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Spurs forward Rudy Gay has secured a $500K bonus after appearing in his 53rd game of the season on Wednesday night, reports Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link).
Gay’s contract with the Spurs includes a $500K annual incentive if he plays in at least 60 games. However, that 60-game threshold applies to a typical 82-game season. Prorated across just 72 games this season, that worked out to 52.7, meaning Gay had to play in 53 games to earn his bonus.
Because Gay received the bonus last season as well, it was deemed “likely” entering this year and was already baked into his $14.5MM cap hit for 2020/21, Marks notes. As such, the Spurs won’t have to account for a higher cap charge than expected at season’s end.
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
It’s fair to say the Pacers have underachieved relative to expectations this season. After going 45-28 and finishing fourth in the East a year ago, the team is currently just 29-32 and will likely have to win one – if not two – play-in games to earn a postseason berth next month.
Still, Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard isn’t disappointed with his team’s play, telling Bob Kravitz of The Athletic that it’s hard to properly evaluate the roster, given the outsized impact the coronavirus has had on the season, as well as all the injuries Indiana has endured.
“This season has been unlike any I’ve been a part of, and it’s proven to be challenging on many fronts. I’ve got a lot of scar tissue from this season; we all do,” Pritchard said. “In some ways, it’s been less about basketball than a lot of other things. But look at it, we’re a few games within fourth, and to go through what we’ve gone through as far as injuries, I want to see how this one plays out. We could have shut it down, but we’re playing hard; we’re just severely undermanned right now.
“We’re not that far away,” Pritchard added, “but because of all these injuries now, it feels like we’re miles away.”
T.J. Warren has been sidelined for nearly the entire season, while Myles Turner, Domantas Sabonis, Jeremy Lamb, and Caris LeVert are among the others who have missed time due to injuries.
As a result, Pritchard tells Kravitz that he still isn’t sure whether the roster will require a major overhaul or just a few tweaks this offseason. He’s also not ready to draw any conclusions about the long-term viability of the Turner/Sabonis frontcourt pairing.
“I’d like to answer that after the playoffs because that’s when it really counts,” Pritchard said of the two centers. “Hopefully, Myles will be back in time.”
Here are a few more highlights from Kravitz’s Q&A with the Pacers’ president, which covers plenty of ground and is worth checking out in full if you’re an Athletic subscriber:
On Aaron Holiday‘s down year:
“We still believe in Aaron. Sometimes in a year, for whatever reason, you prepare but you have some guys playing very well at his position. I know (head coach) Nate (Bjorkgren) wants to reward the guys who played well this year, and Aaron simply hasn’t played as well. We’ll need him at some point in time, believe me. Players who stay prepared almost invariably get another shot, and he’ll get another shot, but he’ll have to hit shots and play within our system.”
On whether there are any regrets about firing Nate McMillan, who is thriving in Atlanta:
“Look, Nate is a great friend; we worked together for more than a decade. I want him to do well. He’s got a really good team, good chemistry, and they’re going to be a tough team in the playoffs. But no animosity and no regret at all. This is a transitory business. If we were dismayed by people leaving us and having success elsewhere, what would that say about us? I’m happy for Nate, just the way I’m happy for Frank Vogel.”
On Paul George and Victor Oladipo both pushing their way out of Indiana, and whether there’s concern about a perception that stars don’t want to play for the Pacers:
“I think they’re all independent situations, first of all. We obsess with making this a great place for players. … Great training facility, the best doctors in the world. And look, Malcolm (Brogdon) chose us, the Rookie of the Year chose us, and he’s had a great experience.
“We get it; we’re not for everybody. We don’t have the beach and the big city, but it’s a great place to play basketball in front of people who truly appreciate when you play the right way. Great fans, educated fans, great facilities, and I always say this now: Players get marketed all around the world. Social media could be the great equalizer. You can be in a smaller market and still have a national profile.”
On how to deal with the challenge of being a small-market team:
“We’ve done some things well and haven’t done some things well, but for us, it almost feels like you have to play a perfect game to be hyper-competitive. There are teams who can make personnel mistakes; we really can’t. Our biggest source of players is trades, and that’s really tough. Trades are challenging. I feel good about the ones we’ve made, and we have to draft better, and we will, but I still have a ton of confidence in our scouting staff. It’s just, yes, it’s a major challenge given the fact that the bifurcation of the top teams seems to be getting greater in comparison with the mid- and small-market teams. That’s something we’re always going to have to deal with.”
The Hornets will see if LaMelo Ball and Malik Monk are ready for game action during their off days Thursday and Friday, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Ball had surgery March 23 on his fractured right wrist, while Monk has been sidelined since April 1 with a sprained ankle. Both players will take part in 2-on-2 and 3-on-3 scrimmages over the next two days.
The news isn’t as encouraging for Gordon Hayward, Bonnell adds. He’s still wearing a protective boot on his injured right foot and there’s no timetable for him to start working out. “Gordon is not there yet,” coach James Borrego said.
Here are some more injury-related notes and updates:
Gary Payton II will be a free agent again when his 10-day contract with the Warriors expires tonight, and the team is still deciding on its next move, according to Drew Shiller of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Golden State has already signed Payton to a pair of 10-day deals, which is the limit for a season, so it would have to give him a contract through the end of the season to keep him on the roster. That’s still a possibility, but it won’t happen right away.
“Gary practiced today, but he will not go on the trip,” coach Steve Kerr said. “We are exploring our options as we wind down the season. There’s a chance that we would bring him back. That’s the hope. But we have some things to consider. The front office is going through their process and we’ll see how it plays out.”
One thing the Warriors will consider is Payton’s effect on the luxury tax, points out Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle. Once Payton’s contract expires, Golden State will be down to 13 players plus a pair of two-way deals. The team will have 14 days to add a player to get back to the league minimum.
Payton, 28, got into 10 games for the Warriors during his 20 days with the team. He averaged 2.5 points per game in just 4.0 minutes per night and had a team best defensive rating of 101.1.
“Gary played really well,” Kerr said. “He’s somebody who we feel like we’d love to have back. He’s got to consider his own options as well. So, we’ll see how it works out.”
Lakers star LeBron James could be back on the court next week, a source tells Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register. The source has received reports from James’ workouts and said he has shown progress in his rehab from a high-ankle sprain. Goon lists possible return dates as Monday against the Nuggets, next Thursday against the Clippers or next Friday against the Trail Blazers.
Goon’s story echoes a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski over the weekend that James was close to returning. He has been sidelined since suffering the injury in a March 20 game.
Coach Frank Vogel told reporters there’s still no firm date for James to start playing again. He also refused to speculate on whether James will be used in back-to-back games for the rest of the regular season.
“He’ll tell me when he’s ready,” Vogel said. “He and the medical team will tell me when he’s ready. They’re having conversations about it each day. They’re monitoring his progression each day, seeing where he’s at and when he’s ready to play, he’ll play.”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
Jonathan Isaac remains the best young talent on a Magic team filled with players age 23 and younger, writes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Isaac is sitting out the entire season after suffering a torn ACL last August, but he still has the potential to be the cornerstone of the organization and a future candidate for Defensive Player of the Year, according to Robbins.
The obvious question about Isaac involves durability, as he played just 34 games last season and only 27 in his rookie year of 2017/18. There are also concerns about his development on offense, as Robbins notes that he hasn’t excelled yet as either a shooter or passer. Even so, Robbins sees him as the most valuable asset on the roster.
Markelle Fultz, who has injury issues of his own, ranks second on Robbins’ list, followed by Chuma Okeke, Wendell Carter Jr., Cole Anthony, Mohamed Bamba, R.J. Hampton and Donta Hall.
There’s more from Orlando:
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich doesn’t expect guard Derrick White to play again this season, tweets Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express News.
White sprained his right ankle Monday when he landed on Jakob Poeltl‘s foot after trying to block a shot. He left the game a few minutes into the third quarter and didn’t return.
White is an important part of San Antonio’s attack, averaging 15.4 points and 3.5 assists in 36 games. He has missed 24 games already because of toe surgery he had during the offseason, another foot injury, and COVID-19.
Devin Vassell will replace White in the starting lineup, said Popovich, who wants to avoid changing his bench rotation (Twitter link).
The Spurs are locked in a tight battle to try to avoid the play-in process in the West. They are currently in ninth place at 31-29, two-and-a-half games out of sixth place.
The NBA has suspended Celtics guard Marcus Smart for one game for “directing threatening language toward a game official,” tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Smart’s actions took place during and after Tuesday’s loss to the Thunder, Charania adds (via Twitter), with Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald noting that Smart was whistled for a technical foul with 7:48 left to play (Twitter link). Smart will serve the suspension in tonight’s game against the Hornets.
Missing a game without pay will cost Smart $89K, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link).
Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. has been fined $50,000 for violating the NBA’s health and safety Protocols, the league announced in a press release.
Porter, who will turn 21 next week, violated these rules when he attended a club in Miami on April 19. The NBA’s protocols prohibit players and staff from attending indoor social gatherings of 15 or more people, along with entering bars, lounges, clubs or similar establishments.
The $50K fine is in line with what other players have received this season for protocol violations, though losing $50K will be more meaningful for Porter than for violators like James Harden and Kyrie Irving. The second-year Houston wing is making just $1.72MM this season, a fraction of what Harden and Irving are earning.
Porter has served as a key cog in the Rockets’ rotation this season, averaging 15.2 points, 6.2 assists and 31.8 minutes in 22 games (19 starts).
Sterling Brown, who was assaulted and severely injured in the incident, will not be fined, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times. The NBA considers its investigation closed unless new information arises, Stein adds (via Twitter).