One New COVID-19 Case Among Players Since March 31
The NBA and NBPA have formally announced that of the 483 players tested for the coronavirus within the last week, one has returned a confirmed positive test.
This is the third consecutive week with just one positive COVID-19 test among players, as the NBA has managed to avoid any major outbreaks in the second half thus far.
As a result, no games have been postponed for reasons related to coronavirus in over a month — the most recent postponement occurred on March 2.
Since the league and the players’ union don’t release any specifics about COVID-19 testing, we don’t know the identity of the player who tested positive.
Free Agency Notes: Cap Room, Kawhi, DeRozan, Paul
In an early look at the NBA’s 2021 free agent period, Sam Amick and John Hollinger of The Athletic write that three NBA teams – the Knicks, Thunder, and Spurs – project to have more than enough cap room for a maximum-salary contract this offseason, even if they were to win the draft lottery.
Besides those clubs, the Mavericks and Hornets should be among the clubs with the most space, according to Amick and Hollinger. The Athletic’s duo projects Dallas to be about $35MM below the cap if Josh Richardson opts out, while Charlotte will have about $26MM of room.
Other teams could create cap room, but that will hinge on one or two major roster decisions. For instance, the Raptors could get up to about $25MM in space, but not if they intend to re-sign Kyle Lowry. The Suns (Chris Paul) are in a similar position, with the Heat, Grizzlies, Pelicans, Hawks, Cavaliers, Bulls, and Pistons among the other teams whose cap space – or lack thereof – will depend on what happens with certain free agents.
Here’s more from Amick and Hollinger on 2021 free agency:
- Although Kawhi Leonard projects to be the top free agent on the market this summer, team sources and rival executives widely expect him to re-sign with the Clippers, per The Athletic. It’s possible that could change if Los Angeles exits the postseason early, but there’s no indication at this point that Leonard’s free agency will be as dramatic as it was in 2019.
- A source with knowledge of DeMar DeRozan‘s outlook tells The Athletic he’ll take a “wide open” approach to free agency. That doesn’t necessarily rule out a new deal with the Spurs, though a March report suggested DeRozan has interest in playing elsewhere next season and perhaps returning to the Eastern Conference.
- Amick and Hollinger believe both DeRozan and Paul will keep Jrue Holiday‘s new four-year deal ($135MM guaranteed, $25MM in incentives) very much in mind when they negotiate their next contracts. However, it’s not a perfect comparable for either player, since Paul is five years older than Holiday and DeRozan isn’t the defender that Holiday is.
Pistons Re-Sign Tyler Cook To Multiyear Contract
APRIL 7: The Pistons have officially announced Cook’s new deal, confirming in a press release that he has signed a multiyear contract with the club.
APRIL 6: Tyler Cook, who is on his second 10-day contract with the Pistons, will be signed for the remainder of the season, tweets Rod Beard of The Detroit News. A source tells Beard the deal will also include a team option for next season.
[RELATED: 10-Day Contract Tracker]
Cook’s contract for 2021/22 is set to become fully guaranteed five days after the free agency moratorium is lifted, according to Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link).
The second-year forward has appeared in 10 games since coming to Detroit, averaging 3.7 points and 3.0 rebounds in 13.5 minutes per night. He also got into four games for the Nets earlier this season. Cook had brief stops with the Cavaliers and Nuggets last season after going undrafted out of Iowa.
Cook, 23, signed his second 10-day deal with the Pistons on March 28, so it will expire at the end of Tuesday. Teams can only sign a player to two 10-day contracts in a single season.
Cole Anthony Set To Return For Magic
Magic point guard Cole Anthony will return to action on Wednesday after missing nearly two months, the team announced today (Twitter link). Anthony had been sidelined since February 9 due to a fractured rib.
Anthony, the son of former NBA player and current broadcaster Greg Anthony, was drafted out of University of North Carolina by the Magic with the 15th overall pick last fall.
On the season, the rookie has appeared in 25 games, averaging 11.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists per contest. He hit a game-winning buzzer beater to beat the Timberwolves on January 20.
Khem Birch (illness) and Michael Carter-Williams (illness) will also return tonight after multiple missing multiple games, per Orlando’s announcement.
The Magic are currently 17-33 and hold the 14th seed in the Eastern Conference.
Atlantic Notes: Quickley, Bembry, Johnson, Reed
Immanuel Quickley had an impressive start to his rookie season with the Knicks. The 6’3″ guard, who was the 25th overall pick out of Kentucky, scored at least 19 points in 11 of his first 36 NBA games. However, over the last few weeks, Quickley has hit a wall and fallen into a shooting slump. The Knicks have also dropped four of their previous five games.
With Quickley struggling, Marc Berman of the New York Post wonders whether the rookie has a future as a starting NBA point guard or if he’ll end up as a bench scorer. Berman elicits opinions from multiple scouts in his look at Quickley’s future role.
“He played above his pay grade the first few months,’” said former Sixers scout Michael VandeGarde, who now runs a scouting service. “He’s coming back down to earth. It happens a lot with kids for short periods when they play so well early. Only time will tell what he really is.’”
More from the Atlantic Division:
- Veteran guard DeAndre’ Bembry signed a two-year deal with the Raptors before the season, and while the signing went under the radar, he has been vital to his new team. As Doug Smith of The Toronto Star writes, Bembry is capable of guarding at least three positions on defense and has shown enough on offense to earn himself regular playing time.
- Celtics big man Tristan Thompson appears ready to make his return after a lengthy absence due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols, tweets Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston. Thompson last played on March 14.
- While he doesn’t receive as much attention as his star teammates, Alize Johnson who’s currently on his second 10-day contract in Brooklyn, is providing the Nets with strong production. “There are some nights where it might not look like he’s showing up on the stat sheet, but he does all the little stuff all the time. And then when we need him to come up for us offensively, he typically does,” Nets guard Joe Harris said of Johnson, per Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post.
- Rich Hofmann of The Athletic profiled Sixers rookie Paul Reed, taking a look at the NBA G League MVP known as “Bball Paul.” While Reed may not see a ton of playing time the rest of the way, he’s “now very much part of the Sixers’ team fabric,” Hofmann writes.
Kings Sign Damian Jones To 10-Day Deal
APRIL 7: The signing is now official via the Sacramento Kings official team page
APRIL 3: Free agent center Damian Jones will sign a 10-day contract with the Kings, tweets Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Jones will fill the roster spot the team created when it waived DaQuan Jeffries earlier today.
The exact date of Jones’ signing remains uncertain, Anderson adds (via Twitter). He has to clear all the NBA’s testing protocols before he’s eligible for a contract.
The Kings will be the third team of the year for Jones, who started the season with the Suns before being waived in February, then signed a pair of 10-day deals with the Lakers. He played 14 games with Phoenix and eight with L.A., averaging a combined 3.0 points and 2.0 rebounds per night.
The 25-year-old offers another option in the middle if the Kings decide to part with Hassan Whiteside, who has been rumored as a potential buyout candidate.
Draft Updates: Mitchell, Jones, Cisse, Bacot, Minaya
On the heels of winning a national championship, Baylor guard Davion Mitchell has decided to hire an agent and declare for the 2021 NBA draft, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year this season, Mitchell enjoyed a career year as a junior, boosting his averages to 14.1 PPG and 5.5 APG in 30 games (33.0 MPG), while shooting an impressive 51.1% from the floor, including 44.7% on three-pointers. He played a team-high 36 minutes in Baylor’s championship win over Gonzaga.
Mitchell’s strong showing in the NCAA tournament bumped him up several spots on ESPN’s big board — he now projects to be a potential lottery pick, coming in as this year’s No. 12 prospect.
Here are a few more draft updates from around college basketball:
- Sun Belt Player of the Year DeVante’ Jones has declared for the 2021 NBA draft while retaining his college eligibility, he announced on Twitter. As a junior at Coastal Carolina this season, the 6’1″ guard averaged 19.3 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 2.9 APG, and 2.8 SPG on .487/.368/.862 shooting line in 26 games (32.8 MPG).
- Memphis freshman center Moussa Cisse is testing the draft waters, he announced Tuesday on Twitter. Cisse was the AAC Rookie of the Year in 2020/21, averaging 6.6 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 1.6 BPG in 28 games (18.6 MPG).
- North Carolina sophomore forward Armando Bacot will go through the draft process while retaining his NCAA eligibility, he said in a Tuesday announcement (Twitter link). Bacot was UNC’s leading scorer and rebounder this season, with 12.3 PPG and 7.8 RPG in 29 games (22.7 MPG)
- South Carolina redshirt junior forward Justin Minaya has decided to test the draft waters while entering the transfer portal, he announced on Instagram. Minaya averaged just 7.0 PPG on 38.4% shooting in 20 games (30.2 MPG) in 2020/21, though he did chip in 6.3 RPG.
- Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report updated his board of this year’s top 50 prospects following the NCAA tournament.
Tennessee’s Keon Johnson Enters 2021 NBA Draft
Tennessee shooting guard Keon Johnson is declaring for the draft and will forgo his remaining years of college eligibility, he tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN.
“The NBA has always been my goal, but I never expected it to come this soon,” said Johnson, who is coming off his freshman season. “I really don’t care what number I get drafted at. I just want to go somewhere I fit in that organization. Where I can keep developing and find my niche.”
While Johnson may not care where he gets drafted, he looks like a good bet to be a mid-lottery pick. ESPN currently has him ranked as the No. 6 prospect on its big board, right behind Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs.
Givony calls Johnson one of the best athletes in college basketball and says he “maximizes his tools on both ends of the floor,” though he cautions that the 19-year-old will need to further develop his offensive game and add some bulk to reach his potential at the NBA level.
“I think NBA teams see a defensive-minded guard who can score at all three levels,” Johnson told ESPN. “I feel like my three-point shot is going to improve and keep me on the court in the NBA, along with my versatility on the offensive end.”
Johnson, who was coming off a knee injury as a senior in high school, got off to a slow start for the Volunteers and averaged a modest 11.3 PPG and 3.5 RPG on 44.9% shooting in 27 total games (25.5 MPG). However, he came on strong near the end of the season, recording 16.8 PPG and 6.0 RPG on 50.7% shooting in his final five games, including in the SEC and NCAA tournaments.
Harden Out At Least 10 Days, Durant To Return Wednesday
APRIL 7: Durant will be available to play on Wednesday night, the Nets have confirmed (Twitter link).
APRIL 6: After nagging hamstring discomfort limited James Harden to just four minutes of action in yesterday’s defeat of the Knicks, a subsequent MRI has indicated that the All-Star Nets guard has a strained right hamstring, the team tweets. The club will reassess the injury in 10 days.
Before his attempted return to the floor Monday, Harden previously missed two games with what was initially diagnosed as hamstring tightness. Harden had edged his way into the league MVP conversation with his stellar play of late, but any extended absence could derail his chances. With Brooklyn, Harden is averaging a sparkling 25.4 PPG, 11.0 APG, 8.7 RPG, 1.3 SPG, and 0.7 BPG, with a solid shooting line of .467/.361/.867 on high volume.
Harden’s comportment in forcing his way off the Rockets likely poisoned the well somewhat among the league journalists who vote for year-end award honors, so earning a second such career honor this season would’ve been an uphill battle even before the injury. Harden’s subsequent play for his new team, however, had made him somewhat undeniable as one of the league’s best players.
Meanwhile, Harden’s fellow Nets All-Star Kevin Durant could rejoin the club from his own strained left hamstring injury as soon as Wednesday against the Pelicans, per Malika Andrews of ESPN. The team officially lists him as probable (via Twitter), but Andrews notes that internally the team anticipates that the forward will play. Durant has been inactive for Brooklyn since February 13.
Since the Nets traded for Harden in mid-January, the team’s three All-Stars (Harden, Durant and Kyrie Irving) have only played together in seven games. Despite this, the club has an Eastern Conference-best 35-16 record.
Harden joins a crowded backcourt injury tally. Head coach Steve Nash suggested on Monday that reserve guard Tyler Johnson could miss two-to-three weeks as he recovers from right knee soreness. Backup guard Landry Shamet has been unavailable since last week with a right ankle sprain. Spencer Dinwiddie continues to rehabilitate from a partially torn ACL and the team expects him to miss the rest of the 2020/21 season.
NBA Expects All Arenas To Be At Full Capacity In 2021/22
The NBA is optimistic that all of its teams will be able to host fans at full capacity in their home arenas next season, writes Baxter Holmes of ESPN.
As Holmes explains, the NBA’s partnership with CLEAR, officially announced today in a press release, represents a key part of the league’s efforts to get fans back into buildings. A third of the league’s 30 teams have already been using the company’s Health Pass program, which allows fans to provide and verify their COVID-19-related health information before entering an arena, and more clubs are expected to follow suit.
When the 2020/21 season began, only a small handful of NBA teams were allowing any fans into games, but more teams have joined that list as the season has progressed. Currently, more than two-thirds of the league’s 30 franchises are hosting fans in some form.
The ever-growing number of individuals receiving coronavirus vaccinations will also be a factor in the league’s push to get arenas back to full capacity by the fall. As Holmes explains, teams must still comply with local and/or state protocols, but those restrictions should loosen in the coming months, and CLEAR’s Health Pass program will offer the ability to link an individual’s vaccination records to their account.
The Raptors may be a wild card in the NBA’s effort to return things to relative “normal” for 2021/22. The rate of vaccinations has been slower in Canada than in the U.S., and the province of Ontario has been hit particularly hard by COVID-19 as of late, having just reinstituted a month-long stay-at-home order. The hope is that the situation will improve by the fall and that the displaced Raptors, who are spending the ’20/21 campaign in Tampa, will be able to return to Scotiabank Arena in Toronto next season.