Rest Of NBA Season In Jeopardy?
5:15pm: A “sizable” number of players are advocating to finish the season since they’ve made sacrifices to be at the bubble and they believe the NBA platform is a valuable resources, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
“We’re already here,” one star player said to Haynes (Twitter link). “Let’s finish what we started.”
5:09pm: In the wake of today’s player boycotts, the rest of the 2019/20 NBA season “is in jeopardy,” a veteran player tells Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link).
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski passes along the same quote (via Twitter), though it’s not clear if it came from the same veteran player or a different one. Meanwhile, when asked if the season will continue, one player who spoke to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link) replied, “I’ve heard yes and I’ve heard no.”
As Wojnarowski writes, emotions in Orlando are “raw,” with players already worn out by the bubble environment and fed up with social and racial injustices prior to the Jacob Blake shooting.
Players are meeting on campus tonight at 8:00 pm eastern time to discuss next steps, and every player is invited to attend that meeting, sources tell Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe (Twitter link). That discussion will go a long way toward determining the fate of the rest of the season, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link), who adds that talks about postponing Thursday’s three games are ongoing.
For more details on today’s boycotts, be sure to check out our previous stories from this afternoon.
NBA Says Wednesday’s Games Will Be Rescheduled; Players To Discuss Next Steps
The NBA has announced in a press release that all three Game Fives scheduled to take place on Wednesday have been postponed and will be rescheduled.
Bucks players led a boycott of this afternoon’s game against the Magic, with the Thunder, Rockets, Trail Blazers, and Lakers quickly deciding to follow suit. The protests stem from a desire to raise awareness of social and racial injustices and enact change, and come in response to the recent police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter), the NBA, team owners, and front offices didn’t see today’s wave of player boycotts coming — as a few hours ago, they expected all of today’s games to take place.
NBA players have called a meeting for Wednesday night in Orlando to discuss and determine potential next steps, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
As Chris Mannix of SI.com notes (via Twitter), some teams – including the Raptors – have discussed the possibility of leaving the bubble altogether. Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (Twitter link) hears that the Raptors and Celtics are leaning toward not playing Game 1 of their second-round series on Thursday.
Thunder, Rockets, Lakers, Blazers To Boycott Wednesday’s Games
In the wake of the Bucks’ decision to boycott Game 5 of their first-round playoff series against the Magic, the Thunder and Rockets will follow suit and boycott Game 5 of their series this evening, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).
The Lakers and Trail Blazers, who were scheduled to play Game 5 of their series later tonight, are also boycotting, according to Charania (via Twitter). Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports first reported (via Twitter) that Portland and L.A. were leaning toward not playing tonight’s game.
The protests are a response to the recent police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The Raptors and Celtics, who are scheduled to play Game 1 of their second-round series on Thursday, had been the first teams to broach the topic of a boycott. Raptors guard Fred VanVleet explained the thinking behind the idea to reporters earlier this week.
“We knew coming here or not coming here was not going to stop anything, but I think ultimately playing or not playing puts pressure on somebody,” VanVleet said, per Malika Andrews and Tim Bontemps of eSPN. “So, for example, this happened in Kenosha, Wisconsin, if I’m correct? Would it be nice if, in a perfect world, we all say we’re not playing, and the owner of the Milwaukee Bucks — that’s going to trickle down. If he steps up to the plate and puts pressure on the district attorney’s office, and state’s attorney, and governors, and politicians there to make real change and get some justice.
“I know it’s not that simple. But, at the end of the day, if we’re gonna sit here and talk about making change, then at some point we’re gonna have to put our nuts on the line and actually put something up to lose, rather than just money or visibility.”
Bringing attention to social justice issues and systemic racism was among the players’ primary goals when they agreed to the NBA’s restart plan this summer. However, in the wake of the latest shooting of a Black man by police, a number of players felt as if their efforts to raise awareness and enact change were being overshadowed by on-court results and have decided to change their tactics.
Bucks Players Boycotting Game 5 Vs. Orlando
3:46pm: Bucks players are in their locker room attempting to contact Josh Kaul, the attorney general of Wisconsin, reports Charania (via Twitter). According to Charania, the Magic are refusing to accept the Bucks’ forfeit of today’s game.
“Some things are bigger than basketball,” Alex Lasry, the Bucks’ senior vice president and son of team owner Marc Lasry, said in a statement (via Twitter). “The stand taken today by the players and org shows that we’re fed up. Enough is enough. Change needs to happen. I’m incredibly proud of our guys and we stand 100% behind our players ready to assist and bring about real change.”
3:21pm: Bucks players have decided to boycott Game 5 of their first-round series against the Magic this afternoon in protest of the recent police shooting of Jacob Blake, according to reports from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links).
As the Magic took the court for pregame warmups this afternoon, the Bucks remained in their locker room, prompting Orlando players and the game’s referees to eventually leave the floor. Charania and Wojnarowski reported that the Bucks were seriously considering a boycott as league and team officials gathered outside the team’s locker room.
The shooting of Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, took place in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which is less than 50 miles south of Milwaukee.
The Bucks met before practice on Tuesday to discuss the incident and other social and racial justice issues, as Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel details. Multiple players expressed reservations about being in the NBA’s Disney World bubble with more important things going on, with George Hill suggesting that players should never have gone to Orlando to restart the season.
“I think it was said by multiple people there’s nothing more important than getting social justice and getting the wrongs that are happening in our country right and creating real and lasting change,” head coach Mike Budenholzer said of the meeting. “There’s literally nothing more important.”
It’s also worth noting that Bucks swingman Sterling Brown has first-hand experience with police brutality and racial profiling, having been tased and arrested by Milwaukee police officers over a parking violation in 2018. He has an ongoing lawsuit against the city, alleging that the officers used excessive force and targeted him because he is Black.
Earlier reports had indicated that NBA players – particularly members of the Celtics and Raptors – were mulling the possibility of boycotting games. Now that the Bucks have done so, it’s unclear what sort of domino effect the decision might have or how exactly the league will handle it.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter) the NBA’s Operations Manual includes “failure to appear” language that would subject a team to a forfeit and a fine of up to $5MM. However, that doesn’t mean those penalties will be applied in this situation — especially if this isn’t the last game to be boycotted.
Pacers Notes: McMillan, Oladipo, Turner, Warren
The Pacers fired head coach Nate McMillan today, and sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic that McMillan’s apparent resistance to some modern offensive philosophies was a factor in that decision.
As Amick explains, McMillan is a coach with “old-school sensibilities (and) a defense-first approach” whose offense relied more on mid-range shots than three-pointers — the Pacers ranked last in the NBA this season in three-pointers per game. President of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard viewed McMillan’s offensive approach as an “inopportune fit,” according to Amick.
Taking that into account, it’s no surprise that Mike D’Antoni was the first head coaching target linked to the Pacers. Amick says he expects Indiana’s next coach to have an offense-first philosophy.
Here’s more on the Pacers:
- As Victor Oladipo enters a contract year, his situation is worth monitoring this offseason. Amick wonders if playing for an offense-first coach like D’Antoni might convince Oladipo to remain in Indiana long-term, while Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report says a number of executives around the league believe the two-time All-Star is a candidate to hit the trade block this offseason.
- Asked about his future with the Pacers this week, Oladipo said he’s not thinking about that right now and is no rush to make any decisions, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “I know what I need to focus on, what I need to do to make sure my knee gets stronger and better and what I need to do to get better as a person and a player,” Oladipo said. “I learned a lot from this year, and I learned a lot from this series, so I just got to continue to keep working.”
- Speaking to reporters after the Pacers’ elimination, big man Myles Turner expressed frustration with the team’s fifth consecutive first round exit, writes Bontemps. “At some point, you have to get over the hump, man,” Turner said. “Five years of being in the playoffs, five first-round exits. So me, personally, I take that s–t personally. You gotta find a way.”
- Count Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra among those who wasn’t a fan of the Pacers’ decision to fire McMillan. Spoelstra said today that McMillan’s ouster was “totally ridiculous” and was critical of the “media fake extension” that Indiana gave him earlier this month (Twitter link via Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald). That contract extension reportedly just added a team option to McMillan’s deal, rather than any guaranteed seasons.
- In an Insider article for ESPN.com, Bobby Marks previews the Pacers’ offseason, including looming decisions on Oladipo and T.J. Warren. As Marks observes, Warren will be extension-eligible, but Indiana can’t offer more than $49.3MM over three years.
Hawks, Knicks, Suns Expected To Pursue Davis Bertans
The Hawks, Knicks, and Suns are expected to be among the top threats to pry unrestricted free agent Davis Bertans away from the Wizards this offseason, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Atlanta is “shaping up to be particularly aggressive,” Hughes writes.
Bertans opted out of the NBA’s restart due to his history of ACL injuries and a desire to preserve his value for his upcoming free agency. Before that, he had enjoyed a career year in 2019/20 during his first season as a Wizard, averaging a career-best 15.4 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 1.7 APG in 54 games (29.3 MPG). The 27-year-old also had his best shooting season, making an impressive 42.4% of 8.7 three-point attempts per game.
Bertans’ rare combination of size and shot-making ability will make him an intriguing target for teams seeking a big man who can stretch the floor. Estimates earlier this season suggested that he may be in line for a deal worth in the range of $15-20MM per year. The coronavirus pandemic has created some uncertainty about teams’ financial situations for next season, but Hughes says league sources still expect Bertans to command a salary in that $15MM+ range.
The Hawks project to have the most cap room of any team this offseason, making them a legit threat to make a run at Bertans. The Knicks could also create significant room, depending on how they handle their numerous veterans with non-guaranteed salaries and team options.
The Suns’ cap outlook is cloudier. They have more guaranteed money on their books than Atlanta or New York, and ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said this week during an appearance on Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta podcast that there have been rumblings that Phoenix intends to reduce its spending. Windhorst cited the sale of the Suns’ G League franchise to the Pistons as evidence of team owner Robert Sarver clamping down on the team’s expenses.
Of course, the Wizards still may be the frontrunner to retain Bertans. They turned down offers for him at the trade deadline, hold his Bird rights, and have long expressed a desire to bring him back on a new deal. Based on the competition they’ll face though, it sounds like they shouldn’t expect to get him back at a discount.
Injury Updates: Westbrook, Gordon, Lowry, Mavs
After initially being ruled out for Game 5 due to his quad injury, Rockets guard Russell Westbrook was upgraded to questionable today, as Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle tweets.
With the Rockets and Thunder set to tip off at 5:30 pm central time tonight, Westbrook is expected to test his strained quad on the court before the game, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who tweets that the All-Star point guard will be a game-time decision.
While it remains to be seen whether Westbrook will get the go-ahead to play tonight, it sounds as if he’s getting awfully close, which means the odds we’ll see him in action before the end of the series are increasing.
Here are a few more brief injury updates from around the NBA:
- Magic forward Aaron Gordon (hamstring) has been ruled out for Game 5 against Milwaukee, the team announced today (via Twitter). We heard on Tuesday that Gordon was still having trouble running up and down the court and that the club didn’t want to risk him suffering a more serious injury. If Orlando loses today, Gordon’s season will be over without him getting a chance to play in the postseason.
- Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (ankle sprain) didn’t practice again today, as Marc Stein of The New York Times tweets. However, Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca doesn’t necessarily view that as a bad sign, tweeting that there would be no sense running Lowry through a full practice even if he’s feeling good and plans to play on Thursday. Lowry’s status for Game 1 against Boston remains up in the air.
- Four key Mavericks players – Kristaps Porzingis (knee), Luka Doncic (ankle), Dorian Finney-Smith (hips), and Trey Burke (ankle) – are listed as questionable to play in Game 6 on Thursday, with Dallas’ season on the line, according to Brad Townsend and Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter links).
NBA Players Discuss Logistics Of Potentially Boycotting Games
The National Basketball Players Association executive committee has been in communication with players to discuss the logistics of potentially boycotting games, league sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
According to Haynes, those discussions have been spearheaded by players who are “emotionally traumatized” by the video of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, being shot by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Players began reaching out to the NBPA’s executive committee this week to say they’re not in the right frame of mind to play basketball, sources tell Haynes.
Haynes reports that an assembly of players met at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort on Tuesday night to discuss the situation, with Chris Paul and Andre Iguodala among the NBPA leaders who were in attendance.
Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link) separately reported that Raptors and Celtics players met at their hotel on Tuesday night to discuss the possibility of boycotting Game 1 of their series on Thursday — presumably, that was the same meeting cited by Haynes. The two teams are expected to meet again tonight, a source tells Spears (Twitter link).
The NBPA has been educating players on the pros and cons of a boycott and letting those players know they’ll support them whatever they decide to do, writes Haynes. The feeling after last night’s meeting is that a majority of Raptors and Celtics players want to play Game 1 on Thursday, tweets Spears.
Bringing attention to social justice issues and systemic racism was among players’ primary goals when they agreed to the NBA’s restart plan this summer. However, in the wake of the latest shooting of a Black man by police, a number of players feel as if their efforts to raise awareness and enact change have been overshadowed by on-court results — Bucks guard George Hill argued earlier this week that resuming the season took the focus off of “what the issues are.”
The Raptors, Celtics, and other players around the NBA are discussing what other measures could be taken to address the situation and to “thwart police brutality toward people of color,” according to Haynes. At this point, a boycott may not be the likeliest outcome, but Raptors guard Fred VanVleet explained the thinking behind the idea on Tuesday, as Malika Andrews and Tim Bontemps of ESPN relayed.
“We knew coming here or not coming here was not going to stop anything, but I think ultimately playing or not playing puts pressure on somebody,” VanVleet said. “So, for example, this happened in Kenosha, Wisconsin, if I’m correct? Would it be nice if, in a perfect world, we all say we’re not playing, and the owner of the Milwaukee Bucks — that’s going to trickle down. If he steps up to the plate and puts pressure on the district attorney’s office, and state’s attorney, and governors, and politicians there to make real change and get some justice.
“I know it’s not that simple. But, at the end of the day, if we’re gonna sit here and talk about making change, then at some point we’re gonna have to put our nuts on the line and actually put something up to lose, rather than just money or visibility.”
Pacers Fire Head Coach Nate McMillan
The Pacers have relieved Nate McMillan of his head coaching duties, the team announced today in a press release.
“On behalf of the Simon family and the Pacers organization, I’d like to thank Nate for his years with the team,” Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said in a statement. “This was a very hard decision for us to make; but we feel it’s in the best interest of the organization to move in a different direction. Nate and I have been through the good times and the bad times; and it was an honor to work with him for those 11 years (in Indiana and Portland).”
The move comes as a surprise, since the Pacers just signed McMillan to a one-year contract extension earlier this month. However, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski says (via Twitter) that “soft” extension involved a reworking of McMillan’s deal for 2020/21, with a team option added for ’21/22, so it sounds like Indiana didn’t cost itself much money by changing course just two weeks later.
McMillan, 56, guided the Pacers to a 183-136 (.574) record over the last four seasons, earning four consecutive playoff berths during that stretch. Indiana’s 45-28 (.616) mark this season represented the club’s highest winning percentage since 2013/14.
McMillan, who is well-respected around the NBA, had generally been lauded in recent years for maximizing the Pacers’ roster despite losing star forward Paul George – who requested a trade in 2017 – and dealing with a handful of major injuries, including the torn quad tendon that sidelined Victor Oladipo for a full year. The team’s quick playoff exit this season at the hands of the Heat came without injured starters Domantas Sabonis and Jeremy Lamb available.
However, that loss to the Heat represented Indiana’s fourth consecutive first-round exit, and there had been some chatter about a need to modernize the team’s offense, which ranked last in the NBA this season in three-point attempts per game (28.0). In an unusual move, the Pacers mentioned McMillan’s 3-16 postseason record in their announcement on his dismissal today, a signal that his lack of playoff success was a major factor in the club’s decision.
ESPN’s Jeff Van Gundy and Zach Lowe noted on a podcast earlier this month that there had been speculation around the league in recent months about McMillan being on the hot seat in Indiana.
The Pacers will begin their search for a new head coach immediately, according to today’s announcement. They’ll be vying with the Nets, Sixers, Bulls, and Pelicans for the top candidates on the market, becoming the sixth team to launch a coaching search in 2020 (the Knicks are the only club to have completed the process so far).
[RELATED: 2020 NBA Head Coaching Search Tracker]
According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), current Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni will become an Indiana target if Houston decides to make a coaching change of its own. The Pacers will also explore a pool of candidates they’d consider “program builders,” sources tell Woj (Twitter link).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Coaching Rumors: Lue, Pelicans, Nets, Sixers, Ham, Brown
Former Cavaliers coach and current Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue is expected to be one of the NBA’s most popular head coaching candidates this offseason, and he’s unlikely to come at a discount, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
Vardon says that when Lue talked to the Lakers about their top job during the spring of 2019, he was seeking $7MM annually on a five-year contract. L.A.’s best offer was $20MM over three years, per The Athletic.
The Lakers won’t be in the market for a head coach this year, but there are several intriguing openings potentially in play for Lue, including the Nets, Sixers, and Pelicans jobs. Vardon notes that the Rockets could also join that list of Lue suitors if they decide to move on from Mike D’Antoni.
According to Vardon, there were frustrations within the Pelicans organization with Alvin Gentry around Christmas time in 2019, and if Lue had been available at that time – rather than working as a Clippers assistant – New Orleans may have moved on from Gentry and hired Lue during the season. However, sources tell Vardon that the Pelicans aren’t looking to spend more than about $5.5MM per year on their new head coach, so the competition for Lue may price them out.
Here are more head coaching notes and rumors from around the NBA:
- Lue expects to receive an offer from the Nets, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). While Gregg Popovich may be Brooklyn’s dream candidate, Lue looks like a better bet to ultimately claim the Nets’ coaching job, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
- Lue is also viewed as the Sixers‘ top candidate. However, some agents have wondered if team ownership will be willing to pay big money for Lue while Brett Brown‘s salary is still on the books for two more years, per Jabari Young of CNBC.com. Young adds Bucks assistant Darvin Ham to the list of candidates believed to be in the mix for the 76ers’ job.
- Warriors associate head coach Mike Brown is receiving consideration from the Sixers for their coaching vacancy, though it remains to seen whether he’ll be interviewed, Pompey reports for The Philadelphia Inquirer.