Vogel On Rondo, Starters, Waiters, Smith
Though the Lakers suffered a surprising 100-93 loss to the Trail Blazers in the first game of their conference quarterfinals series on Tuesday, head coach Frank Vogel has indicated that he will not make any adjustments to his current starting lineup ahead of tonight’s second “home” game, according to Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).
On Tuesday, the Lakers started All-Star forwards LeBron James and Anthony Davis, along with center JaVale McGee, and guards Danny Green and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
McGee played just 12 minutes on Tuesday. Backup power forward Kyle Kuzma, meanwhile, logged 30 minutes of game action, with Davis shifting to a center role when playing alongside Kuzma. Point guard Alex Caruso played 29 minutes off the bench, the same amount of time as Caldwell-Pope and six more minutes than sharpshooter Green.
Backup center Dwight Howard and power forward Markieff Morris also logged more time than McGee, a solid post defender without much offensive range. Starting Davis at center, with either Kuzma or Caruso replacing McGee in the starting lineup, could present a unique opportunity for the Lakers to spread the floor against Portland.
Backup point guard Rajon Rondo, who has been recovering from a fractured right thumb suffered five weeks ago, will remain inactive for tonight’s game. Rondo was medically cleared for action on August 17. Rondo had the thumb surgically repaired on July 16. He has yet to suit up for the Lakers during the team’s summer games.
Vogel also noted that he will find playing time for recent waiver additions Dion Waiters and J.R. Smith, per Mark Medina of USA Today (Twitter link). In the first game of the series, Waiters saw the court for just one minute, and took no field goal attempts, while Smith did not play at all.
2020 NBA Draft Lottery Primer
The 2020 NBA draft lottery will take place on Thursday night prior to Game 2 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals between the Lakers and Trail Blazers. The half-hour event will be broadcast on ESPN beginning at 7:30 pm central time.
This year’s draft class doesn’t feature a consensus No. 1 pick like Zion Williamson, but the team that wins the 2020 lottery will get its pick of an intriguing group of top prospects that includes LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, and James Wiseman, among others.
Here’s what you need to know heading into tonight’s lottery:
Pre-Lottery Draft Order:
This year’s draft lottery features the 14 teams that didn’t make the playoffs, sorted by their records as of March 11, the date the 2019/20 season was suspended. The top 14 picks in the 2020 NBA draft would look like this if tonight’s lottery results don’t change the order:
- Golden State Warriors
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Atlanta Hawks
- Detroit Pistons
- New York Knicks
- Chicago Bulls
- Charlotte Hornets
- Washington Wizards
- Phoenix Suns
- San Antonio Spurs
- Sacramento Kings
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Boston Celtics (from Memphis Grizzlies)
- Note: The Grizzlies will keep this pick if it moves up into the top four (2.4% chance).
For the full pre-lottery draft order, click here.
Draft Lottery Odds:
The Warriors, Cavaliers, and Timberwolves have the best odds to land the No. 1 pick. Each of those three teams has a 14.0% chance to pick first overall, and a 52.1% shot at a top-four pick.
From there, the Hawks (48.1%), Pistons (42.1%), Wizards (37.2%), and Bulls (32.0%) have the best odds to land in the top four.
For the full draft lottery odds for all 14 spots, click here.
Trades Affecting The Draft Lottery:
Only one trade will have an impact on Thursday night’s lottery results. Here are the details on that deal:
Celtics/Grizzlies
The Celtics own the Grizzlies‘ top-six protected first-round pick, so they’ll receive that selection if it’s No. 7 or lower. There’s a 97.6% chance that will happen, since Memphis ranks 14th in the lottery standings.
The pick will either land at No. 14 or move into the top four, in which case the Grizzlies would keep it. There’s only a 2.4% chance that will happen, but Memphis did move up several spots in the lottery a year ago — perhaps the team can get lucky again in 2020.
In the unlikely event that the Grizzlies keep the pick this year, they’d owe the Celtics their unprotected first-round pick in 2021.
Draft Lottery Representatives:
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s draft lottery will be a virtual event, so representatives for each of this year’s lottery teams will be joining the broadcast remotely.
Those reps are as follows, according to a press release issued by the NBA:
- Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry
- Cleveland Cavaliers: Brad Daugherty (former player)
- Minnesota Timberwolves: D’Angelo Russell
- Atlanta Hawks: Jami Gertz (co-owner)
- Detroit Pistons: Troy Weaver (general manager)
- New York Knicks: Leon Rose (president of basketball operations)
- Chicago Bulls: Arturas Karnisovas (executive VP of basketball operations)
- Charlotte Hornets: Devonte’ Graham
- Washington Wizards: Rui Hachimura
- Phoenix Suns: James Jones (general manager)
- San Antonio Spurs: Peter J. Holt (team owner)
- Sacramento Kings: De’Aaron Fox
- New Orleans Pelicans: Trajan Langdon (general manager)
- Memphis Grizzlies: Elliot Perry (minority owner/director of player support)
Lottery Format:
This will be the second year that the NBA uses its revamped lottery system, which reduces the odds that the league’s very worst teams will land a top pick and makes the top four selections available via the lottery, instead of the top three.
One year is too small a sample size to draw any conclusions about the new format, but 2019’s results showed that the smoothed-out odds have the potential to create a little more mayhem on lottery night.
A year ago, the Pelicans, Grizzlies, and Lakers claimed three of the top four picks despite ranking seventh, eight, and 11th, respectively, in the lottery standings. If that were to happen again this year, it’d mean the Bulls at No. 1, the Hornets at No. 2, and the Spurs at No. 4.
Before the NBA changed its lottery format, there was a 60.5% chance that one of the league’s bottom three teams would secure the No. 1 pick, and only a 27.6% chance that a team in the 5-14 range of the lottery standings would do so. Now, those odds are 42.0% and 45.5%, respectively.
For full details on the revamped lottery format, click here.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Mike Conley Probable To Play In Game 3
The Jazz have listed starting point guard Mike Conley as probable to play in Game 3 vs. Denver on Friday, tweets Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune.
Conley, who briefly left the NBA’s campus earlier in the week for the birth of his child, returned on Tuesday and began his four-day quarantine. Although he won’t technically be in quarantine for a full 96 hours, it sounds like there’s optimism that he’ll return four negative coronavirus tests – one per day – before Game 3 gets underway on Friday afternoon.
The Jazz split the first two games of their matchup with the Nuggets, falling on Monday in an overtime nail-biter before picking up a resounding 19-point victory on Wednesday. While Utah will still be missing Bojan Bogdanovic, getting Conley back in the lineup should give the team a slightly healthier rotation than the Nuggets, who are without Gary Harris and Will Barton.
Conley had an up-and-down first season in Utah, but has been productive since arriving at Disney World for the summer restart. In six seeding games, he averaged 18.0 PPG and 5.0 APG, knocking down 37.2% of his three-point attempts.
Atlantic Notes: Harris, Crawford, Ujiri, Sixers, Celtics
The Nets will be without sharpshooter Joe Harris and veteran scorer Jamal Crawford for Game 3 and Game 4 of their series against Toronto, head coach Jacque Vaughn confirmed today. Crawford continues to be hampered by a hamstring strain, while Harris left the NBA’s campus on Wednesday.
According to Marc Berman of The New York Post (Twitter link), teammate Tyler Johnson said today that Harris’ absence is related to an emergency family matter. A source close to Harris tells Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link) that the situation is “day-to-day,” with the 28-year-old’s return date and quarantine period still up in the air. If the Nets can’t pick up a win over Toronto, Harris’ season will be over and he’ll be headed to unrestricted free agency this fall.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Following the release of new footage from last June’s altercation with a security guard at Oracle Arena, Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri said in a statement that the video “sadly demonstrates how horribly I was treated by a law enforcement officer” as Toronto won its first NBA championship. As we noted on Wednesday, Ujiri has filed a countersuit in the matter.
- In the wake of a dispiriting Game 2 loss to Boston, the Sixers‘ season is on the brink and the team’s disappointment is rising, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN. Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com covers similar ground, suggesting that the post-“Process” 76ers almost look like they need to be blown up.
- Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston explores how Al Horford‘s departure a year ago created a murky future for the Celtics, and how Kemba Walker‘s arrival brightened that future.
- Celtics guard Marcus Smart will be under the microscope with Gordon Hayward sidelined, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.
NBPA Preparing For Possible Delay Of Free Agency Start Date
The National Basketball Players Association is preparing players for the possibility that the start of the 2020 free agency period will be postponed by several weeks, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
As Wojnarowski explains, the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in major uncertainty about the league’s projected revenues for the 2020/21 season. Delaying the October 18 free agency start date would give both the NBA and NBPA more time to formulate the parameters of the 2020/21 salary cap and luxury tax lines.
The NBA previously projected a $115MM salary cap and a $139MM tax threshold for the ’20/21 season. However, that projection was released in January and hasn’t been updated in recent months to account for the pandemic, which has had a huge financial impact on the league.
According to Wojnarowski, with the October 16 draft fast approaching, front offices around the NBA are concerned about the lack of updated cap and tax projections in place, since those estimates allow teams to make roster decisions with a clearer sense of the financial ramifications.
Before finalizing its projections, the league will likely want to wait as long as possible to determine whether fans can safely be allowed to return to arenas next season. As Woj notes, the NBA may also deviate from its usual formula to determine next year’s salary cap, artificially smoothing it to avoid a significant drop based on lost revenues. The NBA and NBPA continue to collectively bargain those issues.
The NBA’s tentative offseason schedule would allow free agents to begin negotiating with teams at 5:00 pm central time on October 18, just two days after the draft. The new league year is officially scheduled to begin on October 19.
However, that calendar was created when it looked as if next season would begin as early as December 1. If the start of the ’20/21 regular season is pushed back, there may not be as much urgency to open free agency that soon. According to Wojnarowski, the NBPA has been privately suggesting to players that the season could start sometime in late December or in the new year.
Although Wojnarowski’s report suggests that free agency seems more likely than not to be delayed, it’s not clear whether this year’s draft date will be affected. According to Woj, many teams have interest in connecting the draft and free agency and postponing them together.
Injury Updates: Dort, Harris, Beverley, Magic, Rondo, Hayward
After initially being ruled out for Game 2 vs. Houston, Thunder wing Luguentz Dort was updated to questionable and is now being considered available, head coach Billy Donovan confirmed today (Twitter link via Royce Young of ESPN). One of Oklahoma City’s top defenders, Dort will look to help slow James Harden.
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- Nuggets guard Gary Harris will remain sidelined for Game 3 against Utah, but head coach Michael Malone believes Harris is moving in the right direction, tweets Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. While he acknowledged that it’d be great to have Harris back during Denver’s first-round series if possible, Malone added that the team doesn’t want to put pressure on him by setting a specific timetable.
- Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said he doesn’t have a sense of the severity of Patrick Beverley‘s calf injury, which caused him to miss Game 2 vs. Dallas on Wednesday. “Obviously it is something that has lingered,” Rivers said, per Youngmisuk. “But I have no sense whether he plays next game or if this is one of those things that takes a week or so. I just don’t know.” Beverley will likely be a game-time decision on Friday, according to Rivers (Twitter link via Youngmisuk).
- Aaron Gordon (hamstring) and Michael Carter-Williams (foot) will be on the shelf again for the Magic in Game 2 vs. Milwaukee today, according to the team (Twitter link). Neither player has been active since early August.
- Lakers point guard Rajon Rondo, who hasn’t played this summer due to a fractured thumb, is listed as questionable for Game 2 vs. Portland on Thursday night, tweets Tania Ganguli of The Los Angeles Times.
- The Celtics are “aggressively treating” Gordon Hayward‘s ankle sprain, head coach Brad Stevens said on Wednesday (Twitter link). The club should have a better idea within the next few days of what the next steps for Hayward’s rehab will be. The veteran forward is expected to miss about four weeks.
Poll: Lakers’ Postseason Outlook
A dominant regular season leading up to the stoppage of the NBA’s season in March all but locked up the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference for the Lakers entering the summer restart. However, the team hasn’t quite looked like itself since play resumed. LeBron James‘ squad went 3-5 during the seeding games and dropped Game 1 of its first-round series to the No. 8 Trail Blazers.
The Lakers’ shooting doomed them in Game 1. Despite out-rebounding the Blazers, winning the turnover battle, and moving the ball better, the Lakers just couldn’t put the ball in the basket, finishing with an abysmal shooting line of .351/.156/.645.
L.A. still only lost by seven points, and the team’s shooting won’t be that bad every game. But beyond James and Anthony Davis, many of the Lakers’ secondary scorers are streaky, including Danny Green and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who went a combined 4-of-21 from the floor on Tuesday. Additionally, Avery Bradley‘s absence means the club is without its top perimeter defender — that’s not insignificant in a series against Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.
In a discussion about the Lakers’ situation today, ESPN’s writers expressed mixed opinions on whether it’s too early to start worrying about the team. As Kevin Pelton points out, L.A. is still getting the same quality shots it got during the regular season, and it seems likely those shots will start dropping at some point. However, Nick Friedell and Andre Snellings view the Lakers’ roster as top-heavy and have questions about the supporting cast.
Neither Friedell nor Royce Young necessarily expects the Lakers to fall in the first round to the eighth-seeded Blazers. However, both ESPN writers expressed skepticism that L.A. should still be considered a prime championship frontrunner.
It’s worth noting that even before the Lakers’ Game 1 loss to Portland, sports books had generally started listing the Clippers as title favorites over the Lakers, with some moving the Bucks ahead as well, per David Purdum of ESPN.
What do you think? Has your opinion of the Lakers changed at all since the restart began? Do you expect them to start firing on all cylinders again any day now? How confident do you feel right now in forecasting a Finals appearance – or win – for the Lakers?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!
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Victor Oladipo Available For Pacers In Game 2
Pacers guard Victor Oladipo has been cleared to play in Game 2 against Miami this afternoon, the club announced today (via Twitter).
Oladipo suffered an injury during the first quarter of Indiana’s Game 1 loss when he was poked in the eye by Heat forward Jae Crowder. Although he briefly stayed in the game, Oladipo soon came out and didn’t return.
Pacers head coach Nate McMillan said after Tuesday’s game that Oladipo’s eye began swelling soon after he took the inadvertent hit from Crowder, and that McMillan never considered putting him back on the court. However, the team also said after the game that tests showed “no immediate concerns,” as Nick Friedell of ESPN details.
With Domantas Sabonis already sidelined due to a foot injury, the Pacers would have faced a significant uphill battle if Oladipo had been forced to miss time as well. They’ll be looking to even up their series with the Heat today.
Bulls Notes: Draft, Karnisovas, Offseason, Oturu
Bulls executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas, speaking to Sam Smith of Bulls.com, confirmed that he’ll be the one making the final call on the team’s lottery pick this fall. He also suggested that – like most teams in the lottery – he’ll be prioritizing adding talent rather than focusing on fit.
“It’s a talent-driven league. Talent wins championships,” Karnisovas said. “So we’re going to be focused on adding talent. It’s going to be up to the coaches to maximize it. Just to get high-upside guys on our team. Looking at our roster I love what I see. The players we have now, a young core with vets like Thad (Young) and Otto (Porter). I think we can build on that. This group definitely can do better than what they’ve showed the last couple of years.”
Karnisovas, who previously served as the general manager in Denver, pointed to the Nuggets selecting both Nikola Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic in the 2014 draft despite already having multiple bigs on their roster as an example of why drafting for talent over need is usually the right call.
“The roster balance, you can sort that out,” he told Smith. “You go after talent in that position.”
Here’s more on the Bulls:
- Responding to a question from Smith about the Bulls’ greatest need, Karnisovas noted that he and new GM Marc Eversley view “developing on our players” as a prime concern. “Some of the players took a step back last year, which we are trying to address,” Karnisovas said. “When Marc and I came in, we came in with the No. 1 priority of player care and player development.”
- Karnisovas also indicated to Smith that the Bulls will have the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions available this offseason, confirming that he expects the team to operate over the cap, but under the tax. That’s not a surprise, based on Chicago’s commitments for 2020/21.
- Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic spoke to a number of scouts to get their opinions on some of the head coaching candidates who have been linked to the Bulls since Jim Boylen‘s ouster.
- Minnesota center Daniel Oturu interviewed on Wednesday with the Bulls and expects to meet with several more teams in the coming weeks, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. Oturu is the No. 36 prospect on ESPN’s big board, so there’s a chance he could still be available when Chicago picks at No. 44.
Eastern Notes: Gordon, Heat, Pistons, Knicks
Magic head coach Steve Clifford told reporters on Wednesday that forward Aaron Gordon played 2-on-2 after practice, per Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link). Clifford also mentioned that Gordon’s availability for Game 2 against the Bucks will be determined by how his hamstring is feeling on Thursday.
The 24-year-old Gordon missed Game 1 on Tuesday with a left strained hamstring, which he suffered back on August 5. This season, the Magic forward is averaging 14.4 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 3.7 APG.
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra answered questions on Wednesday about the benchings of center Meyers Leonard and rookie point guard Kendrick Nunn. Both players received DNP’s for Monday’s Game 1 against the Pacers. “Everybody’s all in on that, the purpose of what we’re trying to get accomplished here,” Spoelstra said (h/t South Florida Sun-Sentinel). “We’ll need everybody. … It’s something that we talked about as a team. And it’s Game 1 … Obviously, Kendrick is a major part of our team. We will need to get into our depth at some point.” Leonard, who was the team’s starting center, fell out of the rotation when the seeding games begin. Nunn, however, started in five games in the bubble. In those contests, he averaged 10.8 PPG, 2.4 RPG, and 2.0 APG.
- Pistons head coach Dwane Casey said on Wednesday that he does not expect Derrick Rose or Blake Griffin to participate in the team’s voluntary camp next month, though both players could attend if they want to, per James Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link). However, Casey hopes young players view it as mandatory.
- Marc Berman of the New York Post writes about the Knicks‘ odds of landing standout point guard LaMelo Ball. According to the Post, Ball’s preference is to go to New York. However, the Knicks only have a 27.6% chance of landing a top-three selection in the 2020 NBA Draft. In fact, New York has a 62.8% chance of getting a pick between 6-10. If that happens, Ball will likely be off the board, and the team could opt to draft former UNC point guard Cole Anthony.