Draft Notes: Watford, Pons, Petty, Tillman
LSU forward Trendon Watford has decided to withdraw from the draft, Adam Zagoria of the New York Times tweets. The 6’9” Watford is currently ranked No. 73 overall among draft prospects by ESPN. He joins Tigers teammates Darius Days and Javonte Smart, who also opted to pull out of the draft, giving the Tigers a strong group of returnees.
We have more draft decisions with the early entrant withdrawal deadline approaching at midnight ET on Monday:
- Tennessee swingman Yves Pons is returning to school for his senior season, Sean Farnham of ESPN tweets. Pons averaged 10.8 PPG and 5.4 RPG in 33.9 MPG as a junior.
- As we shared earlier, Alabama wing John Petty and UCLA forward Chris Smith are pulling off the draft.
- Michigan State forward Xavier Tillman and Delaware guard Nate Darling have decided to remain in the draft.
Eastern Notes: O’Quinn, Thibodeau, Pacers, Sixers
A missed coronavirus test cost Sixers big man Kyle O’Quinn any chance to play on Monday, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. O’Quinn, who tweeted that it “slipped my mind,” became ineligible for the game because of his no-show but can rejoin the team upon a negative test.
We have more from the Eastern Conference:
- Tom Thibodeau has allies in the Knicks front office and that could lead to a better outcome than he had with the Bulls and Timberwolves, Steve Popper of Newsday contends. Leon Rose, the team’s president, is his former agent and new executive VP William Wesley also has a long-time business relationship with him. “I think that’s part of the equation obviously, my relationship with them,” Thibodeau said. “I’ve known them for over two decades.”
- Numerous full-time Pacers Sports and Entertainment employees have been laid off due to a decline in revenue resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, Andrew Smith of TheIndyChannel.com relays. The franchise did not specify how many employees were let go. “While we have been able to avoid impacts to our full-time staff during the last four months, the continued uncertainty of a return to fully-attended events have regrettably made further steps unavoidable,” Rick Fuson, president and COO of Pacers Sports and Entertainment, said in a statement.
- With Ben Simmons shifting to power forward, the Sixers have a glaring point guard issue, David Murphy of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Shake Milton, who moved into the starting lineup in their seeding opener against Indiana, posted no points, three assists and three turnovers in 19 minutes, though he bounced back with a strong showing – and a game-winning shot – on Monday.
Southeast Notes: Isaac, Riley, Wizards’ Lottery Odds
Magic forward Jonathan Isaac suffered the first major injury during the league restart. However, the team insists that his torn left ACL wasn’t related to the left knee injury that had sidelined him since New Year’s Day, according to Roy Parry of the Orlando Sentinel. The team’s president of basketball operations, Jeff Weltman, noted Isaac “cleared every hurdle” in his recovery from the knee injury.
“Absolutely and unequivocally not brought back too early,” Weltman said. “As a matter of fact, those of you guys who follow us locally know that if we’re ever going to be criticized as to the timing of returning our players to play, it’s at the other end of the spectrum.”
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- Isaac is no longer with the team at the Orlando campus, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets. The team wants to get a more complete set of MRI images of the interior of Isaac’s knee, according to Weltman.
- The Heat need to show team president Pat Riley that he doesn’t need to use a chunk of his cap space this offseason on other teams’ free agents, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald opines. Miami has six impending free agents and the best-case scenario would be to re-sign some of those players to one-year deals and then dive into a much more attractive free agent market next summer. The Heat defeated Denver and lost to Toronto in their first two seeding games.
- The Wizards have lost their first three games in Orlando but that isn’t helping their lottery odds, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington notes. Prior to the restart, an amendment to the rules locked the eight teams who weren’t invited to Orlando into the top eight spots in the draft lottery. The best Washington can do is enter the lottery in the No. 9 spot, even if it loses its remaining games.
And-Ones: G League, Bubble, Landale, Munford
The NBA G League’s new Select Team will play in Walnut Creek, California, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). While the squad was always expected to be based out of California, previous reports suggested the Los Angeles area was most likely — Walnut Creek is in the Bay Area.
The Select Team is expected to be made up of a combination of noteworthy prospects and veteran mentors. Five-star recruits Jalen Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Daishen Nix, and Isaiah Todd have signed on to be part of the team, as have intriguing international big men Kai Sotto and Princepal Singh.
It remains to be seen which vets might fill out the roster, but Brian Shaw will be the club’s head coach. The Select Team won’t be part of the NBAGL’s traditional regular season schedule, but is expected to play exhibition games against G League teams, as well as against foreign national teams and NBA academies, as the program focuses on helping top prospects prepare for the NBA.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- It’s too early to declare it a complete success, but the NBA’s “bubble” experiment is off to a great start, as Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press writes. “Seriously, it’s a great stage to play,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “There’s not a lot of distractions. It’s the same court every night, so you get your shooting depth perception and all of that. It’s pure basketball. So, you see some of the talents these guys have are coming out.”
- Big man Jock Landale has officially parted ways with Zalgiris Launas, the Lithuanian team announced today in a press release. As the club noted in its announcement, Landale will be seeking an NBA job this fall when free agency opens.
- Former Grizzlies and Bucks guard Xavier Munford has joined Turkish team Bursaspor Basketbol, according to the club (Twitter link; hat tip to Sportando). A former Rhode Island standout, Munford has appeared in just 20 NBA games, though he’s a G League veteran, having logged 209 NBAGL appearances, including 43 this past season with the Delaware Blue Coats.
Dennis Schröder Leaves NBA Campus For Birth Of Child
As expected, Thunder guard Dennis Schröder has left the NBA’s Walt Disney World campus in order to be with his wife for the birth of their second child, head coach Billy Donovan confirmed today, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
“It happened this morning so he’s with his family at this point in time,” Donovan said. “I’ll have a chance to probably talk to him and find out a little bit more, if it’s not later today, tomorrow. But right now for at least this game, he’ll be out. We’ll probably be able to gather some more information once we get a chance to spend a little bit more time with his over the phone.”
Shortly after the Thunder arrived at the NBA’s campus last month, Schröder indicated that he anticipated leaving in early August for the birth of his child, so his departure doesn’t come as a surprise.
A Sixth Man of the Year candidate, Schröder has enjoyed the best season of his career in 2019/20, 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.
The NBA’s protocols for leaving and re-entering the Disney campus call for a quarantine period of four days when a player returns. That quarantine period can be extended all the way up to 10-14 days if the player doesn’t test negative for COVID-19 each day that he’s away (or for seven consecutive days leading up to his return, if he’s gone for more than a week). However, it seems likely that Schröder will make sure to get tested daily during his absence.
Even if Schröder’s absence is brief, he’s probably on track to miss at least the Thunder’s games against Denver (today), the Lakers (Wednesday), and the Grizzlies (Friday).
Losing the veteran guard for a handful of their seeding games will create a tougher path for the Thunder as they look to improve their place in the standings. At 41-24, Oklahoma City currently ranks sixth in the West, but is just a half-game behind Utah and Houston and only 1.5 games behind the third-seeded Nuggets.
John Petty, Chris Smith, Javonte Smart Withdrawing From Draft
Alabama wing John Petty has elected to return to school for his senior year after testing the draft waters, reports Cecil Hurt of The Tuscaloosa News (Twitter link).
Petty, who declared for the draft as an early entrant this spring, averaged 14.5 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 2.5 APG with an impressive .440 3PT% in 29 games (33.5 MPG) as a junior. He ranked 53rd on ESPN’s list of the top 100 prospects of 2020, making him a candidate to be drafted, but he has decided to wait another year before going pro.
Another candidate to be picked in the second round has also withdrawn from the draft, with Chris Smith‘s father indicating that the UCLA forward is headed back to school, per Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link).
The No. 65 prospect on ESPN’s big board, Smith had a breakout junior season for the Bruins increasing his scoring average to 13.1 PPG while also contributing 5.4 RPG, 1.6 APG, and 1.0 SPG in 31 contests (28.3 MPG).
LSU guard Javonte Smart is also pulling out of the draft, Rothstein tweets. Smart, who doesn’t rank among ESPN’s top 100, recorded 12.5 PPG and 4.2 APG in 31 games (34.2 MPG) in his sophomore season in 2019/20.
Monday represents the deadline for college early entrants to withdraw from the draft and maintain their NCAA eligibility. That deadline arrives at midnight tonight, as Rothstein tweets.
Because of the draft postponement, the deadline to declare for the draft as an early entrant actually doesn’t arrive for another two weeks. So if a player like Petty, Smith, or Smart has second thoughts by August 17, he could technically re-enter the draft, as long as he’s prepared to forgo his remaining college eligibility.
Oladipo Not Playing On Monday; Brogdon Returns
1:32pm: Oladipo has officially been ruled out for Monday’s game, while Brogdon will be active, tweets Agness.
10:45am: Pacers guard Victor Oladipo has been listed as doubtful to play in Monday’s game against the Wizards, as Scott Agness of Vigilant Sports tweets. Oladipo continues to rehab the quad tendon injury that he returned from earlier this year.
The fact that Oladipo isn’t expected to suit up against Washington shouldn’t be a cause for concern for Pacers fans. Indiana is also scheduled to play on Tuesday vs. Orlando, and even after the All-Star guard changed his mind about sitting out the restart, there was an expectation that he wouldn’t play in both halves of the team’s lone back-to-back set. Sitting on Monday should mean that Oladipo is good to go on Tuesday.
Oladipo, who announced a month ago today that he would opting out of the restart this summer, reconsidered that position after accompanying the Pacers to Orlando and responding well in practices. He logged 32 minutes in the club’s win over Philadelphia on Saturday, putting up 15 points and seven rebounds on 6-of-14 shooting.
Meanwhile, Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon, who missed that game against the Sixers due to a neck injury, is listed as questionable for Monday’s contest vs. Washington, Agness notes. If Brogdon isn’t able to return today, he seems likely to do so soon.
NBA Tweaks Policy For Inconclusive COVID-19 Tests
The NBA has adjusted its policy for players who receive inconclusive results following a COVID-19 test, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports that the change in protocol is designed to reduce the likelihood of a player missing a game due to a false positive.
According to Wojnarowski, the league’s new plan is for a player who gets an inconclusive result to get clearance in as little as 24 hours — to do so, he must return a negative test right away and then return a second negative within 60 minutes of the scheduled tipoff of his team’s next game.
Previously, the NBA’s policy called for a two-day quarantine following an inconclusive test or false positive, with the player required to return a pair of negative tests at least 24 hours apart to receive clearance. As we detailed last week, teams around the league were concerned about the possibility that that process would be too slow to clear a healthy player in time for an important game.
With the exception of a couple players who tested positive during their initial quarantine when they arrived in Orlando last month, the NBA has yet to have a player test positive for the coronavirus on its Walt Disney World campus.
However, with players being tested daily and inconclusive test results occurring in approximately one in 200 tests, per Wojnarowski, it seems inevitable that false positives could become an issue at some point during the seeding games or postseason. The league’s protocol adjustment should reduce the odds of such an incident affecting a player’s availability for his next game.
Nets’ LeVert, Harris, Allen Won’t Play On Tuesday
The Nets will be without three of their key players on Tuesday, with head coach Jacque Vaughn announcing today that Caris LeVert (thigh contusion), Joe Harris (back tightness), and Jarrett Allen (rest) won’t play against Milwaukee (Twitter links via Alex Schiffer of The Athletic).
Tuesday’s game against the Bucks will be the first half of a back-to-back set for the Nets, which Vaughn noted today when announcing his inactives. Allen, at least, should be good to go on Wednesday vs. the Celtics after playing 38 minutes on Sunday vs. Washington — we’ll have to wait to find out if LeVert and/or Harris will be back for Wednesday’s game as well.
The Nets’ active roster on Tuesday will look almost nothing like the group that the team relied on for much of the season. Even with LeVert, Harris, and Allen in the lineup, Brooklyn entered the restart shorthanded, missing injured players like Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and Nicolas Claxton, as well as Spencer Dinwiddie, Taurean Prince, DeAndre Jordan, and Wilson Chandler, all of whom either opted out of the restart or were ruled out following positive coronavirus tests.
On Tuesday, the Nets will be led by the likes of Tyler Johnson, Garrett Temple, Chris Chiozza, Rodions Kurucs, Lance Thomas, and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot as they go up against the NBA’s best team.
Mike Budenholzer, Billy Donovan Win Coaches Association Award
Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer and Thunder head coach Billy Donovan have been voted the co-coaches of the year by the National Basketball Coaches Association, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
This award, introduced in 2017, isn’t the NBA’s official Coach of the Year award, which is voted on by media members and is represented by the Red Auerbach Trophy. The winner of that award is expected to be announced at some point during the postseason this summer.
The Coaches Association’s version of the award – named after longtime NBCA executive director Michael H. Goldberg – is voted on by the NBA’s 30 head coaches, none of whom can vote for himself.
Budenholzer, who also won the NBCA’s award in 2019, has had even more success with the East-leading Bucks this season. His team has a 54-13 record and – before the season was suspended – had been on pace to surpass the 60 victories that last year’s Milwaukee squad racked up.
As for Donovan, he has exceeded expectations with a Thunder team that was viewed as a borderline playoff contender and a candidate for a full-fledged rebuild. Instead of returning to the lottery following the offseason departures of Russell Westbrook and Paul George, Oklahoma City is 41-24, good for sixth in the Western Conference. A strong finish over the next couple weeks could result in a top-four record in the conference for the Thunder.
Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, widely viewed as the favorite to win the official Coach of the Year award in 2020, was one vote away from finishing in a three-way tie with Budenholzer and Donovan, per Wojnarowski.
Sources tell ESPN that Taylor Jenkins (Grizzlies), Nate McMillan (Pacers), Erik Spoelstra (Heat), and Brad Stevens (Celtics), and Frank Vogel (Lakers) also received votes.