And-Ones: LaMelo, BBL, Salary Cap, Penny
The Illawarra Hawks of Australia’s NBL were unready for the enormous impact inking LaMelo Ball to a contract had on the 2019/20 season, according to ESPN’s Kane Pitman. “It was weird because you had ‘Melo who was like a rock star and just followed so heavily online and with the social media stuff it made it interesting,” Ball’s teammate David Andersen told Pitman.
In just 12 games, Ball won the NBL’s Rookie of the Year award sporting a slash sheet of 17 PPG/7.5 RPG/7 APG. The 18-year-old younger brother of Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball is expected to be a top-five pick in the forthcoming NBA draft.
There’s more from around the basketball world:
- Germany’s Basketball Bundesliga will resume play, after pausing the league due to the coronavirus pandemic, with a three-week final tournament commencing June 6, per Dario Skerletic of Sportando.
- An adjusted salary cap would affect each of the NBA’s teams in a variety of ways, as John Hollinger of The Athletic details. Though the 2020/21 cap was projected at $115MM per team in February, that number was predicted prior to the coronavirus pandemic and will almost certainly end up being lower.
- Memphis Tigers coach Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway opined to ESPN’s The Jump that the G League’s recent recruitment of players straight out of high school will greatly impact college recruitment, including his program, according to ESPN News Services. “It’s going to have a huge impact, because it’s just a recruiting war right now when it comes to that,” Hardaway said. “But I think it’s going to affect us because we’re recruiting a bunch of five-stars.”
Southwest Notes: D’Antoni, Grizzlies, Hardaway, Ingram
Potential lame-duck Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni‘s expiring contract with the team will not affect his tenure with the team for the rest of the 2019/20 season, if play resumes, per Sam Amick of The Athletic. D’Antoni’s contract is technically set to expire on July 1st.
The 40-24 Rockets not need fear D’Antoni walking before the season is over, according to the coach’s agent, Warren LeGarie. “It’s obviously something we have to work out,” LeGarie told Amick, “but he would never, ever walk away from what he feels is a moral responsibility to see it through with his team and especially with his players.”
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- The 32-33 Grizzlies, currently the No. 8 seed in the West, will be confronting some interesting questions during the offseason, according to The Athletic’s Peter Edmiston and John Hollinger. De’Anthony Melton, a restricted free agent, could command a deal in the range of the mid-level exception. The versatile Justise Winslow, acquired as part of a larger trade deadline deal with the Heat, remains an exciting potential fit with core pieces Jaren Jackson Jr. and Ja Morant, though his health has been an issue throughout his early career.
- Mavericks team owner Mark Cuban is excited about how Tim Hardaway Jr. has fit with the squad during his first year in Dallas, according to an interview with WFAN recounted by Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “Quickest release in the NBA,” Cuban raved. “Probably one of the top three catch-and-shoot players in all of the NBA now.” This season, the 28-year-old shooting guard has averaged 15.8 PPG, 3.1 PG, and 2.0 APG on 43.7% shooting from the field. He has converted 40.7% of his 7.2 three-point attempts per game.
- Pelicans All-Star Brandon Ingram, a restricted free agent in the offseason this year, has earned a maximum contract with his growth during 2019-20, according to William Guillory and Danny Leroux of The Athletic. The actual amount of that contract remains up in the air, due to a salary cap that will be impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
L.A. Notes: Lakers, Clippers, Rondo
With a potential return to NBA activity on the horizon, Lakers All-Star LeBron James has recently been conducting private workouts in a home court, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (Twitter link). According to Charania, James has played with up to two teammates per session, but Charania maintains that “all the (necessary) safety measures have been taken, I’m told, in these private workouts.”
The Lakers were having one of the best seasons in the NBA when league play was paused in March due to the spread of the pandemic. Led by All-Star starters James and Anthony Davis, the squad currently boasts a 49-14 record, good for the top seed in the Western Conference.
There’s more out of Los Angeles:
- The Clippers, too, have been holding safe private workouts and on-court practices involving a limited number of players, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium in the same video conversation (Twitter link). The identity of the Clippers players participating was not disclosed.
- Brett Dawson, Bill Oram and the Kamenetzkys of The Athletic examines how the Lakers are being impacted by the extended season suspension. On May 16, the Lakers reopened their practice facility, the UCLA Health Training Center in El Segundo. The team is allowing its players to access the facility while respecting pandemic-imposed restrictions. The Lakers’ older veteran players (including James) may struggle to get back into game shape, the authors speculate.
- During the NBA season intermission, Lakers bench guard Rajon Rondo was actively supporting the community in his childhood home town of Louisville, Kentucky, per Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. The 2008 NBA champion has recently returned to Los Angeles and is staying in touch with his Lakers teammates over Zoom workouts. “We are still training like we are coming back to make a run for it,” Rondo said.
Northwest Notes: Culver, Grant, CP3, Blazers
Timberwolves rookie wing Jarrett Culver had an uneven first season in Minnesota, but flashed exciting athletic promise, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Trading up from the No. 11 pick to the No. 6 pick in the 2019 NBA draft to select Culver was the first big move Wolves president of basketball operations Gerson Rossas made in his new role.
Culver averaged 9.2 PPG and 3.4 RPG while connecting on 40.4% of his field goals and just 46.2% of his free throw attempts. He began to produce more robustly as the calendar turned to 2020. The Wolves sport a 19-45 record for the suspended 2019/20 season, which places them far from playoff contention at the No. 14 seed in the West.
There’s more out of the Northwest Division:
- Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Nuggets forward Jerami Grant seemed destined to opt out of the final season of his three-year, $27MM contract, per The Athletic’s Nick Kosmider. With the NBA’s 2020/21 salary cap now in question, Grant will probably stay in Denver, whether or not he picks up that option. Grant averaged an encouraging 11.6 PPG on 47.1% shooting from the field and 40% shooting from deep to go along with 3.5 RPG in just 26.2 MPG for the 43-22 Nuggets. Grant’s performance left much to be desired from an advanced statistics perspective, per Kosmider, who appraises Grant’s long-term fit with the squad.
- On the cusp of turning 35, Thunder point guard Chris Paul turned back the clock with his play in 2019/20, according to Erik Horne of The Athletic. He made his first All-Star appearance since 2016 in his first season in OKC. Paul is averaging 17.7 PPG, 6.8 APG and 4.9 RPG and has played in 63 of the Thunder’s 64 games. The team is currently 40-24, good for the No. 5 seed in the West.
- A year removed from a Western Conference Finals berth, a reconfigured Trail Blazers roster struggled to stay afloat at the bottom of the West’s playoff picture in 2019/20. Though Portland’s front office is confident in key players Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic, Zach Collins and Rodney Hood, The Athletic’s Jason Quick and John Hollinger examine where the team can improve moving forward. Portland’s 29-37 record positioned the team 3.5 games behind the West’s No. 8 seed, the 32-33 Grizzlies, when league play paused in March.
Atlantic Notes: KD, Raptors, Nets, Celtics
Nets forward Kevin Durant addressed the possibility of his suiting up if the 2019/20 season resumes in a conversation with Lil Wayne’s Young Money Radio on Tuesday, as NetsDaily recounted. However, KD didn’t offer many details about his potential return timeline. “It is what it is man. Everybody (is) waiting on me to come back,” Durant said. “But I’ll be back when it’s time.”
In 2019, Durant inked a four-year, $164MM maximum free agent deal with Brooklyn in a sign-and-trade with the Warriors for point guard D’Angelo Russell. Durant continues to recover from an Achilles tear suffered in the 2019 NBA Finals that has kept him off the floor for the Nets’ entire 2019/20 season thus far.
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- For the Raptors, balancing the team’s young core and aging veterans may become especially tricky during the 2020 offseason, according to John Hollinger and Blake Murphy of The Athletic. Among the team’s top six players, ascendant young point guard Fred VanVleet, 35-year-old center Marc Gasol and 30-year-old big man Serge Ibaka will all be unrestricted free agents at season’s end.
- Due to stricter state and city guidelines for reopening businesses in New York than many other teams’ home cities, the Nets appear unlikely to return anytime soon to their practice facility, the HSS Training Center in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park, per NetsDaily’s Net Income and Anthony Puccio. 22 of the 30 NBA teams hope to have their practice facilities open by Monday.
- The strength of Celtics point guard Kemba Walker‘s left knee and the ascent of newly-minted All-Star Jayson Tatum are among the big questions facing the C’s if the 2019/20 season does indeed resume, according to Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston. Forsberg notes that injuries have been a big story in the Celtics’ paused season, saying that the team’s top seven players were healthy together for just eight of the team’s 64 games before play was suspended in March. With a 43-21 record, Boston sits at the No. 3 seed in the East.
D’Lo On Wolves: “Where I’m Supposed To Be”
Timberwolves point guard D’Angelo Russell, speaking to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic in an extensive interview, asserted that his latest landing spot, playing alongside best friend Karl-Anthony Towns in Minnesota, is “where I’m supposed to be.”
After being drafted by the Lakers with the No. 2 pick in 2015, Russell was shipped to the Nets in the summer of 2017. He evolved into an All-Star for Brooklyn in 2019, and was promptly moved in a four-year, $117MM maximum contract sign-and-trade with the Warriors that summer.
At the time of his overcrowding the Golden State backcourt, it was widely speculated that he was brought in to eventually be shipped out as a trade asset. In February 2020, that speculation bore fruit, as Russell, Jacob Evans and Omari Spellman were sent to Minnesota in exchange for Andrew Wiggins and two future draft picks.
The 6’4″ 24-year-old out of Ohio State reflected on his prolific NBA resume in an interesting piece.
“When I tell you about my career,” Russell tells Krawcyznski, “it’s like I’m in the water and I take a breath… then I see it and I go back in the water.”
Elsewhere in Russell’s interview with Krawcyznski, which is worth reading in full, Russell discusses all the stops on his five-year NBA journey to this point. Here are some highlights:
On his tumultuous tenure with the Lakers:
“I didn’t know how to be a professional and the guidance wasn’t there also… I don’t blame anybody. I blame myself. It was really a blur to me, just in the sense that the things that I’ve been through ever since then.”
On then-Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson’s role in Russell’s All-Star development:
“I’m not going to give (all the credit) to Kenny… I still don’t think he knew what he had, honestly. I don’t think he knew what I was capable of in the fourth quarter.”
On learning from Golden State’s championship-level All-Stars:
“My whole thing was I’m gonna just learn from these guys… Even if I don’t get to play with them (very long), I’m going to pick their brain as much as I can.”
On savoring his new leadership role in Minnesota:
“I’ve been enjoying it knowing I could be here for the rest of my career if I take advantage of it.”
And-Ones: Free Agency, Thibodeau, G League, Storen
Though the headliners of the 2020 free agency class may not be as starry as those of the 2019 class, there are plenty of intriguing non-superstar players, according to The Athletic’s John Hollinger. Hollinger takes stock of his 10 favorite such players in a new piece.
Pistons center Christian Wood, who has been averaging 23.2 PPG (while shooting 56.2% from the field) and 9.9 RPG since taking over as a starter for the traded Andre Drummond, is Hollinger’s top such player. Detroit bench big John Henson, Magic guard Michael Carter-Williams, and Heat combo forward Derrick Jones Jr. also make the cut as his names to watch heading into free agency.
There’s more from around the basketball world:
- Former Bulls and Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau spoke with Molly Qerim, Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman of ESPN’s First Take about his future coaching prospects. Qerim mentioned the Knicks, Nets and Rockets as being potential landing spots for Thibodeau. Thibodeau downplayed those rumors and noted that as of yet, no jobs are officially open. He deferred to his agent for fielding inquiries about his future employment.
- Despite the G League’s new elite development team now competing directly with the NCAA for post-high school recruits, The Athletic’s David Aldridge cautions that the NCAA will still remain loaded with high-level talent. Jalen Green, Isaiah Todd, and Daishen Nix are among the upper-tier prospects forgoing collegiate athletics in favor of the new G League team’s guaranteed six-figure salaries.
- Mike Storen, the founder and first general manager of the Pacers in 1967 and the father of ESPN reporter Hannah Storm, has passed away at the age of 84, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Storen also served as the commissioner of the ABA, the Continental Basketball Association, the Global Basketball Association and the Indoor Professional Basketball League.
Central Notes: Pistons, Pacers, Giannis, Cavs
While the Pistons‘ salary cap is weighed down by the contract of Blake Griffin for the next few seasons, they also have several decisions to make on possible free agents whenever the 2020 NBA offseason officially kicks off, according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. Edwards predicts the fates of Detroit’s free agents in a thorough new piece.
Edwards is dubious about the Motown futures of 6’9″ center John Henson, oft-injured point guard Brandon Knight, veteran guard Langston Galloway, and 2016 lottery pick Thon Maker, among others. However, Edwards is bullish on the prospects of the Pistons retaining a few other players, including breakout big Christian Wood and second-year small forward Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- The next phase of development for a solid Pacers squad goes under the microscope courtesy of The Athletic’s Scott Agness and John Hollinger. This season’s team was on pace for a No. 5 seed and a 50-win year before league play was paused on March 11.
- Bucks All-Star forward and reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered a major hack today, extending to his social media, email and bank accounts, according to ESPN’s Eric Woodyard. A flurry of vulgar tweets centered around Stephen Curry, the late Kobe Bryant, Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee teammate Khris Middleton, and his pending free agency were quickly deleted. Antetokounmpo’s younger brother Kostas and his longtime girlfriend Mariah Riddlesprigger tweeted that “Giannis’ [T]witter, phone, email and bank accounts were hacked!” Later, Antetokounmpo released a statement on his Twitter account (Twitter link), saying, in part, “The tweets and posts were extremely inappropriate and I am so disappointed and disgusted.” The Bucks are investigating the incident.
- With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to force teams to brainstorm innovative workarounds for internal player development, the Cavaliers are considering using virtual reality to simulate full practices, per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor. Though Cleveland is reopening its practice facility tomorrow, social distance guidelines dictate that only one coach and one player, shooting at one basket, will be permitted at a time. “This is an opportunity to push the envelope and try to come up with some new and creative things,” Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff noted.
Arizona’s Zeke Nnaji Declares For 2020 Draft
MARCH 31: Nnaji has confirmed to Jonathan Givony of ESPN that he’s entering the 2020 draft pool. Accoridng to Evan Daniels of 247Sports (Twitter link), the freshman is signing with agent Adam Pensack and intends to forgo his remaining college eligibility.
MARCH 28: Freshman Arizona power forward Zeke Nnaji will declare for the 2020 NBA draft, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Nicola Lupo of Sportando notes that Nnaji is currently slotted as the No. 34 prospect in ESPN’s top-100 list of available college basketball players.
The 6’11”, 240-pound Nnaji was named to the 2019/20 All-Pac-12 Team, as well as the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. The 19-year-old was also honored as the 2019/20 Pac-12 Rooke Of The Year.
Nnaji has averaged 16.1 PPG and 8.6 RPG across 32 games in his lone season for the Wildcats, while shooting 76% from the free throw line and 57% from the field.
Central Notes: Dunn, Doumbouya, Middleton, Melo
Fourth-year Bulls point guard/wing Kris Dunn will be a restricted free agent this summer, and after a competent defensive showing during his 2019/20 tenure with the club, he may be an appealing, affordable bench addition for a number of teams on the market, according to Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago. Though Chicago tried to move Dunn as recently as August 2019, Schaefer suggests that he may be worth keeping around.
Schaefer considers Dunn potentially netting an annual price tag in the range of $8-11MM this summer. The former No. 5 pick’s all-defense, almost-no-offense game may make him a better fit for a contender (the Clippers are reported to have interest in adding him) than for a rebuilding team like the Bulls.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- Sekou Doumbouya, the No. 15 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, became a more essential piece of the Pistons rotation than they had initially anticipated due to a rash of injuries, as Pistons.com writer Keith Langlois details. The 6’8″ forward out of France appeared in 38 games during the abbreviated 2019/20 season for Detroit.
- Bucks All-Star wing Khris Middleton was in the midst of a spectacular year when play was paused amidst the escalating COVID-19 pandemic, according to Eric Woodyard of ESPN. Middleton had a chance to join rarefied air with a potential 50/40/90 season in play. He was averaging 21.2 PPG for the 53-12 Bucks. Middleton was shooting 49.88% from the field, 41.8% from deep and 90.8% from the charity stripe. “I’ve never been on pace for 50/40/90,” he told Woodyard. “That’s just an elite scorer and elite shooter with those type numbers and efficiency.”
- While speaking with his former Olympic teammate Dwyane Wade on Instagram Live, Trail Blazers power forward Carmelo Anthony claims he would have won multiple NBA championships had the Pistons drafted him instead of Darko Milicic with the No. 2 pick in 2003, as Nicola Lupo of Sportando notes. Anthony, a 10-time All-Star, was drafted by Denver with the No. 3 pick out of Syracuse. The Pistons went to two straight NBA Finals in 2004 and 2005, winning the title in ’04.