Cavaliers Notes: Garland, Sexton, Draft, Love
Statistically, Cavaliers rookie Darius Garland is the NBA’s worst player this season, but Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com believes it’s too early to write him off as a draft bust. The No. 5 pick ranks last in Win Shares, Value Over Replacement Player and ESPN’s Real Plus-Minus and was outshined by several players who were drafted much later.
However, Fedor notes that first-year guards on poor teams usually need time to grow into their games. Teammate Collin Sexton faced similar criticism during his rookie season, but showed significant improvement this year. Garland just turned 20 in January, and his college career was limited to four full games because of a knee injury. He had another procedure on the knee during the offseason that forced him to miss Summer League, then had a foot injury in training camp.
“The world is not patient. You guys are not patient,” Tristan Thompson said. “Lose 10 games in a row you think the season is ending. Everyone is like that. Everyone wants instant results. But life is not like that, especially in a team sport. … It’s a learning curve for everyone and as long as you handle your job and do what you’ve got to do every day the rest will follow and we’ll see.”
There’s more from Cleveland:
- The Cavs won’t have to make a long-term decision on the future of the Sexton-Garland backcourt until next summer, Fedor writes in a separate story. That’s when Sexton will be eligible for a rookie scale extension that would involve a significant financial investment. In the meantime, Fedor suggests Sexton, Garland and rookie Kevin Porter Jr. could all see starter’s minutes as Cleveland evaluates its young talent.
- The front office remains split on this year’s best prospect, but LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards and James Wiseman are at the top of the Cavaliers’ draft board, Fedor adds in the same piece. If the team doesn’t finish high enough in the lottery to get one of them, Israeli forward Deni Avdija could be the pick because he fills a need. GM Koby Altman and scouting director Brandon Weems both traveled overseas to watch Avdija play, and head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has several former players who have been teammates with Avdija.
- Jason Lloyd of The Athletic examines how Kevin Love emerged as the NBA’s leading spokesman on mental health issues. Love’s newest cause is calling attention to the lack of diverse therapists available to minorities.
COVID-19 Spike Unlikely To Change Restart Plans
The NBA is taking notice of the high number of COVID-19 cases in Florida, but it isn’t expected to alter plans to resume the season next month in Orlando, according to Baxter Holmes and Zach Lowe of ESPN.
Sources described commissioner Adam Silver as “resolute but somber” during a recent call with team executives. He acknowledged the seriousness of the recent rise in coronavirus cases in the state, but expressed confidence that the league’s bubble concept will protect players and staff members.
Florida set a single-day record Saturday with 4,049 new positive tests and has recorded record highs in seven of the past 10 days. The state is becoming a national hot spot with close to 94,000 total infections, but much of the increase is based in south Florida. The two counties where Walt Disney World is located in the central part of the state have a total of about 5,500 cases.
Players expressed their concerns this week in a virtual town hall conducted by the National Basketball Players Association, the authors add. Sources say a major topic was the lack of restrictions for WDW staffers, who will not live in the three hotels where the NBA will be stationed and will not be required to submit to coronavirus testing.
“Can’t say I am surprised, given the state’s approach to reopening,” NBPA executive director Michele Roberts said of the rising numbers. “We are obviously clearly monitoring the situation. While we take some solace in knowing our players will not travel commercially to get to Orlando, that access to the campus is severely limited and, of course, all of the other health and safety protocols in place, the numbers will keep our attention. If necessary to add further restrictions respecting those third parties having access to the campus, we will seek to implement them.”
She added that placing additional restrictions on resort employees may be difficult because they are union members.
The NBA’s health guidelines that were distributed to teams this week set limits on interactions with Disney staff members. Staff will be required to wear personal protective equipment and practice social distancing whenever they are in the same place as anyone from the league. Rooms will be serviced just once a week and only when the occupants are out. All bus drivers will be required to undergo coronavirus testing.
Community Shootaround: DeMarcus Cousins
Several recognizable names will be looking to return to the NBA during the week-long transactions window that begins Tuesday, but the most intriguing is former All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins.
Cousins signed a one-year deal with the Lakers last summer to add some veteran depth to the frontcourt. However, he suffered a torn ACL in his left knee during preseason and was never able to suit up in L.A. He was waived in February to open a roster spot for Markieff Morris, but continued to rehab the knee at the team’s training facility and has maintained a good relationship with the organization.
Both sides reportedly have interest in a new contract next season, but the Lakers may have some competition if they want to bring him to Orlando. Former Kentucky teammate John Wall said this week, “I want to sign him right now” to help the Wizards with their playoff push. Center has been a position of need in Washington all season, and although Cousins’ mobility on defense is in question after three straight injury-ravaged seasons, he could be another potent weapon in the Wizards’ offense.
John Hollinger of The Athletic identifies three other teams where Cousins could be a good fit: the Celtics, the Spurs, who won’t have LaMarcus Aldridge in Orlando because of shoulder surgery, and the Mavericks, who have an opening for a big man with Dwight Powell sidelined with a torn Achilles.
Cousins, who’s only 29, obviously isn’t the player he was before the injuries hit, but he proved last year with Golden State that he can still be effective. He averaged 16.3 PPG in 30 regular-season games before settling for a reduced role in the playoffs.
We want to get your opinion on Cousins. Which team do you think will provide him the best opportunity, or do you believe he should continue rehabbing and wait for next season? Please leave your responses in the space below.
Restart Notes: Orlando, China, Williams, “Smart Rings”
With COVID-19 cases rising rapidly in Central Florida, Iliana Limon Romero and Roy Parry of The Orlando Sentinel examine whether it’s safe for the NBA and MLS to follow through with plans to resume their seasons at the Walt Disney World complex. They talked to several health officials, along with executives from Orlando’s teams in both leagues, who insist that the risk to players will be minimal.
“A lot of time and effort has been put into the safety protocols,” said Magic CEO Alex Martins. “We’re confident that the protocols that are in place will keep everybody on the Disney campus confined and amongst each other, and with little to no exposure of anyone else from the community. So in saying that, I’m confident that we have a safe plan in place and that despite the recent rise in cases in Florida that it will be a safe environment for all of our players, coaches and staff that are at Disney.”
Neither league has a concrete plan that would force play to stop, the authors add. Both plan to isolate any players or staff members who test positive, and several negative tests will be necessary for them to be deemed healthy. Also, representatives of both leagues maintain that the high number of COVID-19 tests they will need won’t impact their availability for medical professionals in the Orlando area.
There’s more related to the league’s restart:
- The Chinese Basketball Association resumed play today after being shut down for nearly five months, The Associated Press reports. Games are being played in empty arenas as the semifinals started with 20 teams split into two divisions. “Everything you have experienced this season will surely write a strong stroke in the history of the CBA league, and the history will also bear in mind the hardship, dedication and contribution of each of us,” league chairman Yao Ming wrote in a message to players and fans on the CBA’s website. “As the first national large-scale sports event to be restarted in China, the CBA rematch has a strategic significance for comprehensively promoting the resumption of production and restoring life, and its social impact has exceeded the basketball itself.”
- Clippers guard Lou Williams remains “50-50” about resuming the season, writes Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. Williams is concerned that playing again will take the focus off the push for racial justice. The Clippers had internal discussions about how they can assist with the movement, and Williams called support from the team and the NBA office “like a weight lifted off our shoulders.”
- Several players are expressing reservations about wearing “smart rings” in the bubble environment, with Kyle Kuzma saying it looks like a “tracking device,” according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
Victor Oladipo Unsure If He’s Ready For Orlando
Pacers guard Victor Oladipo will test his surgically repaired quad tendon before making a final decision on playing in Orlando, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Oladipo plans to start intense workouts next week to see how his body responds before making a commitment. He made his season debut January 29 and played in just 13 games before the hiatus, averaging 13.8 PPG in about 26 minutes per night. The former All-Star missed roughly a year of action after suffering the injury in January of 2019.
“I feel a whole lot better,” Oladipo said. “I know there’s risk going into it with the unique situation that I’m in — being off so long and trying to ramp it up that fast. I’ve just got to be smart, that’s all.”
The Pacers worked with Oladipo throughout his rehab process and were careful not to bring him back too soon, Wojnarowski adds. They will continue to watch him closely until a final decision is made.
Players face a Wednesday deadline to inform the league if they plan to report to Orlando, and teams must submit their active rosters by July 1. It’s not clear if Indiana would be able to replace Oladipo if he opts not to play, since substitute players aren’t eligible to replace players with injuries.
Revised Early Entrant Policy For NBA Draft Clarified
Now that the NBA has established new dates for early entrants in the October 16 draft, an ESPN report clarifies what those changes will mean.
According to a memo from the league obtained by Adrian Wojnarowski, underclassmen and eligible overseas players will have until August 17 to submit their names for the draft, with a withdrawal deadline of October 6. Those dates are tentative until an agreement can be finalized with the players union regarding the season restart.
Players who decided against entering the draft before the previous deadline of April 26 will have a chance to reconsider. Early entrants who have already submitted draft paperwork won’t need to reapply, a source told Jonathan Givony of ESPN, while players who entered the draft and later withdrew will be given a chance to apply again.
Earlier this month, the NCAA set August 3 as the date for players to take their names out of the draft and still maintain their college eligibility. College players could wait until the NBA’s October 6 deadline to withdraw and would be draft-eligible in a future year, but doing so would make them ineligible to return to their college team.
ESPN notes that today’s memo doesn’t mention whether a draft combine might take place or if teams will be able to hold private workouts or attend pro days sponsored by agencies.
Anthony Tolliver Likely To Re-Sign With Grizzlies
With the NBA’s transaction window starting next week, Anthony Tolliver will likely end up re-signing with the Grizzlies during that period, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times (Twitter link). However, Stein cautions that Tolliver has attracted interest from multiple teams, so the veteran forward’s return to Memphis is not yet a done deal.
Tolliver, 35, was on a 10-day contract with Memphis that was set to expire just before the NBA suspended its season in March. The NBA veteran had split the 2019/20 campaign with the Blazers, Kings and Grizzlies. Across 47 games, he averaged 3.5 PPG and 2.8 RPG.
As Stein mentions in a separate tweet, players who are eligible to be signed are those who held a job in either the NBA or the G League this season. Additionally, players who were not under contract with a team outside of the United States are eligible to be signed as well.
NBA Draft, Free Agency Dates, Deadlines Set
The date for the 2020 NBA draft has been set for Friday, October 16, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Wojnarowski also notes (via Twitter) that free agency will open up two days later, on October 18, with a moratorium period on deals from October 19-23.
The NBA draft was originally tentatively rescheduled for October 15 with the draft lottery moved to August 25 from the original June 25 and May 19 dates, respectively.
In a pair of tweets, Wojnarowski says that the new early entry deadline for the draft is August 17, while the early entrant withdrawal deadline is October 6. The latter date makes sense, since the NBA’s deadline for early entrants to withdraw their names always falls 10 days before the draft.
However, the August 17 update may require some further clarification — the early entry deadline initially fell on April 26 and there was no indication at the time that the NBA had pushed it back. The NCAA recently set its own early entrant withdrawal deadline for no later than August 3.
In regards to free agency, teams will be able to negotiate with players starting at 6:00pm eastern time on October 18, per Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Players and teams figure to start reaching agreements at that point, though they won’t be able to complete them until a few days later. You can track all the players set to hit free agency this fall here.
Additionally, traded player exceptions that were originally set to expire on July 6-10 will expire on October 23-27, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link). You can track those trade exceptions here.
The NBA is currently working toward resuming the 2019/20 season through a bubble league in Orlando. If and when the season can be resumed and completed, the new dates will impact franchise’s plans for building rosters toward the ’20/21 campaign.
NBA Transaction Window To Open On June 23
The NBA will lift its moratorium on transactions on Tuesday, allowing a number of moves to be completed between June 23 (starting at noon eastern time) and June 30 (until 11:59pm ET), sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
As Charania details (via Twitter), the following types of transactions will be permitted during that week-long window:
- Players can be signed to rest-of-season contracts.
- Substitute players can be signed for players opting not to report to Orlando.
- Two-way contracts can be signed or converted to standard deals.
- Players can be waived.
Trades won’t permitted during the transaction window, since the season’s deadline has passed and the offseason hasn’t yet begun. And while Charania’s report doesn’t mention it, it’s believed that all 30 teams will be eligible to participate in the transaction window, though the eight teams not included in the summer restart may be restricted from certain transactions, such as signing substitute players and two-way players.
The minimum salary for players with at least two years of experience who are signing rest-of-season deals will be $183,115, according to Charania. That’s the equivalent to 20 days’ worth of the $1,620,564 minimum salary for 2019/20.
Transactions have been frozen since shortly after the NBA suspended its season in March. The NBA and NBPA agreed in April to extend that moratorium indefinitely, so next week will represent the first time in more than three months that teams will be able to complete roster moves.
While it remains to be seen what moves will be made next week, we’ve heard that the Thunder have interest in converting Luguentz Dort‘s two-way contract into a standard deal and that the Rockets are eyeing free agent guard Tyler Johnson. With 22 teams set to participate in the summer restart, a number of two-way contract situations will also be worth keeping an eye on. You can check out our two-way contract tracker here.
Additionally, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press notes (via Twitter) that Suns guard Jared Harper, who was waived just before the moratorium was imposed in March, will be placed on waivers once the transaction window opens on Tuesday — he’ll need to clear waivers on Thursday before officially becoming a free agent.
Community Shootaround: Will The Season Restart?
Just two weeks ago, the prospects of restarting the season seemed bright. The NBA Players Association agreed by a 28-0 vote to the league’s plan to bring 22 teams to Orlando and finish off the season, beginning on July 31.
Every practice facility around the league reopened, albeit for limited individual workouts. The league tried to address all concerns and develop strict protocols to ensure the safety of all players, coaches, staff and family members who enter the Orlando bubble facility.
Yet recent developments have created more uncertainty about whether the NBA will actually crown a champion this season or whether its best-laid plans will go up in smoke.
Social justice issues have come to the forefront and a coalition of players, led by Kyrie Irving and Avery Bradley, would rather focus on fostering changes than donning uniforms again this season.
The reason why play was halted in the first place hasn’t gone away. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage around various parts of the United States, including Florida, where hundreds of NBA players and personnel are soon heading to practice and play ball.
Other pro leagues are experiencing issues with players and personnel testing positives, even though major sports in the country remain dormant. The virus has prompted three MLB teams to close their spring camp facilities. The NHL’s Tampa Bay Lighting shut down their facility on Friday after positive tests.
With those issues in mind, we come to our question of the day: Do you believe the NBA will be able to finish its season in Orlando? Or will the league eventually have to cancel the season?
Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.