2020 June | Hoops Rumors

Three Pelicans Players Tested Positive For COVID-19

June 30th, 2020 at 11:30am CST by Luke Adams

Three players on the Pelicans‘ roster tested positive for the coronavirus when mandatory testing began last Tuesday, head of basketball operations David Griffin told reporters today (Twitter link via Jim Eichenhofer).

Those three players are following the NBA’s protocol, self-isolating and being re-tested daily. After they complete their quarantine period, return two negative tests, and get medical clearance, they’ll be able to resume workouts and travel to Orlando.

The NBA announced last week that 16 of the 302 players who were tested for COVID-19 last Tuesday were diagnosed with the virus. Based on Griffin’s comments today, it sounds like three of those 16 positive tests belonged to members of the Pelicans, though he didn’t specify which players are affected.

It’s also not clear whether or not any of the three Pelicans who tested positive are showing symptoms. Teams have the ability to sign a substitute player to replace a player who tests positive for the coronavirus, but Griffin didn’t suggest that anyone is any jeopardy of missing the restart, so hopefully New Orleans’ three affected players are asymptomatic.

Nuggets Close Practice Facility Following Positive COVID-19 Tests

June 30th, 2020 at 10:44am CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets have become the latest NBA to close their practice facility, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that Denver made the decision after members of the team’s travel party tested positive for the coronavirus.

As Wojnarowski notes, the Nuggets closed their practice facility to players and staff on Saturday. There’s a chance it could open again later this week — the next few days of COVID-19 testing will help determine when it reopens, Woj adds (via Twitter).

A report last week indicated that Nikola Jokic tested positive for the coronavirus, but he was in Serbia at the time. It’s not clear if any Nuggets players in Denver has contracted the virus as well or if the positive tests belonged to team staffers. Two members of the travel party tested positive, tweets Mike Singer of The Denver Post.

Of the 22 teams participating in the NBA’s restart this summer, Denver is at least the fourth known to have closed its practice facility temporarily due to positive COVID-19 tests. The Suns, Heat, and Nets reportedly did the same last week.

NBA Won’t Permit Mandatory OTAs For Non-Orlando Teams

June 30th, 2020 at 9:26am CST by Luke Adams

Many of the eight NBA teams not participating in the summer restart in Orlando had been hoping to hold some form of mandatory offseason team activities to help bridge the gap between seasons and to keep their players engaged and active. However, the NBA and NBPA won’t allow any OTAs for those clubs to be mandatory, sources tell Marc Berman of The New York Post.

According to Berman, the NBA hasn’t ruled out the possibility of “informal group-setting team workouts” this offseason for those bottom eight teams. But any workouts would have to adhere to the state’s social distancing guidelines as well as league safety protocols. Additionally, they could only be voluntary, per Berman. Currently, players on those eight clubs can only conduct voluntary individual workouts at their teams’ practice facilities.

The NBA has been prioritizing getting all the necessary rules and guidelines in place for its summer restart for the league’s top 22 teams, so the eight non-Orlando clubs have taken a back seat for now. However, it should just be a matter of time before the league formally addresses potential offseason activities for those franchises.

Because those teams aren’t expected to play any real games for about nine months, some have lobbied the NBA to allow them to play in a single-site offseason tournament. However, given the level of planning – including a 113-page manual on health and safety protocols – that went into the NBA’s restart, it’s not considered worth it to replicate that process (albeit on a smaller scale) for the other eight clubs, says Berman.

As Berman notes, with no “bubble” being created for the non-Orlando teams, there’s concern about how to safely hold group workouts for players who would be going home to their families from their teams’ practice facilities. In a conference call last week, NBPA executive director Michele Roberts alluded to the fact that replicating the safety protocols in place in Orlando for the bottom eight teams would be a challenge.

“Candidly, while I appreciate that there will be a bit of a layoff, I think there are some things these teams can do to get the guys that are not playing some (benefit) by their not being involved in Orlando. But unless we could replicate in every way the protocol that’s been established for Orlando, I’d be — I’m being tame now — suspicious,” Roberts said.

The Warriors, Timberwolves, Cavaliers, Hawks, Pistons, Knicks, Bulls, and Hornets are the eight teams not participating in the restart this summer.

Cavs Sign Jordan Bell, Dean Wade To Multiyear Deals

June 30th, 2020 at 9:07am CST by Luke Adams

JUNE 30: The Cavaliers have officially signed Bell and Wade to multiyear contracts, the team confirmed today in a press release. We passed along more details on Bell’s two-year deal and Wade’s four-year pact right here.

JUNE 29: The Cavaliers are filling the two openings on their 15-man roster with a pair of big men. The club has agreed to a multiyear contract with forward/center Jordan Bell, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link), and is signing two-way player Dean Wade to a multiyear deal, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Bell, a former Warriors rotation player, signed a one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Timberwolves last summer, but didn’t establish himself as a reliable rotation player in Minnesota, averaging 3.1 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 27 games (8.7 MPG).

Prior to the trade deadline, Bell was sent to Houston in the four-team Clint Capela trade, then was flipped to Memphis in exchange for Bruno Caboclo. The Grizzlies subsequently released Bell, who joined the Wizards’ G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go. However, the NBA and G League seasons were suspended just one day later, so Bell didn’t see any action for the Go-Go.

Wade, meanwhile, spent his rookie season on a two-way deal with the Cavs after going undrafted out of Kansas State a year ago. The power forward appeared in just 12 games for Cleveland, spending most of the season with the Canton Charge, where he averaged 14.2 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 2.3 APG, and 1.4 BPG with a .461/.399/.847 shooting line in 30 G League games (31.1 MPG).

Bell got a two-year contract, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Wade’s new deal is a four-year pact with a $375K first-year salary, followed by three non-guaranteed seasons, tweets Fedor. The two signings won’t take the Cavaliers above the luxury tax threshold, sources tell Fedor.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), since Bell was waived after March 1, he wasn’t eligible to play in the postseason this summer, but that obviously wasn’t a concern for the Cavs.

Meanwhile, because only the 22 teams participating in the NBA’s restart are eligible to sign substitute two-way players this week, Cleveland can’t sign a free agent to fill Wade’s vacated two-way slot.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

DeAndre Jordan Tests Positive For Coronavirus, Won’t Go To Orlando

June 29th, 2020 at 8:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Nets center DeAndre Jordan has tested positive for COVID-19 and will not join the team for the league’s restart in Orlando, he tweeted on Monday night.

Jordan said he learned of the positive test on Sunday evening and it was confirmed on Monday.

The news on Jordan is another huge blow for the Nets. High-scoring guard Spencer Dinwiddie revealed on Monday he had tested positive with symptoms and is unsure whether he’ll participate in the restart.

Brooklyn’s roster has been decimated by injuries, defections, and positive coronavirus tests. Superstars Kevin Durant (Achilles) and Kyrie Irving (shoulder) won’t participate. Nicolas Claxton is also injured, while Wilson Chandler has decided to sit out for family reasons.

Teams can sign substitute players to replace those who voluntarily opt out or contract the coronavirus, so Chandler and Jordan are eligible to be replaced, but injured players like Durant, Irving, and Claxton aren’t. Brooklyn is signing Justin Anderson to replace Chandler; the team will also add a substitute player in place of Jordan, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Durant was one of four Nets players to test positive for COVID-19 shortly after the suspension of play in March.

After signing a multi-year contract with the Nets last offseason, Jordan averaged 8.3 PPG and 10.0 RPG in 56 games while splitting time at center with Jarrett Allen. Under new head coach Jacque Vaughn, Jordan took Allen’s spot in the starting lineup right before the season was suspended in March.

Wizards Notes: Restart, Schofield, Wall, Wade

June 29th, 2020 at 7:11pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard vows that the team is focused on making the playoffs despite key players missing the restart in Orlando, Fred Katz of The Athletic tweets.

“Certainly, we’re going there to win games,” he said. “We’re trying to make the playoffs. That’s 100 percent our goal.”

There has been speculation that Wizards would treat their eight “seeding” games as a de facto Summer League. Forward Davis Bertans, a free agent after the season, has chosen to sit out. Star guard John Wall will wait until next season to return from his Achilles injury. Washington trails Brooklyn by six games and Orlando by 5.5 games and needs to pull within four games of one of those teams to force a play-in round for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

We have more on the Wizards:

Rookie Admiral Schofield is expected to have an expanded role in Orlando with Bertans choosing not to play, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington tweets. “There’s going to be an opportunity at some point for Admiral to show what he can do,” Sheppard said. Schofield has appeared in 27 games, averaging 3.1 PPG in 10.9 MPG.
Wall will stay in Miami while the Wizards are in Orlando to work with some coaches that won’t be in the bubble, David Aldridge of The Athletic tweets. The lack of practices during the stoppage of play cost Wall the basketball ramp-up timing he’d been gaining in workouts, according to Sheppard.
Washington had some interest in signing power forward Dean Wade, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets. Wade agreed to a four-year contract with Cleveland on Monday.

Dinwiddie Tests Positive For Virus; Orlando Status Uncertain

June 29th, 2020 at 6:02pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie has tested positive for COVID-19 and his playing status for the league’s restart in Orlando is now uncertain, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports.

Dinwiddie had been practicing in New York when he experienced symptoms. Dinwiddie said he had been “diligent” about protecting himself from the virus in recent months. He flew privately to New York and tested negative for the novel coronavirus multiple times after arriving there.

“Originally, we were supposed to be one of the teams to enter into the Orlando bubble early, but training camp got switched back to New York and unfortunately I am now positive,” Dinwiddie said. “Given that I have experienced symptoms, including fever and chest tightness, it is unclear on whether or not I’ll be able to participate in Orlando.”

Dinwiddie plans to remain in self-quarantine and re-evaluate after 14 days, Charania adds.

Brooklyn enters the restart with the seventh-best record in the conference. However, its team has already been depleted by injuries and defection.

Superstars Kevin Durant (Achilles) and Kyrie Irving (shoulder) won’t participate. Nicolas Claxton is also injured, while Wilson Chandler has decided to sit out for family reasons.

Free agent forward Justin Anderson has agreed to sign with the Nets for the remainder of the season but if Dinwiddie can’t play, Brooklyn’s backcourt will take a major hit. In 64 games this season, Dinwiddie averaged 20.6 PPG, 6.8 APG and 3.5 RPG. The Nets did add some depth in that area last week by signing free agent Tyler Johnson.

The NBA announced on Friday that 16 of 302 players had tested positive on June 23. It’s unclear whether Dinwiddie was one of those 16 players or if he tested positive later in the week.

Durant was one of four Nets players to test positive for COVID-19 shortly after the suspension of play in March.

Teams heading to Orlando must submit rosters on Wednesday but they can still replace a player that tests positive for coronavirus or elects not to play, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. The player being replaced would be ineligible to return. In Dinwiddie’s case, it appears that a decision on his status would be made later in the month.

Community Shootaround: Knicks’ Coaching Search

June 29th, 2020 at 5:00pm CST by Luke Adams

While they may not be the only team looking to hire a permanent head coach this summer or fall, the Knicks are currently the only club actively going through the search process and interviewing potential candidates, as our tracker shows.

And there’s no shortage of potential candidates on the Knicks’ list. In addition to interim head coach Mike Miller, who will interview for the full-time position, the team is reportedly speaking to 10 other contenders for the job. It’s a diverse group, ranging from noteworthy former NBA head coaches to little-known assistants who may not have interviewed for a head coaching job before.

Atop the list is Tom Thibodeau, the former Bulls and Timberwolves coach who has been reported for weeks as the presumptive frontrunner for the Knicks’ vacancy. Thibodeau may not seem like the most obvious fit for a young, rebuilding team, but his long-standing connections to new Knicks executives Leon Rose and William Wesley may give him a leg up.

There are plenty of other viable candidates though. There’s reportedly support within the organization for Kenny Atkinson, who showed in Brooklyn that he’s capable of developing young players and turning a lottery team into a playoff club. In terms of familiar faces, Miller did good work after replacing David Fizdale in December, and Mike Woodson had success during his last stint in New York.

Jason Kidd and Mike Brown are the other candidates with head coaching experience on the Knicks’ list. Brown has a 66-win season and an NBA Finals appearance on his résumé, while Kidd has a good reputation among players.

Among the assistant coaches interviewing for the job, some are more well-known than others. This group consists of Ime Udoka, Chris Fleming, Pat Delany, Will Hardy, and Jamahl Mosley. Of those five, Udoka is probably widely considered the strongest head coaching candidate — he has interviewed for multiple openings in the past, and is viewed as a probable candidate for the Bulls job if they replace Jim Boylen.

We want to know what you think. Which of the Knicks’ candidates would be the best choice to be the team’s next head coach? Should the team opt for someone with previous head coaching experience, such as Thibodeau or Atkinson? Or would you rather see New York choose an up-and-coming assistant such as Udoka? Are there any coaches not on the Knicks’ list that you believe they should be talking to?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts on the Knicks’ head coaching search!

Cavs Notes: Wade, Bell, Trier, Drummond

June 29th, 2020 at 4:06pm CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers, who agreed to new deals with Dean Wade and Jordan Bell today, are using a portion of their mid-level exception to sign Wade to a four-year contract, as Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com details. Wade gets a first-year salary of $375K, well above the prorated minimum, in exchange for two non-guaranteed seasons and a team option in 2022/23 (Twitter link).

As for Bell, it appears he’ll be signed using the Cavs’ mid-level exception as well, allowing the team to give him $250K for remainder of the season. However, his contract is a short-term arrangement — it’s a two-year deal with a non-guaranteed minimum salary for 2020/21, Fedor notes.

Here’s more out of Cleveland:

The Cavaliers explored the possibility of signing Allonzo Trier when he cleared waivers on Sunday, but the former Knicks guard was seeking more money and a different contract structure than what the club wanted to offer, according to Fedor. Additionally, Fedor adds that some members of the basketball operations department questioned Trier’s fit alongside guards like Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, and Kevin Porter.
While Andre Drummond has long been considered a lock to opt into the final year of his contract, it remains to be seen whether he and the Cavaliers might work out a longer-term deal. Sources tell Fedor that both sides have shown some interest in a contract extension. However, both the Cavs and Drummond may want to take some time to consider their options — especially if Cleveland ends up using its lottery pick on a big man.
Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff intends to make at least one addition to his coaching staff, though it might not happen until later in the year, says Fedor.

Restart Notes: Raptors, Staffers, Referees, Schedule

June 29th, 2020 at 2:50pm CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors, who traveled to Florida a week ago and are staying and training in the Fort Myers area, are essentially experiencing a “test run” of the environment the NBA will look to create at Walt Disney World next month, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

As Bontemps details, the Raptors are staying in a hotel that is otherwise unoccupied, are eating meals in a large ballroom with spaced-out tables or in their own hotel rooms, and are being directly shuttled to and from Florida Gulf Coast University for workouts.

If the Raptors make a deep playoff run, their early start in Florida could mean that they end up being away from home longer than any other team. However, head coach Nick Nurse doesn’t think his players or staffers are thinking about that yet, as Bontemps relays.

“Right now, we’re not,” Nurse said on Saturday. “Maybe at some point on the back end of it, or midway through it, we might. But I just don’t know. We’re, what, five days in? They’ve been a snap of a finger. They’ve blown by. So it doesn’t feel like a burden or overwhelming. It just feels like we’re all starting and getting ready to go.”

Here’s more on the NBA’s restart:

NBA teams have been informed that they’ll have the ability to replace staff members who test positive for COVID-19 on the Orlando campus and are unable to work, league sources tell ESPN’s Tim Bontemps (Twitter link).
The National Basketball Referees Association announced today that it has ratified a letter of agreement with the NBA addressing issues related to the resumed season.
Nick Friedell and Tim MacMahon of ESPN make their picks for the 12 most important “seeding games” on the summer schedule, including Lakers vs. Clippers, Grizzlies vs. Pelicans, Bucks vs. Raptors, and more.
Jabari Young of CNBC explores some of the creative ways the NBA will look to make money and engage fans when play resumes in Orlando this summer.
Marc Berman of The New York Post spoke to Dr. Stephen Gonzalez, an executive board member for the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, about the mental health challenges that NBA players will face on the Orlando campus this summer.

Categories:
COVID-19
National Basketball Referees Association
Toronto Raptors

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