Pacific Notes: Clippers Arena, Randle, McGee, Kawhi
The Clippers‘ forthcoming Inglewood arena has received the final approval necessary from the Inglewood City Council, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN (Twitter link). The team, which announced a joint deal to buy the publicly-owned property on the arena site, now has the go-ahead to begin building its new arena in 2021.
In a press release on the club’s official site, the team notes that construction is scheduled to commence next summer. The Clippers are expected to move from the Staples Center, an arena they share with the Lakers, to their new home ahead of the 2024/25 season.
There’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- Suns coach Monty Williams has added Brian Randle to his staff as an assistant coach, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link). Randle is a former player development coach for the Timberwolves.
- Lakers starting center JaVale McGee has been cleared to play in tonight’s pivotal Game 3 against the Rockets, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). McGee turned his left ankle in Game 2 of the Lakers’ series with the Rockets and was limited to just eight minutes of action. An MRI on the ankle came back negative. Mark Medina of USA Today tweets McGee will not have a minutes restriction tonight. Medina adds that bench guard Dion Waiters will not be available for Game 3.
- Meanwhile, Rockets forward Danuel House Jr. will be unavailable tonight for personal reasons, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Feigen adds (Twitter link) that Houston center Tyson Chandler will also miss tonight’s game for personal reasons, but that both players remain on the NBA’s Orlando campus.
- Clippers All-Star Kawhi Leonard‘s stellar Game 3 performance showcased just how valuable he is as a two-way player, and why he was the top priority for Los Angeles in free agency ahead of the season, notes Brian Windhorst of ESPN. Leonard was named to the 2020 All-Defensive Second Team earlier this afternoon.
NBA Announces 2019/20 All-Defensive Teams
The NBA has officially announced its All-Defensive teams for the 2019/20 season. Unsurprisingly, Defensive Player of the Year (and possible repeat MVP) Giannis Antetokounmpo was the leading vote-getter with 195 total points. Players receive two points per First Team vote and one point per Second Team vote.
This is the Bucks forward’s second consecutive appearance on the All-NBA First Team. Antetokounmpo was listed on 98 of 100 ballots from the 100 broadcasters and writers who comprised this year’s voting panel. 97 of those voters awarded him a First Team vote.
Lakers forward Anthony Davis was featured on every ballot and received a total tally of 187 points (including 87 First Team votes). Sixers guard Ben Simmons tallied 185 points with the third-most votes this year. Jazz center Rudy Gobert, the 2018 and 2019 Defensive Player of the Year, was fourth with 95 total votes (85 First Team), for 180 total points. Celtics guard Marcus Smart rounded out the All-Defensive First Team with 152 points, including 57 First Team votes.
Gobert’s inclusion on the All-Defensive First Team has earned him a $500K bonus, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. Antetokounmpo’s Bucks teammates Brook Lopez (67 points) and Eric Bledsoe (59 points) each made the All-Defensive Second Team.
[RELATED: Giannis Antetokounmpo Named Defensive Player Of The Year]
Here are the full voting results for the All-Defensive First and Second Teams, with each player’s point total noted in parentheses:
First Team:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, F, Bucks (195)
- Anthony Davis, F, Lakers (187)
- Ben Simmons, G, Sixers (185)
- Rudy Gobert, C, Jazz (180)
- Marcus Smart, G, Celtics (152)
Second Team:
- Kawhi Leonard, F, Clippers (128)
- Brook Lopez, C, Bucks (67)
- Bam Adebayo, F/C, Heat (61)
- Patrick Beverley, G, Clippers (60)
- Eric Bledsoe, G, Bucks (59)
You can find the full voting results right here.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NBA Draft, Free Agency, 2020/21 Season Moved Back
After extended discussions between the NBA and the National Basketball Players’ Association, both sides have mutually decided to postpone several important offseason events, according to Shams Charania of Stadium (Twitter link).
The 2020 NBA draft (currently scheduled for October 16), the start of free agency (scheduled for early October 18), and the 2020/21 season (scheduled for December 1) have all been moved back to later dates, to be determined later.
Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer tweets that several team executives anticipate the rescheduled draft could occur in mid-November, allowing more time after the NBA Finals conclude for a potential pre-draft combine for prospects.
It has long been speculated that the December 1 date for a 2020/21 season start would be moved back. NBA commissioner Adam Silver suggesting in an interview last month that he hoped to wait until fans could attend games in person. The league is hopeful that fast-response COVID-19 tests may enable this to happen sooner rather than later.
Southwest Notes: Ingram, Mavericks, Benson, Aldridge
Pelicans All-Star forward Brandon Ingram, recently crowned the Most Improved Player for the 2019/20 season, made significant strides this season after his trade from the Lakers, per William Guillory of The Athletic.
Ingram specifically credits the time he logged watching game tape, both of himself with the Lakers and of the Pelicans’ offense, with his performative improvement. “When I wasn’t on the court, I just had to visualize things,” Ingram said during a media Zoom conversation Monday. “I had to watch film … It helped me out.”
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- Following an exciting 2019/20 campaign that ended in a 4-2 loss to the Clippers, Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News takes a look at the Mavericks‘ roster. Caplan assesses player performance this season and projects how players will fare next year, looking at everyone from All-Star Luka Doncic to crucial veteran role player Trey Burke.
- After testing positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19, Pelicans (and Saints) owner Gayle Benson has been cleared to return to team activities by doctors, per Jeff Duncan of The Athletic (Twitter link).
- The Spurs apparently tried to shop big man LaMarcus Aldridge at this season’s trade deadline, though potential trade partners balked at San Antonio’s requested return haul, as we previously reported.
New York Notes: Mitchell, J. Bryant, Nash, Draft
The recent news that the Jazz will likely extend All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell with a five-year maximum contract takes him off the table as a Knicks trade target this offseason, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
Bondy notes that there had been hope that Mitchell’s connection to new Knicks team president Leon Rose (he is represented by Rose’s former agency, CAA) might make the prospect of Mitchell demanding a trade to Madison Square Garden palatable. Mitchell played his AAU basketball in New York City.
There’s more out of the Empire State:
- At least one Jazz personnel member will be joining the Knicks for 2020/21. Former Jazz assistant coach Johnnie Bryant, who will be the associate head coach under new Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, officially signed his contract with the team following Utah’s elimination from the playoffs, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link).
- New Nets head coach Steve Nash will have his hands full with a litany of challenges and a loaded, win-now roster, per Steve Aschburner of NBA.com.
- The Knicks will have a variety of intriguing prospects to choose from with the No. 8 pick in the NBA draft, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. Vorkunov appraises both the high-upside prospects and the low-risk options that should still be on the board by the time New York drafts.
Patrick Beverley To Play In Game 1 Vs. Nuggets
Clippers head coach Doc Rivers asserts that point guard Patrick Beverley will play in tonight’s first game of the team’s conference semifinals series against the Nuggets, per Ohm Youngmisuk (Twitter link). Beverley was officially listed as questionable to appear as recently as yesterday, though Rivers seemed fairly confident Beverley would be able to play.
Beverley, the club’s nominal starting point guard, has been battling a left calf strain during the league’s Orlando summer restart. The injury has limited him to just four games overall, including just one playoff appearance, in Game 1 of the Clippers’ first-round series against the Mavericks.
Point guard Reggie Jackson and off-guard Landry Shamet both started in Beverley’s stead for portions of the series. Shamet started the final four games. The Clippers went on to beat Dallas 4-2.
Nuggets head coach Mike Malone noted the challenge of Beverley’s addition to the active roster, according to Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). “He’s a very good defender, we all know that,” Malone said. “Last time we played them, in L.A., Patrick Beverley-Paul George–Kawhi Leonard, three elite defenders on the perimeter… they all took turns guarding Jamal Murray.”
Marcus Smart Fined For Game 2 Flop
Celtics guard Marcus Smart turned in a masterful performance for Boston in the team’s 102-99 Game 2 defeat of the Raptors to go up 2-0 in the team’s second-round playoff series. Smart connected on five three-pointers in the game’s fourth quarter alone to help seal the victory.
Unfortunately, his energetic play appears to have also hurt his wallet — the NBA has fined Smart $5,000 for flopping during the game, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Smart’s egregious flop came during the third quarter in an effort to draw an offensive foul on Raptors All-Star forward Pascal Siakam.
The defensive-minded Smart, who scored 19 points and went 6-of-11 from long range overall, has been an imperative role player for Boston, currently 6-0 in the 2020 playoffs after sweeping the Sixers in the first round.
Smart joined the Celtics’ starting lineup after forward Gordon Hayward incurred a Grade III right ankle sprain in Game 1 of the team’s Sixers series. Hayward is expected to be sidelined for at least a couple more weeks of game play.
Heat Notes: Offseason, Robinson, Craig, Butler
The Heat have a number of free agents and may need to make some tough choices this summer, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Veteran starters Goran Dragic, 34, and Jae Crowder, 30, will be free agents this offseason. Bench big man Kelly Olynyk has a $12.2MM player option for 2020/21 that could clog up the team’s cap this summer.
The Heat will look to build on an exciting 2019/20 campaign that sees them currently up 1-0 on the top Eastern Conference seed, the Bucks, in the second round of the NBA playoffs.
There’s more out of South Beach:
- Heat wing sniper Duncan Robinson has risen through the ranks, from an undistinguished high school basketball career to a little-noticed college tenure with Division III school Williams College to becoming a starter on an upstart playoff Miami squad in his second NBA season. Ramone Shelbourne of ESPN details the forward’s rise. “It’s my job to make shots,” Robinson said. “But the big shift is that I understand it’s actually my job to take these shots.”
- The Heat have given assistant coach Dan Craig permission to interview for the Bulls‘ open head coaching position, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel in a separate story. The 38-year-old Craig has worked with the Heat organization in various capacities for 17 years. He has been an assistant coach for the past four years.
- Five-time Heat All-Star Jimmy Butler, coming off a playoff career-high 40-point night against the Bucks, feels “welcomed” in Miami after his oft-discussed exits from several prior NBA stops, as we detailed in a previous story.
Eric Bledsoe Available For Bucks In Game 2
5:02pm: Bledsoe will play for the Bucks tonight, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (Twitter link).
4:11pm: Starting Bucks point guard Eric Bledsoe remains a game-time decision for Milwaukee’s second tilt against the Heat tonight, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link). “We’ll know closer to tip-off,” head coach Mike Budenholzer said of Bledsoe’s health status.
A strained right hamstring kept Bledsoe out of the first game in the Bucks’ second-round series on Monday, a 115-104 loss to fifth-seeded Miami. Sharpshooting veteran George Hill started in Bledsoe’s stead, though the team clearly missed Bledsoe’s perimeter defense.
In 36 minutes, Hill scored 8 points on 2-of-5 shooting from the floor and had as many turnovers as he did assists (four). Hill’s Miami counterpart Goran Dragic netted 27 points and proved a crucial contributor to the Heat’s surprise Game 1 victory.
In the Bucks’ first-round 4-1 defeat of the Magic, Bledsoe averaged 11.6 PPG and 6.6 APG (a club high) while playing his typical excellent defense.
G League Names Select Team “Ignite”
The NBA G League has named its new star-studded select team Ignite, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link).
The new one-year NBA G League development team will pay salaries topping out in the mid-six figures to high-level NBA prospects like guards Jalen Green and Daishen Nix, forwards Jonathan Kuminga and Isaiah Todd and center Kai Sotto. Green, Nix and Kuminga are all expected to be selected within the 2021 NBA draft lottery, per Jonathan Givony’s latest ESPN mock draft.
These Ignite players will bypass college ball in favor of the revamped professional farm system. The team roster will also include veterans tagged to mentor the prospects during the squad’s inaugural 2020/21 season.
Spears goes on to note that the Ignite have already starting training in Walnut Creek, California (in the East Bay region of northern California), under head coach Brian Shaw.
Shaw, a guard in the league for 14 seasons, served as a head coach for the Nuggets from 2013-15, as a lead assistant on the Pacers from 2011-13, and as an assistant on the Lakers under Phil Jackson from 2005-11 (a run that included two championships) and again from 2016-19 under Luke Walton.