Dennis Schröder Returns To NBA’s Campus
Thunder guard Dennis Schröder has returned to the NBA’s campus at Walt Disney World, a team spokesperson confirmed to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman on Tuesday. Schröder left Orlando over a week ago in order to be with his wife for the birth of their second child.
Assuming Schröder tested negative for the coronavirus for each of the last seven days while away from the campus, the expectation is that he’ll have to quarantine for just four days now that he’s back at Disney World. We don’t know exactly when Schröder returned and began quarantining, so it remains to be seen whether he’ll be available to play in Oklahoma City’s final seeding game on Friday vs. the Clippers.
At the very least, Schröder figures to miss Wednesday’s game against Miami. If the veteran guard doesn’t clear quarantine in time for Friday’s game, the Thunder will plan to work him back into the rotation during the first game of the postseason next week, barring any quarantine- or testing-related complications.
While he was away from the NBA’s campus, Schröder was named a finalist for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award for 2019/20. He has enjoyed the best year of his career in OKC this season, averaging 18.9 PPG, 4.0 APG, and 3.7 RPG with career-best shooting percentages of 46.9% from the floor and 37.9% from beyond the arc.
NBA To Announce Awards For Top Bubble Performers On Saturday
The NBA announced today in a press release that it will name an All-Seeding Games Team and the Player of the Seeding Games to honor the top performers of the summer restart.
According to the league, media members – sportswriters and broadcasters – who have been on site at the Walt Disney World campus covering the restart will vote on the awards. Those voters will select a total of 10 players for the All-Seeding Games First Team and Second Team.
The winners will be announced on August 15 – this Saturday – before the first game of the Western Conference play-in tournament.
Because these awards will only reward the top performers for the eight seeding games played between July 30 and August 14, players from the bottom eight teams obviously won’t be eligible.
However, players who may not receive serious consideration for full-season awards – such as Pacers forward T.J. Warren – will have an opportunity to earn a spot on the All-Seeding Games Team based on their strong play this summer.
The NBA recently announced the finalists for its full-season awards, including MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and Rookie of the Year, among others.
New York Notes: Nets Guards, KD, DSJ, K. Payne
Both Tyler Johnson and Chris Chiozza will be free agents at the end of the 2019/20 season, as Johnson signed a one-year contract in June and Chiozza’s two-way deal is expiring as well. However, the two guards are making a strong case to be considered for next season’s Nets roster, as Tom Dowd of BrooklynNets.com writes.
The Nets’ rotation has been in a state of flux this summer due to injuries, opt-outs, COVID-19 cases, and some lineup experimentation. However, Johnson and Chiozza have often shared the backcourt as part of the club’s second unit, and the pairing has worked. Entering today’s game, Chiozza is averaging 9.2 PPG and 5.0 APG in six games during the restart, while Johnson has contributed 11.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 2.8 APG.
“I think it’s a great combination; two guards that can pass and shoot pretty well,” Chiozza said, per Dowd. “He’s a smart player so it’s easy to play with him. He knows how to move when I’ve got the ball and I feel like we get each other a lot if open shots.”
Meanwhile, veteran guard Jamal Crawford was supposed to be a backcourt contributor for the Nets this summer after signing as a substitute player, but has been limited to just six minutes due to a hamstring injury.
Despite not playing much, Crawford has provided great leadership for the Nets, including Caris LeVert, head coach Jacque Vaughn said this week (Twitter link via Brian Lewis of The New York Post). According to Vaughn, Crawford may not return before the seeding schedule ends, but the team remains confident he can contribute this summer.
Here’s more on the NBA’s two New York teams:
- When the Nets clinched a playoff spot, it assured injured star Kevin Durant of a $1MM bonus, as Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter). Because the bonus had been considered “likely” rather than “unlikely,” earning it this season won’t impact Durant’s cap hit for 2020/21.
- Former lottery pick Dennis Smith Jr. finds himself at a crossroads as he enters a contract year under new Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. One scout who spoke to Berman is curious to see how the team handles Smith in ’20/21. “He’s certainly not a Thibs kind of player, but let’s see how committed they are to getting him right,” the scout said. “You don’t want to force it because they traded (Kristaps) Porzingis for him. Knowing when to cut bait is important. There may be too many things to fix with him.”
- New Knicks assistant coach Kenny Payne is primarily known for three things, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News: recruiting, relationships, and developing frontcourt players. As Bondy writes, the Knicks will hope that Payne can assist in their efforts to attract stars to New York.
Andre Iguodala: I Have “About A Year Or Two Left”
During last year’s NBA Finals, then-Warriors forward Andre Iguodala addressed the topic of his eventual retirement, suggesting that he had “a good idea” of how much longer he wanted to play. At the time, Iguodala claimed he could play four or five more years, but didn’t plan to do so.
Speaking this week to Mark Medina of USA Today, Iguodala – now a member of the Heat – revisited that topic and provided a more concrete timeline for the potential end of his career.
“I have about a year or two left,” the former Finals MVP told Medina. “I’m serious this time. I got two left.”
When the Heat acquired Iguodala from the Grizzlies at this year’s trade deadline, they agreed to a two-year contract extension that includes a guaranteed $15MM salary for 2020/21 and a $15MM team option for ’21/22. Presumably, the 36-year-old plans to play out that contract, though if Miami doesn’t pick up his option next year, perhaps he’ll consider retiring after just one more season.
According to Medina, one of the primary factors in Iguodala’s thinking is his desire to spend more time with his family, helping wife Christina raise their teenage son, Andre Jr.
“He lives a rich and soft life. So I have to prepare him to be self-sufficient,” Iguodala told Medina, half joking. “He’s smart enough, but he hasn’t dealt with any danger. Coming from where we come from, it helps us in terms of having street awareness. You have to scope the scene and know there is danger around. But he’s so comfortable that I have to reign him in.”
Iguodala no longer has the same kind of impact on the court that he did when he averaged nearly 20.0 PPG with the Sixers in 2008 or when he won his NBA Finals MVP award with Golden State in 2015. Still, he has established himself as a regular, reliable part of the Heat’s rotation since joining the club in February. In 20 games for Miami (20.2 MPG), he has averaged 4.8 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 2.6 APG.
Terrence Ross Returns To NBA Campus
Magic sharpshooter Terrence Ross wasn’t away from the NBA’s campus at Walt Disney World for long. After announcing on Monday that Ross had left to address a medical matter unrelated to COVID-19, the Magic said this morning (via Twitter) that he has returned.
Ross’ medical tests came back negative and he has begun his quarantine period, according to the team. Typically, a player who leaves the NBA’s campus for personal reasons must quarantine for at least four days upon returning. However, the league sent out a memo in July informing teams that players wouldn’t necessarily have to quarantine for that long if they leave the bubble for local medical treatment with league approval.
The Magic previously announced that Ross would be out for Tuesday’s game against Brooklyn, but if we assume his quarantine period will be brief, he could be back in action on Thursday when Orlando faces New Orleans in the team’s final seeding game. Whether or not he plays this week, he definitely should be available for the start of the postseason on August 17.
Although he hasn’t started a game in 2019/20, Ross is the first man off the bench for the Magic, playing 27.4 minutes per contest. He has averaged 14.7 PPG on .403/.351/.853 shooting in 69 games this season, though those numbers are slightly down during the restart — 14.3 PPG on .362/.300/.913 shooting in six games this summer.
Knicks Hire Kenny Payne As Assistant Coach
The Knicks have formally announced the first addition to Tom Thibodeau‘s new staff, confirming in a press release that they’ve hired Kentucky associate head coach Kenny Payne as an assistant. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the hiring.
Payne, who has been a member of John Calipari‘s Wildcats staff for the last decade, has strong relationships with new Knicks president of basketball operations Leon Rose and executive VP William Wesley, Wojnarowski notes.
“I’m thrilled that Kenny has joined my staff as an assistant coach. He has an outstanding ability to forge relationships with players and improve their skills,” Thibodeau said in a statement. “He knows what it takes to win and has learned from one of the best coaches there is in John Calipari. Kenny will be a tremendous addition to our organization.”
Before being hired by Kentucky in 2010, Payne was an assistant with the Oregon Ducks. He also played basketball professionally before beginning his coaching career, spending a few seasons with the Sixers from 1989-93.
As we noted over the weekend when discussing the Knicks’ interest in Payne, the longtime college assistant is known for developing big men, including Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns. He also worked with Knicks forwards Julius Randle and Kevin Knox while they were at Kentucky.
Mike Woodson and Mike Miller are among the other coaches rumored to be candidates to join Thibodeau’s staff.
Nets To Formally Launch Coaching Search When Season Ends
Although interim head coach Jacque Vaughn has done an admirable job with the Nets during the NBA’s restart this summer, the team still intends to formally launch a full head coaching search when their season comes to an end, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.
As Charania explains, team owner Joseph Tsai wants to identify the best possible “partner for team ownership, the front office, coaching staff, and players.” The team will be prioritizing building its culture based on relationships and “pursuing sustainable success.”
It’s possible the Nets’ search will lead them back to Vaughn, as Charania indicates he’s expected to receive serious consideration to retain his current position. Since replacing Kenny Atkinson in March, Vaughn has led Brooklyn to a 6-2 record, and four of those wins have come with a depleted squad in Orlando. Although the seventh-seeded Nets aren’t expected to win a playoff series, putting up a spirited fight against the defending-champion Raptors in the first round could further bolster Vaughn’s chances.
Still, Brooklyn is expected to consider several outside candidates as well. Charania identifies former NBA head coaches Jason Kidd, Tyronn Lue, and Jeff Van Gundy as possible targets, echoing an April report from The New York Times.
Sixers assistant Ime Udoka is also among the Nets’ potential candidates, according to Charania, who notes that more contenders could emerge “as job statuses around the league change.”
Of course, with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving due back from injuries for the 2020/21 season, an ability to connect with and command the respect of those superstars will be a major factor the Nets consider as they decide on a permanent head coach.
And-Ones: Edwards, Gillespie, Westphal, Williams
Georgia freshman guard Anthony Edwards is the lukewarm favorite to be chosen with the No. 1 overall pick this offseason but opinions about his game vary widely, as Sam Vecenie of The Athletic notes. In a poll of eight college coaches, some believe Edwards will be a perennial All-Star in the mold of Bradley Beal. One of the coaches that Vecenie spoke to believes he might be nothing more than an average role player. Edwards’ ability in pick-and-rolls makes him at least a top-five player in this class, Vecenie concludes.
We have more from around the basketball world:
- Baylor power forward Freddie Gillespie has interviewed with half of the teams in the league, including his hometown Timberwolves, Darren Wolfson of KSTP tweets. Gillespie is considered a marginal second-round prospect. He’s currently ranked No. 73 overall by ESPN and 15th among players at his position.
- Hall of Fame guard Paul Westphal has been diagnosed with brain cancer, former ESPN Sports Reporters host Mike Lupica tweets. The 69-year-old Westphal, who was inducted last year, also coached Phoenix, Seattle and Sacramento after his playing career ended in 1984.
- Victor Williams has been named CEO of NBA Africa, according to a league press release. Williams, an investment banking executive with extensive experience growing businesses across the U.S. and Africa, will be based in the league’s Johannesburg office. In this newly-created role, Williams will oversee the league’s basketball and business development initiatives in Africa.
Restart Notes: Tipline, Departures, Testing, Missing Eight
Numerous players have circumvented the anonymous tipline by contacting commissioner Adam Silver directly, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reports (video link). The tipline was established to encourage players to report violations of protocol at the Orlando campus. Dwight Howard, Richaun Holmes and Bruno Caboclo were among the players reprimanded by the league for violations since teams arrived in Orlando.
We have more restart-related news:
- The teams in Orlando that don’t make the playoffs will head home immediately, Haynes tweets. NBA teams that have been mathematically eliminated on or before Wednesday will head home right after their final game has ended.
- The league has taken some heat for seemingly preferential treatment in terms of access to COVID-19 testing. Players and staff members have been tested multiple times but the league isn’t taking away tests from the general public, as Mark Medina of USA Today explains. The NBA launched a community testing program that will provide thousands of COVID-19 PCR tests for free, both in Orlando and in the league’s 29 other team markets, through this month.
- The biggest losers in the restart were the eight teams who weren’t invited to Orlando, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today opines. Several of those teams have young rosters that could have benefited from additional playing time. There have been discussions about bringing those teams to Orlando once others start leaving after being eliminated from contention but it’s unlikely to become a reality, Zillgitt adds.
Pelicans Notes: Williamson, Gentry, Favors, Ball
The Pelicans were a huge disappointment during the restart and it raises some long-term questions about the roster, according to William Guillory of The Athletic.
Zion Williamson didn’t show improvement in his ball-handling or defense despite the hiatus to work on those aspects of his game, and his weight and lack of conditioning were also issues. The staff was cautious regarding the rookie’s minutes and even sat him out for a game during a back-to-back.
The offseason could be complicated by decisions regarding the futures of Brandon Ingram, Jrue Holiday, Lonzo Ball and Derrick Favors with the franchise, Guillory adds.
We have more on the Pelicans:
- The team’s poor finish has put Alvin Gentry firmly on the hot seat but he’d like to think the front office has faith in him, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated tweets. Regarding the decision whether to retain him, Gentry replied: “That’s not in my job description. If it was, I wouldn’t fire myself.”
- Favors said on Monday that he’d like to re-sign with the team, Guillory tweets. The 29-year-old big man heads into unrestricted free agency after averaging 9.0 PPG and 9.8 RPG this season. “Hopefully, they’ll have me back,” he said.
- Ball was disappointed with his performance in Orlando but he’s generally pleased with how his first year in New Orleans unfolded, Mannix writes. “Overall, I think it was a positive experience,” Ball said. “I’m definitely looking forward to next year. I don’t think the whole season should be put on the bubble. Look at the whole year. We made a lot of growth … I’m proud of that.”
- As we noted earlier, Williamson, Holiday and Ingram will sit out on Tuesday in what amounts to a meaningless game against Sacramento.