Draft Notes: Giddey, Pro Days, Combine, G League Elite Camp
Potential lottery pick Josh Giddey isn’t expected to attend the NBA draft combine in Chicago or any pre-draft workouts, tweets Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report. Instead, scouts will get a look at Giddey later this month when his Australian team travels to Las Vegas for exhibition games with Team USA, Spain, Nigeria and Argentina.
The 6’8″ shooting guard has been moving up draft boards and ranks No. 13 on ESPN’s latest list of prospects. Giddey, 18, played this season with the Adelaide 36ers and averaged 10.9 points, 7.1 assists and 6.9 rebounds per game.
There’s more draft news to pass along:
- The NBA has scheduled 20 pro days for some of the top-rated players in the draft, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link). They will take place from June 26-29 following the combine and will feature prospects such as Cade Cunningham, Scottie Barnes, Corey Kispert, James Bouknight, Greg Brown, Ayo Dosunmu, Charles Bassey, Max Abmas, Jaden Springer, and Jared Butler. Also tentatively scheduled for pro days are Trey Murphy, Josh Christopher, Marcus Bagley, Gabriele Procida, Johnny Juzang, Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland, Aaron Henry, Herb Jones, Miles McBride, Santi Aldama and Zsombor Maronka (Twitter link).
- German center Ariel Hukporti has received an invitation to the combine, Givony tweets. Hukporti, 19, played in Lithuania this season and is ranked 45th on ESPN’s big board. USC sophomore Isaiah Mobley has also been invited, Givony adds (via Twitter).
- Duke shooting guard DJ Steward has been invited to take part in the combine as well, according to JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link). Steward averaged 13 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game as a freshman with the Blue Devils.
- Mac McClung has received an invitation to the G League Elite camp, according to Wasserman (Twitter link). The former Texas Tech guard will try to earn a spot in the combine. Haowen Guo of the Chinese national team has also been invited to the Elite camp, Givony tweets.
Becky Hammon To Interview For Trail Blazers’ Head Coaching Job
Spurs assistant Becky Hammon is among the candidates who will be interviewed for the Trail Blazers‘ head coaching vacancy, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Sources tell Charania that other names on Portland’s list include Clippers assistant Chauncey Billups, Nets assistant Mike D’Antoni, Spurs vice president of basketball operations Brent Barry and South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley.
Either Hammon or Staley would make history by becoming the NBA’s first-ever female head coach. Hammon will also interview for the head coaching job with the Magic, Charania adds.
Hammon, 44, has been on Gregg Popovich’s staff in San Antonio since 2014. She became the first woman to serve as a head coach in the Summer League in 2015 and was the first female on an All-Star Game coaching staff in 2016.
Staley, 51, is a member of both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. She has coached the South Carolina women’s team since 2008 and has been coach of the USA national women’s team since 2017.
A report this week identified Billups and D’Antoni as candidates in Portland, with Billups considered to be the front-runner. He is also rumored to be in contention for the Celtics’ coaching vacancy.
After retiring from the NBA, Barry spent several years as a broadcaster before joining the Spurs in a front-office role in 2018. He has no previous coaching experience.
Pacific Notes: Crowder, CP3, Zubac, Mann
Suns forward Jae Crowder is hoping to make his second consecutive NBA Finals appearance during his first season with Phoenix, writes Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. Crowder signed a three-year, $29.2MM deal in the 2020 offseason with Phoenix after a productive 2019/20 run with the Heat, in which Miami eventually fell 4-2 to the Lakers in the 2020 Finals.
“Hopefully, once when we win the whole thing, I can salsa with the crowd, with the fans, some of the Phoenix fans here once we bring a championship home,” Crowder said. “That’s the goal.”
The 6’6″, 235-pound Crowder has carved out a niche as a tough two-way forward, capable of defending multiple positions and landing timely jumpers, writes Scott Cacciola of the New York Times. Crowder has earned a reputation around the league for his physical play, which he welcomes.
“Other teams just try to be physical with me, try to get me riled up,” Crowder told reporters after Phoenix’s Game 3 win in the club’s second-round playoff series against the Nuggets. “I don’t know if they know it, but I like that style of play. I like to trash talk. I like all of that because it definitely gets me going, and I think my team definitely feeds off it a little bit, the energy of it.”
There’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- Veteran Suns All-Star point guard Chris Paul has achieved a first-time playoff series advantage this season in taking his first 3-0 start in any postseason matchup, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Buha notes that Paul, an 11-time All-Star, shows no signs of slowing down just yet, employing his veteran savvy to help propel Phoenix to the cusp of the Western Conference Finals. “He was using the clock well, coming off pick-and-roll getting into his spots, but it helps when you have guys like [Crowder] and [Devin Booker] and [Mikal Bridges] stretching the floor, and then [Deandre Ayton] puts pressure on the rim,” head coach Monty Williams said. “Defensively, he understands the moment. And offensively, just managing the game really well. But that’s what he’s done for a long time.” The 36-year-old Paul has been a steady presence to close out all three games in the final quarter. Buha notes that, in his 20 minutes logged across the series’ three fourth quarters thus far, Paul has tallied 30 points on 12-of-13 shooting from field, eight dimes, and zero turnovers. Paul has a $44.2MM player option for the 2021/22 season, though he may opt out in pursuit of a longer-term deal.
- Clippers center Ivica Zubac returned to Los Angeles’s starting lineup ahead of its Game 2 loss to the Jazz, writes Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register. The team felt that starting the 6’8″ Nicolas Batum at center, while beneficial for the team’s first round series against the switch-heavy Mavericks, was doing them no favors against three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert. “I’m going to play hard and I’m going to work what my role is no matter what I do, and I’m not going to complain, and hopefully, [head coach Tyronn Lue] and the coaches appreciate that,” Zubac said of his matchup-contingent role with the club.
- Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue indicated that athletic second-year guard Terance Mann has fallen out of L.A.’s rotation, tweets Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times. After playing for just 14 seconds in Los Angeles’s first playoff game against the Mavericks, Mann saw a more pronounced role throughout the rest of the series, playing between 10-26 minutes across the team’s subsequent six contests. Mann has played in just total nine minutes across the Clippers’ first two games in their second-round series against the Jazz, both losses.
Danny Green Out 2-3 Weeks Due To Calf Strain
The right calf strain that Sixers starting swingman Danny Green suffered in the first half of Philadelphia’s Game 3 victory over the Hawks will keep him sidelined for 2-3 weeks, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The Sixers, the top seed in the Eastern Conference, will thus be without Green’s services for the rest of their series against the scrappy Hawks.
Should the Sixers advance, Green may be available at some point during the Eastern Conference Finals. The 76ers are ahead of the Hawks 2-1 in their best-of-seven second-round series. The Nets currently lead the Bucks 2-1 on the other side of the bracket.
Shooting guard Furkan Korkmaz started the second half of Game 3 Friday, and appears to be the choice of Philadelphia head coach Doc Rivers to start in Green’s stead while the two-time reigning champ (with the Lakers in 2020 and the Raptors in 2019) recuperates.
Green averaged 4.5 PPG, 6.0 APG, 2.5 RPG and 2.0 SPG during the first two games of the series, for which he was fully healthy. He was available for just 3:45 of Game 3 action in Atlanta before leaving for the team’s locker room with the injury.
Harden Out, Green Questionable For Game 4
All-Star Nets guard James Harden will miss the fourth game of Brooklyn’s second-round playoff series against the Bucks on Sunday with right hamstring tightness, tweets Malika Andrews of ESPN.
Harden’s Nets teammate Jeff Green, meanwhile, has seen his status upgraded to questionable ahead of Game 4. Green has been sidelined from Brooklyn’s postseason with a left plantar fascia strain since the third game of the Nets’ first-round series against the Celtics. The Nets would go on to defeat Boston 4-1. Nets head coach Steve Nash had indicated ahead of Game 3 against the Bucks that a Green return appeared imminent.
Nash noted that Harden is “progressing” from his right hamstring injury, though Nash stopped short of specifying a timeline for Harden’s return. The Nets have survived ably without one of their three All-Stars and a key forward in Green thus far during the series. Brooklyn is currently up 2-1 against Milwaukee, with the lone loss the result of a seemingly fluky drop in offensive production from Brooklyn’s bench.
Guard Bruce Brown has started in Harden’s place, while reserve point guard Mike James has seen an increased minutes load. The defensive-oriented Brown has also taken some of Green’s minutes in the rotation, functioning as a (very) small ball center in pick-and-rolls. All-Star Nets point guard Kyrie Irving has taken over more ball-handling duties with Harden sidelined.
Mike Conley Unavailable For Game 3
All-Star point guard Mike Conley will remain sidelined with a right hamstring strain as the Jazz continue their second-round playoff series against the Clippers tonight, writes Sarah Todd of the Deseret News.
Conley will now have missed the first three games of the series with the injury. He initially suffered the hamstring strain in the closeout fifth game of Utah’s first-round series against the Grizzlies, Conley’s former squad. The Jazz won that series 4-1.
The top-seeded Jazz currently hold a 2-0 lead over L.A., although the Clippers did battle back from such a margin to best the Mavericks in their own seven-game first-round series earlier in the 2021 postseason.
Conley averaged 17.4 PPG and 8.6 APG during the Jazz’s first-round contest against Memphis. He also connected on 54.8% of his three-point attempts.
With the veteran point guard still sidelined, his fellow All-Star Donovan Mitchell will continue to see increased ball-handling responsibilities. Forward Joe Ingles has moved into the starting lineup in the absence of Conley, and has also taken on more play-making duties in his stead.
Southeast Notes: Randle, Magic, Heat, Silver Talks Hawks
Magic reserve point guard Chasson Randle, who signed a two-way contract with the club in February, helped shore up the Orlando bench’s ball-handling and shooting needs, writes Roy Parry of the Orlando Sentinel. In 41 games with Orlando (including five starts), Randle averaged 6.5 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 1.8 APG and 0.5 SPG across just 20.4 MPG. He posted a slash line of .388/.338/.792. Randle, 27, played for the Sixers, Knicks, and Warriors prior to his Magic tenure.
There’s more out of the Southeast Division:
- The Magic announced their intentions to enter full rebuild mode with a trio of trades this season, dealing veterans Nikola Vučević, Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier for young players and future draft equity. In a mailbag, Josh Robbins of The Athletic takes a look at timelines for the team’s rebuild and hiring a new head coach, plus other items. Robbins anticipates that the Magic will take as long as they need to accrue players with All-NBA ceilings, and that they’re in better position to take a chance on a more inexperienced coach than some other “win-now” clubs with similar vacancies.
- The Heat took a disappointing step backwards this season, regressing from a 2020 Finals appearance to a first-round playoff sweep in 2021. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald examines practical options for improving the club should it opt to use cap space, among them signing veteran Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry. Jackson also takes a look at roster additions Miami could make if it decides to continue operating over the salary cap.
- NBA commissioner Adam Silver spoke with Sarah K. Spencer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the rising Hawks and their best player, point guard Trae Young. “It’s part and parcel of professional sports that there’s invariably a passing of the torch,” Silver said of Young’s ascent. “Trae, I’ve said, is one of them, and it’s an incredible opportunity for this new generation of stars to perform on the biggest stage and in front of an enormous global audience.” Silver also mentioned that, in light of the 2021 All-Star game transpiring in Atlanta mid-pandemic, the league was keeping Atlanta in mind as a destination for a more normal future contest. “The answer is a resounding yes, that was always part of the understanding with [owners Antony Ressler and Steven Price] that the league was very appreciative that they came through for us on relative short notice and agreed to host that All-Star game, and now of course talking to you after the fact, it was even, frankly, more successful than we thought it would have been.”
Dinwiddie Hoping To Return For Nets’ Finals Run
Spencer Dinwiddie has been out for the Nets since the first week of the season with a partially-torn ACL, but he’s hoping to make his return to the court if the Nets make it to the NBA Finals, reports The New York Daily News’ Kristian Winfield. Winfield writes that Dinwiddie, who has been rehabbing in Los Angeles at Phenom Sports Performance since his surgery, is planning to rejoin the team soon.
“He’s going to be in Brooklyn to support his team,” a source told Winfield. “He definitely is.”
The Finals are slated to begin six months after Dinwiddie’s surgery, and the Nets point guard, who has been posting his rehab process on Instagram, hopes to have the fastest possible recovery. “I think it’s been 17 weeks. What’s the fastest anybody ever returned to Bball? Lol,” he captioned a workout video in early May.
Head coach Steve Nash has preached a more patient approach.
“It’s very difficult to, one, expose him to full NBA playoff basketball with the type of injury he has. We want to look out for his long-term health, first and foremost,” Nash said in May. “And second of all, adapting back to the team environment. All those things together, it seems like it’s probably very unlikely. But who knows? Stranger things have happened.”
As of last week, Nash and Dinwiddie had not had any conversations about Dinwiddie rejoining the team. The team’s experience with lingering injuries to stars Kevin Durant and James Harden is likely to make them more cautious, though general manager Sean Marks wasn’t willing to go as far as rule his return out.
“I would never bet against Spencer Dinwiddie,” Marks said on April 16. “That’s what we saw four years ago with him. He has a chip on his shoulder, he loves to prove people wrong, so who am I to sit up here and say he’s not going to be able to do something?”
There’s also the question of Dinwiddie’s potential free agency. The 28-year-old has a player option for next season worth just over $12MM and has previously expressed his expectation to decline it and hit the open market. It’s unclear if that would play a part in his decision to push his recovery timetable up and return to action faster than expected.
Of course, the Nets still have to get past the Bucks and either the Sixers or the Hawks if Dinwiddie is to get a chance to make such a decision. They currently lead Milwaukee 2-1, with Game Four on Sunday.
Atlantic Notes: D. Green, Siakam, Harden, J. Green, Mobley
Sixers‘ shooting guard Danny Green is unlikely to play in Monday’s Game Four against the Hawks, writes Kurt Helin of NBC Sports. Green left Game Three less than four minutes into the game, limping to the locker room with an apparent calf strain and returning later in a walking boot. Green is set to receive an MRI today, but head coach Doc Rivers isn’t optimistic about his chances of being ready for Game Four.
“I’m not ruling Danny out, but I’m pretty much ruling him out,” Rivers said. “I doubt if he plays the next game.”
The 76ers currently hold a 2-1 lead against the Hawks going into Game Four. Furkan Korkmaz took a majority of Green’s minutes in Game Three, but Rivers has yet to make a decision about what Green’s absence will mean to the rotation on Monday.
“Just the next guy has to step up, not sure who that’s going to be yet. We’ll go back, watch film, and decide who that will be.”
We have more from around the Atlantic Division:
- The Raptors had hoped that forward Pascal Siakam‘s shoulder surgery last week could be avoided, tweets TSN Sports’ Josh Lewenberg, but ultimately decided that the risk of re-injury was too high. The five-month timetable for recovery points to a November return to action, meaning Siakam will miss not only the start of the 2021/22 season but also a crucial development offseason following a let-down season for the Raptors’ star and the team as a whole. Siakam had been planning on using his longest off-season in five years to lock himself in the gym and work on expanding his game, writes Lewenberg, but this development means most of his time will be spent rehabbing and watching film.
- The Nets missed James Harden‘s leadership in Game Three’s loss, writes New York Post’s Brian Lewis. With the offense bogging down against the Bucks rejuvenated defense, the Nets weren’t able to execute in the same ways they had been able to earlier in the series, and missed Harden’s ability to organize the offense. “I thought our execution could have been better throughout,” said head coach Steve Nash. “Great experience for our guys, like we said a new group, they’re still learning, they’re still figuring things out together and so it’s a great experience for us even if it was a painful one.”
- Jeff Green is making progress in his rehab from plantar fasciitis and hasn’t been ruled out for Game Four, writes Brian Lewis in the same article. Though Green was still experiencing some discomfort while walking earlier in the week, the Nets forward said he’s hopeful that he’ll be able to return for Sunday’s game. The deciding factor will be how much progress he’s able to make in his ability to cut and change direction, reports New York Post’s Zach Braziller.
- The Athletic’s Blake Murphy details why projected top-three pick Evan Mobley would be the perfect fit for the Raptors if they land the second pick. As a hyper-skilled seven-foot center with an intriguing blend of shooting, ball-handling and dominant defensive tools, Mobley’s fit with Siakam would be nearly seamless.
Jeremy Lin Re-Signs With Beijing Ducks
Jeremy Lin has re-signed with the Beijing Ducks, Lin announced on Instagram.
The nine-year NBA veteran, who rose to fame during a 26-game stint with the Knicks now dubbed “Linsanity,” played 32 games for the Ducks in the 2019/2020 season, averaging 22 PPG, 5.6 APG, 5.7 RPG and nearly two SPG as the Ducks went 32-14 and finished fourth in the Chinese Basketball Association.
This year, Lin signed a contract with the Santa Cruz Warriors, hoping it would translate into a deal with an NBA team, but he ended his stint in Santa Cruz as the only top-10 G League scorer not to get a deal with an NBA team. After, he wrote an emotional post acknowledging that the door back into the NBA seemed to be shut, but that he had proved to himself and others that he still belonged, that he was still an NBA-level player.
“No regrets about the past, excited for the future,” wrote the 32-year-old point guard in his Ducks announcement. “Still got a lot of basketball left in me and we’ll see where this road goes.” He concluded with the hashtag “NeverDone.”