Brooks: Wall Not Necessarily Done For Season
Wizards head coach Scott Brooks has not completely ruled out the possibility of injured former All-Star point guard John Wall returning during the 2019/20 NBA season, according to Candace Buckner of The Washington Post (Twitter link).
“It’s not like we’re shutting him down and focusing on the 2020/2021 season,” Brooks said, per Buckner. Brooks noted (Twitter link) that Wall has been practicing one-on-one against Wizards assistant coaches.
“It’s going to happen organically,” Brooks said when discussing Wall’s actual return timeline. “He’s getting after every workout.”
Wall tore his Achilles at his home in January while recovering from a heel injury. He has not played an NBA game since December 26, 2018. Injuries have been a persistent problem for the five-time All-Star, who was drafted No. 1 in 2010.
Wall suited up for just 41 games during the 2017/18 season due to a nagging knee issue that required surgery. He was only available for 32 games the next year, 2018/19, before incurring the heel and Achilles injuries. He has missed 26 games and counting in 2019/20 with the same injury. The 29-year-old point guard is in the first season of a four-year, $171.1MM contract extension.
Isaiah Thomas, on a one-year, $2.3MM veteran’s minimum salary, is currently revitalizing his career as the Wizards’ starting point guard in Wall’s stead. Before tonight’s 110-109 loss to the Bulls (in which he scored 16 points), Thomas was averaging 13.2 PPG and 5.1 APG in just 24.9 MPG, while shooting 43.3% from deep and 46.2% from the field.
Suns Notes: Williams, Jones, Oubre, Ayton
Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated spoke with Suns GM James Jones and new head coach Monty Williams in a look at the league’s youngest team, owners of a surprisingly competent 11-16 record this season. Phoenix is currently one game behind the Kings for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.
Williams addressed the tactical changes he has made since his last head coaching position with the Anthony Davis-fronted Pelicans.
“In New Orleans, I made it about me a lot of times. I was a young coach,” Williams allows. “And there was a bit of pride there that got in the way and I had to address that. I don’t want to go that route anymore… We want everybody to feel so excited and good about what we’re trying to do.”
Here’s more from Phoenix:
- In the same conversation with Spears, Jones (who won three titles as a bench shooter for the Heat and Cavaliers) asserts that he wants to make a long-term cultural shift in Phoenix, from perennial loser to perennial title contender. “I’m so deeply focused on the process because I know there’s a process that you have to undertake to become a champion,” Jones tells Spears.
- Kelly Oubre was unsure whether or not he would be leaving the Wizards for the Suns last season after the infamous “Brooks trade” involving Phoenix, Washington and Memphis fell apart. Then, the Suns and Wizards cut out the Grizzlies completely and proceeded to move Oubre to Phoenix. “[At] the end of the day, I want to be great,” Oubre told The Athletic’s Gina Mizell. “I want to… help this organization grow.” The team now cannot picture its rebuild without the 24 year-old small forward, who has emerged as a permanent starter.
- Suns center Deandre Ayton double-doubled in his first game back from a 25-game drug suspension. Ayton scored 18 points and pulling down 12 rebounds in a 120-99 loss to the Clippers Tuesday. In postgame comments logged by ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk, Ayton calls testing positive for a diuretic “the biggest mistake and unintentional mistake that happened in my life.” As Youngmisuk writes, Ayton said that he did not appeal the NBA’s suspension because he did not want to be a distraction to his team.
L.A. Notes: Williams, Clippers, Magic, AD
Clippers guard and reigning Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams, 33, tells Stadium’s Shams Charania in an exclusive video sitdown that he considered retirement in the summer of 2017. After being traded from the Lakers to the Rockets to the Clippers within the span of a few months, Williams felt like his NBA days were numbered.
“I was done,” Williams said. “[I was on] three teams in six months. You know, you kind of look around and you’ve got to be realistic with yourself… When guys [are] getting bounced around, you know, eventually it’s going to stop bouncing and you’re going to be sitting around waiting for a phone call.” Williams would go on to win the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award in each of his two seasons with the Clippers, and is a frontrunner thus far this year.
Thus far, Williams boasts averages 19.9 PPG, 6.3 APG and 3.2 RPG for the Clippers. He is shooting 36.8% from beyond the three-point line and 83.8% from the free-throw line.
Williams credits Clippers head coach Doc Rivers with reassuring him that he was valued in Los Angeles. “I had a conversation with Doc. He was like, ‘I don’t know what these other teams are thinking, but we need you, and you can get comfortable, [you’re going to] be here.'”
There’s more out of Los Angeles:
- Former Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson tells Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke that the 24-4 Lakers, who have retained just six players from the 2018/19 season, “would not be in the position [they’re] in without me.” Johnson infamously quit the position on television ahead of the Lakers’ final regular season game. “This was my strategy, this is what I thought we’d be in three years,” he tells Plaschke. “I knew we were on the right track. Everybody wanted to do it their way, but I’m good with who I am. … I think people respect what I’ve done for the team.”
- The Clippers‘ forthcoming Inglewood arena has been given the fast-track green-light by California governor Gavin Newsom on December 13, according to Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times. California’s Joint Legislative Budget Committee has 30 days from the date of the Newsom certification to approve the signing.
- During a First Take interview with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, Lakers All-Star power forward Anthony Davis was careful to note that his team’s hot start has not altered his noncommittal stance on his impending 2020 free agency. “We’ll see what happens at the end of the season,” Davis told Smith. “I’m trying to stay in the moment and worry about [free agency] when the season’s over.”
Central Notes: Pistons, Young, Thompson, Garland
Now that 119 of this summer’s free agents have become trade-eligible, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link), several playoff-bubble teams have some tough choices to make. Should they shore up their present with moves that may compromise their future (i.e. trading draft picks or still-developing younger players to improve veteran depth), or should they pivot to selling off their more attractive trade options in the hopes of accruing more forward-looking assets?
Rod Beard of The Detroit News cautions Pistons fans about hoping their squad will opt for a complete teardown with trade season in full swing. Beard asserts that owner Tom Gores wants to his team to contend for playoff appearances. The Pistons have a middling 11-15 record, good for just the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference.
In further Pistons roster talk, The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III examines Detroit’s best and worst trade options throughout their roster. He considers bench guards Derrick Rose and Langston Galloway, plus the expiring $18.1MM contract of starter Reggie Jackson, the team’s most realistic trade chips.
There’s more from the Central Division:
- After reports indicated Bulls forward Thaddeus Young was unhappy with his playing time in Chicago, he logged more minutes on Wednesday against the Hawks and on Friday against the Hornets. K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago notes that Young’s increased playing time has cut into starting power forward Lauri Markkanen‘s minutes. Young played more minutes than Markkanen during Chicago’s 83-73 loss to Charlotte. Young signed a three-year, $41MM contract with the Bulls this summer to be a veteran mentor to the young team.
- Cavaliers starting center Tristan Thompson downplayed a heated exchange with coach John Beilein during a 117-109 overtime win against the Spurs on Thursday. Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com documents Thompson’s thoughts on the incident. “[Beilein] understands my passion for the game,” Thompson said. “I understand his passion for the game. It’s just family members getting into a quick discussion… We’ve moved on.”
- The Cavaliers have found a new role for rookie guard Darius Garland in their revamped rotation: second unit leader. Though Garland still starts, he has been spending more time with the Cavs bench lately, as Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com details. “The coaches say I’m more aggressive with the second group,” Garland said.
Wilson Chandler Back From Suspension Tonight
Forward Wilson Chandler will play his first game for the Nets tonight, following a 25-game suspension to start the season. Chandler tested positive for the banned PED Ipamorelin in August.
He signed a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract (for $2.6MM) with Brooklyn over the summer. The suspension cost him $582,898 out of that sum, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). Chandler’s inaugural bout as a Net will be against his previous team, the Sixers.
He and Nets coach Kenny Atkinson spoke with ESPN’s Malika Andrews for an examination into his time apart from the team. “We will throw him to the wolves,” Atkinson relayed.
During the suspension, Chandler was not allowed inside any arena in which the Nets would play two hours before or after a game. Despite this, Chandler traveled with the Nets for all their road trips outside of a quick October 27th jaunt to Memphis. He watched games from the team hotel, but otherwise he would partake in most team activities, from dining with his teammates to practicing with them.
In his conversation with Andrews, Chandler indicates that he took “small doses” of Ipamorelin under the guidance of his personal physician. “I was trying to get healthy, and I took something I didn’t know was a bad substance,” Chandler told Andrews. “I felt a lot of shame.”
Brooklyn marks the fifth NBA team for the 6’8″, 32 year-old forward. He can guard either forward position, and is a competent long-range shooter, connecting on 34.3% of his 3.8 three-point attempts per game over the course of his 13-year career. Playing for the Sixers and Clippers in 2018/19, Chandler averaged 6.0 PPG and 4.2 RPG in 23.1 MPG. He shot 37.3% from deep on 3.2 attempts last season.
Could the suspension affect Chandler’s free agency next season, or his tradeability this season? It appears this notion has at least been on his mind. “You’re focused on reading other people’s minds and how they look at you,” Chandler said. “Your teammates, other teams, coaches, GMs, everyone in the league office — you’re wondering how they feel about you.”
If his on-court performance contributes significantly to Brooklyn’s season (the Nets are 13-12, good for the No. 7 seed in the East), it could go a long way towards mitigating any PR hits incurred by the suspension.
Nikola Vucevic To Return This Afternoon
Magic officials have stated that center Nikola Vucevic has been ruled active and available to suit up today against the Pelicans for the first time in 11 games, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link). Vucevic had been inactive since suffering a right ankle sprain in a 113-97 loss to the Raptors on November 20th.
Additionally, head coach Steve Clifford tells Robbins that Vucevic will face a minutes restriction, in accordance with the wishes of the team’s sports medicine specialists.
“(High performance director) David (Tenney) will watch him. (Head trainer) Earnest (Eugene) will watch him,” Clifford said, per The Orlando Sentinel’s Roy Parry (Twitter link). “He won’t play his regular minutes, but he’s going to play significant number, too.”
Vucevic, 29, was Orlando’s best player during the 2018/19 season, and received his first All-Star nod as the team went 42-40. They were defeated 4-1 in the first round of the 2019 playoffs by the eventual champion Raptors. It was Clifford’s first year on the sidelines with the Magic. Orlando is currently the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference with an 11-14 record thus far this season.
Blazers’ Olshey Discusses Trade Market Plan
Trail Blazers general manager Neil Olshey informed The Athletic’s Jason Quick that he intends to take a measured approach in the trade market come December 15, when most players signed over the summer become trade-eligible.
“We are going to stay disciplined,” Olshey said. “That doesn’t mean we are not going to stay opportunistic, OK? But the bar for how big of an impact somebody has to make to really make an outcome-related impact is higher.”
Olshey seemed to indicate to Quick that he was comfortable maintaining the Blazers’ healthy starting lineup in the 2020/21 season.
“The discipline comes in that the starting lineup next year is Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Rodney Hood, Zach Collins and Jusuf Nurkic,” Olshey continued. “… What we are not going to do is give away long-term assets that can help get this team to where we really want to be — and where we thought we were back in September — for some incremental upgrade today.”
Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love, Thunder power forward Danilo Gallinari, and Celtics forward Gordon Hayward number among the most attainable positional upgrades for Portland this season. Hayward and Gallinari are on expiring contracts (though Hayward has a player option for 2020/21). 35 year-old Carmelo Anthony has been an adequate offensive fill-on as the team’s starting power forward.
Collins, the Trail Blazers’ incumbent starting power forward, remains sidelined with a dislocated left shoulder. Starting center Nurkic underwent surgery to treat compound fractures in his left leg in March.
Hood underwent surgery earlier today for a ruptured left Achilles tendon and will miss the rest of the 2019/20 season.
Portland currently sits at No. 11 in the crowded Western Conference, though the Blazers are just two games behind the seventh-seeded Thunder.
Despite – or perhaps because – of all their injuries, NBC Sports Northwest’s Dwight Jaynes doesn’t expect the Blazers to pursue anyone on an expiring contract this trade season. This would seem to eliminate the prospect someone like Gallinari as a mid-season addition.
Instead, Jaynes anticipates the team prioritizing moves for players with contracts that will last beyond 2019/20, since Portland will be better positioned to compete in future seasons. In addition to Love, he mentions Pistons power forward Blake Griffin and Spurs power forward/center LaMarcus Aldridge as names to watch.
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 12/11/19
Here are Wednesday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Magic have recalled shooting guard Melvin Frazier and power forward Amile Jefferson from their G League affiliate, the Lakeland Magic, the team’s Twitter account reveals. The second-year players have seen limited time in Orlando this season. Jefferson has played limited minutes in five games, Frazier in four.
- The Wizards tweet that they have assigned rookie small forward Admiral Schofield and rookie guard Justin Robinson to the Capital City Go-Go. Schofield has played in 10 games for the Wizards, while Robinson has appeared in five contests.
- The Rockets have recalled second-year center Isaiah Hartenstein from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, according to Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston (via Twitter). The No. 43 overall pick in 2018 has seen action in 36 NBA games since last season.
- The Nuggets have recalled Jarred Vanderbilt from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the team tweets. The second year forward out of Kentucky has logged time in three games for Denver this season.
- The Kings have recalled power forward Wenyen Gabriel from their Stockton affiliate, according to the team’s Twitter. The rookie has played in seven NBA games thus far.
- The Warriors have recalled rookie forward Alen Smailagic from Santa Cruz, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link).
- The Mavericks have sent rookie forward Isaiah Roby to the Texas Legends, according to a Mavericks press release. The 6’8″ Roby has yet to play in an NBA game for Dallas. He is averaging 11.8 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 2.0 APG, 2.0 SPG, and 1.6 BPG in 25.0 minutes for the Legends.
- The Sixers have assigned second year power forward Jonah Bolden to the Delaware Blue Coats, the team has tweeted. The UCLA alum has suited up for two games in Philadelphia this season.
Northwest Notes: SGA, Vonleh, MPJ, Gallinari
New Thunder point guard Chris Paul has changed the way the team’s other new point guard, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, thinks about defense, Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman relays. “Everybody’s always talking about offense, offense, offense,” Paul said in November, “but the biggest thing I’m talking to him about is defense.”
Gilgeous-Alexander told Lee that before Paul, no one had “really sat me down and shown me how to read (an opposing team’s) offense the same way you read a defense on the opposite end.” Paul is a nine-time All-Defensive Team selection. The Thunder are currently 11-12, good for the No. 7 seed in a top-heavy Western Conference.
There’s more out of the Northwest Division:
- Wolves center Noah Vonleh has been relegated to the bench a lot lately, tallying eight healthy scratches in the last 10 games heading into tonight’s contest against the Jazz (he has yet to play tonight, too). Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune details Vonleh’s plight. The forward signed a one-year, $2MM contract with Minnesota expecting an opportunity to play, but thus far has seen sparse playing time.
- In Denver, Nuggets small forward Michael Porter Jr. is struggling to carve out a bench role for himself, and seeking clarity on his usage in coach Mike Malone‘s system.. The No. 14 draft pick in 2018, Porter got some meaningful spot minutes during the first half of last night’s 97-92 loss to the Sixers. But he was passed over in the third quarter in favor of fellow small forwards Torrey Craig and Juan Hernangomez. “Yeah, I need to talk to coach again,” Porter told The Denver Post’s Mike Singer. “When we’re more mentally prepared about when we’re coming in, what he’s thinking for certain games.”
- With most summer contracts eligible to be traded come December 15th, Thunder power forward Danilo Gallinari and his expiring $22.6MM contract have been the talk of the NBA town. One possible suitor, the Trail Blazers, could use Gallinari as their starting four in a 2020 playoff push. HoopsHype’s Bryan Kalbrosky details the versatile scorer’s potential fit in Portland.
Pacific Notes: Poole, Baynes, Kawhi, Joseph
The Warriors want rookie shooting guard Jordan Poole, the No. 28 pick in the 2019 NBA draft, to spend time in the G League, according to Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. Poole (Jordan, not Monte) is currently averaging 7.9 PPG and 2.3 RPG, and 2.0 APG in 24 minutes per game.
The 20-year-old Michigan alum is shooting just 25.8% from the floor for the Warriors. According to Logan Murdock of NBC Sports Bay Area, Golden State coach Steve Kerr told reporters that there is not a definitive timeline yet for Poole’s trip to Santa Cruz.
“There’s nothing set in stone yet,” Kerr said after the Warriors finished their practice Tuesday. “He’ll eventually be there. That’s a big part of our development process. Santa Cruz has been a big asset over the years. A lot of players go back and forth, so it’ll happen for Jordan at some point.”
There’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- Gina Mizell of The Athletic observes that center Aron Baynes‘ return to the court on Monday against the Wolves marked the first step toward the Suns replenishing their frontcourt assets. Baynes had been sidelined with hip and calf injuries for three weeks prior to his suiting up for the Suns, on his 33rd birthday no less. In just 15 minutes Baynes scored 12 points and pulled down four boards in a Phoenix win. Starting center (and 2018 No. 1 draft pick) Deandre Ayton remains out of commission while serving a 25-game suspension for violating the league’s drug policy.
- All-NBA Clippers wing Kawhi Leonard was treated to a standing ovation and chants of “MVP!” from a warm Canadian crowd on the night he received his 2019 NBA championship ring in Toronto. The Clippers faced the Raptors in the Great White North for the first time since Leonard changed sides as a free agent in the summer of 2019. Kurt Helin of NBC Sports took stock of the moment.
- Kings point guard Cory Joseph, starting in Sacramento with De’Aaron Fox still injured, has been adding some bite to Sacramento’s defense, according to Jason Jones of The Athletic… and Joseph’s teammate Harrison Barnes. Barnes said to reporters in the Sacramento locker room on Monday night that he thinks Joseph is deserving of Second-Team All-Defensive honors for his work this season. Fox, meanwhile, is projecting a return to game action in a week and a half, according to James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area (via Twitter).