Northwest Notes: Wolves, SGA, Nurkic, Nuggets, Gobert
As Glen Taylor considers a potential sale of the Timberwolves, one of his top priorities is making sure the team remains in Minnesota. Sources tell Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic that any purchase agreement will likely include steep financial penalties for moving the franchise, while Chris Hine of The Star Tribune reports that the Wolves already have an agreement with the city to pay a $50MM penalty if they move before 2035.
Meanwhile, Krawczynski writes that Taylor and the Timberwolves have been “inundated” with interest over the last couple weeks. According to The Athletic, there are at least five “legitimate” bidders besides the groups that include former NBA players Kevin Garnett and Arron Afflalo.
While it remains to be seen which group might emerge as the most serious suitor for the Timberwolves, Taylor tells The Star Tribune that one group – a family from out of state – is further along in the process than the others.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman suggests that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s superstar potential should dissuade the Thunder from engaging in a full-fledged teardown in a year or two, since acquiring a player with SGA’s upside would be the goal of such a process.
- Ramona Shelburne of ESPN takes an in-depth look at Jusuf Nurkic‘s long recovery from the broken leg that sidelined him for 16 months, exploring what the Trail Blazers center gained from losing a year to that injury. “For me to be on the sideline for 16 months, watching the team play and just being around them as more of a coach than as a player,” Nurkic said, “it gives you a totally different perspective for the game, for life, for my team and family.”
- The health and conditioning of his players are among Michael Malone‘s most pressing concerns with the Nuggets‘ seeding games about to get underway, writes Mike Singer of The Denver Post. Injuries and late arrivals make it unclear which players will be at full speed when Denver resumes play on Saturday, Singer observes.
- Rudy Gobert‘s positive coronavirus test on March 11 shut down the NBA. Four-and-a-half months later, it was Gobert scoring the game-winning basket for the Jazz in the first game of the NBA’s restart. As Tim MacMahon of ESPN details, Gobert said on Thursday night that he’s “grateful” to be in a position to get back on the court and resume the season. “Life works in mysterious ways,” he said.
Stanford’s Tyrell Terry Will Remain In Draft, Go Pro
Stanford guard Tyrell Terry has decided to keep his name in the 2020 NBA draft pool after initially testing waters, according to reports from Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link) and ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. As Givony observes, Terry will be the first one-and-done freshman in Stanford history.
“I’m confident in my game and ready to compete at the highest level, against the best players in the world, and to learn from the best coaches in the world,” Terry told ESPN. “I still plan on continuing my education and getting my degree from Stanford. But for now, I’m ready for this challenge.”
Terry, who added that he has received “very positive” feedback from NBA teams, comes in at No. 44 on Givony’s big board at ESPN.com. The youngster is even more highly regarded by other experts — Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer tweets that Terry ranks eighth on his board.
Terry established himself as a dangerous outside shooter in his first and only college season, knocking down 40.8% of his three-pointers and 89.1% of his free throws. He averaged 14.6 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 3.2 APG, and 1.4 SPG in 31 games (32.6 MPG) for the Cardinal.
Here are a few more draft-related updates:
- Washington State CJ Elleby has decided to forgo his remaining college eligibility, keeping his name in the 2020 draft pool and signing with an agent, he revealed today in a Twitter video. Elleby, who averaged 18.4 PPG and 7.8 RPG as a sophomore, doesn’t show up on ESPN’s top-100 big board, but he’s one of the 105 prospects that executives want to see at a potential combine.
- North Carolina State will have forward D.J. Funderburk back for his senior season, announcing in a press release that he’s withdrawing from the draft. “It was a unique process, especially this year with everything going on in the world,” Funderburk said of testing the draft waters, “but I appreciate everybody that took the time to give me feedback.”
- San Diego State forward Matt Mitchell announced on Instagram that he’s headed back to school for his senior season rather than going pro. Mitchell averaged 12.2 PPG and 4.8 RPG with a .393 3PT% in 32 games (25.8 MPG) for the Aztecs in 2019/20.
- We passed along several other draft decisions earlier today.
Inconclusive COVID-19 Test Results Continue To Concern Teams
A Kings player received an inconclusive coronavirus test result on Wednesday and was required to re-quarantine for the last two days, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc Spears of ESPN.
When a player receives an inconclusive result – or a false positive – he is required to go back into quarantine and must receive two consecutive negative tests in the next 48 hours in order to be cleared. As Wojnarowski and Spears report, the affected Kings player met that criteria, receiving negative results on Thursday and Friday, and should be good to go for the team’s first seeding game on Friday night vs. San Antonio.
Although the Sacramento player who got the inconclusive coronavirus test result won’t miss any games as a result, there’s “significant concern” among teams at the Orlando campus that a similar situation could cost a club a key player for an important seeding game or even a playoff contest.
According to Wojnarowski and Spears, the NBA has been working with doctors and scientists to try to find a way to shorten that 48-hour quarantine period following an inconclusive test without compromising the safety of the player or the rest of the campus. However, science and technology limitations make it difficult to accelerate that process, sources tell ESPN.
The fact that no NBA players at the Orlando campus have tested positive for COVID-19 since initially clearing quarantine three weeks ago is a great sign, and the league’s top priority will be to continue that trend. At the same time, the NBA has to be hoping that an inconclusive test and a subsequent 48-hour quarantine won’t result in a star player missing a crucial game in the coming weeks.
Draft Decisions: K. Williams, Lawson, Burk, Daly, Gach
With an August 3 withdrawal deadline looming, the NCAA early entrants in the 2020 NBA draft pool must make decisions soon on whether or not they’ll keep their names in and forgo their remaining college eligibility.
Here are updates on a few of the latest decisions:
- Cincinnati guard Keith Williams is withdrawing from the draft and returning to school for his senior year, according to agent Trinity Best (Twitter link via Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports). Williams declared for the draft this spring after averaging 12.6 PPG and 4.6 RPG in 30 games (28.8 MPG) for the Bearcats.
- South Carolina guard A.J. Lawson is headed back to school, the program announced in a press release. “I want to thank all of the teams that gave me the opportunity to speak with them over the last couple of months, and I’m excited to be back in Columbia and ready to get to work for the season ahead,” said Lawson, who averaged 13.4 PPG and 3.7 RPG in 31 games (29.1 MPG) as a sophomore.
- IUPUI guard Marcus Burk has pulled out of the draft after testing the waters, tweets Jeff Goodman of Stadium. Burk was the Jaguars’ leading scorer as a junior, with 21.3 PPG on .432/.386/.782 shooting.
- Saint Joseph’s guard Ryan Daly has withdrawn from the draft and will return to school for his senior season, he tells Goodman (Twitter link). After transferring from Delaware, Daly racked up 20.5 PPG, 6.9 RPG, and 4.3 APG in his first full season with the Hawks in 2019/20.
- Having previously decided to transfer from Utah to Minnesota for his junior season, swingman Both Gach has now formally removed his name from the 2020 draft pool, writes Marcus Fuller of The Star Tribune. It remains to be seen whether Gach will have to sit for a year before officially playing for his new school.
Poll: Lakers Vs. Clippers
Following Thursday’s game at the NBA campus in Orlando, the Lakers and Clippers have now faced each other four times this season, with each team winning a pair of those games.
Los Angeles’ teams are widely viewed as the top two contenders to make it out of the Western Conference and compete in the NBA Finals this fall. While a challenger like the Nuggets, Jazz, or Rockets could break up the all-L.A. party, the Lakers and Clippers are on track to play on opposite sides of the West bracket in the postseason, putting them on a collision course to meet in the Western Finals.
Assuming the two L.A. teams do meet again in the playoffs and we haven’t seen the last of the LeBron James/Anthony Davis vs. Kawhi Leonard/Paul George showdowns of the 2019/20 season, we want to know what you expect to happen in a best-of-seven series between the Lakers and Clippers.
The Lakers had the last word on Thursday night, as a last-minute LeBron put-back proved to be the game-winner in a 103-101 victory. But the Clippers were missing key players like Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell. The Clips were +16 in minutes that Leonard played, and having second-unit standouts like Williams and Harrell available could have made those non-Kawhi minutes more manageable.
On the other hand, it’s not like we saw the Lakers at their best either. James and Davis combined to go 14-of-38 from the field, showing some rust after not playing real games in over four-and-a-half months. The club is also still experimenting with its summer rotation and will likely continue to do so until everyone – including the players who arrived in Orlando late – is up to full speed.
Another point worth considering: The Lakers have all but clinched the No. 1 seed, but their lack of home court advantage over the Clippers at Walt Disney World may be even more meaningful in an all-L.A. series than it would be in other series — if every game were played at Staples Center, the Lakers might end up with a de facto home court advantage for the entire series, as their fans often show up en masse at Clippers “home” games. That won’t happen on a neutral court in Orlando.
What do you think? After watching the Lakers and Clippers face each other four times this season, which team would you pick to win a seven-game postseason series? Do you fully expect the two L.A. teams to meet again in the playoffs, or will one of them falter before the Western Finals?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!
Which team would you pick in a playoff series?
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Los Angeles Lakers 56% (502)
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Los Angeles Clippers 44% (392)
Total votes: 894
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.
Restart Notes: ’20/21 Plan, Bubbles, COVID-19 Tests, More
The NBA’s “re-opening” night on Thursday was a major success, with both games going back and forth and coming down the wire, as the Jazz and Lakers scored winning baskets in the final seconds of their respective contests.
While the NBA’s “bubble” experiment at Walt Disney World is off to a promising start, the league is facing an uncertain future for next season — even if the 2019/20 campaign can be finished without any further hitches.
After NBPA executive director Michele Roberts spoke this week about the possibility of the NBA playing at a single site in ’20/21 as well, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported (via Twitter) that the league’s priority is till to get fans into arenas next season. However, unless the coronavirus pandemic is far more under control four months from now, it’s hard to see how the NBA will be able to fill teams’ home arenas by December 1, the proposed start date for next season.
As Wojnarowski notes – and as an early-July report indicated – the NBA continues to brainstorm potential ideas for the 2020/21 season and remains in the early stages of planning, with everything on the table. According to Wojnarowski, playing games in “regional pods” is one idea that has been discussed, but the league’s preference would be for any such “bubbles” to be finite in length — for instance, a month or two in, followed by a month out.
That report three weeks ago from Alex Silverman of Morning Consult suggested that the NBA is mulling the possibility of pushing next season’s start date well into 2021 (perhaps to March) in the hopes that a coronavirus vaccine or improved therapeutic treatment for COVID-19 will be available, increasing the odds of getting fans into arenas by then. For now, the plan for the ’20/21 campaign remains very much up in the air.
Here’s more on the NBA’s restart:
- As Andrew Keh of The New York Times writes, “bubbles” seem to be working for the sports that have gone in that direction, but it’s unlikely that leagues will want to continue playing indefinitely in secluded campus-like environments.
- The NBA announced this week that it’s launching a new community program to provide thousands of no-cost COVID-19 tests in Orlando and in team markets around the country. The league has been wary of the optics of its players being tested daily and getting speedy results while there have been testing shortages and delays for the public, so this program appears designed to help address that issue.
- In an interesting story, Josh Robbins of The Athletic looks at how a 30,000-square-foot ballroom at Walt Disney World has been transformed into a warehouse to accommodate upwards of 1,000 delivered packages per day. As Robbins details, players have been getting plenty of items delivered to Disney World in an effort to make the NBA’s campus feel more like home. “I’m about $5 grand in with Amazon since I’ve been in here,” Heat big man Udonis Haslem said. “I’m good now. I don’t think I need anything else for the next three months. … I got a coffee machine. I got some snacks. I got my leg pumps. I got everything.”
- Within ESPN’s breakdown of Thursday’s restart, Tim Bontemps contends that the virtual fan boards around the courts – a good idea in theory – were glitchy and were “more of a distraction than an aid to the viewing experience.”
New York Notes: Crawford, Vaughn, Thibodeau, Knicks
Veteran guard Jamal Crawford hasn’t made his debut with the Nets yet, but feels comfortable enough with his new team that he’d be on board with the idea of sticking around for next season if Brooklyn wants to bring him back, he tells Steve Selby of The New York Post.
“That would be unbelievable for me ’cause (Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving) are two of my closest friends in the league, that I haven’t actually played with, but just have genuine friendship,” Crawford said. “I’m just trying to stay in the moment, be thankful for this opportunity.”
Although Crawford is enthusiastic about his new NBA home, he’s not expected to play in the team’s first seeding game on Friday against Orlando, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. The 40-year-old still needs to get his conditioning up to game speed, per head coach Jacque Vaughn.
- As Joe Vardon and Alex Schiffer of The Athletic and Brian Lewis of The New York Post write in a pair of stories, the Nets appear to be giving Jacque Vaughn every chance to claim the team’s full-time head coaching position. However, Vaughn’s summer audition for a job coaching Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving next season will have to be done without those two stars, resulting in an unusual evaluation period for Vaughn and the Nets.
- Knicks GM Scott Perry said on Thursday that new head coach Tom Thibodeau will have the autonomy to fill out his own coaching staff, but Thibodeau confirmed that the team’s front office will have some input in those choices, as Marc Berman of The New York Post relays. “I’m confident that we’re going to sit down, I’m going to listen (to) the people that they have, I’m going to recommend some people that I know. Some of them are going to be on both lists,” Thibodeau said. “I’m real comfortable with that. I think we’re going to get a great staff and I’m looking forward to getting started with it.”
- In a separate story for The New York Post, Berman notes that new Knicks president of basketball operations Leon Rose said on Thursday that there’s “no timeline” for the team to move out of its rebuild and focus on contending. “We are taking it one day at a time,” Rose said. “We felt Tom was that coach who can take us with development to becoming a perennial winner. That happens one step at a time.”
NBA, NBPA Reach Agreements On Disability Insurance, Salary Withholding
The NBA and NBPA have reached an agreement on a revamped insurance benefit for players who suffer career-ending injuries, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. According to Wojnarowski, the new disability policy will pay players $2.5MM in the event of a career-ending injury sustained on or off the court.
The previous insurance policy for career-ending injuries paid out approximately $312K — the NBPA had been pushing to increase that amount in the midst of future salary cap uncertainty and the coronavirus pandemic, writes Wojnarowski. The new policy will also apply to career-ending ailments related to COVID-19 complications, Woj adds.
Sources tell ESPN that the new insurance benefit will apply to all active players up to 35 years old and would be paid out in addition to the money owed on the player’s existing contract. As ESPN’s Bobby Marks points out (via Twitter), NBA clubs already have a disability policy in place for their top earners who suffer major injuries, but that policy is designed to protect the teams rather than the players.
Meanwhile, the NBA and the players’ union have also reached an agreement to continue withholding 25% of players’ pay checks in escrow, Wojnarowski reports. That deal has been in place since May 15 and is designed to help maintain a balance of the season’s basketball-related income between teams and players.
The NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement calls for approximately a 50/50 revenue split between teams and players. With a portion of the season’s games canceled and the NBA preparing to bring in less revenue than initially anticipated, withholding a portion of player pay checks allows the two sides to begin balancing the books.
According to Marks (via Twitter), there’s already about $600MM sitting in a pair of escrow accounts that has been withheld from players by the NBA and its teams. Once the end-of-season accounting is completed, the NBA will be able to determine if players received more than 51% of this season’s BRI. If that’s the case, the money in escrow will be returned to the teams rather than the players.
Pistons Notes: Wood, Kennard, G League, Mincberg
An agent who spoke to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic speculates that Christian Wood may lose some leverage on the free agent market this offseason as a result of two factors: The impact the coronavirus pandemic will have on the salary cap and the fact that the Pistons have a new general manager in Troy Weaver.
As the agent points out, Weaver has a fresh slate and doesn’t necessarily have an attachment to Wood, so he may be reluctant to commit big money to the breakout big man, since it would hamper his flexibility going forward. And since few teams around the NBA will have cap room available, the Pistons may be able to play hardball to some extent with Wood and avoid making a massive commitment.
“To me, Christian Wood and his reps have a tricky situation because you have that situation with the Pistons’ (new GM), the lack of a rise in cap space and things like that,” the agent told Edwards. “They have to play their hand right, or they could be out there looking for a chair in a game of musical chairs.”
The agent added that he’d feel more comfortable investing long-term in Luke Kennard – who will be extension-eligible this offseason – than in Wood, given the way the wing and big man positions are valued in the modern NBA.
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- Keith Langlois of Pistons.com takes a closer look at the Pistons’ purchase of the Northern Arizona Suns, detailing how it will allow the team to move its G League affiliate to Detroit and why the organization felt the investment will be a worthwhile one.
- As Langlois details in a separate article at Pistons.com, Weaver and the Pistons’ front office will face a difficult challenge in this year’s draft: Finding a potential franchise cornerstone in a draft class that appears lacking in surefire stars.
- Rod Beard of The Detroit News spoke to Bucks general manager Jon Horst about David Mincberg, whom the Pistons recently hired away from Milwaukee as an assistant general manager. “I think that he’s a very creative thinker that has a persistent, tactful way of approaching things,” Horst said of Mincberg. “And that, for me, was incredibly beneficial.”
- It remains to be seen whether the NBA will actually move forward with a reported plan to create a second “bubble” in Chicago for the league’s bottom eight teams, but Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press explores whether such an arrangement would benefit the Pistons.
And-Ones: China, Pollin, Wembanyama, OTAs
American coaches who spent time at three NBA training academies in China tell Steve Fainaru and Mark Fainaru-Wada of ESPN.com that their Chinese partners were physically abusing young players and failing to provide them with schooling.
The NBA opened academies in the Chinese regions of Zhejiang, Shandong, and Xinjiang in 2016, expressing a hope that the facilities would help grow the game in China and educate teenagers, while also helping the league identify top international prospects with possible NBA potential.
However, according to ESPN’s investigation, the academy program – which operates out of sports facilities run by the Chinese government – was described by one American coach who worked in China as a “sweat camp for athletes.” Fainaru and Fainaru-Wada report that multiple American coaches left their positions due to the mistreatment of young players, with three sources telling ESPN that one of those coaches requested a transfer after seeing Chinese coaches strike teenage players.
A handful of incidents were reported to the NBA, and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum – who recently revealed that the league shut down its academy in Xinjiang – told ESPN that the league office “did everything we could, given the limited oversight we had.” However, multiple sources told Fainaru and Fainaru-Wada that the instances of abuse were more prevalent than the few incidents Tatum confirmed.
“Imagine you have a kid who’s 13, 14 years old, and you’ve got a grown coach who is 40 years old hitting your kid,” one former coach told ESPN. “We’re part of that. The NBA is part of that.”
The NBA’s relationship with China has been under the microscope since last fall, when Rockets GM Daryl Morey published a tweet supporting Hong Kong protestors that angered the league’s Chinese partners. Given its financial interests in the country, the NBA has been unwilling to denounce China’s government for its human rights record, which has opened the league up to criticism from multiple U.S. politicians in recent months.
While Morey’s tweet and the NBA’s tenuous relationship with its Chinese partners are no longer making headlines like they did last fall, ESPN’s investigation sheds additional light on the complications that come along with the league doing business in China.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Irene Pollin, the long-time co-owner of the Washington Bullets/Wizards with her husband Abe, passed away at age 96 on Tuesday, the Wizards announced (via Twitter). The Pollins owned the franchise for 46 years before Ted Leonsis assumed controlling ownership in 2010. Irene represented the Wizards at the 2010 draft lottery when the team won the No. 1 pick that was used to select John Wall.
- Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype takes a closer look at 16-year-old Victor Wembanyama, a 7’3″ big man from France who is viewed as one of basketball’s most intriguing international prospects.
- One iteration of the plan for OTAs for the NBA’s bottom eight teams would allow G League players to join those workouts, reports Ian Begley of SNY.tv. As Begley notes, the participation of NBAGL players would allow a team like the Knicks – who are carrying a number of possible free agents – to conduct more full scrimmages. The NBA hasn’t yet finalized those proposed OTAs for its bottom eight teams, but they’re expected to be voluntary.