EuroLeague Sets Deadline For Decision On 2019/20 Season
The Euroleague Basketball Company announced today in a press release that it has established a timeline for making a decision on whether or not the 2019/20 season will be resumed. That decision on the EuroLeague and EuroCup seasons will be made by May 24, per the release.
According to the announcement, EuroLeague and EuroCup teams unanimously approved the following tentative dates, assuming the season is resumed rather than canceled:
- May 29 – June 11: Quarantine period
- June 12 – July 2: Training camp
- July 4-17: EuroCup games played in central venue
- July 4-26: EuroLeague games played in central venue
As the release outlines, a resumed EuroLeague schedule would include a total of 54 remaining regular season games, plus a single-elimination Final Eight. The EuroCup schedule would include three rounds of playoffs, either using a single-elimination format or a two-game basket average. The two leagues would play in separate central venues, without fans in attendance.
If the EuroLeague season can be resumed, player contracts would be extended by a month, through July 31, and they’d receive 85% of their base salaries. If the season is canceled, player contracts for 2019/20 would end and they’d receive 80% of their salaries. In that scenario, the new league year for 2020/21 would begin on July 1.
While the specific details on the plans for the EuroLeague and EuroCup season may not interest every North American basketball fan, the actions of the top leagues in Europe are worth monitoring. After all, the NBA will eventually have to establish a similar timeline if it wants to resume and complete its own 2019/20 season.
Reports have indicated the NBA is willing to extend play into at least August or September, so the league may not have to finalize any decisions a month from now, like the Euroleague Basketball Company will. However, within the next month or two, the NBA will have to start seriously considering setting certain deadlines and drop-dead dates for the ’19/20 season.
Draft Notes: Simonovic, Miskovic, Bajo, A. Jones
As we detailed on Wednesday, the deadline for early entrants to declare for the 2020 NBA draft is just days away. Players who aren’t automatically draft-eligible have until the end of the day on Sunday, April 26 to submit their names into this year’s draft pool.
With that in mind, 2020’s list of early entrants continues to grow. Here are details on a few of the latest names joining that group:
- Montenegrin center Marko Simonovic, who played this season for Mega Bemax in Serbia, has entered the 2020 draft, according to agent Misko Raznatovic (Twitter link). The 20-year-old is not to be confused with the Serbian player of the same name who has been playing professionally since 2003 and is currently a member of Unicaja.
- Serbian forward Nikola Miskovic has entered the draft, Raznatovic announced (via Twitter). The MVP of 2017’s Europe U18 Championship was also playing for Mega Bemax this season after testing the draft waters last spring.
- Another of Raznatovic’s clients, Croatian forward Darko Bajo, has declared for the draft again after withdrawing last spring, the agent announced (on Twitter). The 21-year-old played this season for Croatian team KK Split.
- Nicholls State junior guard Andre Jones recently announced on Twitter that he has decided to test the draft waters. Jones, who transferred after two years at Little Rock, averaged 12.3 PPG and 2.8 APG on .513/.313/.732 in 30 games (24.3 MPG) in 2019/20.
Southwest Notes: Jackson Jr., Ivey, Rivers, D’Antoni
The Grizzlies will have to defend their playoff position if the NBA can salvage a significant amount of its regular season, but Jaren Jackson Jr. doesn’t mind as long as he can get back to basketball, writes Jason Munz of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Memphis held a three-and-a-half-game cushion over the Trail Blazers, Pelicans and Kings for the eighth spot when the hiatus began. The NBA has discussed scenarios that include going straight to the playoffs or fitting in a few more regular-season games.
“I mean, whatever. I’m down just to play, honestly,” Jackson said. “I know there’s talks about if they need games before the playoffs to get us ready for the playoffs, or they just want to hop right into (the postseason). I would be cool with either, honestly. We’re in the playoffs (if the regular season ended today), so I’m biased. I’d rather just run it.”
Jackson, who is among the many players without access to a basketball hoop during the shutdown, also addressed the potential adjustment of playing in empty arenas.
“I think we’ve all, at some point, played AAU or some form of it,” he said. “Whether you were overseas or not, like, you played a certain type of amateur basketball that is kind of like that. So it will definitely remind you of that and bring back memories. I think everybody will be fine, honestly.”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Grizzlies assistant Niele Ivey is the new women’s basketball coach at Notre Dame, the team announced today. She came to Memphis in the offseason after 12 years as an assistant with the Fighting Irish. “In her first year with the Memphis Grizzlies, Niele made a lasting impact on the floor, but even more so off the floor through her relationships with the players, fellow coaches and staff, including the relationship we built coach-to-coach,” said Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins.
- Rockets guard Austin Rivers is likely to opt out of his $2.4MM salary for next season and test free agency, states Danny Leroux of The Athletic, who previews Houston’s offseason along with Kelly Iko. The Rockets hold Early Bird rights on Rivers and can start his new contract at nearly $10MM per season without having to use their mid-level exception.
- If Houston decides to part with head coach Mike D’Antoni, who is in the final year of his contract, Leroux suggests the Pelicans might be his best destination. Of course, that could only happen if New Orleans decides to fire coach Alvin Gentry. Leroux notes that D’Antoni has connections with Pelicans VP of basketball operations David Griffin from their time together in Phoenix and might bring the best offensive philosophy to help develop Zion Williamson.
Coronavirus Notes: Paul, Dolan, Arenas, China
Chris Paul, president of the National Basketball Players Association, admitted to reporters in a teleconference today that nobody can be certain what’s going to happen with the current season, writes Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman (link via USA Today).
“This is a situation where no one knows,” Paul said. “The virus is actually in complete control. I seriously tried to answer things the best I could, but there are things where, it’s not like I’ve got the answers and I’m just not telling you.”
Today marks six weeks since the last NBA game was played, and the league was supposed to be conducting the first round of its playoffs. If the season does resume, Paul estimates players will have to train for two to four weeks to get ready. He expressed confidence that the league will give them the time they need.
“Whatever the amount of time is, just know that players will have the input because we’re the ones playing,” Paul said. “We don’t ever want to put guys in a situation where their injury risk is higher.”
There’s more coronavirus-related news to pass along:
- Knicks owner James Dolan has fully recovered from the virus and has registered to donate plasma antibodies to help with research, according to Larry Brooks of The New York Post. Dolan recently tested negative and is reportedly in good health. He had only mild symptoms and continued to work while quarantined.
- A professor at MIT tells Michele Steele of ESPN that arenas can eventually be made as safe as public parks. Alex Pentland, head of the human dynamic lab, recommends having fans wear masks and filling only half the available seats, although family members could sit together. He also advises making all aisles one way and having fans in each section enter from a specified gate.
- Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times talked to several American players about their experiences with the Chinese Basketball Association. Kyle Fogg said when he returned to China, he had his temperature taken several times by workers in hazmat suits. He and Ray McCallum Jr. were both quarantined to hotel rooms with armed guards posted outside to ensure they didn’t leave. “Everybody back home, they’re like, ‘Oh, we’re quarantined,’” McCallum said. “But I see on the news they’re outside. No.” The CBA remains on hold with hopes of starting play again in July.
Fred VanVleet May Consider Short-Term Contract
Raptors guard Fred VanVleet, who may be affected as much as anyone by disruptions to the NBA’s free agency process, spoke about the situation today in a conference call with reporters, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports.
VanVleet is in the midst of his best season, averaging 17.6 points and 6.6 assists per game in his first year as a full-time starter. He’s in position to command a significant raise on his current $9.35MM salary, but reduced revenue due to the league’s hiatus figures to lessen the value of his next contract.
“I think about it. I’m human,” VanVleet said. “I feel like I worked myself in good position. I was having a hell of a year and I was planning on having a great playoffs to cap that off. I think I was in good shape. And I think, more so than worrying about what would’ve, could’ve, should’ve happened is more so like, what’s going to happen? Are they going to move the dates around? Does free agency move? How does it affect the cap? Those types of things are more so what I’m thinking about versus, ‘Oh, woe is me.'” (Twitter link).
VanVleet noted that several other players are facing the same circumstances, citing Christian Wood of the Pistons as an example. Wood put up big numbers after Detroit traded Andre Drummond and was also positioned to benefit in free agency.
“I think the league and the union will try to do a good job to make sure that the free agents get a fair shake and it’s fair negotiating,” VanVleet added. “Obviously we’ll probably all take a hit at some point, but hopefully the hit is minimized to just this year and so there’s ways to work around that stuff.”
One avenue that VanVleet might consider is another short-term deal, similar to the two-year contract he signed with Toronto in 2018 (Twitter link). He said it never would have happened under a “best-case scenario,” but he’s “flexible” now considering the league’s strained financial position.
VanVleet is skeptical that the current season can be safely resumed, but he understands that there’s a lot of financial incentive to try, according to Ian Harrison of The Associated Press.
“If our league is going to be a leader in terms of public health and public safety and player safety, you’ve got to follow the guidelines of what the virus is speaking to you, so the odds are probably against us in terms of that,” VanVleet said. “But money, right? So, I think they’ll find a way somehow, some way and try to make it happen. I could definitely see it going either way. I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t come back and I wouldn’t be surprised if we do come back.”
2020/21 Salary Cap Preview: Golden State Warriors
Hoops Rumors is looking ahead at the 2020/21 salary cap situations for all 30 NBA teams. Due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the NBA, it’s impossible to know yet where the cap for 2020/21 will land. Given the league’s lost revenue, we’re assuming for now that it will stay the same as the ’19/20 cap, but it’s entirely possible it will end up higher or lower than that.
With Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala, and Shaun Livingston gone and Klay Thompson out for the season with an ACL injury, the Warriors were expected to fall off to some extent in 2019/20. Once Stephen Curry went down with a long-term hand injury, Golden State bottomed out completely, entering the NBA’s hiatus with a 15-50 record, worst in the league.
Armed with a top-five pick in the 2020 draft and a $17MM+ trade exception, the Warriors are uniquely positioned to bring back multiple healthy stars while continuing to upgrade their roster — assuming they’re willing to pay a substantial tax penalty to do so.
Here’s where things stand for the Warriors financially in 2020/21, as we continue our Salary Cap Preview series:
Guaranteed Salary
- Stephen Curry ($43,006,362)
- Klay Thompson ($35,361,360)
- Andrew Wiggins ($29,542,010)
- Draymond Green ($22,246,956)
- Kevon Looney ($4,821,429)
- Jordan Poole ($2,063,280)
- Eric Paschall ($1,517,981)
- Alen Smailagic ($1,517,981)
- Marquese Chriss ($800,000) — Partial guarantee. Non-guaranteed portion noted below. 1
- Shaun Livingston ($666,667) — Waived via stretch provision.
- Damion Lee ($600,000) — Partial guarantee. Non-guaranteed portion noted below.
- Total: $142,144,026
Player Options
- None
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Ky Bowman ($1,517,981)
- Mychal Mulder ($1,517,981)
- Juan Toscano-Anderson ($1,517,981)
- Damion Lee ($1,162,796)
- Marquese Chriss ($1,024,003) 1
- Total: $6,740,742
Restricted Free Agents
- None
Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds
- No. 2 overall pick ($8,730,240)
- Matt Barnes ($1,620,564): Non-Bird rights 2
- Andrew Bogut ($1,620,564): Non-Bird rights 2
- Jonas Jerebko ($1,620,564): Non-Bird rights 2
- David West ($1,620,564): Early Bird rights 2
- Marcus Derrickson ($1,445,697): Non-Bird rights 2
- Total: $16,658,193
Offseason Cap Outlook
Barring a series of cost-cutting moves, it looks as if the Warriors will probably have the NBA’s highest team salary and tax bill next season by a comfortable margin. A roster that starts with their eight fully guaranteed salaries, plus full salaries for Chriss, Lee, and Bowman, would approach $146MM. Throw in a pricey lottery pick, plus potential additions using their massive trade exception and the taxpayer mid-level exception, and the cost of this roster would be eye-popping.
It will be interesting to see whether a reduced salary cap for 2020/21 will have a noticeable impact on the Warriors’ aggressiveness. The current ownership group hasn’t been shy about spending big, and it will want to take advantage of a still-open championship window with Curry, Thompson, and Green in their early 30s. But if the team does go all-in, its luxury tax bill will end up being comically large.
Cap Exceptions Available
- Taxpayer mid-level exception: $5,718,000 3
- Trade exception: $17,185,185 (expires 7/7/20)
- Trade exception: $2,177,483 (expires 1/25/21)
- Trade exception: $1,925,880 (expires 2/8/21)
- Trade exception: $1,897,800 (expires 2/8/21)
- Trade exception: $1,620,564 (expires 2/8/21)
- Trade exception: $1,620,564 (expires 2/8/21)
- Trade exception: $1,597,100 (expires 7/8/20)
- Trade exception: $1,597,100 (expires 7/8/20)
- Trade exception: $869,699 (expires 7/7/20)
- Trade exception: $407,257 (expires 7/8/20)
Footnotes
- Chriss’ new salary guarantee date is unknown.
- The cap holds for Barnes, Bogut, Jerebko, West, and Derrickson remain on the Warriors’ books because they haven’t been renounced after going unsigned in 2019/20. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.
- This is a projected value.
Note: Minimum-salary and rookie-scale cap holds are based on the salary cap and could increase or decrease depending on where the cap lands.
Salary information from Basketball Insiders and Early Bird Rights was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
James Borrego Discusses Hornets’ Roster Needs
The Hornets have outperformed preseason expectations in 2019/20 and played some good basketball in February and March, winning seven of their last 13 games entering the NBA’s hiatus. However, the club still posted an uninspiring 23-42 overall record, ranking 28th in offensive rating and 25th in defensive rating. As such, head coach James Borrego knows that upgrades are necessary heading into next season.
Appearing today on a conference call with multiple reporters, including Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer, Borrego named a few specific areas that the Hornets will look to address in the offseason, including improving their performance on the boards.
“We need defensive rebounding,” Borrego said. “Even in that (effective late-season) stretch, where we were 10th defensively in the league, we were still very low in our defensive-rebounding percentage. That has to get better. That’s an area we will address.”
Borrego noted that the Hornets will need more rim protection, particularly if big men Bismack Biyombo and Willy Hernangomez head elsewhere in free agency. The second-year head coach also wouldn’t mind adding another play-maker to complement guards Devonte’ Graham and Terry Rozier.
“I think Devonte’ made a major step in (creating) for others and create his own shot,” Borrego said, per Bonnell. “We’re looking for that at the wing: A playmaker with size that can see over the defense, that can finish at the rim.”
Finally, while the Hornets placed in the middle of the pack this season in three-point shooting, that’s an area that Borrego essentially views as an evergreen need.
“In my system, we can never have enough shooting,” he said. “That’s something we will continue to address because that makes the game easier for everybody.”
Charlotte will enter the offseason armed with a lottery pick and will also be one of a small handful of teams that actually has cap room, increasing the team’s flexibility in free agency. While he didn’t identify any specific targets, Borrego said today that he’s looking forward to discussing the draft and free agency with president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak and exploring how certain players will fit into the Hornets’ system, as Bonnell writes.
Poll: 2020 All-NBA Second Team
With the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting NBA hiatus throwing award season into disarray, we’re assuming the 2019/20 regular season is close enough to over that it’s safe to start making our unofficial picks for the league’s end-of-year honors.
On Monday, we introduced our first series of All-NBA polls for 2020, asking you to pick two guards, two forwards, and two centers for the First Team. While the results ended up being fairly decisive, the positional eligibility for a pair of Lakers stars became a subject of debate in the comment section.
LeBron James has been an All-NBA forward for 15 straight seasons, but after a season in which he became the Lakers’ de facto point guard and led the league in assists, should he be shifted to the guard category? Based on the fact that he almost always played alongside two other guards in 2019/20, we kept him listed at forward, where he earned one of two All-NBA First Team spots in our poll.
How about Anthony Davis? Some of the Lakers’ most effective lineups include Davis at the center spot. However, he spent more time overall playing alongside Dwight Howard or JaVale McGee than he did at the five, and he has talked in the recent past about preferring to play power forward. We gave you the option of voting for Davis at either forward or center, and you picked him as your All-NBA First Team center. It’s not clear whether or not actual All-NBA voters will have the same flexibility or make the same choice.
Here are the voting results so far:
- Guard: Luka Doncic (Mavericks)
- Guard: James Harden (Rockets)
- Forward: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
- Forward: LeBron James (Lakers)
- Center: Anthony Davis (Lakers)
We’re moving on today to the All-NBA Second Team, so be sure to cast your votes below for the two guards, two forwards, and one center that you believe are most deserving of being named to that squad. Don’t forget that a few players qualify at two positions.
You’ll have about 48 hours for this round of voting before we move on to the All-NBA Third Team on Wednesday. You’ll also have the opportunity to select two players apiece in the guard and forward polls, so be sure to take advantage of that. And if there’s a player not listed below that you believe deserves All-NBA consideration, be sure to mention him in the comments section too — if I agree, I’ll make sure he’s included in our All-NBA Third Team polls later this week.
Guards:
(Choose two)
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on the All-NBA Second Team guards.
Forwards:
(Choose two)
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on the All-NBA Second Team forwards.
Center:
(Choose one)
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on the All-NBA Second Team center.
Follow This Week’s NFL Draft At Pro Football Rumors
The NFL Draft kicks off on Thursday night. If you’re a football fan, it’s already appointment television. If you’re more of a casual NFL fan, you’ll want to tune in anyway (save the re-watch of Tiger King for next week).
Start your draft prep today and stay tuned for every pick, trade, and rumor — visit ProFootballRumors.com and follow PFR on Twitter, @pfrumors.
Quarterback Joe Burrow – who threw for 60 touchdowns last year at LSU – is a mortal lock for the Bengals at No. 1. Beyond that, everything is up in the air. The Redskins are reportedly listening to calls for the No. 2 pick, so they could conceivably be tempted enough to pass on a potential generational talent in Ohio State’s Chase Young. The Lions (No. 3) and Giants (No. 4) are also answering the phone, so this year’s top rookies could all be up for grabs.
Meanwhile, Rob Gronkowski is headed to Tampa Bay to rekindle his bromance with Tom Brady and seven-time Redskins Pro Bowler Trent Williams could be the next superstar on the move.
That’s just a snapshot of what’s going on in the NFL right now. For the full scoop, stay tuned to ProFootballRumors.com and follow PFR on Twitter, @pfrumors.
Early Entry Deadline For 2020 NBA Draft Fast Approaching
We’re four days away from the deadline for early entrants to declare for the 2020 NBA draft. Players who aren’t automatically draft-eligible this year have until the end of the day on Sunday, April 26 to submit their names into the 2020 NBA draft pool.
So far, by our unofficial count, more than 150 players have decided to declare for the draft, as our tracker shows. That’s a big number that should only get bigger in the coming days, but this year’s total may fall short of the record number of early entrants established in recent years. In both 2018 and 2019, the NBA’s initial early entry list included more than 230 names.
Barring a last-minute surge of early entrants before Sunday night, it seems safe to assume that the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic is probably contributing to keeping this year’s total below the high watermarks set in the last couple years — for borderline prospects, returning to school could be a safer bet than rolling the dice on a professional path.
Of course, the coronavirus situation has thrown the entire pre-draft process into disarray, creating uncertainty about whether Sunday’s deadline will even remain in place. So far, the NBA has offered little insight on how the 2020 draft date (June 25) and other deadlines leading up to that night may be changed as a result of the pandemic.
If the NBA is able to resume its 2019/20 season this summer, it seems extremely unlikely that the league would conduct its draft on June 25. Other dates – such as the NCAA’s June 3 early entrant withdrawal deadline or the NBA’s June 15 withdrawal deadline – could be adjusted accordingly if the NBA postpones the draft.
[RELATED: Tentative 2020 NBA Draft Dates, Deadlines]
Still, with the NBA not offering any updates yet on this Sunday’s deadline, we’re assuming for now that it will remain unchanged, which means players considering going pro will have just a few more days to submit the necessary paperwork — then they’ll have at least five-and-a-half weeks to decide whether or not to remain in the draft.
While most of this year’s projected lottery picks and first-rounders have already declared and signed with an agent, we’re still awaiting updates on a handful of players. Among the top 25 players on ESPN’s big board for 2020, Memphis forward Precious Achiuwa and Texas Tech guard Jahmi’us Ramsey are the only two who have to announce a draft decision.