Mark Stevens Receives One-Year Ban, $500K Fine
The NBA and the Warriors have released an official statement announcing that Warriors’ minority owner Mark Stevens has been banned from attending any NBA games and from participating in and/or attending any Warriors’ team activities for one calendar year. He was also fined $500K.
The punishment is in response to Stevens’ actions in last night’s Game 3 of the NBA Finals, wherein he pushed and directed obscenities toward Raptors’ point guard Kyle Lowry after Lowry dived into the stands to chase a loose ball near where Stevens was sitting.
As we relayed earlier today, it had already been announced that Stevens wouldn’t be allowed back for this year’s finals, but this announcement gives further clarity on how long the investor will be banned from attending NBA games. The one-year ban will include the majority of next year’s postseason.
Central Draft Notes: Pacers, Cavs, Bucks, Pistons
Holding the 18th and 50th overall picks in the 2019 NBA draft, the Pacers should have a wide variety of options available to them in both the first and second rounds, so they’re doing plenty of homework in the weeks leading up to the draft.
On Wednesday, the Pacers held a pre-draft workout that featured Shizz Alston Jr. (Temple), Ky Bowman (Boston College), Tacko Fall (UCF), Mfiondu Kabengele (Florida State), Juwan Morgan (Indiana), and Elijah Thomas (Clemson), according to the team. Fall’s ability to participate in that session was limited after he rolled an ankle, as we noted yesterday.
Today, the Pacers are working out six more prospects, announcing that Luguentz Dort (Arizona State), Kyle Guy (Virginia), Amir Hinton (Shaw), Talen Horton-Tucker (Iowa State), Cody Martin (Nevada), and Josh Reaves (Penn State) are in town.
The Pacers will audition six more prospects on Friday, per the club’s latest press release. Ignas Brazdeikis (Michigan), Jon Elmore (Marshall), Aric Holman (Mississippi State), Luke Maye (UNC), Miye Oni (Yale), and Admiral Schofield (Tennessee) will attend that session.
Here are more updates on pre-draft workouts from around the Central:
- Mfiondu Kabengele (Florida State) was among the prospects to work out for the Cavaliers this week, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Sources tell Fedor that Kabengele, the No. 23 prospect on ESPN’s big board, was “impressive” during his session with Cleveland. He could be an option for the Cavs at No. 26.
- Matur Maker, the younger brother of Thon Maker, has a visit on tap with Thon’s former team, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington, who tweets that Matur will work out for the Bucks.
- Sedrick Barefield (Utah), Kevarrius Hayes (Florida), Nick Mayo (Eastern Kentucky), Matt McQuaid (Michigan State), Milik Yarbrough (Illinois State), Kris Clyburn (UNLV), Tyler Cook (Iowa), Corey Davis Jr. (Houston), Anthony Lawrence Jr. (Miami), Simisola Shittu (Vanderbilt), and Dean Wade (Kansas State) are among the players who have worked out for the Pistons this week, per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com and Rod Beard of The Detroit News (Twitter links). As previously reported, Darius Bazley also auditioned for Detroit this week.
Klay Expected To Play In Game 4; Durant Out
2:37pm: Durant will be sidelined for Game 4, Kerr told reporters today (Twitter link via Mark Medina of The Bay Area News Group). There was optimism that KD would be able to scrimmage today, but that won’t happen, according to Kerr, who added that the Warriors’ medical staff said the star forward is not yet game-ready (Twitter link via Blake Murphy of The Athletic).
Kerr confirmed that Thompson is expected to return for Game 4, and acknowledged that the possibility of Kevon Looney‘s return is now an “open question” (Twitter link via Murphy), as we relayed earlier today.
9:22am: Thompson will play in Game 4, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
8:47am: After falling to the Raptors on Wednesday night, the Warriors are hoping to add reinforcements to their short-handed roster in time for Game 4 on Friday night, writes Nick Friedell of ESPN.com.
As Friedell details – and as Tim Kawakami of The Athletic tweets – the Warriors are expecting Klay Thompson to be able to suit up on Friday after he was ruled out just before game time on Wednesday. Thompson wanted to play in Game 3, but Golden State decided to err on the side of caution with the sharpshooter’s hamstring injury.
“The whole point was to not risk a bigger injury that would keep him out of the rest of the series,” head coach Steve Kerr said, per Friedell. “So that was the decision we made, and I feel very comfortable with it. Never would have forgiven myself if I played him tonight and he had gotten hurt. … Klay has done well the last two days; now he has a couple more days to heal, and hopefully he’ll be out there on Friday.”
Meanwhile, Kevin Durant, who has been sidelined with a calf injury since Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals vs. Houston, is getting closer to a return as well. The Warriors are “cautiously optimistic” that KD will be able to play on Friday, according to Friedell. While Golden State isn’t expected to practice on Thursday, Kerr is hopeful that Durant will participate in some three-on-three scrimmages, Friedell notes.
“If possible, we’ll get him together with some of our young guys, maybe a few of our coaches, and try to get him out on the floor,” Kerr said of Durant. “That would be the next step.”
The Warriors have said throughout Durant’s recovery process that he’ll need to participate in at least one practice before he gets back on the court for a game. While Thursday’s session won’t technically be a full practice, it should give him an opportunity to take some contact, so the team figures to have an update at some point after those scrimmages.
Hornets Notes: Zeller, Kemba, Draft Workouts
Hornets center Cody Zeller had some fun with Kemba Walker‘s impending free agency by jokingly setting up a lemonade stand to raise the necessary $221MM for his teammate’s new super-max contract, as Roderick Boone of The Athletic details in an entertaining story. While Zeller’s fundraising efforts were obviously in jest, he recognizes the importance of Kemba’s upcoming decision, acknowledging that it’s a “pretty serious situation” for the franchise.
“I mean, our careers and a lot of the organization, to be honest with you, depends on what Kemba decides this summer, whether he stays or goes,” Zeller said. “I think it really depends on his choice. But our team and our future can go two very different ways depending on what he decides. So I was kind of trying to make light of a serious situation.
“I think he likes Charlotte,” Zeller said of his All-Star teammate. “I think he’s a good fit here. But the reality of it is we haven’t been able to make deep runs in the playoffs. So hopefully that will still come in the future. But at the end of the day, Kemba has to do what’s best for him. And I’m going to support him, whatever decision he makes.”
Here’s more on the Hornets:
- Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer doesn’t believe the Hornets should give Walker a super-max deal. As good as Walker has been as a Hornet, the team hasn’t won a playoff series during his time in Charlotte, and Fowler doesn’t envision that changing anytime soon if the club has to commit 35% of is cap space to him.
- In his latest mailbag, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer discusses the Hornets’ strategy if Walker returns, the possibility of waiving and stretching Bismack Biyombo‘s contract, and much more.
- The Hornets continue to scout this year’s draft prospects, announcing in a press release that they worked out Ty Jerome (Virginia), Christ Koumadje (Florida State), Jalen Lecque (Brewster Academy), Greg Malinowski (Georgetown), Joshua Obiesie (Germany), and Trayvon Reed (Texas Southern) on Wednesday.
- Another group of six prospects is auditioning for the Hornets today, according to the team. That group is made up of Jordan Caroline (Nevada), Torin Dorn (N.C. State), Robert Franks (Washington State), William McDowell-White (Germany), Travis Munnings (Louisiana-Monroe), and Justin Wright-Foreman (Hofstra).
Warriors Stakeholder Who Shoved Lowry Won’t Attend Rest Of Finals
2:04pm: The NBA has issued its own statement on the issue, announcing that Stevens won’t be permitted to attend NBA games while the situation is reviewed.
“A team representative must be held to the highest possible standard and the conduct of Golden State Warriors investor Mark Stevens last night was beyond unacceptable and has no place in our league,” the league’s statement reads.
The Warriors have also indefinitely suspended Stevens from taking part in any team-related activities, tweets Mark Medina of The Bay Area News Group.
11:34am: The Warriors fan who shoved Kyle Lowry following a play along the sidelines during Wednesday’s night game is a minority stakeholder in the franchise, according to Ina Fried of Axios, who reports that the person in question is venture capitalist Mark Stevens.
Before Stevens’ identity had been reported, Lowry called for the league or team to take action in response to the Game 3 incident, which occurred during the fourth quarter after the Raptors point guard fell out of bounds trying to save a loose ball.
“Hopefully, he never comes back to an NBA game,” Lowry told reporters after the game.
Once Stevens was identified, the Warriors didn’t hesitate to respond, issuing a press release today announcing that his behavior “did not reflect the high standards that we hope to exemplify as an organization.”
“We’re extremely disappointed in his actions and, along with Mr. Stevens, offer our sincere apology to Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors organization for this unfortunate misconduct,” the Warriors said in a statement. “… Mr. Stevens will not be in attendance at any of the remaining games of the 2019 NBA Finals.”
The Warriors added that they’re continuing to review the situation, which suggests Stevens’ absence from the remaining games in this series might not be the end of the matter. It’s unclear whether Stevens’ stake in the team is in any jeopardy as a result of the incident.
Opt-In, Extension On Tap For Dwight Powell
1:00pm: Tim MacMahon of ESPN confirms (via Twitter) that Powell will opt in and sign an extension, adding that the Mavs view the big man as a “core piece” who can be a good fit besides Kristaps Porzingis.
12:18pm: After a May report indicated that Dwight Powell would turn down his player option for 2019/20, the Mavericks‘ big man said this week that he’s not sure “where the information came from.” He stopped short of calling the report false or announcing that he’d opt in, but a source tells Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link) that Powell does, in fact, plan to pick up his player option by June 29.
Exercising his ’19/20 option would put Powell in line for a salary worth $10,259,375 next season, as Basketball Insiders’ data indicates. According to Townsend, the 27-year-old intends to subsequently sign an extension with Dallas that would keep him under team control beyond next season. Team owner Mark Cuban spoke at season’s end about a three-year extension for Powell, though it’s not clear if he meant three new years or three years in total.
As we’ve noted multiple times when discussing Powell’s situation this offseason, there are two paths he could choose if he wants to stay with the Mavs. Opting out and negotiating a brand-new contract is one path — the other would be opting in, then signing a contract extension, as Townsend suggests. The fact that both scenarios are viable may have contributed to the confusion in recent weeks over his option decision.
Assuming Townsend’s source is correct and Powell intends to opt in, the Mavs should enter the free agent period with at least $29MM in cap room available, as we detailed in April. Meanwhile, Powell would be eligible to sign an extension that takes effect in 2020/21 with a starting salary worth up to 120% of his previous salary.
Finals Return Still Possible For Kevon Looney?
The Warriors plan to have Klay Thompson (hamstring) back for Game 4 of the NBA Finals, and are “cautiously optimistic” that Kevin Durant (calf) might be able to play too. That would leave Kevon Looney as the only Golden State rotation player unavailable.
However, even though head coach Steve Kerr said on Tuesday that Looney would miss the rest of the NBA Finals after suffering a costal cartilage fracture, Tim Bontemps of ESPN.com hears from sources that Looney isn’t ready to shut it down for the season.
According to Bontemps, now that Looney has undergone further evaluation on his chest/collarbone injury, there’s a belief that a Finals return may still be possible. More testing will determine what the next steps will be for the veteran center, per Bontemps.
Looney’s injury, specifically known as a “non-displaced first costal cartilage fracture,” isn’t a particularly common one among NBA players, so it’s not clear what his exact recovery timeline should look like. It seems safe to say that he’d be attempting to return well ahead of schedule though.
Given the cautious approach the Warriors have taken with Durant’s and Thompson’s injuries, I don’t imagine they’ll allow Looney to rush back before he’s ready if there’s any risk of making things worse. We’ll see if he can make enough progress in his recovery to make it back before the end of the series — even a potential Game 7 is just 10 days away.
While Looney may not swing the series, he’d be a very useful rotation piece for a Golden State team that has struggled to get consistent production out of its centers so far against the Raptors.
Five Key Offseason Questions: Los Angeles Clippers
When the last member of the Clippers‘ Lob City Big Three departed during the 2018 offseason at the same time LeBron James joined the Lakers, the Clips appeared poised to once again become an afterthought in Los Angeles.
Instead, head coach Doc Rivers led a team without a true star to 48 wins and a spot in the postseason, even winning a pair of games against the two-time defending champion Warriors in the first round. Even though the season didn’t end with a deep playoff run, it was a massive success for the Clippers, who continued to shape a positive culture, began to develop long-term cornerstones like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Landry Shamet, and made a strong case for why top free agents should seriously consider joining the team this offseason.
Here are five key questions facing the franchise this summer:
1. Will Kawhi Leonard become a Clipper?
The NBA’s most inscrutable star has said so little about his upcoming free agency that it’s virtually impossible to even read between the lines of the comments he has made. Instead, we’ve had to rely all season on anonymous sources and second-hand reports, most of which have said the same thing: The Clippers look like the frontrunners to land Leonard.
Many of the reporters who have addressed Leonard’s free agency throughout the year have acknowledged themselves that trying to read the tea leaves on Kawhi is futile, but as I pointed out last week when I discussed the rumors linking Kevin Durant to the Knicks, these reports aren’t being pulled out of thin air. If enough people in the know are saying the same thing, there’s generally something to it.
Leonard has long been linked to his hometown of Los Angeles, and there have been whispers that playing second fiddle to LeBron on the Lakers wouldn’t appeal to him, so the Clippers rumblings make sense. He’d be an ideal fit for a team on the rise that already has a pair of promising young centers (Montrezl Harrell and Ivica Zubac) and an impressive trio of guards (Gilgeous-Alexander, Shamet, and Lou Williams) under control, with the flexibility to add more weapons.
The Clippers have also made it clear all year that they want Leonard. Reports early in the season indicated that the team had a representative in attendance at many Raptors games, and word broke recently that the Clips even explored the feasibility of buying a portion of the rights to Kawhi’s “Klaw” logo, which is still owned by Nike. They’ve been preparing their pitch for a while.
Still, the Raptors won’t let Leonard get away easily. They can offer him more years and more money than any rival suitor, but will also be willing to accommodate a shorter-term deal if that’s Kawhi’s preference. Throw in the fact that Leonard has reached an NBA Finals in his first season in Toronto and there’s a case to be made that the Raptors are an even better fit than the Clips. With Leonard unlikely to tip his hand until after free agency gets underway, we’ll have to wait a few more weeks to see which direction he’s leaning.
Bulls Notes: Point Guard, Cap Room, Workouts
Finding a solution at point guard and making savvy additions in free agency will be among the Bulls‘ goals this offseason, writes Bobby Marks of ESPN.com (Insider link) in his preview of the team’s summer.
In Marks’ view, there’s a role for Kris Dunn in Chicago, but he’s probably not the long-term solution at point guard, so the club needs to use its No. 7 overall pick or a chunk of its cap space to address the position. Coby White as a possible option at No. 7, according to Marks, who says that if Chicago doesn’t draft a point guard, the club should set aside about $13-14MM of its cap room to try to get one in free agency.
Here’s more on the Bulls:
- Within his latest mailbag, K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune says he expects the Bulls to spread out their cap room (projected to be about $20-23MM) among multiple players, rather than spending it all on a single free agent. Johnson also discusses the No. 7 pick, potential frontcourt targets, and much more.
- It has been a busy week of pre-draft workouts for the Bulls, who brought in Jared Harper (Auburn), Dino Radoncic (San Pablo Burgos), Ethan Happ (Wisconsin), Kyle Guy (Virginia), Aric Holman (Mississippi State), and Tyus Battle (Syracuse) on Wednesday, according to the team.
- The Bulls held two other pre-draft workouts earlier in the week. On Monday, the club auditioned Vic Law (Northwestern), Luke Maye (UNC), Jaylen Nowell (Washington), Lamar Peters (Mississippi State), Jordan Poole (Michigan), and Justin Simon (St. John’s). Tuesday’s workout participants were Ignas Brazdeikis (Michigan), D’Marcus Simonds (Georgia State), Josh Perkins (Gonzaga), Juwan Morgan (Indiana), Matur Maker (Zlatorog Lasko), and Lagerald Vick (Kansas).
Draft Notes: Culver, Fall, Edwards, Clarke
Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver made his case to be drafted third overall during a workout today with the Knicks, relays Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Calling himself “an elite two-way player,” Culver told reporters his defensive abilities separate him from other top prospects.
“Nowadays, it’s hard to find people who take pride in defense. But I’m one of them,” he said. “I take pride in defense. Being at Texas Tech taught me a lot, so I feel like on the defensive side I’m elite.”
Most mock drafts have Duke’s R.J. Barrett headed to New York, following Duke’s Zion Williamson and Murray State’s Ja Morant off the board. Culver said he’s confident in what he has to offer and doesn’t compare himself to Barrett.
“I feel like we’re great players, both of us,” Culver said. “He has a lot of talent, I have a lot of talent. And at the end of the day it’s not our choice where we go, it’s for everybody else to choose. So we just put in the work. I know he’s working hard, I’m working hard. So it is what it is.”
Culver already had a workout with the Lakers, who hold the No. 4 selection, and he has sessions scheduled with the next three teams in the draft, the Cavaliers, Suns and Bulls.
There’s more draft news tonight:
- Central Florida’s Tacko Fall wasn’t able to participate in shooting drills with the Pacers today after rolling his ankle earlier in the workout, writes Wheat Hotchkiss of NBA.com. The injury doesn’t sound serious and the 7’7″ center made an impression by towering over his workout partners. “Whenever people see me, it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, he’s tall, but can he play?,'” Fall said. “It’s something that I had to work on. I have worked really hard. I have great people around me that have helped me become the player I am today. I just have to keep working.” Others at the session included Indiana’s Juwan Morgan, Florida State’s Mfiondu Kabengele and Clemson’s Elijah Thomas.
- Purdue’s Carsen Edwards, who worked out for the Sixers today, has also been through sessions with the Pacers, Jazz and Nets, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He has upcoming workouts set with the Bucks, Celtics and Thunder.
- Gonzaga’s Brandon Clarke has worked out for several teams already and has sessions scheduled with the Celtics, Nets, Bulls, Pistons and Timberwolves, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link).