New York Notes: Simmons, Durant, Payne, Sims
A pair of outside orthopedic specialists who spoke to Brian Lewis of The New York Post expressed skepticism that Ben Simmons will play for the Nets this season due to his ongoing back issues. However, head coach Steve Nash remains confident that Simmons will return, telling reporters on Tuesday that he has “extremely high hopes” about seeing the three-time All-Star before the end of the regular season.
“He’s just doing his rehab, strengthening,” Nash said, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “We’re still doing that side of things rather than court work right now.
“… The biggest thing we’ve tried to do is to have him be involved in everything. The traveling is the one caveat where sometimes you’re weighing the cost-benefit of him on airplanes and buses and different beds. When he’s with us we want him in every meeting, in every walkthrough, in every film session, whatever it may be so he’s around the group. We’d love for him to travel, be with the team all the time, but we have to weigh that scenario as well.”
The Nets have just 14 games left on their regular season schedule, and presumably would be reluctant to bring back Simmons in the middle for a play-in game of in the middle of the playoff series if he hasn’t gotten at least a few regular season reps under his belt.
Here’s more on the NBA’s two New York teams:
- Nets star Kevin Durant missed too much time this season to be a legitimate MVP candidate, but John Hollinger of The Athletic believes Durant could be the league’s current “Most Dangerous Player” — in other words, the player opponents fear most in a short-term situation like a fourth quarter or playoff series.
- The University of Louisville appears to be zeroing in on Knicks assistant Kenny Payne as its top head coaching candidate, sources tell Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated. Forde cautions that nothing is definite yet, but says if talks between the two sides go well, Louisville could announce a deal with Payne before the end of the week.
- With the Knicks leaning more on rookie center Jericho Sims as of late, Mark W. Sanchez of The New York Post suggests that the possibility of losing big man Mitchell Robinson in free agency this offseason might be more palatable than it initially appeared. After appearing in just 18 of New York’s first 59 games and averaging 6.5 minutes per contest, Sims has played in the team’s last nine contests, logging 13.9 MPG. He had arguably his best game in Sunday’s loss to Brooklyn, scoring six points on 3-of-3 shooting and grabbing 10 rebounds in a season-high 23 minutes.
Bulls Notes: Williams, Ball, Dosunmu, LaVine, Brown
Coach Billy Donovan remains confident that Patrick Williams will return sometime this month and he plans to slowly work the second-year forward back into the Bulls‘ rotation, writes Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago. Williams, who was cleared for “minimal” contact last week, is nearing the five-month anniversary of his wrist surgery, which is approximately when the medical staff projected his return.
“He can play an important role for our team,” Donovan said. “If we were whole (when Williams returns), I think the best thing to do with him would be to ease him in and bring him off the bench. That’s just my opinion right now. I don’t think it would be fair to him, just to throw him — with the number of games he’s missed and the amount of months he’s missed — to say, his first game back: ‘Hey, he’s starting.’”
Williams was an immediate starter as a rookie and was being counted on to provide a strong defensive presence in the front court this season. However, Javonte Green and Derrick Jones Jr. have been effective substitutes at power forward since Williams was injured, and he will likely only play in a handful of games before the regular season ends.
“I think adding Patrick helps our team. But for a guy that’s missed five months, and the first day he comes back, just to unload him into the starting lineup, I don’t know if that would be the best thing for our team and I don’t know if that would necessarily be fair to Patrick,” Donovan said. “I think he is gonna need some time to get his legs under him, to get his rhythm back, to find some kind of routine. And I think as a starter, coming back, to put him in that position, I think would be a big ask for him.”
There’s more from Chicago:
- Lonzo Ball is making progress after a surgical procedure in late January for a small meniscus tear in his left knee, but an MRI showed a bone bruise in the area that’s causing him pain, per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. Donovan said Ball is doing some “lateral work,” but isn’t running yet at full speed.
- With Ball and Alex Caruso injured for much of the season, rookie guard Ayo Dosunmu has seized the opportunity to show he’s ready to contribute right away, writes Jamal Collier of ESPN. The Bulls didn’t expect Dosunmu to play a major role this season, but he’s been productive since moving into the starting lineup on January 15. “It’s been huge,” Caruso said. “You lose ‘Zo, you lose me, two guys that you think are going to be the main point guards, ball handlers on the team. And you throw him in, playing that position is probably the hardest position in the league to play. It’s just really impressive.”
- Dealing with some knee pain and returning from a one-game absence, Zach LaVine wasn’t pleased with how tentatively he played at the start of Monday’s game against Sacramento, as Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic details. “I’ve got to do a better job with just my mentality,” LaVine said. “I’m going out there and I’m playing through some pain in my knee injury, but I’ve got to have the right mindset. I can’t tiptoe into the game. It’s my first game back. I could put excuses out there, but I put that on myself. I made a mental decision in the second half to go out there and play like me. I’ve got to start off that way.”
- With Caruso back and LaVine playing on Monday night, Troy Brown was pulled from Donovan’s nine-man rotation, Schafer notes in an NBC Sports Chicago story.
NBA Confirms Dates For 2022 Draft, Lottery, Combine
The NBA has officially confirmed the dates and locations for its three primary draft-related events in 2022. Those events are as follows:
- Draft Combine: Monday, May 16 – Sunday, May 22 in Chicago.
- Draft Lottery: Tuesday, May 17 in Chicago.
- 2022 NBA Draft: Thursday, June 23 in Brooklyn (Barclays Center).
Those dates had already been penciled in on the NBA’s tentative offseason calendar, but given how unpredictable the last couple offseasons have been due to COVID-19, it’s good to have them locked in.
It’s also worth noting that all three events will be held fully in person this year. The draft, lottery, and combine were virtual in 2020, and the 2021 lottery also took place virtually.
For more information on the 2022 draft, be sure to check out our current NBA reverse standings, our lists of traded first-round and second-round picks for ’22, and our glossary entry outlining how the draft lottery works.
Magic’s Bol Bol Out For Remainder Of Season
Bol Bol, who was acquired from the Celtics at the trade deadline, won’t play for the Magic this season, writes Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel.
President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman made the announcement Tuesday morning regarding Bol, who underwent foot surgery in January. He played just 14 games this season, all with the Nuggets before being dealt to Boston, and averaged 2.4 points and 1.4 rebounds in 5.8 minutes per night.
“Bol’s working very hard,” Weltman said. “He’s working diligently. He’s working every day. He continues to ramp up. He’s just doing individual work right now. We’re going to be careful with him as we are with everyone to make sure he doesn’t skip steps in his rehabilitation.”
Bol, 22, was an intriguing gamble when he was selected with the 44th pick in the 2019 draft. At 7’2″ and 220 pounds, he has offensive skills that are uncommon in a big man, but his wiry frame makes it tough for him to fit into a natural position.
He spent two and a half seasons in Denver, but only appeared in 53 total games and played an average of 6.2 minutes per night.
Bol will be a free agent this summer, and the Magic can make him restricted by submitting a $2.7MM qualifying offer.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 3/15/2022
Hoops Rumors’ live chat took place today at 12:00 pm Central time.
Click here for the transcript, and join Dana Gauruder at 11:00 am CT on Thursday for our next live chat.
CJ McCollum Cleared To Return For Pelicans
Veteran guard CJ McCollum has exited the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols and will be available to play for the Pelicans on Tuesday vs. Phoenix, the team announced today (via Twitter).
McCollum entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols last Thursday and missed New Orleans’ games against Charlotte on Friday and Houston on Sunday.
The Pelicans split those games and remain well positioned to qualify for the play-in tournament in the Western Conference. At 28-40, they’re the No. 10 seed, one game behind the No. 9 Lakers (29-39) and 1.5 games up on the No. 11 Trail Blazers (26-41).
Devonte’ Graham entered the Pelicans’ starting lineup during McCollum’s two-game absence, but figures to return to the second unit on Tuesday. Graham and Jose Alvarado will likely play reduced roles after seeing a bump in minutes with McCollum out.
Warriors Notes: Curry, Green, Wiseman, Looney, Kerr
Warriors star Stephen Curry went off for 47 points in Monday’s win over Washington, his second-highest point total of the season and his highest single-game mark since Draymond Green went down with a back injury in early January. After the game, head coach Steve Kerr said there was “100 percent” a correlation between Green’s return on Monday and Curry’s big night, according to Kendra Andrews of ESPN.
“It changed for Steph right away, as soon as Draymond got out there,” Kerr said. “The chessboard changes with Draymond out there. With Steph, everything looks and feels a little bit different.”
Curry and Green only shared the court for 15 minutes, but Green’s impact on the former MVP was immediately apparent. Curry poured in 41 of his 47 points with Green on the court, scoring just six points on 3-of-9 shooting in the 20 minutes he played without him.
“When I’m not out there and when I’m watching, I see things that can be done that can help him out,” Green said, per Andrews. “He’s the greatest shooter we’ve ever seen. But you still have to screen, and you still have to find him in good spots and make sure he gets good shots and easy looks as opposed to tough looks all the time.”
Here’s more on the Warriors:
- Prior to Monday’s game, Kerr told reporters that Green won’t be in the starting lineup for his first few games back, per Andrews. The former Defensive Player of the Year will also be restricted to about 20-to-23 minutes per game for the next week or two, and he’s OK with that. “I’m usually against any restrictions. I hate them,” Green said. “… (But) I am actually very inviting of it this time around. I know I need it. I know I need them to protect me from myself.”
- After playing with the Santa Cruz Warriors on Thursday and Sunday, second-year center James Wiseman will play another G League game on Tuesday, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. According to Kerr, the team hasn’t made any further decisions on Wiseman, who is working his way back from knee surgery.
- Green’s return will likely cut into Kevon Looney‘s playing time, but Looney’s importance to the organization has never been felt more than it has this season, writes Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. As Thompson details, Looney has made a major impact both on the court – with Green and Wiseman unavailable for much of the season – and off it, with teammates like Jordan Poole praising the big man’s veteran leadership.
- Tim Kawakami of The Athletic explores how Kerr has gotten creative managing the Warriors’ rotation this season while incorporating rookies and dealing with injuries and slumps, noting that the veteran head coach will have an increasing number of options available to him as the team gets healthier.
Magic’s Jonathan Isaac To Miss Rest Of Season
Magic forward Jonathan Isaac won’t make his long-awaited return from a torn ACL this season after all, according to Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel, who reports Isaac will miss the rest of 2021/22. The team has formally confirmed the news.
Isaac, who suffered a major left knee injury during the first half of the 2019/20 season, returned in the Walt Disney World bubble that year and tore his left ACL in early August. He missed the entire ’20/21 season while recovering from the injury and will now miss all of ’21/22 as well.
Even for an injury as significant as an ACL tear, it’s an unusually long recovery process for Isaac, who has been out for over 19 months and will go more than two full years between game action if he returns for the start of next season. For comparison’s sake, Magic point guard Markelle Fultz tore his ACL in January 2021 and has been back on the court for the team since last month.
Still, players who return in about a year from torn ACLs often take a while to recapture their old form. With the Magic very much in the midst of a rebuilding process and holding an 18-51 record that places them last in the Eastern Conference, it makes sense that there would be no real urgency to get Isaac back on the court until he feels 100%.
According to Price, the 24-year-old still hadn’t progressed to full-contact drills as of late last week, so he was running out of time to go through a ramp-up process before the regular season ends on April 10.
“First and foremost, the care of our players will always be our top priority,” Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said in a statement. “We have to remember that Jonathan has missed essentially two years. While it continues to be a day-to-day process for him as he continues to strengthen and condition all aspects of his body, we feel we have reached a point where it would be prudent to say that he will not play this season.
“I understand this can be frustrating to our fans, but Jonathan has worked extremely hard and he is eager to return to game action, which is why we must continue to manage his rehabilitation with the big picture in mind. Quite frankly, we are just out of time to ramp him up to play in games this season.”
Prior to his injury, Isaac was one of the NBA’s most talented, versatile defenders, having averaged 2.3 blocks and 1.6 steals per game in 34 appearances in 2019/20. He was also in the process of expanding his offensive game, putting up 11.9 PPG on .470/.340/.779 shooting in ’19/20 before tearing his ACL.
Isaac is under contract for three years beyond this season, at a rate of $17.4MM annually.
Raptors Notes: Anunoby, Siakam, Barnes, Birch, Achiuwa
Raptors forward OG Anunoby, who has been sidelined since the All-Star break due to a fractured right ring finger, was reevaluated on Monday, according to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link).
“It’s kinda the same,” head coach Nick Nurse said of Anunoby’s finger injury. “It’s not fully healed. He’s got a decision to make.”
According to Nurse, the plan is for Anunoby to practice on Tuesday and see how he feels — the team will know more at that point about his status. Nurse’s comment about Anunoby having a “decision” to make suggests that playing through the injury before it has fully healed could be an option if the pain isn’t too bad.
Here’s more on the Raptors:
- As Eric Koreen writes for The Athletic, Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes are both technically forwards, but their versatile skill sets allows them to function as de facto point guards at times, and they’re developing intriguing chemistry together. “I think we have kind of like similar skill sets, and we always feel like we have a mismatch every time down the floor,” Siakam said over the weekend.
- Noting that Toronto enjoyed success in Denver on Saturday with a shooting-deficient lineup made up of Barnes, Khem Birch, Thaddeus Young, Chris Boucher, and Dalano Banton, Eric Koreen explores Nurse’s unconventional rotation decisions, dubbing the Raptors the NBA’s “delightful weirdos.”
- Birch appreciates the Raptors’ willingness to stick with him as a rotation regular and a frequent starter, given how much time he has missed this season due to injuries and illnesses. “Honestly, I feel like with any other team I probably wouldn’t even be playing right now,” said Birch, who has missed 26 of 68 games (link via Doug Smith of The Toronto Star). “The fact that they just have that type of confidence in me despite all the injuries I’ve had, all the setbacks, and I’m still getting minutes tells a lot about how they feel about me, and it gives me a lot of confidence to keep going despite my injury.”
- Nekias Duncan of BasketballNews.com examines the progress that Raptors center Precious Achiuwa has made in his second NBA season and the areas where he still has room to improve.
And-Ones: Japan Games, Hardy, Prospect Matchups, West
The Warriors and Wizards will play two preseason games in Japan, the NBA announced in a press release. The NBA Japan Games 2022 will be played on September 30 and October 2. “We are excited to once again bring preseason games to our fans in Japan,” commissioner Adam Silver said. The NBA last played games in Japan in 2019, when Houston and Toronto squared off in a pair of preseason contests.
We have more from around the basketball world:
- Shooting guard Jaden Hardy shouldn’t be discounted as a potential lottery pick, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer opines. Hardy got off to a slow start with the G League’s Ignite but has averaged 22.5 PPG and 4.1 APG over the last eight games. Hardy made some progress as a pick-and-roll playmaker and is taking better shots, O’Connor adds. Hardy is currently ranked No. 24 on ESPN’s Best Available list after once being considered the draft’s second-best prospect.
- The NCAA Tournament provides an opportunity for draft prospects to match their talents against one another. The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie takes a look at nine first-round matchups among this year’s class, including the University of Michigan big man duo of Hunter Dickinson and Moussa Diabate squaring off against Colorado State’s top scorer, David Roddy.
- Former NBA player Delonte West participated in a BIG3 tryout in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, according to Kurt Helin of NBC Sports. West, who has struggled with drug addiction and bipolar disorder, was one of a handful of players from the tryout to get an invite to the BIG3 pre-draft combine on May 14 in Las Vegas.