NBA Notes: Jazz, Kevin Love, Spurs, Stephon Castle, Grizzlies

Jazz

Veteran power forward Kevin Love may have found a spot in yet another rotation, as unexpected as it may be. And that spot comes with the Jazz.

Love, 37, was presumed to be a buyout candidate when traded from the Heat to the Jazz during the offseason. Instead, he’s brought experience to an otherwise young group — and no longer solely in practice.

Following the brutal news that starting center Walker Kessler will miss the rest of the season, Love might very well continue to get some minutes. In the past two games, he’s averaged 15.5 (and 4.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists). Hardly numbers that suggest the Jazz will lean heavily on Love, but at least now there is an available role.

Along with Love, the Jazz are likely to use primarily Jusuf Nurkic and Kyle Filipowski to replace Kessler by committee.

Does this mean Love is in Utah to stay for the season? Perhaps not. But if you’re Love, you may want to stick around. He’ll play some here. He won’t play almost anywhere else.

Spurs

Stephon Castle wants another line on the résumé.

Rookie of the Year was nice. Next target is All-Defense. Andscape’s Marc J. Spears wrote that Spurs coach Mitch Johnson challenged Castle to impact winning on both ends — and Castle has already drawn the toughest perimeter defensive assignments early in Year Two.

“He is going to guard a ton of different profiles,” Johnson said. “He has an opportunity to affect the game as much as anybody.”

Grizzlies

The Rockets lost Fred VanVleet to an ACL tear but don’t expect them to chase Ja Morant.

A team source told Sam Amick of The Athletic that the Rockets are unlikely to pursue the Grizzlies’ star. The in-season trade deadline is still three months away and many players won’t be trade-eligible until December 15, so even if the tension rises, the timeline doesn’t exactly match up.

The Timberwolves and Kings are believed to be among the teams monitoring the situation in Memphis.