NBA Notes: Knicks, Jalen Brunson, USA Basketball, Torrey Craig, Cavs

Knicks

Jalen Brunson is already inching closer to a return.

The Knicks’ star guard, who was diagnosed with a Grade 1 ankle sprain last week, was out in Miami on Monday getting shots up at Kaseya Center, per Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News.

Now, there’s at least a chance he’s back as soon as Wednesday. Brunson is listed as questionable for the matchup with the Mavericks, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post.

He has missed the last two games, a split-home-and-home with the Heat.

Meanwhile, Mitchell Robinson may be nearing a bump in minutes. He played fewer than 20 on Monday and hasn’t topped that mark yet, but coach Mike Brown said his number is going up.

“It’s gone up three times,” Brown told reporters, via Bondy. “It’s all part of the load-management thing. Not necessarily a restriction. Just continuing the process. So it’s going up. He could’ve played 27 minutes.”

USA Basketball

USA Basketball announced a 12-man group for a pair of upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Nicaragua.

It’s a typical qualifying roster loaded with G League and free-agent vets:

Kyle Guy, Brandon Knight, Jaden Shackelford, Javonte Smart, Ryan Woolridge, Pedro Bradshaw, Nate Hinton, MarJon Beauchamp, Torrey Craig, Kessler Edwards, Garrison Brooks and Jeremiah Tilmon.

Former Rockets coach Stephen Silas will run the show. Seven of the 12 players have NBA experience, including Craig (458 career games) and Knight (451). Edwards and Beauchamp also logged NBA minutes last season across multiple teams.

Games will be held November 28 in Managua and December 1 in College Park, Georgia.

These are the first of six qualifying windows for the 2027 FIBA World Cup. The final roster for the event itself will look drastically different, but these games give fringe players a real opportunity to represent Team USA and help secure qualification.

Cavaliers

In case you missed it, the Cavaliers were fined $100,000 for violating the NBA’s player participation policy.

The league announced the penalty Tuesday after determining that Cleveland improperly rested both Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley during the November 12 game in Miami.

Both players fit the league’s definition of a “star” — any player who made an All-Star or All-NBA team in the past three seasons — which automatically triggers an investigation if more than one sits for rest in the same game.

Cleveland likely could’ve avoided the fine by staggering the rest days across the back-to-back in Miami and then at home against Toronto.

Instead, they got hit with the standard first-offense penalty. A second violation would bump the fine to $250K.

The Cavs play host to Kevin Durant and the rising Rockets on Wednesday.