Clippers Tell Montrezl Harrell To Take Time To Grieve
The Clippers are slowly getting their full roster together in Orlando, but they may have to wait a while for Montrezl Harrell, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
The backup big man received permission to leave the Walt Disney World campus two weeks ago because of the death of his grandmother. He doesn’t appear ready to focus on basketball yet, posting on Instagram last night that he doesn’t know when he “will stop crying.”
“I don’t know how to feel right now,” Harrell wrote. “I feel lost empty you are my queen, my best friend, my light in all darkness. I never had you leaving my side. I don’t know how I’m do it but I got to find some way but losing you today isn’t going to make any day I wake up easy.”
Coach Doc Rivers told reporters today that the team will give Harrell as much time as he needs to deal with his grief. He said the league needs to recognize the importance of mental health and treat those situations as seriously as it does physical injuries.
“I’ve talked to him … From others I get asked from inside like, ‘When is Trez coming back’ and my answer’s been the same — when he’s ready,” Rivers said. “When he’s ready, he’ll come back. You can’t play if you’re not right mentally and because of the emotional part of it. His grandmother is very tight with him, so all I told him is ‘I love you and take your time. We’ll be ready with open arms when you come.'” (Twitter link from Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times)
Harrell, Lou Williams and Patrick Beverley all left the Clippers for personal reasons over the past two weeks. Williams and Beverley have both returned, but Williams is on an extended quarantine, while Beverley is playing under a minutes restriction.
Victor Oladipo Will Start Pacers’ Opener
Victor Oladipo will be in the starting lineup as the Pacers begin their reseeding schedule tonight, the team announced on Twitter. Oladipo, who wasn’t sure if he was going to play at all in Orlando because of concerns about his quad tendon, had been listed as a game-time decision.
“He is in the lineup, he’ll be starting tonight,” coach Nate McMillan said. “So yes, he’s playing and ready to go.”
Oladipo has appeared in just 13 games this season after recovering from surgery that kept him sidelined until late January. He averaged 13.8 points in 25.9 minutes per night, which are both career lows. He also shot a career-worst .391 from the field and .304 from 3-point range.
Oladipo reportedly decided in early July to skip the NBA’s restart, but he remained on the Pacers’ roster and accompanied the team to Orlando. He had second thoughts once he went through a couple of practices at the Walt Disney World campus.
“This is very, very rare so right now I’m trying to figure things out just like everybody else had to figure what situation they were in,” Oladipo said, per Eric Woodyard of ESPN. “… Essentially this is my knee and my body, my leg and I’ve got to listen to how I respond because everyone responds differently.”
The news isn’t as good for backcourt partner Malcolm Brogdon, who will sit out tonight’s game because of a neck injury, the team announced in a separate tweet. This marks the 18th game Brogdon has missed this season with eight different ailments, notes Nat Newell of The Indianapolis Star.
New York Notes: Nets, Crawford, Thibodeau, Forbes List
The Nets were overmatched in their first reseeding game Friday against the Magic, and it’s a trend that will likely continue throughout their stay in Orlando, writes Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post. Brooklyn started out strong in the 128-118 loss, which dropped the team into eighth place in the East, but a lack of proven NBA talent was too much to overcome. The Nets are missing seven members of their regular roster.
“We need to embrace that stuff a little bit,” coach Jacque Vaughn said. “We’ll have to be extremely gritty, put a body on someone every single possession. That gave us more than 40 opportunities to shoot 3s and when teams do that you have to make them pay.”
There’s more on the New York teams:
- Veteran guard Jamal Crawford was held out of Friday’s game and may not make his debut with the Nets tomorrow, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Crawford is listed as questionable for the contest with the Wizards because of conditioning issues. Brooklyn holds a six-game lead over Washington and can effectively clinch a playoff spot with a win.
- Now that Tom Thibodeau is officially the new head coach of the Knicks, Jonathan Macri of Sports Illustrated looks at five of his former players who could potentially play for him in New York. He notes that when Thibodeau was hired in Minnesota, he brought in several of his ex-players from Chicago. In addition to Taj Gibson, who is already on New York’s roster and is waiting for the team to make a decision on his $9.5MM option for next season, Macri’s list includes D.J. Augustin, Zach LaVine, Jeff Teague and Dario Saric.
- The Knicks are this year’s highest-valued NBA team on the annual list from Forbes. Despite seven straight losing seasons, the Knicks are third overall at $4.6 billion, trailing only the Dallas Cowboys and New York Yankees. The Lakers rank fourth at $4.4 billion and the Warriors are fifth at $4.3 billion.
Draft Notes: Cockburn, Dosunmu, Ayayi, Carr, More
Illinois will have two important players back on campus next season as center Kofi Cockburn and guard Ayo Dosunmu have both withdrawn from the NBA draft, writes Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog. Cockburn made an impact in his first collegiate season, averaging 13.3 points and 8.8 rebounds in 31 games. He announced his decision today on Twitter.
“He’s coming back to improve on all aspects of his game,’’ said Karriem Memminger, who serves as a mentor to the 7-footer. “He feels like there’s so much more he wants to show to the next level (NBA). He’s never satisfied. He wants to win a Big Ten championship followed by a national championship. And he wants to be selected to first team all-conference. Plus he loves the coaching staff and Illinois fans, who he feels are the best fans in college basketball. His dream is to become an NBA player and an NBA All-Star.’’
Dosunmu, who made his decision Friday night, averaged 16.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game as a sophomore. He was among the players invited to this year’s draft combine.
There’s more draft news to pass along:
- Joel Ayayi has decided to return to Gonzaga for his junior season, Zagoria tweets. Ayayi averaged 10.6 points and 6.3 rebounds this year and was named Most Outstanding Player in the West Coast Conference Tournament.
- Point guard Marcus Carr has decided to bypass the draft and return to Minnesota, writes Marcus Fuller of The Star Tribune. A transfer from Pitt, Carr set a school record this season with 207 assists and was a Third Team All-Big 10 selection by the media. “I am dedicating this season to my brother, and I can’t wait to be out on the court with my teammates in front of Gopher nation,” Carr wrote in a text.
- Damien Jefferson and Denzel Mahoney will both return to Creighton next season, according to a tweet from head coach Greg McDermott.
- Arkansas guard Isaiah Joe will return to school for his junior season, tweets Sam Vecenie of The Athletic. Joe averaged 16.9 PPG this year.
- Colorado guard McKinley Wright has elected to pull out of the draft and return to school next season, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link).
Suns Notes: Playoffs, Layoffs, Ayton, Baynes
The Suns are in the Orlando campus vying for a postseason push, but that possibility remains small. With just a handful of scrimmage games, a lack of key players due to the coronavirus, and a sizeable deficit, Phoenix does not figure to play into the postseason picture.
Duane Rankin of Arizona Central polled several prominent national NBA writers on what they have seen from the Suns and what they expect from their play in Orlando. Most writers agreed on one point: the Devin Booker/Deandre Ayton duo will shine, but the rest of the roster and their contributions remain unknown.
The most reasonable take may have come from The Athletic’s Michael Lee, who sees the Suns’ campus play as a strong build toward the 2020/21 season.
“I think this will bode well for the 2020/21 season more than anything,” Lee said. “They’ll add another draft pick, have a healthy and improving Kelly Oubre, and probably take a more serious approach to the regular season.”
Check out more Suns notes below:
- Amid the sale of the G League Northern Arizona Suns, several employees have been laid off, Rankin writes in a separate piece. While the exact number is not known, nearly 30 employees were reportedly let go, Rankin adds. “We’ve been working on restructuring a number of departments since early this year,” Suns Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Dean Stoyer told the outlet. “We found that some of the roles were redundant, some roles were outdated and there were some roles impacted for performance reasons.”
- Ayton has been developing a three-point shot throughout his young NBA career but is now feeling comfortable shooting from beyond the arc consistently, ESPN’s Andrew Lopez writes. “I’ve been working on this thing my whole life,” Ayton said. “I could’ve been shooting. It’s just that I’m more comfortable with a system surrounded me to make me shoot the shot.”
- Suns guard Jalen Lecque arrived at the Orlando campus earlier this week but is quarantined while big man Aron Baynes practiced, Suns reporter Gina Mizell relays (Twitter link). Suns coach Monty Williams confirmed that Baynes, who is recovering from COVID-19, will need more time before he’s game-ready, Mizell adds (Twitter link).
Tom Thibodeau Notes: Butler, G League, Knicks
The Knicks officially named Tom Thibodeau the new head coach earlier this week, ending a long search for the next person to hopefully propel New York back into title contention. Thibodeau, a former assistant coach with the Knicks, brings a winning pedigree, evidenced by his strong run as Bulls head coach.
Now that the Knicks’ future is clearer, Thibodeau’s hiring has and will continue to draw analysis and reaction from around the league. Like every coach, Thibodeau has faced his share of criticism while at the head coaching helm with the Bulls and Timberwolves.
Below you can check out some more news and reaction on New York appointing Thibodeau as the one to lead the Knicks into the future.
- Heat All-Star Jimmy Butler, who developed from a bench player into the NBA’s elite, is among those most familiar with Thibodeau. Butler, coached by Thibodeau in Chicago and Minnesota, believes his former coach will help the Knicks. “He’s going to do great. He’s going to turn those young guys into some real players; some superstars, some All-Stars,” Butler said to ESPN’s Nick Friedell (Twitter link). “I know he’s been itching for this. I know he’s been preparing for it. When you talk about Thibs and the big stage, I think they go hand in hand.”
- One policy change under Thibodeau that could change is how the Knicks utilize the G League, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. During his introductory press conference, Thibodeau said the team would like to have players who are not getting sufficient minutes with the Knicks see more floor time in Westchester with the G League squad. Berman notes that giving underutilized players significant G League minutes was a contentious issue between the former vice president of player development/G-League operations Craig Robinson and GM Scott Perry.
- In an earlier post this week, we relayed some other tidbits on Thibodeau’s hiring, particularly hinting at him being open to changing his coaching style to give ample rest.
Lance Stephenson Was ’99 Percent’ Set For Pacers Signing
NBA veteran Lance Stephenson was “99 percent” set to sign with the Pacers this past March before the coronavirus pandemic shuttered play until the league’s restart in Orlando, Forbes’ Adam Zagoria writes.
Stephenson, 30, was playing in China for the Liaoning Flying Leopards after signing a one-year pact this past August. In March, it appeared that Stephenson was on track to join Indiana for the third time in his career. However, his agent Reggie Brown confirmed to Zagoria that players who had been in international leagues were not eligible for the Orlando campus, negating the possibility of Stephenson’s NBA return after the hiatus.
“We were in serious conversations for a third-time’s-a-charm return to the Pacers,” Brown said. “We were offered buyout money from the team in China from the Pacers and we were 99 percent done. And then the pandemic took place, and the NBA decided that no overseas players would be allowed to participate in the 22-team bubble return. They would only take players who played last season or this season in the NBA and/or the G League.”
With the Leopards, Stephenson enjoyed a successful campaign, averaging 26.7 PPG and 7.4 RPG before the CBA season was suspended amid the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China. Last season, Stephenson suited up for 68 games as a bench piece for the Lakers.