonio City Council is set to meet Monday morning and decide whether to put the funding issue on the ballot or stick with its earlier approval of municipal bond funding. Even if council does not add it to the ballot, the term sheet for the project says San Antonio residents still have to vote again on whether to issue city bonds for the first phase of construction.
Elsewhere in the Southwest Division, the Rockets are making a noticeable change to their home schedule. Houston night games will now start at 7:30 p.m. local time instead of 7 p.m. after fan feedback pushed the team to adjust, Varun Shankar of the Houston Chronicle reports. Last season, 28 of the Rockets’ 41 home games tipped at 7 p.m., and plenty of fans had trouble getting to their seats on time because of traffic.
Over in Memphis, ESPN’s Zach Kram handed the Grizzlies a B grade for their offseason work. He noted the frontcourt makeover, but said the bigger move was finally parting ways with Ja Morant. The return was modest - Jerami Grant and Kris Murray, with no draft picks included - but Kram pointed out that Morant’s value has dropped sharply and that the Grizzlies can now build around lottery pick Cameron Boozer, Cedric Coward and Zach Edey.
And in New Orleans, Pelicans head coach Jamahl Mosley is already trying to connect with fans away from the court while also working to lift the product on it, according to Rod Walker of NOLA.com. Mosley was hired in May, shortly after the Magic fired him following their opening-round Eastern Conference playoff loss to Detroit.
In Other News...
The Rockets Draft Miss Fans Still Havent Forgotten
When the Rockets took Royce White with the 16th pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, the hope was that they were landing a versatile forward who could grow into a long-term piece. Instead, the selection became one of the most remembered misses of that era, especially because the board also held players who would go on to become far more established NBA contributors. Whites talent was never the issue so much as the fit, and Houston was left to sort through a rookie season that quickly turned difficult.
Whites time in Houston never settled into anything close to normal, with mental health concerns, disputes over how to manage his situation and long stretches away from the floor shaping his brief stint with the team. His NBA career did not last long after that, though he did carve out a different path in Canada, where he found success with MVP honors and championships. Even now, the pick lingers as one of those draft-night decisions Rockets fans still remember every time the conversation turns back to 2012. [Read more 🡒]
James Harden Buzz Puts Rockets' Playoff Ceiling Back In Focus
The Cavaliers decision to move Dennis Schroder to Charlotte did more than clear a roster spot, it opened up cap flexibility that could ripple across the trade market and keep a few bigger names in play. Cleveland has already been tied to Denver forward Peyton Watson in sign-and-trade chatter, and that kind of maneuvering has helped pull another familiar storyline back into view for Houston: whether James Harden could somehow end up back with the Rockets.
For Houston, the idea is less about nostalgia than ceiling, because a Harden return would instantly change the conversation around where this team stands in the West. It would also come with the usual complications of any major roster swing, and nothing is official yet, but the mere buzz is enough to remind Rockets fans that the next move could say as much about ambition as it does about fit. [Read more 🡒]