Justin Anderson Drawing Interest From Several Teams
Numerous teams heading to Orlando have expressed serious interest in signing wing Justin Anderson, Ian Begley of SNY tweets.
Prior to the stoppage of play, Anderson was a member of the Long Island Nets. He was signed to a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets in early January but the NBA Nets didn’t offer him another contract. His G League rights were traded by Raptors 905 to the Nets affiliate later that month. Earlier on Friday, Anderson was named to the All-NBAGL Third Team.
Anderson was on the Wizards’ training camp roster but was waived prior to the season.
Anderson, 26, has appeared in 219 NBA games. He saw action in three Nets games this season and played 48 games for the Hawks last season. He’s also worn the Dallas and Philadelphia uniforms since entering the league in 2015/16.
Anderson’s defensive ability is the attraction for the teams looking to sign him, Begley adds. He’s averaged 5.3 PPG in 13.1 MPG while shooting 30% from long range during his NBA career.
Pelicans-Jazz Begins NBA Restart On July 30
The Pelicans and rookie star Zion Williamson will face the Jazz on July 30 at 6:30 p.m. ET in the first game of the NBA’s restart, the league announced on Friday.
There will be 88 “seeding” games from July 30 to August 14 prior to the postseason.
The Clippers will square off against the Lakers in the second game on July 30 at 9 p.m. ET. The first two games will be broadcast by TNT.
It will get very busy the next day with six games scheduled, highlighted by Celtics vs. Bucks and Rockets vs. Mavericks. There will be a maximum of seven games per day, with start times ranging from 12-9 p.m.
At the conclusion of the seeding games, the seven teams in each conference with the highest combined winning percentages across regular-season games and seeding games will be the first through seventh seeds for the conference playoffs. If the team with the eighth-best combined winning percentage (regular-season games and seeding games) in a conference is more than four games ahead of the team with the ninth-best combined winning percentage in the same conference, then the team with the eighth-best winning percentage would be the No. 8 seed.
If the team with the eighth-best combined winning percentage in a conference is four games or fewer ahead of the team with the ninth-best combined winning percentage in the same conference, then those two teams would compete in a play-in tournament to determine the No. 8 playoff seed in the conference. The play-in tournament will be double elimination for the eighth-place team and single elimination for the ninth-place team.
Much of the intrigue regarding the seeding games concerns the final Western Conference spot. The Grizzlies, currently eighth, hold a 3 1/2-game lead over the Trail Blazers, Pelicans and Kings, a four-game lead over the Spurs and a six-game advantage on the Suns.
Memphis will face the Blazers, Spurs, Pelicans, Jazz, Thunder, Raptors, Celtics and Bucks during the seeding round. Among the Grizzlies’ pursuers, the Pelicans appear to have the weakest schedule. After opening against the Jazz, they’ll face the Clippers, Grizzlies, Kings (twice), Wizards, Spurs and Magic.
The Nets and Magic need only to hold off the Wizards in the East to claim the final two spots in their conference. Washington trails Brooklyn by six games and Orlando by 5 1/2 games.
The breakdown of each team’s seeding schedule can be found here. The day-by-day schedule and national TV schedule can be found here.
Knicks Notes: Coaching Search, Rose, Wesley, Harper
A recent report indicated that the Knicks would look to hire a permanent head coach by the time the season resumes in Orlando on July 30, and president of basketball operations Leon Rose essentially confirmed as much in a conversation with Mike Breen on MSG Network this week. As Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic relays, Rose said he expects the search to last until mid-to-late July.
“We want to find the right leader that can develop our young players, as well as hold everyone accountable and take us from development to becoming a perennial winner,” Rose told Breen. “We also want somebody that we think will be collaborative with the front office. Someone that when you’re in that huddle, you’re looking in that coach’s eyes, every player that’s looking at him knows that person is driving the ship and going to get the job done.”
As Vorkunov and Ian Begley and Alex Smith of SNY.tv pass along, Rose also addressed several more topics, including the possibility of the Knicks becoming a free agent destination, his thoughts on some of the team’s young players, and the club’s draft plans. On the subject of appealing to top free agents, Rose said he wants to make sure the organization is “player-friendly and first-class,” per SNY.tv.
“
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- Greg Joyce of The New York Post takes a closer look at the 11 known candidates for the Knicks’ head coaching position.
- Former Knicks Rasheed Wallace and Stephon Marbury are unimpressed with the team’s decision to hire Rose and William Wesley (“World Wide Wes”), as Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News writes. Wallace called the decision a “brain fart,” while Marbury referred to Wesley as a “world wide sucker.”
- Following the Knicks’ waiver claim of Jared Harper on Thursday, Harper’s former college coach Bruce Pearl praised the Auburn alum, calling him a “flat-out winner” and suggesting New York should retain him for 2020/21. “The Knicks are getting a true scoring point guard,” Pearl told Adam Zagoria of Forbes. “He’s under-sized, but pound-for-pound is as strong and athletic as any player out there on the floor. He has tremendous range and the ability to pull from deep. He’s special in ball-screen and plays at a real good tempo.”
- In case you missed it, the Knicks made another waiver claim today, nabbing Theo Pinson from the Nets and releasing Allonzo Trier to make room on the roster.
Knicks Claim Theo Pinson, Waive Allonzo Trier
The Knicks have claimed swingman Theo Pinson off waivers, waiving guard Allonzo Trier to clear a spot on their roster, the team announced today in a press release. Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link) first reported the pair of moves.
Pinson, 24, spent his rookie season in 2018/19 on a two-way contract with the Nets, then got a guaranteed contract from the team this season. However, he struggled to produce, averaging 3.6 PPG on 2.90/.188/.938 shooting in 33 games (11.1 MPG).
The former UNC wing, who was waived earlier this week when Brooklyn signed Tyler Johnson, was on a minimum-salary contract, so the Knicks didn’t need to use cap room or a trade exception to claim him. Pinson has a team option for 2020/21, which New York will have to make a decision on this October.
As for Trier, he was a two-way success story in 2018/19, having his deal converted into a two-year contract worth nearly $7MM. But after averaging 10.9 PPG in 64 games (22.8 MPG) as a rookie, the 24-year-old fell mostly out of the rotation in his second year in New York, posting just 6.5 PPG in 24 games (12.1 MPG). There were whispers at the end of his first season that some of Trier’s teammates were put off by his ball-dominant style.
Trier was facing potential restricted free agency this offseason and it appears the Knicks’ new front office – led by Leon Rose – didn’t see him as part of the club’s future. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent if he clears waivers, which seems like a safe bet.
The Pinson/Trier swap represents the second roster change made by the Knicks this week. The team also claimed Jared Harper and waived Kadeem Allen on Thursday.
Highlights From Adam Silver’s Presser On NBA Restart
Speaking to reporters today on a virtual news conference, NBA commissioner Adam Silver admitted that the league’s level of concern about the coronavirus situation in Florida has increased along with the number of cases in the area. However, Silver said that the NBA’s campus plan is designed to be isolated from cases in the surrounding community (Twitter link via Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel).
Of course, the NBA’s “campus environment” in Walt Disney World won’t be a true bubble, since Disney staffers will be permitted to come and go and could bring the virus in with them. According to Silver, the NBA is considering extra precautions to protect its players and staffers, including increased COVID-19 testing for those Disney employees who are in the same room as players (Twitter link via Winderman).
Here are a few more highlights from Silver’s conference call today:
- The NBA will proceed with its season even if some individual players test positive for the coronavirus, and the league doesn’t have a formal policy in place for how it would handle a major outbreak of COVID-19 within its Disney campus. However, Silver said today, “If we were to have significant spread of coronavirus through our community, that ultimately might lead us to stopping (the season)“ (Twitter links via Mike Singer of the Denver Post and Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports).
- Along similar lines, Silver said that an individual coronavirus case will essentially be treated like an injury, but acknowledged that a severe outbreak within a single team could force the league to change that approach (Twitter links via Winderman).
- Responding to an ESPN report that said the NBA will use local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to secure its Disney campus, Silver stressed that those agencies won’t be present within the campus (Twitter link via David Aldridge of The Athletic). That doesn’t contradict the ESPN report, which noted that those law enforcement agencies would only be used outside of the campus to keep it secure.
- According to Silver, it wasn’t the NBA’s first choice to resume its season on a “closed campus,” but data on the spread of the coronavirus forced the league’s hand (Twitter link via Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press).
- Silver confirmed there will be daily COVID-19 testing on the Orlando campus, “at least to start” (Twitter link via ESPN’s Andrew Lopez).
- Addressing the 16 positive tests among players this week, Silver said that none of those players is seriously ill (Twitter link via Rod Beard of The Detroit News).
Batum, DeRozan Among Players With Earlier Option Decision Deadlines
Most veterans who have player options in their contracts for the 2020/21 season will have an October 17 deadline to either exercise or decline that option. That Saturday represents the second-last day of the 2019/20 league year under the NBA’s new calendar, meaning it would coincide in a normal year with June 29, the usual player option decision deadline.
However, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, some of the players who have to make option decisions for 2020/21 have slightly earlier deadlines. For instance, if the Spurs don’t make the postseason, DeMar DeRozan will be required to make his decision within seven days of the team’s last game, per Marks.
The full list of player options for ’20/21 can be found on our free agents page, but here are the options which must be exercised or declined before October 17, according to Marks:
- October 6
- Nicolas Batum, Hornets ($27,130,434)
- October 9
- Mike Conley, Jazz ($34,502,132)
- October 11
- Stanley Johnson, Raptors ($3,804,150)
- Tony Snell, Pistons ($12,178,571)
- October 13
- DeMar DeRozan, Spurs ($27,739,975)
- Note: This deadline would be moved to seven days after the Spurs’ last game if they don’t make the playoffs.
- DeMar DeRozan, Spurs ($27,739,975)
- October 14
- Anthony Davis, Lakers ($28,751,774)
- Robin Lopez, Bucks ($5,005,350)
- Wesley Matthews, Bucks ($2,692,991)
- Evan Fournier, Magic ($17,150,000)
- October 15
- Gordon Hayward, Celtics ($34,187,085)
- Note: According to Marks, this deadline can also be three days after the last game of the season.
- Mario Hezonja, Trail Blazers ($1,907,011)
- Rodney Hood, Trail Blazers ($6,003,90)
- Jabari Parker, Kings ($6,500,000)
- Gordon Hayward, Celtics ($34,187,085)
The rest of this season’s player option decisions must be made by October 17, a deadline that applies to nearly every team option for 2020/21 as well. The only team options with earlier decision dates are minimum-salary ones for Deonte Burton (Thunder) and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (Pistons), which are due by October 15, per Marks.
Pistons Sign Justin Patton
2:32pm: Patton’s new deal includes a non-guaranteed second year worth the minimum, sources tell James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link).
2:25pm: The Pistons have signed free agent center Justin Patton to a contract, the team announced today in a press release. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but it figures to be a multiyear deal, since Detroit won’t be part of the resumed NBA season next month.
Patton, the 16th overall pick in the 2017 draft, was plagued by injuries during his first two NBA seasons with the Timberwolves and Sixers, breaking bones in both feet and appearing in just four total games. He signed with Oklahoma City last summer, playing in five games for the Thunder before being traded to Dallas and subsequently waived.
In 30 total G League games for the Oklahoma City Blue and the Wisconsin Herd in 2019/20, Patton averaged 12.1 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 2.9 APG, and an impressive 3.2 BPG in 27.0 minutes per contest.
The move makes the Pistons the first team in the NBA’s bottom eight to sign a player during the league’s transaction window this week. Detroit had a full roster at the time the season was suspended in March, but Donta Hall‘s 10-day contract has since expired, opening up a spot on the 15-man squad — Patton slides into that slot.
The signing of Patton also represents the first Pistons transaction since the team officially hired Troy Weaver as its new general manager last week. It seems safe to assume that Weaver played a key role in the transaction, considering he worked for the Thunder before arriving in Detroit.
Pistons Notes: Weaver, Draft, Griffin
Reports during and after the Pistons‘ general manager search suggested that Troy Weaver was the team’s top target throughout the process, with Detroit renewing its pursuit of the former Thunder executive after being rebuffed by him two years ago.
Although Clippers assistant GM Mark Hughes and Nets assistant GM Jeff Peterson were said to receive serious consideration from the Pistons, a report from Marc Stein of The New York Times confirms that Weaver was always the “runaway” frontrunner. According to Stein, Weaver was the only one of Detroit’s candidates who interviewed with team owner Tom Gores.
Here’s more on the Pistons and their new GM:
- Asked about his draft philosophy and how it might be affected by the fact that the Pistons will be picking in the top 10, Weaver stressed that a player’s character will be a major factor in his evaluations. “More times than not, high picks who don’t pan out the way people see it, you missed on the person,” he said, per James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. “If you get the person right, the basketball will take care of itself. Drafting high, getting the person right, is more important to me. If you draft in the 20s, you might want to take a swing on talent or a certain position, but when you’re where we’re drafting, you want to make sure the person is right.”
- Keith Langlois of Pistons.com makes a case for why Blake Griffin‘s presence on the rebuilding Pistons is important and why the team shouldn’t be looking to dump his contract at any cost, with two years still left on that deal.
- For what it’s worth, Weaver said earlier this week that Griffin is “definitely in our plans going forward,” as Edwards relays.
NBA G League Announces 2019/20 All-NBAGL Teams
After being named the G League’s Most Valuable Player on Thursday, Wisconsin Herd guard Frank Mason III – who is on a two-way contract with the Bucks – headlines the All-NBA G League First Team, as the league announced today in a press release.
Mason was joined on the All-NBAGL first team by teammate Jaylen Adams, as well as Salt Lake City Stars forward Jarrell Brantley, South Bay Lakers big man Devontae Cacok, and Memphis Hustle forward Jarrod Uthoff. Mason, Brantley, and Cacok are currently on two-way contracts with NBA teams.
That’s a common theme for this year’s All-NBAGL teams. The majority of the 15 players named to the three squads are either currently on two-way contracts or have had NBA experience in the past.
The complete list of the 2019/20 All-NBA G League teams, along with the All-Rookie and All-Defensive squads, is below. Players currently on two-way contracts are noted with a caret (^).
All-NBAGL First Team:
- Jaylen Adams (Wisconsin Herd)
- Jarrell Brantley (Salt Lake City Stars) ^
- Devontae Cacok (South Bay Lakers) ^
- Frank Mason III (Wisconsin Herd) ^
- Jarrod Uthoff (Memphis Hustle)
All-NBAGL Second Team:
- Donta Hall (Grand Rapids Drive)
- B.J. Johnson (Lakeland Magic) ^
- Josh Magette (Lakeland Magic)
- Johnathan Motley (Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario) ^
- Tremont Waters (Maine Red Claws) ^
All-NBAGL Third Team:
- Justin Anderson (Long Island Nets)
- Dusty Hannahs (Memphis Hustle)
- Jemerrio Jones (Wisconsin Herd)
- Vic Law (Lakeland Magic) ^
- Marial Shayok (Delaware Blue Coats) ^
NBAGL All-Rookie Team:
- Jarrell Brantley (Salt Lake City Stars) ^
- Devontae Cacok (South Bay Lakers) ^
- Donta Hall (Grand Rapids Drive)
- Marial Shayok (Delaware Blue Coats) ^
- Tremont Waters (Maine Red Claws) ^
NBAGL All-Defensive Team:
- Tacko Fall (Maine Red Claws) ^
- Tra-Deon Hollins (Grand Rapids Drive)
- Christ Koumadje (Delaware Blue Coats)
- Sir’Dominic Pointer (Canton Charge)
- Kenny Wooten (Westchester Knicks) ^
Of the 20 players who earned a spot on one of the G League’s All-NBAGL or All-Defensive teams this year, only four – Adams, Jones, Koumadje, and Hollins – haven’t been on some form of standard, two-way, or 10-day NBA contract since the ’19/20 season began.
Adams and Jones have previous NBA experience, while Koumadje and Hollins have yet to make their regular-season NBA debuts.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NBA, NBPA Officially Finalize Plan For Restart
The NBA and NBPA have officially finalized their plan for the resumption of the 2019/20 season, the league announced today in a press release. The announcement confirms the details that were previously reported on the single-site return to play, which will take place at Walt Disney World in Florida.
As part of the deal, the NBA has entered into an agreement with Walt Disney World that will make the Arena, the Field House, and Visa Athletic Center at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex the venues for the remaining games, which will tip off on July 30.
The schedule for the eight “seeding games” for the 22 teams participating in the restart will be announced on Friday night, according to the NBA. That announcement will include the national television schedule for those games.
The NBA’s announcement on its finalized plan comes on the same day that the state of Florida announced it has confirmed 8,942 new cases of the coronavirus, blowing away the previous record of 5,500 new cases in a day, set on Wednesday.
Those rising numbers are a major cause for concern, particularly since Disney staffers will be moving in and out of the NBA’s campus environment, but the league is confident in its 113-page manual detailing the health and safety protocols that will govern the return of the season.
“The rigorous program, which addresses risks related to COVID-19 and focuses on the well-being of players, coaches, officials and staff, was developed in consultation with public health experts, infectious disease specialists and government officials,” the NBA said in statement.
For more details on the NBA’s restart plan, be sure to check out our full primer.