Celtics Moving ‘Very Slowly’ With Kemba Walker
Kemba Walker‘s first season in Boston was characteristically strong up until the COVID-19 pandemic suspended play, but his health was a cause for concern.
Walker missed six of the Celtics‘ 10 games before the season was suspended due to a lingering left knee injury. In total, the four-time All-Star had missed 14 games this season, a deviation from the previous four campaigns in which he missed a total of six games.
As the Celtics settle into the Orlando campus amid the NBA’s attempt to restart the season, head coach Brad Stevens indicated the team will play it safe with its prized offseason acquisition.
“We’re going to move very slowly with Kemba Walker and let him strengthen (the left knee),” Stevens said to reporters on Friday, per NBC Sports Boston’s A. Sherrod Blakely. “And make sure that he’s all good to go as we enter the seeding games and obviously, the playoffs.”
Walker, 30, has averaged 21.2 PPG, 4.9 APG and 3.4 RPG for Boston in 50 games this season.
Mike Woodson Has Second Interview With Knicks
As the Knicks move forward with hiring a new head coach, the team had its second interview with candidate Mike Woodson on Friday, per SNY’s Ian Begley.
Woodson is among 11 known candidates New York is considering for the vacant role. While the presumed frontrunner for the job, Tom Thibodeau, has received most of the attention, the Knicks have also been connected to Kenny Atkinson, Jason Kidd, Mike Brown, Chris Fleming, Will Hardy, Ime Udoka, Pat Delany, and Jamahl Mosley.
As Begley details, all of the Knicks’ candidates had their first meetings with the team last month or during the first week of July. Woodson is among those that had his second interview this week. It’s not clear if a third round of meetings will be required, Begley adds.
Last month, Woodson spoke to Begley about his first tour of duty with the Knicks and why he feels the team can win under his tutelage once again.
“I did my job when I was here. We won games. The fan base was engaged. I walked out of the Garden many nights thinking that the fans were proud and excited about what we were doing,” Woodson said. “Am I capable of coming back to New York and helping them build a winning team again? I feel confident in that, I absolutely do.”
Woodson, 62, was the Knicks’ head coach from 2012-14 and was at the helm for the organization’s most recent postseason appearance. After his dismissal from the Knicks, Woodson joined Doc Rivers‘ staff in Los Angeles as an assistant coach.
New York has gone through a Rolodex of coaches since his departure, a list that includes Derek Fisher, Kurt Rambis, Jeff Hornacek, David Fizdale and most recently, Mike Miller. Woodson, however, feels that with the current brass in power, he can guide a young Knicks team to a winning mentality.
“I think with the people in charge, with (president of basketball operations) Leon (Rose) and (GM) Scott (Perry) and (owner) Jim (Dolan) and everyone else that they hired on board, they will build a winner,” Woodson said. “At the end of the day, it takes everybody being on board to make it happen. That’s what we did (the last time I was here). We all had a great working relationship when I was here. That can definitely happen again. “
Nuggets Expect Jokic To Join Team Within A Few Days
After a positive coronavirus test delayed his return to the United States, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is expected to join the team in Orlando in the coming days, head coach Mike Malone told reporters on Friday.
“The hope is that he will be here soon,” Malone told reporters, including ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk via Zoom after the team practiced. “I have spoken to him many times. I know he’s excited and looking forward to getting down here. He’s healthy, he feels great, hopefully he will be here soon in the next couple of days.”
The 25-year-old tested positive for COVID-19 in his native Serbia and needed two negative tests in the country before being able to join his teammates stateside. Jokic will need two negative tests in the United States before he can practice with the Nuggets. Jokic was asymptomatic at the time of his positive test and as Malone stated, he is in good health.
In 65 games before the pandemic shuttered play, Jokic was having a solid season, averaging a career-high 20.2 PPG to go along with 10.2 RPG for the Nuggets. The hope remains that Jokic can be at full health once the 2019/20 season resumes in Orlando.
Anthony Tolliver Likely To Re-Sign With Grizzlies
With the NBA’s transaction window starting next week, Anthony Tolliver will likely end up re-signing with the Grizzlies during that period, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times (Twitter link). However, Stein cautions that Tolliver has attracted interest from multiple teams, so the veteran forward’s return to Memphis is not yet a done deal.
Tolliver, 35, was on a 10-day contract with Memphis that was set to expire just before the NBA suspended its season in March. The NBA veteran had split the 2019/20 campaign with the Blazers, Kings and Grizzlies. Across 47 games, he averaged 3.5 PPG and 2.8 RPG.
As Stein mentions in a separate tweet, players who are eligible to be signed are those who held a job in either the NBA or the G League this season. Additionally, players who were not under contract with a team outside of the United States are eligible to be signed as well.
NBA Draft, Free Agency Dates, Deadlines Set
The date for the 2020 NBA draft has been set for Friday, October 16, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Wojnarowski also notes (via Twitter) that free agency will open up two days later, on October 18, with a moratorium period on deals from October 19-23.
The NBA draft was originally tentatively rescheduled for October 15 with the draft lottery moved to August 25 from the original June 25 and May 19 dates, respectively.
In a pair of tweets, Wojnarowski says that the new early entry deadline for the draft is August 17, while the early entrant withdrawal deadline is October 6. The latter date makes sense, since the NBA’s deadline for early entrants to withdraw their names always falls 10 days before the draft.
However, the August 17 update may require some further clarification — the early entry deadline initially fell on April 26 and there was no indication at the time that the NBA had pushed it back. The NCAA recently set its own early entrant withdrawal deadline for no later than August 3.
In regards to free agency, teams will be able to negotiate with players starting at 6:00pm eastern time on October 18, per Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Players and teams figure to start reaching agreements at that point, though they won’t be able to complete them until a few days later. You can track all the players set to hit free agency this fall here.
Additionally, traded player exceptions that were originally set to expire on July 6-10 will expire on October 23-27, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link). You can track those trade exceptions here.
The NBA is currently working toward resuming the 2019/20 season through a bubble league in Orlando. If and when the season can be resumed and completed, the new dates will impact franchise’s plans for building rosters toward the ’20/21 campaign.
Dr. Anthony Fauci Supportive Of NBA’s Restart Plan
With tentative dates, protocols and logistics in place, the NBA is further along than a number of other professional sports organizations as it looks to resume its season. The plan also has the support of the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Speaking to Stadium, Fauci said he has reviewed the league’s blueprint to resume play and commended the plan.
“It is really quite creative,” Fauci said. “I think they might very well be quite successful with it. It is to create a situation where it is as safe as possibly can be for the players by creating this bubble.
“Essentially testing everybody, make sure you start with a baseline of everybody being negative and make sure there is no influx into that cohort of individuals.”
Given a spike in coronavirus cases in the state of Florida, along with certain unclear safety measures and the fallout from the civil unrest, the NBA’s potential return has hit a snag this week. However, if everything progresses toward the playing stage, Fauci is in full support.
“It’s something that I think is a sound plan,” he added. “I was pleased to see that the intent was not reckless at all. They really wanted to make sure the safety of the players and those associated with the players was paramount.”
George Hill On Resuming Season: “Last Thought On My Mind”
Amid civil unrest in the United States, the resumption of the 2019/20 NBA season has taken a backseat. After a Kyrie Irving-led conference call on Friday, the possibility of not reporting to Orlando and canceling the season was discussed as a means of not overshadowing the current social issues.
One player, in particular, who has been focusing on social justice issues rather than basketball is Bucks veteran guard George Hill, ESPN’s Eric Woodyard writes. While the 34-year-old maintains he is in good physical shape, the fallout of the George Floyd murder and the ensuing unrest around the world has shifted his perspective.
“I’ve been working every day since this all started with my body, my game and things like that, but as a whole, I can care less about basketball right now. … that’s my last thought on my mind is basketball,” Hill said. “I can care less what’s going on. I think there’s bigger issues and bigger things to tackle in life right now than a basketball game.”
In addition to the social impact, some doubt has been cast on the NBA’s plan to resume in Orlando given a recent spike of coronavirus cases in Florida and unclear safety protocols.
Hill stressed his role as a prominent athlete is to advocate for change that goes beyond the basketball court. While he feels physically up for the challenge, Hill noted his mental state still needs time to catch up.
“I don’t know how it’s going to affect me on the basketball court,” he said. “I know that I, physically, have been working my ass off this entire time I’ve been off. I haven’t taken one day off since this whole hiatus has came into effect. … I’m in great physical shape, but mentally, I’ve still got a little more work to do.”
Safety Protocols In Place For Support Staff In Orlando
As the NBA works toward resuming the 2019/20 season in Orlando, some of the safety protocols to reduce the risk of coronavirus spread have surfaced.
Per Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press (Twitter links), all Disney personnel on-site will be required to wear masks and gloves while undergoing daily temperature screenings. Additionally, hotel workers will be assigned to designated areas and will not rotate through different properties as the NBA season and postseason continues. Reynolds noted that restaurant staff will be stationed at the same eateries without rotation as well.
Shams Charania of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that staff will adhere to social distancing guidelines, meaning they won’t be allowed within six feet of an NBA participant.
As discussed on a Kyrie Irving-led conference call on Friday, a number of players have concerns about the NBA’s restart plan that go beyond health and safety. As we relayed earlier this week, there are concerns than an NBA restart would divert attention from systemic racism to just basketball. Players are also wary of being away from their families and the restrictive nature of the proposed Orlando “bubble.”
However, safety is also an important concern and represents one of the key areas to address before the restart plan can be fully finalized.
Knicks Open To Trading Julius Randle
With the NBA’s plan to return for the 2019/20 in place, the Knicks are officially in the offseason stage, as the organization was not one of the 22 teams summoned to Orlando.
In addition to searching for a new head coach, newly-minted team president Leon Rose will also have to focus on building the roster for next season. Last summer’s big free-agent signing, Julius Randle, is someone the team would be open to trading, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes.
The Knicks have already explored moving Randle, as the team had talks with the Hornets ahead of this year’s trade deadline. Randle signed a three-year, $63MM deal last summer after New York failed to land Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving in free agency.
Randle had flashes of brilliance this season, but his defensive shortcomings and ball-dominant style of play failed to mesh with the Knicks’ core of youngsters. Although Randle averaged 19.7 PPG and 9.7 RPG in 64 games, his strong three-point shooting from a year prior fell to 27.7%.
As Berman notes, there are some financial implications that could hinder dealing Randle, but his $18.9MM salary for next season is manageable. Also, still just 25 years old, Randle can be a helpful piece to an NBA team.
Ime Udoka Reportedly ‘Frontrunner’ To Be Bulls’ Next Coach
Sixers assistant coach Ime Udoka is currently the favorite to become the Bulls‘ next head coach, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
With the NBA’s 22-team format for resuming the 2019/20 campaign approved, Chicago is now in the offseason stage, as the club will not travel to Orlando. As we relayed last month, current head coach Jim Boylen appears to be on the hot seat, and Bulls ownership have indicated they’ll approve a new hire should Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley choose to make a change.
Udoka, 42, enjoyed a seven-year NBA career that ended in 2011 after suiting up for the Spurs, Trail Blazers, Kings, Knicks and Lakers. He was part of Gregg Popovich‘s staff in San Antonio for seven seasons before joining the Sixers. Udoka was also interviewed for head coach with the Cavaliers before the job was given to John Beilen.
Chicago has failed to crack 30 wins since 2017, the same year they made their most recent playoff appearance. Under Boylen, the Bulls were 22-43 before the coronavirus pandemic suspended play. As Chicago readies for next season, hiring a coach that can take an inexperienced team with youth and potential back into contention will be key.
Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin will also be “in the picture” for the Bulls if they replace Boylen, Cowley notes, echoing what we heard earlier this spring.