Wizards Notes: Restart, Schofield, Wall, Wade
Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard vows that the team is focused on making the playoffs despite key players missing the restart in Orlando, Fred Katz of The Athletic tweets.
“Certainly, we’re going there to win games,” he said. “We’re trying to make the playoffs. That’s 100 percent our goal.”
There has been speculation that Wizards would treat their eight “seeding” games as a de facto Summer League. Forward Davis Bertans, a free agent after the season, has chosen to sit out. Star guard John Wall will wait until next season to return from his Achilles injury. Washington trails Brooklyn by six games and Orlando by 5.5 games and needs to pull within four games of one of those teams to force a play-in round for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
We have more on the Wizards:
- Rookie Admiral Schofield is expected to have an expanded role in Orlando with Bertans choosing not to play, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington tweets. “There’s going to be an opportunity at some point for Admiral to show what he can do,” Sheppard said. Schofield has appeared in 27 games, averaging 3.1 PPG in 10.9 MPG.
- Wall will stay in Miami while the Wizards are in Orlando to work with some coaches that won’t be in the bubble, David Aldridge of The Athletic tweets. The lack of practices during the stoppage of play cost Wall the basketball ramp-up timing he’d been gaining in workouts, according to Sheppard.
- Washington had some interest in signing power forward Dean Wade, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets. Wade agreed to a four-year contract with Cleveland on Monday.
Dinwiddie Tests Positive For Virus; Orlando Status Uncertain
Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie has tested positive for COVID-19 and his playing status for the league’s restart in Orlando is now uncertain, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports.
Dinwiddie had been practicing in New York when he experienced symptoms. Dinwiddie said he had been “diligent” about protecting himself from the virus in recent months. He flew privately to New York and tested negative for the novel coronavirus multiple times after arriving there.
“Originally, we were supposed to be one of the teams to enter into the Orlando bubble early, but training camp got switched back to New York and unfortunately I am now positive,” Dinwiddie said. “Given that I have experienced symptoms, including fever and chest tightness, it is unclear on whether or not I’ll be able to participate in Orlando.”
Dinwiddie plans to remain in self-quarantine and re-evaluate after 14 days, Charania adds.
Brooklyn enters the restart with the seventh-best record in the conference. However, its team has already been depleted by injuries and defection.
Superstars Kevin Durant (Achilles) and Kyrie Irving (shoulder) won’t participate. Nicolas Claxton is also injured, while Wilson Chandler has decided to sit out for family reasons.
Free agent forward Justin Anderson has agreed to sign with the Nets for the remainder of the season but if Dinwiddie can’t play, Brooklyn’s backcourt will take a major hit. In 64 games this season, Dinwiddie averaged 20.6 PPG, 6.8 APG and 3.5 RPG. The Nets did add some depth in that area last week by signing free agent Tyler Johnson.
The NBA announced on Friday that 16 of 302 players had tested positive on June 23. It’s unclear whether Dinwiddie was one of those 16 players or if he tested positive later in the week.
Durant was one of four Nets players to test positive for COVID-19 shortly after the suspension of play in March.
Teams heading to Orlando must submit rosters on Wednesday but they can still replace a player that tests positive for coronavirus or elects not to play, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. The player being replaced would be ineligible to return. In Dinwiddie’s case, it appears that a decision on his status would be made later in the month.
Eastern Notes: Broekhoff, Young, Heat, Celtics
Ryan Broekhoff gives the Sixers an extra shooter at their disposal, Derek Bodner of The Athletic notes. Philadelphia reached an agreement with Broekhoff to fill out its roster in Orlando. Broekhoff averaged 40.3% on 3-point attempts while playing for the Mavericks, who waived him in February. However, Broekhoff’s one-dimensional game and defensive limitations make it unlikely he will play significant minutes, Bodner adds.
We have more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Hawks star guard Trae Young will sign with Klutch Sports, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets. Young was previously represented by Octagon. Omar Wilkes, who has been Young’s agent since the guard entered the league in 2018, recently left Octagon to become Klutch Sports’ head of basketball operations, Haynes notes. Young is eligible to sign a rookie scale extension after next season.
- The Heat have closed their practice facility for player workouts until at least Monday in the aftermath of Derrick Jones Jr.‘s positive COVID-19 test, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets. Jones, whose positive test was revealed on Thursday, is eventually expected to rejoin the team for the league’s restart in Orlando. A Heat staff member has also tested positive, Jackson adds in a separate tweet.
- The Celtics will not renew the contract of advance scout Gary Schmidt, Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald tweets. Schmidt had scouted for Boston since the 2014/15 season.
Justin Anderson Drawing Interest From Several Teams
Numerous teams heading to Orlando have expressed serious interest in signing wing Justin Anderson, Ian Begley of SNY tweets.
Prior to the stoppage of play, Anderson was a member of the Long Island Nets. He was signed to a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets in early January but the NBA Nets didn’t offer him another contract. His G League rights were traded by Raptors 905 to the Nets affiliate later that month. Earlier on Friday, Anderson was named to the All-NBAGL Third Team.
Anderson was on the Wizards’ training camp roster but was waived prior to the season.
Anderson, 26, has appeared in 219 NBA games. He saw action in three Nets games this season and played 48 games for the Hawks last season. He’s also worn the Dallas and Philadelphia uniforms since entering the league in 2015/16.
Anderson’s defensive ability is the attraction for the teams looking to sign him, Begley adds. He’s averaged 5.3 PPG in 13.1 MPG while shooting 30% from long range during his NBA career.
Pelicans-Jazz Begins NBA Restart On July 30
The Pelicans and rookie star Zion Williamson will face the Jazz on July 30 at 6:30 p.m. ET in the first game of the NBA’s restart, the league announced on Friday.
There will be 88 “seeding” games from July 30 to August 14 prior to the postseason.
The Clippers will square off against the Lakers in the second game on July 30 at 9 p.m. ET. The first two games will be broadcast by TNT.
It will get very busy the next day with six games scheduled, highlighted by Celtics vs. Bucks and Rockets vs. Mavericks. There will be a maximum of seven games per day, with start times ranging from 12-9 p.m.
At the conclusion of the seeding games, the seven teams in each conference with the highest combined winning percentages across regular-season games and seeding games will be the first through seventh seeds for the conference playoffs. If the team with the eighth-best combined winning percentage (regular-season games and seeding games) in a conference is more than four games ahead of the team with the ninth-best combined winning percentage in the same conference, then the team with the eighth-best winning percentage would be the No. 8 seed.
If the team with the eighth-best combined winning percentage in a conference is four games or fewer ahead of the team with the ninth-best combined winning percentage in the same conference, then those two teams would compete in a play-in tournament to determine the No. 8 playoff seed in the conference. The play-in tournament will be double elimination for the eighth-place team and single elimination for the ninth-place team.
Much of the intrigue regarding the seeding games concerns the final Western Conference spot. The Grizzlies, currently eighth, hold a 3 1/2-game lead over the Trail Blazers, Pelicans and Kings, a four-game lead over the Spurs and a six-game advantage on the Suns.
Memphis will face the Blazers, Spurs, Pelicans, Jazz, Thunder, Raptors, Celtics and Bucks during the seeding round. Among the Grizzlies’ pursuers, the Pelicans appear to have the weakest schedule. After opening against the Jazz, they’ll face the Clippers, Grizzlies, Kings (twice), Wizards, Spurs and Magic.
The Nets and Magic need only to hold off the Wizards in the East to claim the final two spots in their conference. Washington trails Brooklyn by six games and Orlando by 5 1/2 games.
The breakdown of each team’s seeding schedule can be found here. The day-by-day schedule and national TV schedule can be found here.
Kings Sign Corey Brewer
JUNE 23: The Kings have officially signed Brewer, the team confirmed today in a press release. Sacramento now has a full roster, with 15 players on standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals.
JUNE 22: Free agent swingman Corey Brewer plans to sign with the Kings, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
Beginning on Tuesday, all teams will have a one-week transactions window to waive and sign players. Only players on the team’s eligible roster on July 1st will be allowed to travel to Orlando.
Brewer, who did not play in the NBA this season, had multiple offers, according to Charania. The Kings have an open roster spot and thus can add Brewer without waiving another player.
Brewer played a combined 31 games for Philadelphia and Sacramento last season and has averaged 8.7 PPG in 23.0 MPG over 814 career games. During his 24-game stint with the Kings, he averaged 4.1 PPG in 14.7 PPG.
His representatives tried in vain to find him a place to play this season prior to the suspension of play. Earlier this month, Brewer told HoopsHype he was hopeful to could find a place to play.
“We had some talks with a few teams, but nothing really happened. My agent is still working on it, so we’ll see,” he said. “I feel like I can still help a team and I feel like I have a few good years left.”
Brewer turned 34 in March and has worn the uniform of eight different teams.
Weaver Will “Run Basketball Side Of Things” For Pistons
Pistons owner Tom Gores defined new general manager Troy Weaver’s role, saying that the former Oklahoma City executive “will run the basketball side of things” for the rebuilding franchise, Keith Langlois of the team’s website reports.
Senior adviser Ed Stefanski had been running the front office but will take a step back with Weaver in place. Gores also encouraged Weaver to receive input from vice chairman Arn Tellem, and coach Dwane Casey. The club is expected to hire at least one assistant GM.
“We want Troy to lead. He’s going to run the basketball side of things,” Gores said. “We have over 100 years of experience between Arn and Ed and Dwane to leverage. The smartest people in the world leverage whatever resources they have. I wanted to make sure he would leverage it.”
Weaver said he was “blown away” by Gores’ energy and enthusiasm in a video conference and was sold on taking the job “in two minutes.”
Weaver, who had been with the Thunder for more than a decade following a stint with the Jazz, most recently held the title of vice president of basketball operations after previously serving as the team’s VP/assistant GM. He was Sam Presti‘s top lieutenant in Oklahoma City and had been a candidate for other top basketball operations jobs around the NBA in recent years.
The Pistons pursued him for a front office role two years ago after Stefanski was hired. He wasn’t ready to leave OKC at that point. When the Pistons came calling this time, Weaver was more willing to make a career move.
“It’s all about timing. When this opportunity presented itself, I thought the timing was right,” he said. “I thought the fit was right and the loyalty that Mr. Gores and Arn and coach Casey and Ed have building made it attractive. My talents fit with those guys there to be collaborative.”
Though the team is focused on a youth movement, Weaver sees Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose as a big part of Detroit’s plans for next season, according to ESPN’s Eric Woodyard.
“We’re excited to get them healthy and help them move forward,” Weaver said. “We feel like we have a good mixture of young guys with those two staples to be able to start there, but obviously we’ve got a lot of work to do with the draft and free agency.”
Wizards Look To Sign Bertans Replacement
The Wizards plan to add a player to replace forward Davis Bertans on the roster when the season resumes in Orlando, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington reports.
Bertans, an unrestricted free agent after the season, has decided not to suit up during the restart. Washington will look for a player who could prove useful in Orlando and thus have ruled out DeMarcus Cousins, who tore his ACL in August and was waived by the Lakers in February. Cousins is still rehabbing the injury.
The Wizards won’t necessarily sign a stretch four to fortify that spot. They could sign a 3-point shooter at another position, Hughes continues. Rookie Rui Hachimura will see his offensive role expands in Bertans’ absence, Hughes adds.
Bertans’ agent, Arturs Kalnitis, told Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype that Bertans reached his decision in recent days.
“To be completely honest, Davis was prepared to play and then he made a last-minute decision to sit out,” Kalnitis said. “We’re playing the cards that we were dealt. When the NBA announced that players who sit out wouldn’t face consequences and would just lose one percent of their salary for each game missed, we sat down to discuss this. Davis is about to sign the biggest deal of his life, so he would be taking a big risk by playing.”
Bertans has battled ACL injuries during his career but Kalnitis said the possibility of injury after a long layoff was just one of the factors that led to his client’s decision.
“The injury risk played a role in Davis’ decision, but it wasn’t the only factor,” Kalnitis told Kennecdy. “I haven’t mentioned this before, but Davis has an insurance policy that kicked in at the start of the season so if he gets injured, he has a big, fat check coming his way. So, it wasn’t just the injury risk.”
Community Shootaround: Will The Season Restart?
Just two weeks ago, the prospects of restarting the season seemed bright. The NBA Players Association agreed by a 28-0 vote to the league’s plan to bring 22 teams to Orlando and finish off the season, beginning on July 31.
Every practice facility around the league reopened, albeit for limited individual workouts. The league tried to address all concerns and develop strict protocols to ensure the safety of all players, coaches, staff and family members who enter the Orlando bubble facility.
Yet recent developments have created more uncertainty about whether the NBA will actually crown a champion this season or whether its best-laid plans will go up in smoke.
Social justice issues have come to the forefront and a coalition of players, led by Kyrie Irving and Avery Bradley, would rather focus on fostering changes than donning uniforms again this season.
The reason why play was halted in the first place hasn’t gone away. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage around various parts of the United States, including Florida, where hundreds of NBA players and personnel are soon heading to practice and play ball.
Other pro leagues are experiencing issues with players and personnel testing positives, even though major sports in the country remain dormant. The virus has prompted three MLB teams to close their spring camp facilities. The NHL’s Tampa Bay Lighting shut down their facility on Friday after positive tests.
With those issues in mind, we come to our question of the day: Do you believe the NBA will be able to finish its season in Orlando? Or will the league eventually have to cancel the season?
Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.
Atlantic Notes: Tatum, Kanter, Knicks, Embiid
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum is not thinking of sitting out the remainder of season due to concerns over a contract extension, A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston reports. According to another report earlier this week, Tatum had expressed some reluctance about playing this summer because of an elevated risk of injury, which could potentially impact his ability to reach a max rookie scale extension this offseason. Tatum does have some concerns about contracting the novel coronavirus in the Orlando bubble and the league’s plans on addressing the issue, according to Blakely, but it’s not worrisome enough for the 22-year-old to sit out.
We have more from around the Atlantic Division:
- While some NBA players believe that playing again this season might take the focus away from social justice reforms, Celtics center Enes Kanter believes it would be far more effective to get the point across while playing. He made those comments on The Enes Kanter Show podcast (hat tip to Justin Leger of NBC Sports Boston). “The whole world is going to be focusing on you, right? You can make a huge difference,” he said. “All the microphones will be on your face, so you can get your message out. Whatever you want to talk about, ‘Black Lives Matter,’ freedom, justice, democracy. Whatever you want to talk about, the whole world will be listening to you.”
- The Knicks’ head coaching search will begin in earnest next week with introductory interviews scheduled with candidates, SNY’s Ian Begley tweets. Those initial conversations will be brief and take place over video conference. They will be followed by longer, more formal interviews, likely also via video conference, Begley adds. Thus far, nine candidates have been identified as probable interviewees.
- Joel Embiid‘s contract is now fully guaranteed, but there was very little chance it wouldn’t have happened anyway, as Derek Bodner of The Athletic explains. Embiid’s salaries for the next three years were previously conditionally guaranteed, but the NBA’s recent agreement to prorate bonus clauses and performance incentives this season impacted his max contract. Even if the Sixers had wanted in the future to recoup some of the non-guaranteed money in Embiid’s contract, he not only needed to miss time with ailments related to prior injuries, but the team would have had to waive him. In that scenario, the Sixers would have still been on the hook cap-wise for the guaranteed portion of his salary.