Silver To Players: Restart Likely To Be Held In One Or Two Cities
Commissioner Adam Silver told players in a conference call on Friday that it would be safer to restart the season in one or two “bubble” cities, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
Las Vegas and Orlando are the main options to resume to play in both conferences, though Silver has received inquiries from numerous city officials about hosting the remainder of the season, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets.
A decision to resume the season doesn’t have to be made this month or at the beginning of June, Wojnarowski adds. If the NBA tries to finish the season, there’s no expectation that fans will be in the stands, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Silver cautioned the players that there will always be a measure of risk until a vaccine is developed for the novel coronavirus.
There’s also the possibility that fans will not be allowed in the arenas next season until a vaccine is readily available, Wojnarowski relays in another tweet. That will obviously impact finances, since the league generates approximately 40% of its revenue through fans attending games, Silver told the players. The league is working on creative ways with its TV partners to deliver the games to audiences, Wojnarowski adds.
There is real concern on both sides about the financial hardship caused by the pandemic. Michele Roberts, the executive director of the Players’ Association, broached that subject on the call with Silver. Silver said that the CBA “wasn’t built for an extended pandemic,” calling it “the greatest challenge” of our lifetime, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Silver is hopeful of conducting seven-game series for each playoff round, particularly if there is no travel involved, according to Wojnarowski. The commissioner also told the players that he believes the owners unanimously want to resume the season, despite the fact that there might be some financial advantages to canceling if there will be no fans in the seats (Twitter link).
Coronavirus Notes: Facilities, Resuming Season, More
By allowing teams to reopen their practice facilities, the NBA is hoping to give players a safe environment in which to work out — and to encourage them not to frequent public gyms which won’t have the same safety protocols in place. However, as ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne writes, there’s skepticism among some league executives that players will be enthusiastic about jumping through so many hoops to get an hour-long workout in.
“Players are saying, ‘I can do my stuff at high school gyms, or whatever else I’ve been using right now, without having to go through all these protocols,'” a Western Conference general manager told ESPN. “And I can work out as long as I want there — not just an hour.”
Additionally, many players have left their home teams’ markets since the league went on hiatus nearly two months ago, and may be reluctant to return to those cities until they have a clearer sense of a timeline to resume the season, according to Shelburne. One team executive told ESPN he’d be surprised if any of his players returned to town right away to use the club’s reopened facilities.
“It took two to three weeks for everything to unwind when we shut down,” one high-profile agent said. “It’ll take at least that long for guys to get back to town. And they’re not going to start flying back until they hear the league is starting up again.”
Here’s more on the coronavirus and how it’s affecting the NBA:
- NBA teams believe that local government officials would need to permit gatherings of up to 50 people for full practices to resume and gatherings of up to 200 people to actually play games, sources tell Shelburne.
- Some team officials around the league are worried about the psychological effects that returning to organized activities during the coronavirus pandemic might have on certain individuals, writes Baxter Holmes of ESPN. As Holmes points out, there are a number of players, coaches, and executives across the NBA who could be considered “germaphobes” — the players in that group may not be comfortable being back on the court in the coming weeks.
- As teams begin to reopen their practice facilities, they have been informed by the NBA that anyone with a temperature greater than 99 Fahrenheit should not be permitted to enter, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
- Chris Mannix of SI.com has heard that the NBA could wait as long as late June before making any decisions on the resumption of its 2019/20 season.
- In case you missed it, we’ve published several other coronavirus-related items today, including some updates on the NBA’s discussions to resume the season, Michele Roberts‘ concerns about the “bubble” location concept, and the NBA allowing teams to begin testing asymptomatic individuals for COVID-19.
2020/21 Salary Cap Preview: New Orleans Pelicans
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.
The Pelicans were considered a playoff sleeper prior to the 2019/20 season and again by the time the season went on hiatus. In between, things were a little up and down — the team got off to a dismal 6-22 start in the fall while No. 1 pick Zion Williamson recovered from a knee injury. However, New Orleans bounced back nicely and showed some tantalizing potential in the 19 games Williamson played, as he meshed nicely with young building blocks Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram.
The priority this offseason for the Pelicans will be re-signing Ingram, who will be in line for either a maximum-salary contract or something close to it. The franchise has enough cap flexibility to accommodate that deal without approaching tax territory.
Here’s where things stand for the Pelicans financially in 2020/21, as we continue our Salary Cap Preview series:
Guaranteed Salary
- Jrue Holiday ($26,231,111)
- J.J. Redick ($13,013,700)
- Lonzo Ball ($11,003,782)
- Zion Williamson ($10,245,480)
- Jaxson Hayes ($5,105,160)
- Nicolo Melli ($3,897,436)
- Josh Hart ($3,491,159)
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker ($3,113,160)
- Total: $76,100,988
Player Options
- None
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Darius Miller ($7,000,000) 1
- Total: $7,000,000
Restricted Free Agents
- Brandon Ingram ($9,481,458 qualifying offer / $21,796,456 cap hold): Bird rights
- Frank Jackson ($2,023,150 qualifying offer / $2,023,150 cap hold): Bird rights
- Kenrich Williams ($1,820,524 qualifying offer / $1,820,524 cap hold): Early Bird rights
- Zylan Cheatham (two-way qualifying offer / $1,445,697 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Josh Gray (two-way qualifying offer / $1,445,697 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Total (cap holds): $28,531,524
Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds
- Derrick Favors ($26,475,000): Bird rights
- E’Twaun Moore ($16,463,363): Bird rights
- No. 13 overall pick ($3,640,200)
- Jahlil Okafor ($1,620,564): Early Bird rights
- Total: $48,199,127
Offseason Cap Outlook
With just $76MM in guaranteed money on their books for next season so far, the Pelicans could theoretically create cap room. However, there would be no better way to use that room than by re-signing Ingram. He’ll be a restricted free agent, giving New Orleans the opportunity to match any offer sheet he signs, and his new deal figures to erase any cap space the Pelicans could carve out.
Fortunately, even with a max deal for Ingram on their books and without a cap increase, the Pelicans would have plenty of room to maneuver below the tax threshold. That should give the team the option of re-signing Favors and/or Moore, or potentially using its full mid-level exception.
Cap Exceptions Available
- Mid-level exception: $9,258,000 2
- Bi-annual exception: $3,623,000 2
Footnotes
- Miller’s new salary guarantee date is unknown.
- These are projected values. If team salary gets high enough, it’s possible the Pelicans would instead be limited to the taxpayer mid-level exception ($5,718,000). If they want to use cap room, they’d have to renounce these exceptions and would gain access to the room exception ($4,767,000).
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.
NBA Starts Allowing Teams To Test Asymptomatic Players For Coronavirus
After previously being advised by the NBA not to test asymptomatic players for COVID-19, teams have now been informed by the league that they’ll be permitted to administer those tests — as long as they’re in areas where testing is readily available to at-risk health care workers, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Magic, for instance, have been granted written authorization from the Orange County Department of Health – as well as approval from the NBA – to test their players and staffers for the coronavirus, whether or not they’re exhibiting symptoms, a spokesperson confirmed. A Magic official told Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link) today that May 12 is the most likely target date for the team to reopen its practice facility.
“We have been assured we are not taking any tests from healthcare workers, first responders, or anyone whether they are experiencing symptoms or asymptomatic,” the Magic told Woj in a statement (Twitter link). “As we’ve been told, the general public in our community can go to numerous locations to receive a coronavirus test.”
The Lakers and Clippers are among the other clubs that are expected to receive permission soon from the NBA and local health authorities to conduct coronavirus tests on players entering their facilities, according to Wojnarowski.
Although the NBA is allowing teams to reopen their practice facilities, the league has been reluctant to ramp up testing for its players and staffers yet. When the NBA suspended its season in March, multiple teams were able to conduct immediate tests on dozens of asymptomatic players and staffers, drawing criticism from politicians who were dealing with local shortages.
The NBA doesn’t want to create the impression that the league is receiving preferential treatment, which is why any teams in municipalities with testing shortages still won’t be permitted to test asymptomatic players for now.
However, if an increasing number of teams get the go-ahead to move forward with testing asymptomatic individuals, that will represent a crucial step forward for the NBA. If the league wants to resume its 2019/20 season, it will need access to thousands – and potentially tens of thousands – of tests to regularly administer them to players, staffers, and other officials.
As long as those tests still aren’t readily available for asymptomatic people in many areas of the country, it would be a bad look for the NBA to procure them in massive quantities. But if and when shortages are no longer a concern, that would no longer be a roadblock for a potential return to play.
Bulls’ Karnisovas, Eversley Leaning Toward Coaching Change?
While the Bulls aren’t saying much publicly about Jim Boylen‘s future, new executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley have received a “mixed bag of feedback” on Boylen and are believed to be leaning toward making a coaching change later this year, according to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.
As Cowley details, the Bulls’ owners and advisor John Paxson, who made Boylen the head coach in the first place, are in favor of retaining him and have told him as much. Karnisovas doesn’t want to “rock the boat” early in his tenure with the team, but he was promised full autonomy and is expected to be given the go-ahead if he wants to make a change.
According to Cowley, Boylen has spoken to both Karnisovas and Eversley on a regular basis since they were hired. However, the new Bulls execs have also been in frequent contact with players and others in the organization, and Cowley says that “several key players” have been critical of the head coach, who has a 39-84 (.317) record since taking the reins.
A source tells The Sun-Times that, with the evaluation period ongoing, both Boylen and Bulls players have been advised to avoid interviews about the coach’s standing with the team.
Although Boylen remains under contract beyond this season, his salary is believed to be modest, so financial considerations wouldn’t stand in the way of a change. It’s fairly common for new heads of basketball operations to bring in their own head coach within a year or two, so even if Boylen holds the job for now, that wouldn’t mean the franchise is committed to him long-term.
Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin and Sixers assistant Ime Udoka have been cited as head coaching candidates the Bulls may look at if they do replace Boylen.
NBPA’s Roberts Expresses Concerns About ‘Bubble’ Concept
The possibility of resuming and completing the 2019/20 NBA season in a “bubble” location is widely viewed as the most viable path to playing games this summer. In theory, bringing the necessary players, staffers, and officials to a single location where they can be quarantined and tested for COVID-19 would be far less risky than having teams traveling to and from their home cities for games.
[RELATED: Latest On NBA’s Discussions To Resume Season]
However, while the idea of making Walt Disney World or Las Vegas that bubble in which to resume the NBA season has gained momentum in some corners, NBPA executive director Michele Roberts tells ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne that the players’ union has some reservations.
As Roberts explains, via Shelburne, players would have to submit to some level of surveillance in order to enforce a quarantine for several weeks – or months – and to ensure the “bubble” is impenetrable. That idea is somewhat unsettling for Roberts and a number of players.
“Are we going to arm guards around the hotel?” Roberts said. “That sounds like incarceration to me.”
Of course, while the NBPA may have concerns about bubble enforcement being too “draconian,” as Shelburne writes, creating restrictions that are too lax could also be a problem. In that scenario, the league would risk having a player or staffer leave the bubble, contract the coronavirus, and put those inside the bubble at risk, potentially necessitating a shutdown.
The NBA continues to explore all potential options, so there’s no guarantee that the league will move forward with the bubble-location concept. If it does, there are concessions that could be made, such as allowing family members to join players in the bubble location. Still, Roberts tells Shelburne that regardless of what the NBA decides, the league and its players will have to prepare for some level of coronavirus-related risk.
“This is a world with the virus,” Roberts said. “And we have to figure out a way to work, play and live in a world with the virus. The questions have now evolved from, ‘Are we going to play again?’ to, ‘If we play, what are the risks going to look like?'”
As Roberts point out, even after the NBA makes a decision on what it feels is the safest possible path for resuming play, there may still be players who aren’t comfortable with those risks. She’s not sure yet how to address that issue.
“That is the million-dollar question,” Roberts told Shelburne. “I’ve got to confront that. It’s an issue employers everywhere are going to have to confront. Because I guarantee there’s going to be at least one player, if not many more than that, that are going to have genuine concerns about their safety. We have to figure out what the response is to that. It’s a tough one, and I don’t pretend that I have an answer to that one yet.
Nuggets Postpone Reopening Date To Monday
Initially expected to be one of three teams opening their practice facilities for individual voluntary workouts on Friday, the Nuggets will delay their reopening until Monday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
May 8 is the first day that the NBA is permitting teams to reopen their buildings for individual player workouts, with strict regulations in place to help avoid the spread of the coronavirus. As far as we know, the other two teams expected to reopen today – the Cavaliers and Trail Blazers – are still moving forward with those plans.
The Nuggets will now join the Kings and Raptors as clubs targeting May 11 as their reopening date.
It remains to be seen how many players will take advantage of the newly-reopened facilities in Denver and elsewhere. Some players have access to their own workout equipment and private baskets and may not need to use a team facility. A few may stay away from team facilities for now due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns.
[RELATED: McCollum apprehensive about Blazers’ reopening facility]
Of course, not every player remained in his team’s home city during the NBA’s shutdown either. Mike Singer of The Denver Post said earlier this week that a “significant portion” of the Nuggets aren’t currently in Denver.
Poll: 2020 All-Rookie Second Team
The NBA’s usual award season is in flux in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Under normal circumstances, the regular season would be over by this point and voting would have taken place on the league’s major awards. This year, however, it’s still unclear if or when the season will resume after being suspended in March, creating uncertainty about whether players will get any more regular season games to make their cases for award consideration, and about when voting will take place.
Resolving end-of-season awards is hardly the most pressing concern facing the NBA, but while we wait for further updates on the fate of the ’19/20 season, we’re passing the time with some award-related speculation.
Earlier this week, we asked you to vote on your All-Rookie First Team for 2019/20, and the results of that poll are now in. Here are the players you selected:
- Ja Morant, G (Grizzlies)
- Zion Williamson, F (Pelicans)
- Kendrick Nunn, G (Heat)
- Tyler Herro, G (Heat)
- Brandon Clarke, F (Grizzlies)
As those results show, many of this year’s most impressive rookies could be found on just two clubs, with Memphis and Miami each getting a pair of first-year players on the First Team.
While Morant was expected to have a significant impact after being selected second overall last June, Herro (No. 13), Clarke (No. 21), and Nunn (undrafted in 2018) flew under the radar during the 2019 offseason and have exceeded expectations as rookies. They’re all worthy First Team choices, in my opinion.
Williamson rounds out the team, despite playing just 19 games so far. His per-game numbers (23.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 2.2 APG) and his impact on the Pelicans were so impressive that it’s hard to argue with the choice, though I wonder a few voters will leave him off their First Team ballots this summer due to his limited playing time.
Today, we’re moving onto our vote on the 2020 All-Rookie Second Team. Unlike the All-NBA squads, which feature 15 players, there are only a pair of All-Rookie teams, featuring 10 total players. As such, this will be our last All-Rookie poll. We’ll break down the results on Monday.
You can make your picks below for the players you believe are worthy of spots on the All-Rookie Second Team. Be sure to choose five players, regardless of position, then take to the comment section to explain your choices!
Who should be on the All-Rookie Second Team for 2019/20?
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RJ Barrett (Knicks) 12% (528)
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Eric Paschall (Warriors) 11% (446)
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Rui Hachimura (Wizards) 10% (440)
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Coby White (Bulls) 10% (440)
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P.J. Washington (Hornets) 8% (321)
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Cameron Johnson (Suns) 7% (281)
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Michael Porter Jr. (Nuggets) 7% (280)
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Terence Davis (Raptors) 5% (231)
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Matisse Thybulle (Sixers) 5% (227)
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De'Andre Hunter (Hawks) 5% (195)
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Jaxson Hayes (Pelicans) 3% (146)
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Cam Reddish (Hawks) 3% (140)
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Jarrett Culver (Timberwolves) 3% (138)
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Darius Garland (Cavaliers) 3% (133)
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Kevin Porter Jr. (Cavaliers) 3% (115)
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Luguentz Dort (Thunder) 2% (92)
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Ky Bowman (Warriors) 2% (91)
Total votes: 4,244
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.
Raptors To Allow Limited Access To Facility Starting Monday
The NBA is allowing teams to begin reopening their practice facilities for controlled individual workouts beginning today, and while only three clubs – the Trail Blazers, Cavaliers, and Nuggets – are doing so immediately, others will follow suit next week. The Raptors are the latest team to join that group, announcing today that they’ll reopen their practice facility on a limited basis starting on Monday, May 11.
[RELATED: Kings, Heat Plan To Reopen Facilities Next Week]
The “strict protocols” outlined by the Raptors in their press release are even more restrictive than the guidelines the NBA has provided to teams. While the league allows for up to four players at a time in practice facilities, the Raptors will permit just one player in their building at a time, according to the team. A single coach will be allowed to accompany the player.
Additionally, the Raptors stress in their announcement that activities which can be done at home – such as weight lifting – won’t be permitted at their facility. The basketball court is the only area that will be open, with locker rooms, weight rooms, medical facilities, and other areas of the building staying closed.
As some teams around the NBA begin to reopen their practice facilities for voluntary workouts, others are continuing to play it safe, with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban suggesting this week that he’s apprehensive about allowing players back into Dallas’ building until the league permits coronavirus testing on asymptomatic individuals.
Although the Raptors’ stance isn’t as extreme as Cuban’s, the measures they’ve implemented as they prepare to reopen their facility suggest they feel the NBA’s safety guidelines could – or should – have gone even further.
Latest On NBA’s Discussions To Resume Season
As the NBA considers how and when to resume its 2019/20 season, commissioner Adam Silver and his team have been “making contingency plans for every imaginable scenario,” writes Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. Ideally, the NBA would like to complete as much of its regular season and postseason as possible, but if necessary, the league is prepared to cancel some or all of the remaining regular season games, and potentially even truncate the playoff schedule.
While Silver and the league office are considering just about every possibility, the idea of a postseason play-in tournament is considered highly unlikely, sources tell O’Connor. It’s an option the NBA has considered for this summer or for future seasons, but O’Connor suggests it isn’t feasible to introduce it at this point, likening it to a fantasy basketball league changing its scoring format a week before the playoffs start.
O’Connor’s article is jam-packed with details on scenarios being weighed by the NBA. Although no concrete decisions are being made yet, here are some of the most interesting tidbits passed along by The Ringer’s top basketball reporter:
- Although the NBA is prioritizing playing as much of the remainder of the ’19/20 campaign as possible, some people around the league believe it’s unlikely that bottom-feeders like the Warriors, Timberwolves, Cavaliers, and Pistons will play again this season. Those teams are already looking ahead to 2020/21 and there’s a belief that if the NBA opts for a “bubble city” approach, it might not make sense to bring all 30 teams into that bubble.
- Some teams believe that none of the current non-playoff teams will end up resuming their seasons, with one source telling O’Connor, “The first game when we get back will probably be a playoff game.”
- In terms of an actual location for the “bubble,” O’Connor suggests Walt Disney World in Florida seems to have the edge over Las Vegas because it’s a private property with several thousand hotel rooms available. At Disney, the league could theoretically designate certain areas of the park for players and staffers to watch movies or eat together, according to O’Connor, who adds that players could have even more freedom at Disney than in other cities, where stay-at-home orders may still be in effect.
- League sources tell O’Connor that there’s an increasing belief among NBA front offices that the 2020/21 season could end up starting in January. The later next season starts, the more likely it is that fans will be allowed back into arenas, which is an important consideration for the league. One Western exec told The Ringer that it’s “pretty brutal” to the NBA’s financial model if there’s no revenue coming in from ticket sales or in-game purchases (suites, concessions, etc.).
- According to O’Connor, sources say the NBA is hoping that players, coaches, and staffers will all be back in their respective teams’ cities by early-to-mid-June as the league prepares for a potential training camp.
- O’Connor’s story includes several more interesting details on the NBA’s discussions, and is worth checking out in full.