Draft Updates: Hinton, Green, White, Hampton
Houston swingman Nate Hinton has elected to hire an agent and keep his name in the draft, according to Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston (Twitter link). Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal reports (via Twitter) that agent Tallen Todorovich will represent Hinton.
“I’m at peace with it. I prayed long and hard about it,” Hinton said of his decision to forgo his remaining two years of college eligibility, per Berman. “Through the guidance of the people around me I decided to just make that step and turn professional.”
During his sophomore season with the Cougars, Hinton became a full-time starter and put up 10.6 PPG, 8.7 RPG, and 2.0 APG in 31 games (30.3 MPG). He shot 41.0% from the field, including 38.7% on three-pointers. Despite his solid year, Hinton doesn’t show up on ESPN’s list of 2020’s top 100 prospects, so he’s not exactly a lock to be drafted.
Here’s more on the 2020 NBA draft:
- UCF guard Darin Green, who elected to test the draft waters following his freshman year, is withdrawing and will return to school next season, a source tells Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link).
- Junior forward Romello White, who spent three years at Arizona State, has committed to Ole Miss, according to Jeff Goodman of Stadium (Twitter link). As far as we know, White still hasn’t technically withdrawn the draft, but his latest decision suggests he’ll likely transfer to Ole Miss rather than go pro.
- After a report last week revealed that draft prospect RJ Hampton is working out with Memphis Tigers coach Penny Hardaway at the team’s practice facility, the University of Memphis has stepped in to put a stop to those workouts, which aren’t in accordance with the school’s COVID-19 protocols. Mark Giannotto of The Memphis Commercial Appeal has the details.
- A strong 2019/20 performance ensured that Killian Hayes – once considered a probable late first-rounder – is now viewed as a surefire 2020 lottery pick, according to Jeremy Woo of SI.com, who takes a closer look at one of the top international prospects in this year’s draft pool.
Knicks To Hire Frank Zanin As Assistant GM
After a Monday report indicated that the Knicks are finalizing the hiring of Walt Perrin as an assistant general manager, Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic reports this morning that the team is also bringing aboard veteran executive Frank Zanin as an assistant GM for pro personnel.
According to Vorkunov, Zanin’s hiring is not yet official, but he and the Knicks are working toward finalizing a deal. The same is true of Perrin — he and Zanin are expected to complement one another in the Knicks’ front office, with Perrin overseeing college scouting and Zanin dealing with the pro side, tweets Steve Popper of Newsday.
Zanin, who began his career working for the Sixers as a scout, later served as an assistant GM in the Nets’ front office and became the team’s de facto GM for a few weeks in 2016 following Billy King‘s departure. Most recently, he worked in the Thunder‘s scouting department.
As Ian Begley of SNY.tv notes (via Twitter), Zanin and Kobe Bryant played for rival high schools in the Philadelphia area in the 1990s, and Zanin received Bryant’s endorsement for the Nets’ permanent GM job back in 2016.
Having officially named Leon Rose as their new president of basketball operations in early March, the Knicks have slowly been reshaping their front office since then. The organization previously hired away capologist Brock Aller from the Cavaliers to be the Knicks’ VP of strategy and elected to retain GM Scott Perry for at least one more year. Now, Zanin and Perrin are set to take on key roles in New York as well.
Jazz Notes: Bogdanovic, Perrin, Booker
Bojan Bogdanovic originally injured his right wrist in a late November game, Tony Jones of The Athletic tweets. The Jazz swingman will undergo wrist surgery on Tuesday and won’t return if the season resumes. Bogdanovic had an MRI after the original injury and tried to play through the pain but aggravated it at various times throughout the season, Jones adds.
We have more on the Jazz:
- The team won’t immediately seek a replacement for vice president of player personnel Walt Perrin, Jones reports in a separate tweet. Instead, the current staff will divide up his responsibilities. Perrin is joining the Knicks as an assistant GM after being in Utah’s front office since 2001.
- Recently retired forward Trevor Booker has become a fan favorite in Utah despite only playing two years with the Jazz, as Sarah Todd of the Deseret News details. Booker was playing in the Chinese Basketball Association but returned to the U.S. to undergo foot surgery. He decided to retire after the pandemic. When Booker announced his retirement on social media, he received an outpouring of well wishes from Jazz fans.
- Georges Niang provided details about the precautions being taken at the team’s training facility. Get the details here.
Pacific Notes: Kings, Cook, Warriors, Clippers
The Kings will place more than one third of their full-time workers on four-month furloughs beginning June 1 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee reports. The employees were informed in an email from President of Business Operations John Rinehart. The furloughs will impact approximately 100 workers but the front office, health and performance, and scouting/analytics staffs will not be affected.
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- Lakers guard Quinn Cook detailed all the precautions being taken at the team’s practice facility after it was reopened. In an Instagram post relayed by The Los Angeles Times’ Tania Ganguli, Cook said even his shoes were not exempt. “We had to leave whatever we wore, whatever shoes and flip-flops we wore, we had to leave them outside,” he said. “We had to wash our hands as soon as we walk in the door. Once we get inside, all of our stuff is kind of right there on the court.” Cook and Devontae Cacok were the only two players to use the facility on Saturday, according to Ganguli. Veterans Jared Dudley and Danny Green were planning to use the facility on Monday.
- Guards Derrick Rose, Tomas Satoransky and Reggie Bullock are among the guards the Warriors could target with their $17MM trade exception, Grant Liffmann of NBC Sports Bay Area opines. The Warriors obtained the large exception in the Andre Iguodala trade with Memphis last summer.
- The Clippers’ workout plan during the stoppage of play should have them well-prepared whenever practices and games resume, as Jovan Buha of The Athletic details. The Clippers held weekly group workouts over Zoom as well as chats with famous athletes, along with creating personalized home workout rooms for each player. The organization ordered equipment to ensure each player could work out from home via video calls with individualized player-coaches and strength trainers.
And-Ones: Campazzo, Holland, Doyle, Combine
Argentinian guard Facundo Campazzo could explore NBA options this year, according to former NBA and EuroLeague player Andres Nocioni (hat tip to Sportando’s Dario Skerletic). Though the point guard is under contract with Real Madrid until 2024, Nocioni believes it could be time for the 29-year-old Campazzo to play in the U.S.
“I think that Real Madrid will have to listen to offers from NBA teams this summer … He is not going to push it, but circumstances are going to make him consider the possibility,” Nocioni said.
Campazzo was averaging 9.9 PPG, 7.1 APG and 1.4 SPG before play was suspended.
We have more from around the basketball world:
- Former NBA player John Holland has re-signed with Hapoel Jerusalem in Israel’s Basketball Premier League, according to Sportando’s Alessandro Maggi. Holland, who averaged 13 PPG this season, played 24 games for the Cavaliers during the 2018/19 season.
- Milton Doyle has agreed to a deal with Hapoel Eilat for the resumption of the Israeli Winner League season, according to Sportando’s Nicola Lupo. Doyle played 10 games with the Nets on a two-way deal during the 2017/18 season. The 26-year-old guard played for the G League’s Windy City Bulls this season.
- The NBA is moving forward with plans for the postponed draft combine, Tim Bontemps of ESPN reports. The league has circulated a memo, asking teams to vote for up to 70 players to invite to the combine. Numerous executives believe a virtual combine – where coaches, scouts and executives would watch players work out from afar – would be the most likely way the event could be held this year, Bontemps adds.
Coronavirus Notes: New York, California, Texas, Nance, More
Governors from New York, California, and Texas all said on Monday that they’re moving toward allowing professional sports to resume – without fans – in their respective states.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo stated in his daily news conference that the state is a “ready, willing, and able partner” for sports looking to resume (link via ESPN); California’s Gavin Newsom estimated that pro sports would be able to move forward in California – with restrictions in place – starting in early June (Twitter link via Anthony Slater of The Athletic); and Greg Abbott of Texas said that his state is targeting May 31 for professional sports without spectators (Twitter link via Anna M. Tinsley of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram).
These updates may not be particularly pertinent when it comes to the resumption of the NBA season. The league appears to be focusing on the idea of playing in one or two neutral locations, with Las Vegas and Walt Disney World in Florida believed to be the top contenders. As such, we may not see NBA games played in New York, California, or Texas anytime soon.
Still, the increasing number of states giving the go-ahead to professional sports is a positive sign for the NBA and other sports leagues. Barring setbacks, those announcements bode well for NBA teams being able to get back into their own buildings for the 2020/21 season.
Here’s more on the COVID-19 pandemic and how it’s impacting the NBA:
- Cavaliers big man Larry Nance Jr., who has Crohn’s disease, isn’t as worried as he initially was about the possibility of contracting the coronavirus, but he hopes the league will be sensitive to other players like him who have preexisting conditions that could make them more vulnerable to the virus. “I would hope there would be an understanding (from the NBA) if someone didn’t feel comfortable coming back, that’d you get a pass,” Nance said, per Brian Windhorst of ESPN. “Just because you may look like the picture of health, some people have issues you can’t see.”
- We probably won’t get a clearer sense of how the coronavirus pandemic will impact the NBA’s salary cap in 2020/21 until we know for sure how much of the season can be completed and what next season’s calendar will look like. However, John Hollinger of The Athletic digs into the subject, explaining how smoothing and increased escrow holdings could help the NBA avoid substantial year-to-year cap fluctuations.
- While they may not be at risk of losing millions of dollars like some of their star teammates, the NBA’s two-way players will be among those most significantly affected by the league’s hiatus, as Yaron Weitzman of Bleacher Report details. Besides potentially losing the opportunity to earn an NBA minimum salary during the season’s final weeks (after the G League season ends), two-way players are also missing out on a chance to audition for a roster spot in 2020/21.
NBA Not Expected To Alter Draft Lottery Process
Although the NBA’s 2019/20 regular season is unlikely to be completed in full, the league isn’t expected to make any changes to its lottery format, league sources tell ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.
In other words, the lottery order will still be determined by the NBA’s reverse standings, even though teams may have played a different number of games, with no clubs playing a full 82-game schedule. The lottery has been indefinitely postponed and now figures to take place in the summer or fall.
Bontemps suggests that some executives will “inevitably grumble” about the lottery order being determined by an incomplete season, but notes that every team has played at least three-quarters of its overall schedule. That should make for a “more than representative sample,” writes Bontemps, noting that 23 of 30 teams would have to approve any changes to the format.
“I don’t see anything changing,” one executive said to ESPN. “Where will the collective will come from to do it?”
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: NBA Draft Lottery]
We took a closer look in March at what the 2020 lottery odds would look like if the regular season can’t be resumed. Of course, if the NBA is able to play a handful of regular season contests before the playoffs this summer, that order would be subject to change.
When we presented those tentative odds in March, we assumed the lottery order would be determined by reverse winning percentage for teams that haven’t played the same amount of games. For instance, the 19-45 (.297) Timberwolves would have better odds than the 20-47 (.299) Hawks. Bontemps doesn’t confirm that point one way or the other, but I’d be surprised if that’s not how it works.
BIG3 Cancels 2020 Season
The BIG3, the professional 3-on-3 basketball league co-founded by Ice Cube, is canceling its 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a press release.
The league, which intends to start preparing for its 2021 season, cited “safety, uncertainty of testing, changing government regulations, insurance and liability issues,” and a handful of other concerns as reasons why the ’20 campaign had to be canceled.
“Ultimately, we need the fan experience and the games themselves to be great,” the BIG3’s statement reads. “While other leagues have more immediate financial considerations, as a rising league, we need to put the fan experience above all and ensure each season is better than the one before.
“While we investigated many alternative scenarios, such as playing at a single location like a Los Angeles studio sound stage, the extension of the California stay at home order, California’s constant confusion and changing of the rules when combined with the multiple other issues listed above led to us to determining these scenarios were not feasible.”
Former NBA players such as Joe Johnson, Rashard Lewis, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Josh Smith were among the standout BIG3 performers during the first three seasons of the 12-team league, which typically begins in June. Zach Randolph and Marreese Speights were among the notable veterans expected to join the BIG3 for its 2020 season.
The BIG3 had planned to precede its 2020 season with a reality show-style, three-on-three tournament, which will now be delayed until ’21 as well. The program, titled BIG3: Not in My House, will premiere sometime before the 2021 regular season begins, according to today’s announcement.
“The BIG3, along with (production partner) Endemol, was ready to proceed with this show immediately, but were faced with issues because U.S. networks mostly cannot start reality show and studio productions until at least September,” the league said in its statement. “We will have to wait until network studio production and scheduling stabilizes.”
Pelicans Notes: Facility, Gentry, Zion, K. Williams
As we relayed earlier today, the Pelicans have joined the growing list of NBA teams that have reopened their practice facilities.
Addressing that subject on a call with reporters this afternoon, head of basketball operations David Griffin said that only seven of the club’s players are still in the area and will use the facility — the rest of the Pelicans are finding other ways to work out (Twitter link via Andrew Lopez of ESPN).
Griffin added that he’s not asking players who are out of market to travel back to New Orleans at this time, since he would rather wait until it’s safer and more necessary, according to Lopez.
Here’s more on the Pelicans:
- Alvin Gentry, 65, falls in an age bracket at risk of being seriously affected by COVID-19. However, the Pelicans’ head coach tells Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter links) that that increased vulnerability will “not stop me from doing my job one bit” when play resumes. “I’m going to approach it with caution,” Gentry said. “But I will be immersed in it totally from a competitive standpoint and everything else.”
- Speaking today to reporters, Griffin admitted he’d embrace the idea of starting the NBA season later, since it would help the Pelicans gain more of a foothold in their market (Twitter link via Lopez). The NFL’s Saints are New Orleans’ most popular professional sports team, so reducing the NBA’s overlap with the football season could be good news for the Pels.
- Even before the Pelicans reopened their facility today for individual workouts, a couple of players had been permitted in the building for rehab purposes. According to Griffin, Zion Williamson and Kenrich Williams were getting regular treatment there over the last several weeks (Twitter links via William Guillory of The Athletic). Williams, sidelined since January 6 due to a back injury, will be ready to practice in full when teams reconvene, says Griffin.
- Guillory and Sam Vecenie of The Athletic examine what the Pelicans got right – and wrong – in the 2019 draft, which saw the team select three players besides Williamson.
Bojan Bogdanovic Undergoing Season-Ending Wrist Surgery
1:24pm: Confirming that Bogdanovic will undergo season-ending surgery on Tuesday in New York, the Jazz announced in a press release that the procedure will repair a ruptured scapholunate ligament. According to the club, Bogdanovic actually first injured his right wrist “sometime in 2019.”
12:40pm: Jazz forward Bojan Bogdanovic will undergo a surgical procedure on his right wrist, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that the surgery will end Bogdanovic’s season. He’s expected to be fully recovered for the start of the 2020/21 campaign.
With the remainder of the ’19/20 season and the start date for next season still very much up in the air, we don’t know exactly what Bogdanovic’s recovery timeline will look like. Still, based on Woj’s report, it sounds like it’ll be a multi-month process, extending through the summer.
As Wojnarowski explains (via Twitter), Bogdanovic injured his right wrist in January and played through it for the rest of the season. Sources tell ESPN that his discomfort re-emerged during the NBA’s hiatus, prompting the team to decide to shut him down and have him undergo surgery. The Jazz have an eye toward the long term, since the forward is in the first season of a four-year deal.
Bogdanovic, who is under contract through 2023, will earn $18.7MM annually for the next three years. The 31-year-old enjoyed a career year in his first season with the Jazz, averaging 20.2 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 2.1 APG with a .447/.414/.903 shooting line in 63 games (33.1 MPG).
Assuming the ’19/20 season can be completed, Bogdanovic’s injury will put a serious dent in Utah’s chances of making a deep playoff run. He was a key part of the club’s success this season — the Jazz had a 113.5 offensive rating when Bogdanovic played, compared to just 105.0 when he sat.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.