Poll: Lakers, Mavs, Or Blazers In Play-In Tournament?
The Lakers, Mavericks, and Trail Blazers all consider themselves solid playoff teams and potential contenders, but at least one of them will end up in the Western Conference’s play-in tournament in two weeks. With the Jazz, Suns, Clippers, and Nuggets in total control of the West’s top four seeds, the Lakers, Mavs, and Blazers find themselves vying for the fifth and sixth spots — the No. 7 finisher will host the first play-in game against the No. 8 seed.
After a bad loss at home vs. Toronto on Sunday, the Lakers (37-28) bounced back on Monday, pulling out a tight win over Denver and reclaiming the No. 5 seed for the time being. The Blazers (36-29), on the other hand, dropped into seventh place in the West with a loss in Atlanta, while the Mavs (36-28) had the night off.
With the three teams still separated by a single game, every night the rest of the way will have major postseason implications. Here are their remaining schedules:
- Lakers: at LAC, at POR, vs. PHX, vs. NYK, vs. HOU, at IND, at NOP (three back-to-backs)
- Mavs: at MIA, vs. BKN, vs. CLE, at CLE, at MEM, vs. NOP, vs. TOR, at MIN (two back-to-backs)
- Blazers: at CLE, vs. LAL, vs. SAS, vs. HOU, at UTA, at PHX, vs. DEN (two back-to-backs)
On paper, the Mavericks may have the cleanest path to a top-six seed. After their games against the Heat and Nets this week, they won’t face another team in the top eight of either conference. They also have the advantage of holding the tiebreaker if the three teams finished tied in the standings, since they’ll be the Southwest division winner. If they finish tied with just the Lakers, they’d hold that tiebreaker as well, having gone 2-1 vs. L.A. this season.
The Lakers, currently in control of the No. 5 seed, have a huge week coming up, with games on tap against the Clippers, Blazers, Suns, and Knicks. That contest in Portland, on the second night of a back-to-back, will be particularly important — if the Lakers lose that one, they won’t own the tiebreaker against either the Mavs or the Blazers. Still, if they can at least split their next four games, the Lakers should be in reasonably good shape, as they finish their season against three sub-.500 opponents.
The Blazers, meanwhile, have the opportunity to make a run over the next week, especially if they can beat the Lakers at home. They’ll likely need to win at least three of their next four games to have a decent chance to avoid the play-in, since their season ends with a brutal three-game stretch — in Utah, in Phoenix, and at home vs. Denver. Maybe Portland lucks out and faces a couple of those teams when they’re resting players in advance of the playoffs, but given how close the standings are in the upper half of the West, there’s definitely no guarantee that’ll happen.
What do you think? Which team do you expect to end up with the seventh seed, taking part in the play-in? And do you think that team will be in any danger of losing two consecutive games against the likes of the Warriors, Grizzlies, and Spurs, or should they take care of business relatively quickly?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your predictions!
Which team will have to participate in the play-in tournament?
-
Portland Trail Blazers 46% (463)
-
Los Angeles Lakers 38% (389)
-
Dallas Mavericks 16% (162)
Total votes: 1,014
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.
Kupchak Was Surprised To Get Hayward
Hornets president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak didn’t think the team had much of a chance at landing Gordon Hayward in free agency last offseason, Chris Sheridan of Basketball News reports.
While the team had the means to create enough cap room for Hayward, the Hornets were surprised that he opted out of his contract with Boston, let alone wanted to go to Charlotte. Hayward signed a four-year, $120MM contract and officially came to Charlotte via a sign-and-trade.
“I didn’t think he would opt out of that and want to leave Boston,” Kupchak said. “That doesn’t happen very often so when that was happening, even at the very end, even though we tried and we did everything we could do — and it was a good feeling that he was going to come to Charlotte — there was a big part of me that said, ‘This just doesn’t happen very often, that a player of this caliber will go to a small market.’ So I wasn’t really sure until we got his signature that he was going to come… That just kind of happened.”
A similar scenario unfolded a year earlier when the Hornets agreed with Terry Rozier on a three-year, $58MM contract and worked out a sign-and-trade with the Celtics after Kemba Walker chose Boston in free agency.
Kupchak has taken heat for overpaying for Hayward and Rozier, but he shrugs it off.
“It’s kind of hard to shake me up, you know? There might have been some criticism; I didn’t follow it that closely at the time,” Kupchak said. “But you’ve got to weigh everything: the draft, free-agent signings, trades. You really have to wait four or five years to look back on it and that’s when you know really whether you made a mistake or you didn’t make a mistake.”
Hayward was enjoying an All-Star level season (19.6 PPG, 5.9 RPG and 4.1 APG) before suffering a foot injury in early April. Rozier is averaging 20.3 PPG, 4.2 RPG and 4.1 APG this season.
Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Doncic, Ball, Wood
Thursday is the first day the Pelicans can sign another player to fill their 15th roster spot and avoid the luxury tax, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic. Hollinger crunched the numbers after the Pelicans signed Didi Louzada, whose $123,056 salary as a draft rookie counts $98,940 less than a veteran signed to the same spot. On Thursday, New Orleans could sign a veteran to a rest-of-the-season deal for $122,097 and stay under the tax by $8,651.
We have more from the Southwest Division:
- Mavericks star point man Luka Doncic is in danger of being assessed a mandatory one-game league suspension, Tim MacMahon of ESPN writes. Doncic has 14 technical fouls this season after getting ejected from Dallas’ 111-99 loss to the Kings on Sunday. If he gets another technical, he’ll reach the league’s threshold of 15 technicals, which triggers a suspension. Doncic promises to avoid that scenario. “I won’t get another one,” he said.
- Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball will head into free agency this summer and wherever he lands next season, he plans to prove he’s one of the top point guards in the league, as he told Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). “Being an All-Star is definitely my next goal on the list and I think that should be coming up pretty soon,” he said. The Pelicans must extend a $14.36MM qualifying offer to make Ball a restricted free agent.
- The status of Rockets big man Christian Wood this week and the remainder of the season is in doubt. Wood said he’ll likely to need to sit out at least a couple of games, Mark Berman of FOX26 tweets. “Right now with my ankle and my quad, I’m not sure about (playing) the next couple games,” he said.
Southeast Notes: Wagner, Reddish, Hawks, Dragic
Moritz Wagner has made an immediate impact with the Magic, Roy Parry of the Orlando Sentinel notes. Wagner signed a rest-of-the-season deal with Orlando last week and scored 24 points in a comeback win over Memphis on Saturday. Wagner was traded by Washington to Boston and then was waived before the Magic came calling.
“Getting waived isn’t fun, I’ll be honest with you,” Wagner said. “That’s totally different than getting traded. Emotionally and mentally, that’s something you’ve got to deal with and show resiliency and move on from that. So I take a lot of pride in the fact that I’m doing that, and kind of take it day by day.”
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- Forward Cam Reddish might not realize his true potential with the Hawks, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic opines. Reddish could be part of a package to acquire a star player as the franchise aims to become a true title contender. Injuries have limited Reddish to 26 games in his second season and he didn’t shoot well prior to being sidelined in February. Reddish was the 10th overall pick in the 2019 draft.
- The Hawks have been given approval to increase attendance for postseason games to 7,625 fans, approximately 45% of State Farm Arena’s full capacity, according to a team press release. The Hawks opened the season with no fans in attendance before increasing capacity to 1,300 fans on January 26 and 3,000 fans on March 13.
- Goran Dragic appears to be peaking at the right time again for the Heat, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes. Dragic, who shined in the postseason last summer, has scored 18 points in two of his past three games. “I’m getting there, I’m getting there,” he said. “You know, still working on my confidence and everything. But the last few games, I feel awesome, my legs were there, I was running the ball more.”
Knicks Re-Sign Jared Harper
The Knicks have signed point guard Jared Harper to a second 10-day contract, the team announced today (via Twitter). Harper had his two-way deal turned into a 10-day contract on April 23rd. That 10-day contract expired on Sunday night.
NBA.com’s official log of transactions lists Harper as having signed a two-way deal, but the Knicks’ announcement suggests he’s back on the 15-man roster. Assuming that’s the case, the team still has an open two-way slot.
Harper, 23, has made six brief appearances with New York in 2020/21 after seeing action in three games with Phoenix last season.
Harper was claimed off waivers in June. Though he hasn’t seen much NBA action, he excelled in the G League season at the Orlando bubble. In 12 G League contests this season, Harper averaged 21.3 PPG and 7.0 APG and was named to the All-NBA G League First Team.
Harper has received more money by having his initial two-way contract converted. He was earning $3,076 per day on his two-way, while a 10-day deal pays him $9,902 per day.
Harper spoke to Hoops Rumors earlier this season about his experience in the G League and the time he has spent on the Knicks’ roster.
Central Notes: Markkanen, Bulls, Windler, Garland
Lauri Markkanen hasn’t been in the Bulls’ starting lineup since March, but the power forward doesn’t consider himself a second-unit player, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago tweets. “I still believe I’m a starter in this league,” he said. Markkanen is headed to free agency — the Bulls will have to extend him a $9MM qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent.
We have more from the Central Division:
- The Bulls trailed the Wizards by three games for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference entering Monday’s action. However, coach Billy Donovan said that holding out key players and going into tank mode hasn’t been discussed with executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. “No, I haven’t had any conversations like that,” Donovan said.
- Dylan Windler‘s latest injury will probably prevent him from playing in the Summer League, but the Cavaliers swingman could be cleared by the start of next season. That’s the conclusion of medical professionals contacted by The Athletic’s Kelsey Russo regarding Windler’s left knee surgery. He went under the knife last month to address ongoing patellar tendinopathy concerns. The typical recovery time for that type of surgery is about four months for an elite-level athlete, Russo was told.
- The Cavaliers are listing seven players as out for Tuesday’s game, including Darius Garland, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets. Cleveland has been granted a hardship exception due to its injury issues.
Draft Notes: Griffin, Robinson, Stevenson, More
Syracuse swingman Alan Griffin won’t be returning to the Orange for his senior year, having opted to go pro and forgo his remaining college eligibility. Griffin announced the decision in a video on Twitter, as Mike Waters of Syracuse.com relays.
After spending two years at Illinois, Griffin transferred to Syracuse for his junior season and emerged as a starter, averaging 13.3 PPG 5.8 RPG, and 1.6 BPG in 28 games (29.3 MPG).
Here are a few more draft-related updates:
- Fresno State sophomore forward/center Orlando Robinson is entering the draft and maintaining his NCAA eligibility, according to a press release from the program. Robinson, who has started all 54 games he has played through two seasons for Fresno State, increased his averages to 14.6 PPG and 9.2 RPG in 2020/21.
- Nebraska junior wing Shamiel Stevenson, who began his college career at Pitt announced on Twitter that he’s entering the 2021 NBA draft and intends to hire an agent. Stevenson, who averaged 5.5 PPG and 2.4 RPG in a reserve role for the Cornhuskers, doesn’t project to be drafted.
- We’ve also added the following players, who declared for the draft in recent weeks, to our list of early entrants:
- Isaiah Adams, F, UCF (freshman) (link via Instagram)
- Fardaws Aimaq, F/C, Utah Valley (sophomore) (link via TheProvince.com)
- Giorgi Bezhanishvili, F, Illinois (junior) (link via Instagram)
- Pedro Bradshaw, G/F, Bellarmine (junior) (link via WDRB.com)
- Darius Days, F, LSU (junior) (link via Instagram)
- Tyson Etienne, G, Wichita State (sophomore) (link via Twitter)
- Damion Rosser, G, New Orleans (junior) (link via WGNO.com)
- Jaden Shackelford, G, Alabama (sophomore) (link via Instagram)
- C.J. Walker, F, UCF (sophomore) (link via Twitter)
- Romeo Weems, F, DePaul (sophomore) (link via Instagram)
- Eric Williams Jr. , G/F, Oregon (junior) (link via Twitter)
Pacific Notes: LeBron, Suns, Beverley, Warriors
After leaving Sunday’s game midway through the fourth quarter due to a sore right ankle, Lakers star LeBron James will miss the club’s game on Monday vs. Denver as a result of the same issue, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. James’ status for L.A.’s next game – against the Clippers on Thursday – is uncertain, Charania adds.
The fact that LeBron will miss tonight’s game isn’t a major surprise, despite the fact that the Lakers are fighting to secure the fifth or sixth seed in the West. After last night’s game, the four-time MVP suggested that getting healthy was more of a priority than chasing regular season wins down the stretch.
“It doesn’t matter at the end of the day (where the Lakers land in the standings) if I’m not 100% or close to 100%,” James said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- While Suns owner Robert Sarver has faced plenty of criticism over the years for the way he has run the franchise, it appears he got it right when he hired first-time general manager James Jones to run the team’s front office, as Jabari Young of CNBC writes. “The thing about Robert that has not changed or ever will change is his passion and his desire to win and his commitment to winning,” Suns CEO Jason Rowley said. “He’s gotten better and matured as an owner, as anybody does in a position that’s new to them.”
- Clippers guard Patrick Beverley, who has been out since April 8 due to a fractured hand, was able to do 5-on-5 work in practice, according to head coach Tyronn Lue, who said the team will see how Beverley’s hand responds before providing an update on his status (Twitter link via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN). If Beverley feels good, he should be on track to return to action later this week.
- With Minnesota playing well as of late, Ethan Strauss of The Athletic explores whether there’s a chance that the Warriors could end up with a better shot at a top-five pick with their own first-rounder than with the Timberwolves’ selection.
Cavaliers Granted Hardship Exception
2:31pm: The Cavaliers have been granted a hardship exception, tweets Kelsey Russo of The Athletic.
1:04pm: The Cavaliers have formally applied for a hardship exception, reports Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link).
Unlike a disabled player exception – which gives teams extra cap flexibility and can only be used to replace a player who suffers a season-ending injury – a hardship exception allows a team to add a 16th player to its 15-man roster on a short-term basis. It can be granted by the league if a club has at least four players who have missed three or more games due to injury or illness and are expected to be out for at least two more weeks.
In Cleveland’s case, Dylan Windler (knee), Taurean Prince (ankle), and Matthew Dellavedova (neck) have all been sidelined for more than three games and are expected to miss the rest of the season. Larry Nance Jr. (thumb), Isaiah Hartenstein (concussion), and Lamar Stevens (concussion) have also missed the team’s last four games. Presumably, the Cavs expect at least one of Nance, Hartenstein, and Stevens to be out for the year as well, since the regular season ends in two weeks.
Assuming their request is granted, the Cavs intend to use the extra roster spot to sign veteran center Anderson Varejão. Varejão hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2016/17 season, but Cleveland wants to give the 38-year-old an opportunity to play his final professional minutes with the franchise with which he spent more than a decade from 2004-16.
If the Cavs receive a hardship exception early in the week, the expectation is that Varejão will sign a 10-day contract.
Check-In On 10-Day Contracts, Open Roster Spots
The 2020/21 NBA regular season will come to an end on May 16. That means that there are just 14 days left in the season, and just four more days left to sign a player to a 10-day contract. As of this Friday (May 7), a 10-day deal would technically cover the remainder of the season.
With the playoffs around the corner, it makes sense that the number of active 10-day contracts around the NBA has been on the decline. The number of league-wide roster openings is also dwindling.
Here are the 10-day contracts that are currently active:
- Oklahoma City Thunder: Charlie Brown Jr. (runs through May 4)
- Orlando Magic: Ignas Brazdeikis (runs through May 11)
- Brooklyn Nets: Mike James (runs through May 12)
Of those three players, Brown is the only one who will technically be eligible to sign another 10-day contract when his current pact expires.
Meanwhile, with players like Austin Rivers, Mfiondu Kabengele, Anthony Tolliver, Yogi Ferrell, and Freddie Gillespie signing rest-of-season contracts within the last several days, more and more teams now have full 15-man rosters and may be done making roster moves this season.
The following teams still have at least one open spot on their 15-man squads:
- Golden State Warriors (2)
- Miami Heat
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New Orleans Pelicans
- New York Knicks
- Portland Trail Blazers
- San Antonio Spurs
- Washington Wizards
In addition to these clubs, the Nets, Magic, and Thunder would each have a roster opening if they don’t retain the players on 10-day contracts noted above. The Knicks just opened their 15th roster spot on Sunday night, when Jared Harper‘s 10-day deal expired.
While many of these teams figure to fill their rosters before the regular season ends – either with a developmental prospect or one more veteran for postseason depth – the Warriors are the only club here that must add at least one more player. Teams are only permitted to dip below 14 players on standard contracts for up to two weeks at a time. Since Golden State was carrying Gary Payton II on a 10-day deal up until last Thursday, they’ll have until next Thursday (May 13) to re-add a 14th man.
The following teams also have an open two-way contract slot, which they may or may not fill during the season’s final two weeks:
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New York Knicks
- Phoenix Suns
- Toronto Raptors