Community Shootaround: Suns’ Postseason Outlook
The last time we saw the Suns play a postseason game, LeBron James had yet to leave Cleveland for Miami, and players like Paul George, John Wall, Gordon Hayward, and DeMarcus Cousins were still weeks away from being drafted.
Phoenix is set to snap its streak of 10 straight lottery seasons next month, however. The team currently holds an impressive 42-16 record, good for second-best in the entire NBA, just a game-and-a-half behind the top-seeded Jazz.
Still, that long playoff drought is one reason why fans and experts alike have been slow to come around on the idea of the Suns as a legit title contender. It’s rare for an NBA team to go from the lottery one year to the Finals the next.
The Suns also won’t have an easy path once the postseason begins. Luka Doncic and the Mavericks could await them in the first round, with teams like the Jazz, Clippers, and the defending-champion Lakers looming as potential second- or third-round opponents. As such, most observers aren’t expecting a Finals run from Phoenix, as A. Sherrod Blakely writes for Bleacher Report.
“They’re a good story. The league needs a few good stories, you know? But I just don’t see them coming out of the West,” one Western Conference executive told Blakely. “They’ll be a tough out for whoever they face; no doubt. But I just don’t see them getting past either one of the L.A. teams. You can’t come out of the West and not see one of them along the way.”
All-Star point guard Chris Paul and forward Jae Crowder have added some veteran know-how to a core led by rising star Devin Booker, but some people around the league are still concerned about the relative youth of the team, which features second-year wing Cameron Johnson and third-year players Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges in key roles. Even Booker has yet to appear in a single postseason contest.
“There’s growing pains that most teams go through before they break through unless you got LeBron James playing for you,” an Eastern Conference scout told Bleacher Report. “It feels like they’re a step or two away from being ready to really, really compete for it all.”
While it’s possible the Suns’ lack of playoff experience could doom them at some point this spring, this isn’t a typical NBA season, with the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to wreak havoc on the usual schedule and teams’ normal rotations. A year ago, the Heat made an unlikely run to the NBA Finals amidst unusual circumstances. With the Lakers and Clippers dealing with some injury issues and the Jazz not exactly a championship-tested foe either, there’s a path for the Suns to turn some heads in the playoffs.
“I hear the ‘they’re too young’ argument all the time,” a scout said to Blakely. “But you look at their roster, they have everything right now you want to win a championship. They have leadership. They have good scorers. They have stretch-big versatility in the frontcourt. They have quality depth, good coaching. And they got a real legit chip on their shoulder because everybody has been saying they would fall all season. … Sleep on them if you want to.”
What do you think? Do you expect the Suns to be knocked out of this year’s postseason in the first or second round, or is this a team you can envision in the Western Conference Finals? Or even in the NBA Finals?
Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts on Phoenix’s playoff outlook!
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Sixers Sign Anthony Tolliver To Second 10-Day Deal
The Sixers have signed veteran power forward Anthony Tolliver to a second 10-day contract, the team announced (via Twitter). Tolliver’s first 10-day deal expired on Wednesday night.
Tolliver, who is currently occupying the 15th spot on Philadelphia’s standard roster, appeared in just one game during his first 10 days with the team, going scoreless with a pair of rebounds in 14 minutes in last Friday’s win over the Clippers. We’ll have to see if the 13-year veteran gets a longer look during his new 10-day contract, which will cover the 76ers’ next five games, starting tonight in Milwaukee.
Tolliver’s new 10-day deal will expire on the night of May 1, at which point the Sixers could either sign him to a rest-of-season contract or let him walk.
The Sixers will carry a $110,998 cap hit for Tolliver’s deal, which will pay him $175,668.
Be sure to check out our tracker to keep tabs on all of the currently active 10-day contracts around the NBA.
Northwest Notes: Rivers, Russell, Deck, Powell
Prior to Wednesday’s game against Portland, Nuggets head coach Michael Malone told reporters that the team didn’t bring in Austin Rivers just to “hang out” and that the plan was to incorporate him immediately, writes Mike Singer of The Denver Post. Malone delivered on that promise by playing Rivers for 13 minutes in Wednesday’s win — the veteran guard scored five points and added three rebounds.
After the game, Rivers said he reflected on his situation a lot since being traded and waived in March, and arrived in Denver determined to be a professional teammate who brought a “positive energy” to the Nuggets (Twitter link via Singer).
In addition to that positive energy, Rivers should bring capable outside shooting, shot creation, and perimeter defense to a backcourt that has been hit recently by injuries, writes Eric Spyropoulos of Nuggets.com.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- When D’Angelo Russell returned from his knee injury earlier this month, the Timberwolves had him coming off the bench on a minutes limit. Russell’s minutes should increase a little going forward, to about 30 per game, per head coach Chris Finch, but he’ll continue coming off the bench for the time being, as Chris Hine of The Star Tribune writes. “It’s the plan eventually to get him into the starting lineup, but we’re all comfortable where he is,” Finch said.
- Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on Wednesday that there’s still no update on the arrival of recently-signed forward Gabriel Deck, who is being held up visa issues. “Still working through it. Trying to get him here, trying to get him locked in,” Daigneault said (Twitter link via Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman). “We’d like to certainly have him join us and see him play for as many games as possible.”
- Asked about his upcoming free agency, Trail Blazers wing Norman Powell said he’s too wrapped up in the playoff race to think about much yet, per Jason Quick of The Athletic. “I’m looking at everything, evaluating everything,” Powell said. “It’s a little different for me now because I thought I would be in Toronto. It was like home, and you always want to stay home. But now, it’s like a different perspective, learning about a different organization and how they operate.”
Magic Re-Sign Robert Franks To Second 10-Day Deal
9:05am: Franks’ new 10-day deal is now official, according to an announcement from the Magic.
7:51am: The Magic will re-sign forward Robert Franks to a second 10-day contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). Franks’ first 10-day deal with the team expired overnight.
Franks, 24, played for the Lakeland Magic, Orlando’s G League affiliate, earlier this year. He averaged 12.1 PPG and 6.6 RPG on .504/.356/.783 shooting in 14 games (24.5 MPG) for a Lakeland squad that eventually won the G League title, earning him a shot with the NBA club.
In his first 10 days with Orlando, Franks appeared in four games, averaging 5.0 PPG and 1.8 RPG on .500/.429/.833 shooting in 11.8 minutes per contest.
Assuming Franks’ second 10-day contract is officially finalized today, it’ll cover the Magic’s next six games, expiring after the team’s May 1 contest vs. Memphis. At that point, Orlando will either have to sign Franks to a rest-of-season contract or let him walk.
Franks will earn $99,020 on his 10-day deal.
Three Positive COVID-19 Tests Among Players Since April 14
Three new NBA players returned confirmed positive COVID-19 tests during the last week, the NBA and NBPA announced today in a press release.
When the league and the players’ union last announced testing results on April 14, there had been zero new cases during the preceding week, so this is a slight step in the wrong direction for the NBA. Still, it hasn’t resulted in any postponed games.
The league and the union don’t publicly identify the specific players who tested positive for the coronavirus, but a report last week indicated that Bulls guard Zach LaVine was of them. He remains in the health and safety protocols and out of Chicago’s lineup.
An increasing number of players around the NBA are receiving vaccination shots, so the hope is that the number of weekly positive tests won’t continue to increase before the end of the season.
Dylan Windler Undergoes Knee Surgery, Out Indefinitely
It appears that Dylan Windler‘s season will come to an early end, as the Cavaliers announced today in a press release that the young swingman has undergone surgery on his left knee to address “ongoing patella tendinopathy concerns.”
The Cavs’ announcement doesn’t explicitly state that Windler’s season is over. However, there are less than four weeks left until the regular season ends and he has been ruled out indefinitely, so it seems pretty unlikely that we’ll see him again before 2021/22.
It’s an unfortunate turn of events for Windler, who was also sidelined for his entire rookie year in 2019/20 due to a left leg injury and missed time earlier this season after suffering a fractured hand.
When he did play this year, Windler showed some promise. The 24-year-old, a first-round pick out of Belmont in 2019, averaged 5.2 points and 3.5 rebounds in 31 games (16.5 MPG), knocking down 33.8% of his three-point attempts.
After being limited to just 31 contests through his first two NBA seasons, Windler will look to have a healthier ’21/22 campaign. He’ll earn $2.24MM next season, with a decision on his $4.04MM team option for 2022/23 due this fall.
Nets Expected To Sign Mike James To 10-Day Deal
APRIL 21, 2:39pm: Stein has now confirmed (via Twitter) that it’ll be a 10-day contract for James. As such, the expectation is that Brooklyn will simply release Aldridge to create a roster spot.
APRIL 21, 12:47pm: There are conflicting reports on the terms of James’ deal with the Nets. Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link) suggests it’ll be a two-way contract, while Shams Charania of The Athletic says (via Twitter) it’ll be a 10-day pact.
Signing James to a 10-day contract would simply require waiving Aldridge. Chris Chiozza and Reggie Perry currently occupy Brooklyn’s two-way slots, so one of the two would have to be waived or promoted to the 15-man roster (taking Aldridge’s spot) if the team wants to do a two-way deal with James.
APRIL 21, 11:44am: James will sign with the Nets on Friday, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post, who confirms (via Twitter) that the veteran guard is still going through the COVID-19 testing protocols.
CSKA Moscow announced (via Twitter) it has reached an agreement with James that will allow him to become a free agent “until the end of the 2020/21 season,” and that he’ll sign with an NBA team soon.
The wording of CSKA’s statement suggests that James’ contract hasn’t been terminated, so it sounds like he’ll be required to report back to the Russian club for 2021/22 after finishing this season with Brooklyn. Andrew Bogut did this a couple years back, joining Golden State in the middle of a two-year contract with the NBL’s Sydney Kings before returning to Australia for the second year.
APRIL 19, 4:00pm: The Nets are in advanced talks with veteran guard Mike James, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times, who tweets that a deal between the two sides could be completed as soon as Tuesday.
Antonis Stroggylakis and Dionysis Aravantinos of Eurohoops initially reported that the Nets were eyeing James, who has also drawn interest from the Knicks. Chema de Lucas subsequently reported (via Twitter) that the 30-year-old was expected to sign a rest-of-season contract with Brooklyn, though Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link) heard that James was one of a couple players the team was interested in.
James, who averaged 9.3 points and 3.5 assists in 36 total games for Phoenix and New Orleans during the NBA’s 2017/18 season, has been playing in Europe since then. He was having a big year for CSKA Moscow this season, racking up 19.3 PPG and 5.7 APG in 27 EuroLeague contests (31.2 MPG), but was suspended indefinitely by the club following an altercation with head coach Dimitris Itoudis in late March.
James is under contract with CSKA Moscow through 2023, but Eurohoops’ report indicates that the club is willing to accommodate him if he finds an NBA opportunity, while Stein suggests that James has already been released from his contract overseas.
Further clarity on James’ situation should come soon. Assuming he does officially complete a deal with the Nets, he’ll take the roster spot previously held by LaMarcus Aldridge. While Aldridge technically remains under contract with Brooklyn for the time being, he announced his retirement last week and is expected to be waived in a procedural move.
Anthony Davis Plans To Return On Thursday
As long as he’s feeling good and doesn’t experience any last-minute setbacks, Lakers star Anthony Davis plans to return to the court on Thursday for the team’s game in Dallas, he told reporters today (Twitter link via Dave McMenamin of ESPN). We heard last week that he was nearing a return.
Davis has been sidelined for over two months due to a right calf strain and tendinosis, having last played on February 14. Discussing his injury today, he admitted that when it first occurred, he experienced what felt like a “ripping” sensation and was concerned that he may have suffered a torn Achilles (Twitter link via McMenamin). Testing showed that the injury wasn’t that serious.
Head coach Frank Vogel intends to immediately reinsert Davis into the Lakers’ starting lineup, as Mark Medina of USA Today tweets. However, he’ll be on a minutes restriction for the time being, and isn’t expected to play more than about 15 minutes on Thursday.
While the Lakers will get a boost as one of their All-Stars returns to the lineup, their other superstar still isn’t close to playing. A Tuesday report indicated that LeBron James‘ timeline can still be measured in weeks rather than days.
Pacers’ Sampson Suspended One Game; Spurs’ Mills, Gay Fined
Pacers forward JaKarr Sampson has been suspended for one game for an incident that occurred during Monday’s game against the Spurs, according to a press release.
Sampson got into an on-court altercation with Spurs guard Patty Mills, shoving him and then head-butting him (video link). He received a Flagrant 2 foul and an automatic ejection at the time.
Mills and Spurs teammate Rudy Gay, who each received technical fouls as a result of the incident, have been fined by the NBA, according to today’s announcement. Mills was docked $25K and Gay, who shoved Sampson, was hit with a $20K fine.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), the financial impact on Sampson won’t be quite as significant as the fines the Spurs’ veterans received. He’ll lose just $12,985 during his one-game suspension — that’s 1/145th of his $1,882,867 salary for this season.
Sampson will serve his suspension on Wednesday night as the Pacers face the Thunder in Indiana. Myles Turner (toe) and Domantas Sabonis (back) will also be unavailable for that game, with Goga Bitadze (ankle) listed as questionable, so the Pacers will be quite shorthanded in the frontcourt.