Heat Close Facility For Second Time Following New COVID-19 Case
The Heat have once again closed their AmericanAirlines Arena practice facility for player workouts, reports Ethan Skolnick of 5 Reasons Sports (Twitter link).
According to Skolnick, a second Heat player has tested positive for the coronavirus, prompting the shutdown. Miami previously closed its facility following Derrick Jones‘ positive COVID-19 test. It’s not clear in this case which player tested positive for the virus, but it’s a rotation player, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link).
It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Heat keep their building close for workouts until the team travels to the Walt Disney World campus next week. Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald suggests (via Twitter) that the club is likely to resume its workouts in Orlando, where group activities will be permitted for players who return two negative tests at least 24 hours apart.
The Heat are one of a number of teams that have temporarily closed their facilities following positive coronavirus tests. The Nuggets, Suns, Clippers, and Nets are also known to have done so, though some have since reopened.
Coronavirus testing will still take place at AmericanAirlines Arena while the practice facility is closed, Skolnick notes.
Raymond Felton Will Look To Resume Playing Career
After spending a second season with the Thunder in 2018/19, Raymond Felton hasn’t been on a roster – in the NBA or elsewhere – during the ’19/20 campaign. However, the 36-year-old point guard isn’t yet ready to call it a career, as he tells Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype.
Discussing his future, Felton said he thinks his agent has had conversations with NBA teams about the possibility of him being a substitute player in Orlando this summer. However, he’s not sure he’d feel comfortable playing at the NBA’s Walt Disney World campus if he received an offer. Still, Felton will aim to make a return to the court for the 2020/21 season.
“Oh, no question,” Felton told Kennedy. “It’d be like I was away for just one season and I would definitely be looking to try to get with somebody next season. I just want to play. I’m not retiring. I want to play. Even if I have to go across that water to play, I will. I just want to play basketball. I’m not ready to let the game go yet.”
Felton added that his “ultimate goal” has always been to play professional basketball for 16 seasons. He has spent 14 years in the NBA so far, so he’d like to play for at least two more seasons, or even three, if possible. The former UNC star stressed to Kennedy that he’s open to playing in an international league if no appealing NBA opportunities arise.
“This is the first time that I’ve actually been open to (playing overseas), just seeing the changes in the (NBA) and how they want to go younger and want to basically not even have veterans that much anymore,” Felton said. “It’s just one of those things where I’m like, ‘Okay, well, I still want to play…’ So even if I have to go play over there, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Felton appeared in all 82 games for Oklahoma City in 2017/18 as the team’s backup point guard, averaging 6.9 PPG and 2.5 APG on .406/.352/.818 shooting in 16.6 minutes per contest. However, he fell out of the Thunder’s regular rotation in ’18/19, averaging just 11.5 MPG in 33 appearances.
Knicks Notes: Thibodeau, Kidd, Hardy, Labeyrie
As the Knicks‘ head coaching search continues, presumed frontrunner Tom Thibodeau has received an endorsement from a former Knicks All-Star, as Adam Zagoria of Forbes writes. Patrick Ewing praised Thibodeau during an appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio with hosts Frank Isola and Sarah Kustok.
“I think Tom’s a great coach,” Ewing said. “I had the opportunity to (play for him), him being on the (Knicks’) staff when I played, and also work with him. He’s been around for a lot of years, he knows the game in and out. He’s gonna do everything that he needs to do in terms of having his team prepared to play every night. I think he’d be a great candidate for that job.”
Although Thibodeau is just one of 11 candidates being considered by the Knicks, reports last month indicated that he was viewed as a favorite for the job. Zagoria also hears from multiple sources that New York is expected to hire someone with previous head coaching experience.
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- The Knicks’ coaching candidates had an initial round of conversations with a group that included president of basketball operations Leon Rose, general manager Scott Perry, and VP of basketball and strategic planning Brock Aller, sources tell Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Each candidate will have a more in-depth conversation with the team during its second round of meetings, Begley adds.
- According to Marc Berman of The New York Post, two of the Knicks’ head coaching interviews took place on Thursday, with the team talking to Jason Kidd and Spurs assistant Will Hardy. Those interviews were why the Knicks didn’t take part in the NBA’s Thursday conference call with its bottom eight teams about a possible Chicago campus for offseason mini-camps and exhibition games.
- Speaking of that proposed Chicago campus, the Knicks aren’t fully on board with that plan, according to Berman, who notes that the club doesn’t have much interest in playing formal games this offseason, especially since many veterans on the roster will be free agents and likely wouldn’t participate. New York is one of a handful of those bottom eight teams that would prefer to hold OTAs in its own home market to evaluate young players.
- French forward Louis Labeyrie, a second-round pick in the 2014 NBA draft, has agreed to extend his contract with Valencia in Spain for at least two more seasons, as Dario Skerletic of Sportando relays. The Knicks have held Labeyrie’s NBA rights since ’14, but it seems increasingly unlikely that the 28-year-old will come stateside.
Celtics’ Hayward Anticipates Leaving Campus For Birth Of Child
Celtics forward Gordon Hayward told reporters today, including Tim Bontemps of ESPN, that he intends to leave the NBA’s Walt Disney World campus for the birth of his fourth child in September, assuming his team is still alive in the playoffs at the time.
“I’m for sure going to be with her,” Hayward said of his wife Robyn. “… “It’s a pretty easy decision for me on that. I’ve been at the birth of every one of my children and I think there are more important things in life. So we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
Players who receive permission to leave the Orlando campus for a family situation will be required to quarantine for four days upon returning, as Bontemps notes. That hinges on the player being gone for fewer than seven days and testing negative for COVID-19 each day that he’s away. Unexcused absences would require a quarantine period of at least 10 days upon returning to the NBA’s Disney campus — that shouldn’t apply to Hayward, but he could still miss at least a couple games.
The exact due date for Hayward’s child is unclear, but based on the NBA’s tentative schedule, the conference semifinals will take place during the first half of September, with the conference finals taking place during the second half of the month. In other words, Boston – currently the No. 3 seed in the East – is in good position to be playing into September.
According to Jared Weiss of The Athletic, Celtics big man Vincent Poirier and his partner Assouan are due to have their first child on September 17. Poirier told The Athletic that, like Hayward, he plans to leave the campus to attend the birth, so depending on the timing – and Boston’s performance – the team could be down a couple players in September.
Sixers Notes: Simmons, Horford, Milton, Broekhoff
Ben Simmons had missed the Sixers‘ last eight games due to a back injury and was projected to be sidelined indefinitely when the NBA suspended its season in March. However, the four-month layoff has paid off the former No. 1 pick, who confirmed this week that he’s fully healthy and ready to participate in the NBA’s restart, as Tim Bontemps of ESPN writes.
“I’m feeling better than I was when I started the season,” Simmons told reporters on Thursday. “But I’ve been working since I had the injury, working ’til now to prepare for whatever happens, wherever we go. So I’m feeling great, I’ve been rehabbing this whole time, so I’m feeling ready. And I’m feeling very comfortable.”
Some players, especially those with a history of injuries, have been apprehensive about participating in the NBA’s restart, given the brief ramp-up period to the eight seeding games and the playoffs. However, Simmons didn’t express any reservations about the league’s plan.
“Wherever my team is, I feel like it’s my responsibility to go down there and represent Philadelphia in the highest way possible, and I think this is the right way to do it,” Simmons said, per Bontemps. “If we’re safe down there, and I trust in what the NBA is doing, and they’re taking extreme precautions with this. So I feel like if we’re all going, I’m in. I’m with my teammates and I never would want them to go down and not expect to see me there. So I’m all-in with my team.”
Here’s more on the 76ers:
- Head coach Brett Brown acknowledged on Wednesday that the offensive fit of his starting lineup – especially when Al Horford has been part of that group – has been “clunky.” However, as Paul Hudrick of NBC Sports Philadelphia details, Brown believes the group is “built for the playoffs” and will weigh potential roles for Horford and Shake Milton during the training camp period. “In a perfect world, you’d like to go into those eight (seeding) games and have some minor tweak and rotation changes as opposed to Game 5 and, ‘Oh, crap, we’ve got something that’s a little bit funky here,'” Brown said.
- In a separate story for NBC Sports Philadelphia, Hudrick profiles DePaul forward Paul Reed, suggesting that he’s the sort of versatile prospect the Sixers should target with one of their second-round picks.
- Ryan Broekhoff‘s wife has an auto-immune disease and the couple has a one-year-old son, but the veteran sharpshooter ultimately decided to join the Sixers for the NBA’s restart, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “We spoke to (76ers GM) Elton (Brand) and spoke to (Brown) and just wanted to get some more information of how the bubble would be down in Orlando, and if anything happens at home, what are my options to get back and take care of my family,” Broekhoff said. “… I think the opportunity in the end was too hard to pass up.”
Clippers Close Facility Following Positive COVID-19 Test
The Clippers became the latest NBA team to close their practice facility following a positive COVID-19 test by a member of their traveling party, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Sources tell ESPN that the Clippers may be able to reopen their practice facility for workouts in the coming days. However, it won’t be long until the team travels to Orlando — that’s scheduled to happen on Wednesday, as Woj writes.
The Clippers are one of a handful of teams that have temporarily shut down their practice facilities. The Nuggets, Suns, Heat, and Nets are also known to have done so, though most have since reopened.
According to an NBA announcement on Thursday, 25 players and 10 team staffers have tested positive for the coronavirus since mandatory testing began last Tuesday, June 23. As such, it’s possible there were other clubs that temporarily closed their facilities to ensure their buildings were safe for players and coaches.
Only individual workouts are taking place at teams’ practice facilities — group workouts and scrimmages won’t begin until after the top 22 clubs have traveled to Walt Disney World and gone through a brief quarantine period.
Restart Notes: Campus Cost, DeRozan, Coronavirus, More
The NBA and its players stand to lose a significant amount of money if the 2019/20 season can’t be completed, but operating the campus at Walt Disney World from July through October won’t be cheap either. According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the endeavor is expected to cost the league more than $150MM.
As Windhorst explains, the NBA will be responsible for housing 22 teams’ travel parties at three Disney resorts, with basketball being played on seven practice courts and at three arenas. Additionally, the league will be paying for meals, security, transportation, entertainment, and medical support, including daily COVID-19 testing. Plus, the NBA won’t be getting any of the revenue it typically earns from ticket sales and in-arena purchases.
Still, based on the television revenue the NBA is salvaging, completing the season will allow players to retain more than $600MM in salary that would be lost if the season is canceled, says Windhorst.
Here’s more on the league’s restart:
- Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan admitted today that he didn’t have an easy time making it through the NBA’s 113-page handbook of health and safety protocols for the Orlando campus, as ESPN’s Royce Young writes. “The ping-pong thing is ridiculous, to be honest,” DeRozan said, referring to doubles ping-pong games being prohibited. “Guys can’t do this, but we can do this and battle over each other? That part just don’t make no sense to me. I got through 10 lines of the handbook and just put it down because it became so frustrating and overwhelming at times, because you just never thought you’d be in a situation of something like this. So it’s hard to process at times.”
- Shams Charania of The Athletic provides some details on the mandatory virtual meetings being held this week with the 22 teams going to Orlando, referred to as “campus orientation meetings.” Players have been told during those meetings that the NBA and NBPA are working to ensure that a larger group of Disney staffers will be subject to a COVID-19 testing protocol, says Charania.
- After word broke that six FC Dallas players tested positive for the coronavirus upon arriving to the MLS Disney campus, Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter) that July 7-11 will be a crucial period for the NBA as the league looks to avoid a similar outbreak after teams arrive in Orlando.
- Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN takes a look at how NBA head coaches are preparing for and approaching the unprecedented NBA restart following a four-month layoff.
NBA Expected To OK Chicago Mini-Camps, Games For Bottom Eight Teams
4:14pm: Within her full ESPN.com story on the proposed Chicago campus, MacMullan writes that most of the bottom eight teams would prefer to hold mini-camps in their own markets, but commissioner Adam Silver and NBPA executive director Michele Roberts – who have repeatedly expressed that they believe the Orlando campus will be safer than teams’ own markets – want to create a similar environment for the non-Orlando teams before they approve group workouts and scrimmages.
Seven of the bottom eight teams – all except the Knicks – were on a call today with the NBA to discuss the issue, with the league seeking assurances that teams would send their players to Chicago, per MacMullan. There’s a belief that veterans like Stephen Curry and Blake Griffin may not travel to Chicago for the event, but that younger players would be more inclined to participate.
Participation would be voluntary and the cost of setting up the campus would be split among the NBA’s 30 clubs, sources tell ESPN. MacMullan notes that some of the bottom eight teams want to wait a couple weeks to see how the Orlando plan plays out, while others are in favor of moving forward with a plan as soon as possible, since they don’t believe there’s a ton of time to work out the details.
There’s still work to be done before the NBPA signs off on the plan, tweets K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.
3:56pm: The NBA is close to signing off on creating a second campus location in Chicago for the league’s bottom eight teams who weren’t invited to Orlando, sources tell ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan (Twitter link via Adrian Wojnarowski).
As MacMullan reports – and Woj relays – the eight clubs not invited to Orlando would be permitted to hold mini-training camps and inter-squad games in Chicago. The goal would be for the event to take place in September.
The news comes as a bit of a surprise. Many of the clubs whose seasons are over have been pushing the NBA to allow some sort of offseason team activities along these lines, in the hopes of keeping their young players engaged and active during a nine-month gap between games. However, a report earlier this week suggested that the NBA wasn’t expected to approve mandatory OTAs, and there was skepticism that the league would go to the effort of creating another “bubble” without its massive TV deals – and its 2020 postseason – at stake.
We’ll have to wait for more details on the NBA’s Chicago plan, but it seems safe to assume there would be more player opt-outs among the bottom eight teams than there have been among the top 22. As Bobby Marks of ESPN points out (via Twitter) that approximately 40 players on the non-Orlando teams could reach free agency in October, limiting their incentive to participate in a September mini-camp for teams they may be leaving a month later.
The Warriors are the only team without any pending free agents on their roster, but Anthony Slater of The Athletic notes (via Twitter) that their preference has been to hold a controlled mini-camp in the Bay Area — not to participate in a de facto Summer League across the country.
The Warriors, Timberwolves, Hornets, Bulls, Hawks, Knicks, Cavaliers, and Pistons are the eight teams not playing in Orlando this summer who would be invited to the Chicago campus, assuming the NBA and NBPA finalize an agreement.
Kings Assistant Igor Kokoskov To Coach Fenerbahce
Former Suns head coach and current Kings assistant Igor Kokoskov has agreed in principle to become the new head coach of EuroLeague team Fenerbahce, writes ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Ismail Senol of beIN Sports, who first reported the agreement, tweets that the two sides agreed to a three-year deal. Kokoskov will replace longtime Fenerbahce coach Zeljko Obradovic, a three-time EuroLeague Coach of the Year who parted ways with the Turkish club last week.
Kokoskov became the NBA’s first European-born head coach when he was hired by Phoenix in 2018 to replace Jay Triano. However, he lasted just a single season with the Suns before being replaced by Monty Williams. After interviewing for the Grizzlies’ head coaching vacancy in 2019, Kokoskov ultimately landed in Sacramento as the top assistant on Luke Walton‘s staff.
A native of Serbia, Kokoskov is currently the head coach of the country’s national team and will look to lead Serbia to a spot in the Tokyo Olympics next summer. He previously coached the Slovenian National Team, leading that club to a 2017 EuroBasket victory, and was also the head coach of the Georgian National Team from 2008-15.
Despite his agreement with Fenerbahce, Kokoskov will join the Kings in Orlando this summer and finish out the season with the team, tweets Jason Jones of The Athletic.
Nets Notes: Vaughn, Durant, Irving
Given how depleted Brooklyn’s roster is as a result of injuries and opt-outs, head coach Jacque Vaughn will face a tall task in Orlando this summer as he looks to help the Nets secure a playoff spot and make some noise in the postseason, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
Vaughn, who took over for former head coach Kenny Atkinson less than a week before the NBA went on hiatus in March, won his first two games, but will be without Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, DeAndre Jordan, Wilson Chandler, Nicolas Claxton, and possibly Spencer Dinwiddie when play resumes.
Given the unusual circumstances, the Nets’ evaluation of Vaughn this summer will be about more than just his record in Orlando, general manager Sean Marks said on Wednesday, as Lewis writes in a separate story.
“It’s completely unfair to say it’s going to be about wins and losses at this point. Jacque has been a prominent part of this organization the last four years,” Marks said. “We know what Jacque is about and the type of person he is and the character and the leader that he is. … We’ll just see what happens down the line.”
Although the Nets are considered a good bet to conduct a full-fledged coaching search at season’s end, reports have indicated that Vaughn has a legitimate chance to claim the permanent job. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reiterated that point during his Woj Pod podcast this week, suggesting that he’d take Vaughn against the field if he were predicting Brooklyn’s 2020/21 head coach (hat tip to RealGM).
Here’s more on the Nets:
- Despite their gutted roster, the Nets never entertained the possibility of skipping the NBA restart altogether, Marks said on Wednesday, per Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press. “Look, we have a job to do,” the GM told reporters. “Again, we have to bring a team to Orlando. We will bring a team to Orlando. We will go down there and we will compete. That’s our jobs here.”
- Although Kevin Durant won’t be active – or in attendance – when the Nets resume play later this month, the former MVP will continue to have a voice in the team’s basketball decisions leading up to the 2020/21 season, according to Marks. “He continues to be a very loud voice in terms of where we’re going in the future and what we’re doing and I involve him like the other players and staff and how we’ll continue to build this team and how we move forward,” Marks told reporters, including Ian Begley of SNY.tv. The GM added that he’s been in touch with Durant regularly since the hiatus began in March.
- Marks also confirmed on Wednesday that Kyrie Irving won’t be part of the Nets’ traveling party to Orlando this summer, writes Begley.