Chris Paul Ruled Out For Game 1 Of Western Conference Finals
7:33pm: Paul has been ruled out for Game 1, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
6:16pm: Suns guard Chris Paul remains in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, and his availability for Game 1 is still uncertain, according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.
Coach Monty Williams provided an update on Paul’s status after today’s practice.
“Because of the climate that we live, things change from day-to-day,” Williams said. “I try to take it one day at a time. I certainly understand the line of questions, but for me, based on the information and based on the history of this particular protocol, everything is day-to-day. So that’s how I have to approach it.”
Paul received the COVID-19 vaccination, but he still returned a positive test earlier this week. He was required to quarantine and will have to register multiple negative tests and be given medical clearance before he can play.
Paul is coming off his best game of the playoffs, scoring 37 points Tuesday as the Suns completed a sweep of the Nuggets. He appeared to be fully recovered from the shoulder injury that slowed him in the first-round series against the Lakers.
Phoenix had been hoping for a seventh game in the semifinal series between the Clippers and Jazz to give Paul more time, but L.A.’s win Friday night means the Western Conference finals will start Sunday.
Cameron Payne will likely take Paul’s place in the starting lineup if he’s not active, Rankin adds, with E’Twaun Moore and Jevon Carter possibly getting more playing time. Devin Booker may also see a few minutes at point guard.
Celtics Notes: Walker, Stevens, Fournier, Williams, Smart, Griffin
Kemba Walker, who was traded to the Thunder on Friday, had a “tension-filled” season with former coach and now president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Multiple team sources tell Weiss there was dysfunction in the Celtics‘ locker room and Stevens was seen as being tougher with Walker than other players. Weiss adds that after Gordon Hayward left to sign with the Hornets, he told Stevens that he needed to take a more forceful stance with players for the team to be successful.
Stevens became harder on several players, including Walker, whom he frequently criticized for errors on defense. Walker and Stevens often argued, sources add, but they maintained a working relationship and respect for each other.
According to multiple sources, Walker, who signed with Boston two years ago in free agency, became angry about the team’s disappointing season and boos directed at him by Celtics fans. He began talking privately about moving to another team and was willing to accept a trade.
There’s more on the Celtics, all from Weiss:
- Trading Walker was a first step toward keeping free agent guard Evan Fournier and young center Robert Williams, who is eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer. The Celtics hope to bring back Fournier on a long-term deal while creating only a modest tax bill. The trade will also make it easier to add a maximum-salary slot for 2022 free agency, as Horford’s contract has just a $14MM guarantee in its final season.
- Multiple sources told Weiss that several players were hoping for a coaching change, believing Stevens didn’t hold some of his star players accountable. There was also frustration with the coach’s “college offense” and complaints that players would get stuck in isolation. There seems to be a preference in the locker room for a Black coach with NBA playing experience, and Chauncey Billups, Ime Udoka and Darvin Ham are among the candidates being given second interviews.
- Marcus Smart stands to inherit the starting point guard role and will hope to re-establish a culture of accountability on defense that he built along with Al Horford, who returns to the team in the Walker trade. Teammates often ignored Smart after Horford left, according to Weiss’ sources, which led to his confrontation with Jaylen Brown after Game 2 of the 2020 Eastern Conference finals.
- After Blake Griffin‘s buyout with the Pistons, he asked a Celtics player about joining the team and was told there was too much dysfunction.
Kawhi Leonard Won’t Travel To Phoenix For Game 1
7:10pm: The Clippers have officially ruled Leonard out for Game 1, tweets Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times.
5:00pm: The right knee injury that forced Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard to miss the past two games will also keep him out of Sunday’s opener of the Western Conference finals, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
Leonard won’t make the trip to Phoenix, choosing to stay in Los Angeles and get treatment on the knee. There’s no update yet on his status for Game 2 or the rest of the series.
He hasn’t played since hurting the knee midway through the fourth quarter of Game 4 against the Jazz. There are concerns that it might be an ACL injury, but the team is still officially calling it a sprain.
Leonard had been outstanding in the playoffs before being sidelined. He averaged 32.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists in the first round against the Mavericks, then posted a 27.3/7.5/4.0 line in four games against Utah.
Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell Will Start In Game 6
8:40pm: Mitchell and Conley are starting Game 6, according to lineups posted by the Clippers’ PR department.
11:05am: With their season on the line in tonight’s Game 6, Jazz point guard Mike Conley is “working toward a return to the lineup,” tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Backcourt partner Donovan Mitchell will be a game-time decision, Woj adds.
Conley has missed the first five games of the series with a strained right hamstring that he suffered in the close-out game against the Grizzlies. He had originally hoped to return for Game 3, but he re-injured the hamstring, which set back his recovery timetable. Conley is coming off his first All-Star season and averaged 16.2 points and 6.0 assists per game during the year.
Mitchell is dealing with a sprained right ankle that forced him to miss the last 16 games of the regular season, along with Utah’s playoff opener. He was in obvious pain during Game 5, shooting just 6-of-19 from the field, and admitted afterward that the ankle is limiting what he can do on the court.
If the Jazz win tonight, they will host Game 7 on Sunday.
Wizards Notes: Brooks-Westbrook, Beal, Coach Search, Unseld
Russell Westbrook wanted the Wizards to keep Scott Brooks as head coach, but his endorsement wasn’t enough to save Brooks’ job, writes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Westbrook and Brooks have a long relationship that dates back to Oklahoma City, where Brooks coached him for seven seasons.
Westbrook endorsed Brooks after Washington was ousted from the playoffs and spoke to general manager Tommy Sheppard about the coaching situation during his exit interview. However, Sheppard doesn’t think Westbrook will be affected by the change on the bench.
“Moving forward, Russell’s career does speak for itself. He was fantastic with Scotty in (Oklahoma City),” Sheppard said. “He won MVP in (Oklahoma City) under a different coach. Last year, he was All-NBA under a different coach. This is part of the business that we all struggle with, but it’s a certain part of the business that is something we know when we get into this business, that the only constant thing is change.”
There’s more on the Wizards:
- The Wizards’ decision to move on from Brooks is all about trying to ensure that All-Star guard Bradley Beal sticks around long-term, per Fred Katz of The Athletic. “What we gotta do as an organization is continue to do whatever it takes to put ourselves forward to have sustainable winning,” Sheppard said in comments to reporters about the decision. Katz notes, however, that it may behoove Washington to add a new voice on the bench who could be open to a rebuild, should Beal opt to leave ahead of the 2022/23 season.
- Because Wizards stars Westbrook (soon to be in his age-33 season) and Beal (an All-Star in his prime) both have player options in their deals for 2022/23, it may make sense to make a win-now hire, adding someone with a prior head coaching track record, opines Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Sheppard seemed open to adding a first-time head coach if he deemed the fit appropriate. “You want the qualities that you think are going to amplify the needs of your team,” Sheppard said. “You look at the modern NBA and what’s going on, who’s in the [playoffs], who’s still playing. It’s a great snapshot of what the NBA is. You have very diverse coaches, you have former players, you have people that came from Division II colleges. It’s just a reminder that there’s no clear path of how to get there, there’s no magic formula.” Less experienced coaches can also be significantly more cost-effective, Hughes notes.
- The Wizards would be wise to consider longtime Nuggets assistant coach Wes Unseld Jr., writes David Aldridge of The Athletic. Aldridge notes that Unseld has significant roots in D.C., from his Hall of Fame father to the years he logged between stints as a scout and assistant coach for the Mystics and Wizards. Given the precarious nature of Beal’s future with the franchise (he can sign a long-term extension in the fall or opt out in 2022), nailing this hire will be crucial for Sheppard, Aldridge writes.
Arthur Hill contributed to this report.
Dirk Nowitzki Will Be Special Advisor For Mavericks
Former Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki will rejoin the team as a special advisor, the team announced (via Twitter). His first assignment will be to aid in the searches for a new head of basketball operations and a new head coach.
Nowitzki, who retired two years ago, isn’t ready to take a full-time job with the organization, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times, but he will assist owner Mark Cuban in filling the two important roles (Twitter link).
“Mark Cuban approached me about a role as special advisor and I am happy to support my Mavs,” Nowitzki said. “Donnie Nelson and Rick Carlisle were both mentors and played huge roles in my career and the success of this franchise, and I am going to miss them. It is important for me now to join Mark and contribute as much as I can as we move forward.”
Following Carlisle’s decision on Thursday to step down as head coach after 13 seasons, Cuban met with Nowitzki, VP of basketball operations Michael Finley and some other longtime staffers to plot the team’s future, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).
Nowitzki, 42, is a 14-time All-Star who played 21 seasons for the Mavericks and holds many franchise records. He reportedly turned down an offer to become an assistant coach under former teammate Steve Nash with the Nets before the start of the season.
Celtics Trade Kemba Walker To Thunder
11:20am: The trade is now official, according to press releases from the Thunder and Celtics.
The second-round pick the Thunder will receive in 2025 will be the most favorable of the Celtics’ and Grizzlies’ picks, Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman tweets.
The second-rounder that Boston will get in 2023 will be the least favorable of the following three picks that OKC controls:
- The Thunder’s own second-rounder.
- The Wizards’ second-rounder.
- The most favorable of the Mavericks’ and Heat’s second-rounders.
Boston agreed to give Brown a $500K guarantee for next season as part of the deal, according to Marks (Twitter link). The Celtics also generated a $6.88MM trade exception.
8:20am: The Celtics will send point guard Kemba Walker and a pair of draft picks to the Thunder in exchange for Al Horford, Moses Brown, and a future pick, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Boston has been looking for a taker for the veteran guard, who has been injured for much of the two years he spent with the team. A recent report said former president of basketball operations Danny Ainge started shopping Walker after the Celtics were knocked out of the playoffs last summer.
The main incentive for Boston was to get rid of Walker’s contract, which pays him close to $74MM over the next two seasons. He was considered an important addition when he signed a free agent deal with the Celtics two years ago, but a lingering knee injury limited his effectiveness. The 31-year-old missed 29 games this season and averaged 19.3 PPG, his worst scoring numbers in six years, while shooting just 42% from the field.
Walker’s contract includes a 15% trade bonus that will be voided, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). He would have received an additional $3.2MM if the trade had occurred after the league’s new calendar year starts on August 6.
The Thunder will receive the Celtics’ first-round pick this year, which is slotted at No. 16, along with a second-rounder in 2025. Boston will get OKC’s second-round selection in 2023. The Thunder now have three first-round picks in this year’s draft and five of the top 36 choices.
Horford returns to the Celtics two years after leaving for the Sixers in free agency. He spent one year in Philadelphia before being traded to Oklahoma City last December in a cost-cutting move. Horford never found a role on the rebuilding Thunder and played just 28 games before being shut down in late March after the trade deadline passed.
The 35-year-old big man was still effective when he played, averaging 14.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per night, and should be a welcome addition to the Celtics’ frontcourt. He will make $27MM next season and $26.5MM in 2022/23, but only $14.5MM of that year’s salary is guaranteed. Boston will save about $20MM for next season with the trade, Marks adds, and that figure could rise to $32MM for 2022/23 if Horford is waived before the season starts (Twitter link).
Brown, a 21-year-old center, showed a lot of promise in his second NBA season, starting 32 of the 43 games he played and averaging 8.6 PPG and 8.9 RPG per night. He is under contract through 2023/24, but no money is guaranteed beyond this season.
Today’s trade marks the first major deal for former coach Brad Stevens since he became the Celtics’ president of basketball operations two weeks ago. Wojnarowski notes that it involves Thunder general manager Sam Presti, who has been a friend of Stevens dating back to when he coached at Butler (Twitter link). Woj adds that it’s unusual for trades to take place before the pre-draft combine, but both sides were happy with what they got.
Coaching Rumors: Magic, Carlisle, Mavericks, Celtics
The Magic have requested permission to interview three assistants with no previous NBA head coaching experience, sources tell Josh Robbins of The Athletic. The requests involve Suns assistant Willie Green, Bucks assistant Charles Lee and Nets assistant Ime Udoka.
Orlando may be seeking a younger coach to oversee its rebuilding process after moving many of its veteran players at this year’s trade deadline. Former head coach Steve Clifford reportedly decided to part ways with the team because he didn’t want to commit to a rebuilding situation.
Green, 39, came to Phoenix in 2019 when Monty Williams was hired as head coach. He also served as an assistant coach with the Warriors and finished out his 12-year NBA career with the Magic in 2014/15.
Lee, 36, has been an assistant for seven seasons, working under Mike Budenholzer with the Hawks and Bucks. He has also been mentioned as a candidate for head coaching vacancies in New Orleans, Boston and possibly Milwaukee if the organization decides not to bring back Budenholzer.
Udoka, 43, has been a candidate for several openings in recent years. He is in his first season with Brooklyn after previously serving as an assistant with the Sixers and Spurs. Robbins notes that the Magic interviewed Udoka after Frank Vogel was fired in 2018, but Clifford was chosen for the job.
Orlando has already sought permission to interview Spurs assistant Becky Hammon, Lakers assistant Jason Kidd and Nuggets associate head coach Wes Unseld Jr.
Robbins speculates that Rick Carlisle, who resigned as Mavericks coach on Thursday, could be another name to watch because he and general manager John Hammond spent two years together in Detroit. However, Carlisle is expected to receive offers from teams that are ready to be competitive right away.
There’s more on the NBA’s coaching search:
- Carlisle could be the Bucks‘ top candidate if they fall short in the playoffs and decide to replace Budenholzer, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said on Brian Windhorst’s Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip to Real GM). MacMahon also cites rumors about Carlisle returning to the Pacers, where he coached from 2003-07, and speculates that he never would have left Dallas unless he was sure that another opportunity was awaiting.
- On the same podcast, MacMahon named Jamahl Mosley, Terry Stotts and Kidd as three likely candidates to replace Carlisle with the Mavericks. Mosley, who is also a candidate for other openings, has been an assistant in Dallas since 2014. Stotts served as an assistant to Carlisle with the Mavs before the Trail Blazers hired him as head coach.
- Zach Harper of The Athletic considers the Celtics‘ job the best one available in his coaching vacancy power rankings. He names Carlisle as the best choice for Boston.
Pacers Aren’t Looking To Replace Kevin Pritchard
The Pacers are among several teams making a coaching change this summer, but president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard is still safe in his job, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on his latest podcast (hat tip to Real GM).
Pritchard has been assured that he will return for the 2021/22 season, according to Windhorst. He adds that team owner Herb Simon is very close to Pritchard and has no intention of replacing him any time soon.
There had been some speculation about Pritchard’s future after Indiana’s disappointing season and the decision to fire first-year coach Nate Bjorkgren. Pritchard recently accepted the blame for Bjorkgren’s failures, explaining that he decided to “take a risk” with an unconventional hiring.
Windhorst adds that the Pacers will seek a more experienced head coach this time. He also speculates that Pritchard may eventually leave on his own, saying, “I don’t know how much longer Kevin Pritchard wants to be in that job.”
A former NBA player and coach, Pritchard has been with the organization for a decade. He was hired in 2011 as director of player personnel and was later promoted to general manager before being put in charge of the front office in 2017.
Pelicans Notes: Van Gundy, Ingram, Ball, Hart, Adams
There were signs that Stan Van Gundy might not return for another season as Pelicans head coach well before the news became official Wednesday, according to Shams Charania, Joe Vardon and William Guillory of The Athletic. Earlier today, we shared their insights into Zion Williamson‘s future in New Orleans, and they have information on the coaching situation as well.
Van Gundy expressed his frustrations about the team’s performance to an assistant coach during a late-season bus trip, and someone relayed those comments to executive VP of basketball operations David Griffin with a warning that Van Gundy may not want to go through another season. Additionally, a meeting between Van Gundy and Griffin prior to the last weekend of the season turned out poorly, according to sources.
Sources also tell the authors that Brandon Ingram, who earned an All-Star nod under previous coach Alvin Gentry, didn’t like Van Gundy’s coaching methods. Ingram frequently talked about the way he and Williamson were used when they were on the court together, saying they rarely created better shot opportunities for each other.
There’s more from New Orleans:
- The Pelicans will face important decisions this summer on two players who were at the heart of the Anthony Davis trade, Charania, Vardon and Guillory add in the same story. Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart will both be restricted free agents and will be seeking substantial raises. Hart has become a vocal leader on a team without a strong veteran presence, and Williamson and Ingram have spoken out in favor of bringing both players back.
- The puzzling decisions to trade for Steven Adams and then give him a two-year extension look worse than ever, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic. New Orleans gave up a first-round pick in the deal for the veteran center, who clogs the lane and takes away room for Williamson to operate. Hollinger also questions the choice to take Eric Bledsoe‘s sizable contract from the Bucks instead of George Hill in the Jrue Holiday trade.
- The latest coaching change comes at a crucial time for the franchise, Hollinger adds. The Pelicans’ lease in New Orleans expires in 2024, so there’s a need to put a competitive team on the floor as soon as possible to ease any fears of relocation. He adds that owner Gayle Benson is very connected to the city and isn’t currently looking to sell, but the team continues to lose money while missing the playoffs.