Southeast Notes: Hornets, Hayward, Wall, Beal, Vucevic
Originally scheduled to play Chicago on Wednesday and Denver on Friday, the Hornets will instead be off until at least Saturday as a result of coronavirus contact tracing. In addition to having two games postponed, the team faces a number of additional restrictions until the contact tracing process – and further testing – is completed.
As was the case earlier in the pandemic, the Hornets are currently limited to having one player on court in their practice facility, and players didn’t have access to the locker room areas. The club will continue to be restricted to individual player workouts through at least Thursday (Twitter links).
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- The Hornets raised eyebrows in November by signing Gordon Hayward to a four-year, $120MM deal that paid him like an All-Star, but the veteran forward has made good on that contract so far by playing like an All-Star, says Jared Dubin of FiveThirtyEight.
- After returning to D.C. to face the Wizards this week, Rockets point guard John Wall said he’s done discussing the trade that sent him to Houston, but hopes he’s remembered in Washington for his community work off the court and not just his play on the court. Royce Young of ESPN has the story and the quotes from Wall, who added that he was disappointed not to be able to play in front of Wizards fans in his return.
- Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today takes a closer look at how the Wizards made a clear choice to make Bradley Beal the face of their franchise when they traded Wall last fall.
- As part of the 10-18 Magic, he’s not receiving much national attention, but veteran center Nikola Vucevic is enjoying perhaps the best season of his career, as Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype writes. The 30-year-old remains under contract with Orlando through 2022/23.
Hawks Notes: Pierce, McMillan, Collins, Huerter
Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce expects to miss the team’s next two games to attend the birth of his second child, he told Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. Barring unexpected postponements, the next two games on Atlanta’s schedule are Wednesday and Friday in Boston against the Celtics.
As Spears writes, associate head coach Nate McMillan will assume interim head coaching duties in Pierce’s absence. McMillan has no shortage of past experience, with lengthy head coaching stints for the Pacers, Trail Blazers, and SuperSonics — he ranks 22nd on the NBA’s all-time list with 661 wins as a head coach.
Here’s more on the Hawks:
- In an in-depth look at John Collins‘ situation in Atlanta, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report cites one front office executive who says the Hawks are “not in love with him” and writes that the two sides never got close to agreeing to a rookie scale extension before the season. Still, there’s an expectation around the league that Atlanta won’t actively try to trade Collins before this season’s deadline, Fischer notes.
- Assuming the Hawks do keep Collins through the end of the season, rival executives don’t expect the team to let him walk for nothing, like the Kings did with Bogdan Bogdanovic this past offseason. Matching an offer or working out a sign-and-trade appears more likely. “They’re gonna make sure they get something for him,” one executive told Fischer.
- Within the same story, Fischer says that although Kevin Huerter was available via trade last fall, rival teams now have “little sense” that the third-year wing is on the block.
- The Hawks’ recent slump shows how badly the team misses De’Andre Hunter, especially on defense, writes Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. Without Hunter on the court, the team’s defensive rating is just 115.2, compared to 105.9 when he plays.
Celtics Notes: Ainge, Tatum, Smart, Hayward
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge doesn’t think head coach Brad Stevens is to blame for the team’s underwhelming play so far this season, telling Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe that he’d assign more responsibility to Boston’s players and to himself.
“We’re not playing with the passion that we need,” Ainge said. “I think that’s on the players. And the players on the team are on me.
“… This is a team that was put together by me,” he continued. “And we’re not playing with enough consistency and urgency, and it’s my job to look to see what we can do to improve the team, but that’s always much harder than improving from within.”
While Ainge stressed that “just changing faces” isn’t necessarily a way to upgrade a roster and improve a team’s outlook, he acknowledged that some roster changes may be necessary. The Celtics will look to avoid falling below .500 when they take a 13-13 record into a home game vs. Denver on Tuesday.
Here’s more out of Boston:
- More than a month after he first tested positive for COVID-19, Jayson Tatum is still feeling the aftereffects of the virus, telling reporters on Tuesday that it “messes with your breathing a little bit,” according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “Just running up and down the court a few times, it’s easier to get out of breath or tired a lot faster,” Tatum said. “I’ve noticed that since I’ve had COVID. It’s just something I’m working on. It’s gotten better since the first game I played, but I still deal with it from time to time.”
- When Marcus Smart was diagnosed with a calf strain at the end of January, the Celtics announced a projected two- or three-week recovery timeline. However, as Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe writes, it seems likely that Smart, who said on Friday that he’s still walking with a slight limp, will miss more time than that.
- Having lost 10 of their last 15 games, the Celtics appear to be missing Gordon Hayward and could really use someone to fill the role he played last season, says Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
And-Ones: Newly-Scheduled Games, AmeriCup, All-Star Game
In the wake of a series of postponements related to both COVID-19 and severe weather in Texas, the NBA is adding a pair of new games to its schedule for this week. The Nuggets and Cavaliers will play in Cleveland on Friday, according to an official announcement. Meanwhile, the Bulls will host the Pistons on Wednesday in Chicago, per Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The Bulls were initially scheduled to play in Charlotte on Wednesday, while the Pistons were supposed to play in Dallas. However, the Hornets were affected by coronavirus contact tracing and the Mavs are dealing with a weather-related state of emergency in the area, so Chicago and Detroit will instead play each other.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets had been scheduled to play in Charlotte on Friday night, but that Hornets game has been postponed as well due to contact tracing. The Cavaliers, whose Wednesday contest vs. San Antonio was postponed, were scheduled to be inactive until Sunday, so a Friday game easily fits into their schedule.
Neither new game is a makeup of an earlier postponement, but playing those games this week will allow the NBA to avoid having to schedule them in the second half.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Veteran NBA forward Brandon Bass has joined Team USA’s roster for the upcoming FIBA AmeriCup qualifying games in Puerto Rico, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Meanwhile, Canada’s roster for those qualifiers is headlined by former No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett, as Blake Murphy of The Athletic relays (via Twitter).
- In the wake of Jalen Johnson‘s decision to forgo the rest of the NCAA season and enter the draft, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Insider link) and Sam Vecenie and Brendan Marks of The Athletic examine the implications of the Duke freshman’s opt-out. Givony hears from sources that a foot injury Johnson suffered in mid-December never fully healed and still isn’t 100% — sitting the rest of the season should give the projected lottery pick an opportunity to get healthy.
- Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has issued a statement asking fans not to travel to Atlanta for this year’s All-Star Game, which won’t be a ticketed event, writes Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Although the game won’t be open to the general public, some family members of All-Stars, local health-care workers, and students and staff members from local HBCUs are expected to be in the arena, according to Spencer, who estimates an attendance of about 1,200 to 1,500 people.
Nets Waive Norvel Pelle, Sign Andre Roberson
1:03pm: The Roberson signing is official, the Nets announced in a press release.
6:16am: The Nets have waived center Norvel Pelle, opening up a spot on their 15-man roster, the team announced in a press release issued early on Tuesday morning.
With that newly-opened roster spot, Brooklyn will sign free agent forward Andre Roberson, who has agreed to a deal with the club, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link) initially reported that the Nets were “strongly considering” adding Roberson to replace Pelle.
Charania had said on Monday that the Nets mulled the possibility of signing Roberson last month before opting for veteran swingman Iman Shumpert instead. With so many non-guaranteed contracts at the back of their roster – including Pelle’s – the Nets ultimately decided to circle back to the former Thunder forward.
Roberson, who is limited on offense but has a reputation as a defensive stopper, returned last August during the NBA’s summer restart after having been on the shelf for two-and-a-half years due to knee issues. In his last full season, way back in 2016/17, he averaged 6.6 PPG and 5.1 RPG on .464/.245/.423 shooting and typically guarded opponents’ top perimeter threats.
Roberson’s defensive ability should be an asset on a Nets team that doesn’t lack offensive firepower, with Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving leading the way. Roberson and Durant were teammates for three years in Oklahoma City.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, Brooklyn will carry a modest $217,845 cap hit for Pelle’s 22-day stint with the club. The big man, who logged limited minutes in just three games for the Nets, will clear waivers on Thursday and will be free to sign with any team, assuming he goes unclaimed.
If Roberson signs a guaranteed contract or is retained beyond the salary guarantee deadline of February 24, he’ll have a full-season cap hit of $998,978, the prorated portion of the veteran’s minimum, per Marks. Once the signing is official, the Nets will once again have a full 15-man roster, though they could make additional adjustments before next Wednesday’s salary guarantee deadline.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Wednesday’s Mavs/Pistons Game Postponed
12:55pm: The game has officially been postponed, tweets Eric Woodyard of ESPN.
10:58am: The Pistons will have back-to-back games in Texas postponed this week, as their contest against the Mavericks in Dallas on Wednesday will no longer be played as scheduled, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
As Charania explains, this postponement is entirely unrelated to COVID-19 and is instead due to the weather-related state of emergency in Texas. Winter storms and unusually cold temperatures have hit the Dallas area and have caused massive blackouts in parts of the state.
The weather has also resulted in two postponements for the NHL’s Dallas Stars, who were initially scheduled to host the Nashville Predators on Monday and Tuesday.
The Pistons also had their Tuesday game in San Antonio postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak among the Spurs.
The fact that this postponement doesn’t have anything to do with the coronavirus is a silver lining for the NBA, but it’s still another game in a long line of them that will need to be made up at some point later in the season. The league has now postponed over 30 regular season games in 2020/21.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 2/16/2021
We’re still over a month away from the March 25 trade deadline, but with two veteran big men – Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond – being very publicly made available this week by the Pistons and Cavaliers, respectively, it appears there will be no shortage of trade candidates to talk about in the coming weeks.
With that in mind, we’ve brought back our weekly live chats at Hoops Rumors to discuss all the latest news and rumors in the NBA world. Those chats will take place each Tuesday at 12:00 pm central time (1 pm ET).
Today’s chat transcript can be found right here.
Knicks Notes: Randle, Ntilikina, Collins, Drummond, Robinson
Julius Randle is in the midst of his best season since entering the NBA, punctuating that point on Monday as he led the Knicks to a win over the Hawks by pouring in 44 points to go along with nine rebounds and five assists. After the game, Randle’s teammates made it clear that they believe he deserves All-Star recognition for his performance this season.
“It’s hard not to put him in the game,” RJ Barrett said, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. “What else does he have to do? The man is an All-Star.”
So far this season, Randle is averaging career highs in points per game (23.1), rebounds (11.0), assists (5.6), and three-point percentage (40.6%), among other categories. And while he has posted strong box-score numbers in the past, this version of Randle is making a greater “impact on winning,” according to head coach Tom Thibodeau.
“I think he’s making other people better,” Thibodeau said. “He’s played an all-around game. Strong on both sides of the ball. He’s played an unselfish game. He’s doing it in a number of different ways. Playing multiple positions. He’s a point forward, he’s a forward, he’s a center. He’s doing it all. The most important thing is the impact he’s having on winning. Hopefully it’ll be recognized.”
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- After missing the last week due to the NBA’s coronavirus contact tracing protocols, Frank Ntilikina has been cleared and is expected to join the Knicks for Wednesday’s game in Orlando, tweets Vorkunov.
- The Knicks have yet to inquire on John Collins, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post, who says NBA executives believe the Hawks are unlikely to trade the big man unless they receive a “whopping” offer.
- Cavaliers center Andre Drummond, who is expected to be traded in the coming weeks, would consider the Knicks a “good landing spot,” Berman writes in the same story.
- A weekend report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski indicated that Mitchell Robinson would undergo surgery on his fractured right hand, but the injured center is getting one more consultation on Tuesday before making a final decision on that procedure, says Berman.
Atlantic Notes: Simmons, Sixers, Raptors, Nets, Perry
The Sixers became the latest victim of a scorching-hot Jazz team on Monday night, but the play of Ben Simmons, who lined up at center in place of late scratch Joel Embiid, was extremely encouraging, as Tim Bontemps of ESPN details. Simmons scored a career-high 42 points to go along with 12 assists and nine rebounds, and acknowledged after the game that he was playing as aggressively on offense as he has since entering the league.
“There’s nights where I feel like I am dominant, but it may not look like a 40-point game,” Simmons said. “I might have a triple-double and we might win by 20, whatever the case is. It might be on defense. (But) yeah, I definitely had to pick up the slack with Joel out.”
The Sixers will need that version of Simmons to show up more often – especially when Embiid is active – if they want to be a legit championship contender this season, Bontemps notes.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- The Sixers are said to be in the market for a point guard, but David Murphy of The Philadelphia Inquirer believes the team would be better off targeting a three-and-D wing who can play solid defense against opposing guards.
- While he acknowledges that including Norman Powell in a trade for a center may be a necessary move, Doug Smith of The Toronto Star contends that Andre Drummond is not the answer for the Raptors. Toronto was said on Monday to be engaged in trade discussions with the Cavaliers about the veteran center.
- Although Kevin Durant wasn’t active for it, the Nets‘ win over Sacramento on Monday – in which James Harden and Kyrie Irving combined for 69 points, 17 assists, and 15 three-pointers – was “the vision” for how the team should be performing, according to Harden. Malika Andrews of ESPN has the story and the quotes.
- After learning in practice from the Nets‘ veteran stars earlier in the season, rookie Reggie Perry is now looking to make the most of his experience in the G League bubble with Long Island, writes Alex Schiffer of The Athletic. Perry, who has averaged 19.0 PPG and 10.0 RPG through four NBAGL games, will return to Brooklyn once the G League season ends next month.
Multiple Spurs, Hornets Games Postponed After Four Spurs Test Positive
Four Spurs players have tested positive for the coronavirus and the team’s next three games will be postponed, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The Hornets, who faced San Antonio on Sunday, will enter the NBA’s contact tracing protocols and will have their next two games postponed as well, per Wojnarowski.
The NBA has issued a press release confirming Woj’s report and noting that additional contact tracing is required for players on both teams’ rosters.
The Spurs already had their Tuesday game vs. the Pistons postponed after one positive COVID-19 test was confirmed, so they’ll have a total of four games pushed back in the next week. That includes Wednesday’s contest in Cleveland vs. the Cavaliers, Saturday’s game in New York vs. the Knicks, and next Monday’s game in Indiana vs. the Pacers.
If possible, San Antonio would resume its schedule next Wednesday in Oklahoma City against the Thunder. For the time being, the Spurs remain quarantined in Charlotte, where they’ve been since Sunday, tweets Wojnarowski.
As for the Hornets, they’ll have home games against the Bulls on Wednesday and the Nuggets on Friday postponed. If further testing and contact tracing doesn’t reveal any positive tests on the roster, the team could be cleared to host the Warriors on Saturday.
A total of 29 NBA regular season games have now been unexpectedly postponed due to the coronavirus, as our tracker shows. A 30th game was pushed back to the second half to accommodate another rescheduled game.