Vegas Remains Most Likely Host For Potential NBA Postseason
Following up on a CNBC report from last week that suggested the NBA is mulling the idea of playing games in Las Vegas if the 2019/20 season is resumed, Chris Mannix of SI.com confirms the league is exploring the viability of holding its entire postseason in Vegas.
As we noted last week and as Mannix reiterates in today’s article, Vegas makes the most sense as a neutral site because the NBA has an existing relationship with the city, which hosts Summer League games at the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion each July. And a single, neutral site may be the only realistic way to complete the playoffs, since travel restrictions may vary in different parts of the country and games would almost certainly have to be played behind closed doors anyway.
Another recent report indicated that the NBA has had internal discussions about locales such as Orlando, Atlantic City, Hawaii, or Louisville hosting games. However, according to Mannix, Vegas is currently the only city receiving “serious” consideration from the league.
Unsurprisingly, several team and league officials who spoke to Mannix confirmed there’s no chance of a traditional postseason happening this summer, so the NBA is getting creative as it considers its options. Still, it’s unclear if holding the playoffs in a single city would be doable either, since thousands of support staffers would be required at hotels and arenas. As Mannix writes, it’s probably not a viable solution unless the COVID-19 situation improves significantly in the coming months and rapid tests become widely available.
“We all want to play,” one executive from a playoff team told Mannix. “But we all know we can’t play until things are dramatically different.”
Meanwhile, the NBA will have to figure out how a resumed season might impact the 2020 draft, which is currently scheduled for June 25. The league’s preference would almost certainly be to postpone the event until after the conclusion of the resumed season, since offseason rules apply to the draft for roster and trade purposes.
However, as Ian Begley of SNY.tv explains, player agents are concerned about the idea of delaying the draft beyond July. If the draft ends up being pushed to August or September, the early-entrant decision deadline would likely be postponed along with it, causing it to bump up against the start of the fall semester, which would create major complications for prospects and college coaches alike.
Atlantic Notes: Walker, Smart, Embiid, Raptors
Kemba Walker‘s left knee is feeling better, but the Celtics guard won’t know how it’s going to respond to competition until he gets to test it against someone, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston. Walker has gotten plenty of time to rest since the league shut down three weeks ago.
“The knee is doing well,” he said. “It’s difficult because I don’t have anyone around to give me treatments or anything like that. I have to do my own stuff, which I’m trying to do as much as possible; try to stay on top of things.”
Walker developed swelling in the knee during the All-Star break. He had it drained, then received a shot of Synvisc to ease the soreness and minimize swelling. He’s waiting out the hiatus like everyone else and hoping for a chance to try out the knee under game conditions.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Now that Celtics guard Marcus Smart has recovered from the coronavirus, he will donate blood in hopes that it will help to find a treatment for COVID-19, according to ESPN. Three other players who tested positive for the virus also plan to make blood donations, but they haven’t been identified. The league office reached out to team doctors over the weekend to encourage players who tested positive to give blood samples to the National COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Project.
- Joel Embiid‘s response to a plan by Sixers majority owner Josh Harris to reduce some employees’ salaries while the league is shut down raises questions about his long-term future with the team, suggests Bob Ford of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Harris changed his mind about the pay cuts, but not before Embiid made a public offer to help everyone who would have been affected. Ford claims Embiid’s relationship with the organization has always been “fractious” and states that embarrassing the owner may lead to an eventual parting.
- In a conference call with reporters, Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri said potential extensions for himself and coach Nick Nurse won’t be discussed while the league is on hiatus (Twitter link from Eric Koreen of The Athletic). The team is currently paused with no talk of extensions or contracts for anyone, adds Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports (Twitter link). “It’s not where our minds are at right now,” Ujiri said. “This is a crucial time for the world. Those things will come.”
Hiatus Notes: Cuban, Temple, Board Of Governors
After recently predicting that the NBA will resume its season prior to June 1, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is backing off that aggressive forecast. Appearing on Wednesday morning on ESPN’s First Take, Cuban deferred to the experts on a potential timeline for a return to the court, as Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com details.
“I don’t know the date,” Cuban said when asked for his new prediction. “And it won’t happen until we can be absolutely certain that everybody will be safe. It’s safety first, no ifs, ands or buts about it. And so, I’ve been optimistic that it might happen before the start of June, but who knows now? We’ll listen to the scientists and take our cues from them.”
While Cuban acknowledged that he doesn’t know “how, where, or when” it will happen, he expressed optimism that the NBA will still be able to resume and complete its 2019/20 season at some point. However, he cautioned that the league “won’t do it until it’s safe.”
Here’s more on the NBA’s coronavirus-related hiatus:
- In a column for USA Today, Dan Wolken argues against the practicality of eventually finishing the 2019/20 season in what would essentially be a quarantined “bubble.” The NBA has reportedly been weighing the idea of resuming the season in a single location, such as Las Vegas, but Woiken points to a number of logistical issues that would be hard to overcome to make that scenario a reality.
- Nets swingman and NBPA vice president Garrett Temple spoke to Sam Amick and Joe Vardon of The Athletic about the measures the league would need to take to resume its season, suggesting that being able to test players for the coronavirus before entering the game facility would be of paramount importance.
- The NBA is holding conference calls this week with front office committees as the league discusses the logistics of the postponed season, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links). As Wojnarowski notes, the league’s original calendar called for in-person Board of Governors meetings on April 16 and 17, but those meetings are likely to be replaced by an April 17 conference call.
Nets Notes: COVID-19, Coach, Kyrie, KD, More
Speaking today on a conference call with reporters, Nets general manager Sean Marks said that all the team’s players are now symptom-free of COVID-19, including the four that tested positive for the coronavirus last month, tweets ESPN’s Malika Andrews. The club’s entire traveling party has now completed its 14-day self-isolation period, but continues to practice social distancing.
Marks addressed a handful of other topics on that call, including the team’s search for a permanent head coach. According to Brooklyn’s GM, the club isn’t currently reaching out to potential candidates, since it “would completely not be fair to our group” (Twitter link via Andrews).
When asked if he’ll consult Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant on the head coaching decision, Marks said the Nets have always collaborated with players, but the decision will ultimately be made by the front office and ownership (Twitter link via Brian Lewis of The New York Post).
Finally, speaking of Irving and Durant, Marks was also asked about the possibility of those injured stars returning to action if the 2019/20 season resumes this summer. According to Andrews (Twitter link), the GM replied that it wouldn’t be fair to set a specific timeline for either player’s return. Marks also cautioned that social-distancing practices and the closure of training facilities may slow the rehab process for injured players, further clouding the recovery timetables for Kyrie and KD.
Here’s more on the Nets:
- Brian Lewis of The New York Post takes a look at DeAndre Jordan‘s role with the Nets this season and going forward, noting that the veteran center was immediately elevated to the starting lineup following Kenny Atkinson‘s departure.
- Atkinson’s exit is among the topics Lewis explores in a New York Post mailbag — he also answers questions related to the likelihood of a Jarrett Allen trade and how Nets players are staying in shape while self-isolating.
- In yet another story for The New York Post, Lewis shares some details on how Nets and Barclays Center are still being paid during the NBA’s stoppage. One source tells Lewis that the pay checks cut for event staffers may end up totaling approximately $6MM.
- In case you missed it, Durant is one of 16 NBA players participating in a players-only NBA 2K20 tournament starting on Friday.
Lakers Clear Two-Week Quarantine
Two weeks ago, a pair of Lakers tested positive for COVID-19 and today, the team announced that all of its players are symptom-free, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com relays.
The entire team got tested earlier this month after the Nets announced that four players had tested positive for the virus. Kevin Durant was one of the players, as he revealed via social media.
While all Lakers players were quarantined for two weeks, only 14 of the team’s 17 players (including two-way players) were tested, McMenamin hears.
“The thing I think people aren’t realizing is how serious of an ordeal this is and that it’s not to be taken lightly,” guard Alex Caruso said recently. “Everybody said the test is uncomfortable, and it pretty much was. They just stuck a Q-tip through your nose to the back of your mouth.”
Rule Changes, Coronavirus Complicate Draft Process For Early Entrants
The NCAA adjusted its rules last year to allow early entrants to hire an agent while testing the NBA draft waters, giving those players the chance to maintain their college eligibility if they eventually withdraw from the draft. However, as Jonathan Givony of ESPN explains, the restrictions attached to that rule change and the unusual nature of this year’s pre-draft process will make things more difficult for NCAA underclassmen weighing whether or not to go pro.
In order to maintain his college eligibility, an early entrant testing the waters can’t be represented by an agent who isn’t NCAA-certified. However, as Givony writes, most established NBA agents have opposed the NCAA’s certification process, pointing to its “overly burdensome procedures and oversight.” Only 23 agents are currently NCAA-certified and many of those agents don’t currently represent an NBA player, according to Givony.
NBA agents outside of that group of 23 NCAA-approved reps can still advise early entrants, but they’re prohibited from marketing athletes to professional teams or from providing benefits of any kind, per Givony.
[RELATED: 2020 NBA Draft Early Entrants List]
In other words, dozens of early entrants will have to decide whether to navigate the pre-draft process with a potentially inexperienced agent from the small NCAA-certified group or with a more experienced advisor who can offer limited help due to a lack of NCAA certification. Additionally, given the coronavirus-related uncertainty surrounding the draft, many agents who have NBA clients aren’t actively looking to rep early entrants this spring, Givony notes.
“This is not a time to be adding players to your client list; it’s a time to consolidate,” one agent told ESPN. “I’ll take a no-brainer first-round pick if he falls into my lap, but anything beyond that I’d have to think long and hard about this year. Normally I’d be interested in taking a flier on a kid testing the waters in hopes of developing a relationship for next year, but there’s very little that I can actually do to help someone right now with the amount of uncertainty surrounding the professional basketball world.”
NCAA restrictions related to representation and benefits, combined with an NBA draft calendar that may not include usual events like the combine, will make this year’s pre-draft process more complicated than ever. According to Givony, a number of sources he spoke to were skeptical that players, agents, college coaches, teams, and the NCAA will all be able to comfortably navigate that process. That could result in eligibility issues for college players who test the waters and then want to return to school.
“Are they (the NCAA) really going to forfeit the remaining college eligibility of 90% of the players that come back, including some of the best players in the country?” one college coach asked, per Givony. “This is going to be a total mess that we’ll have to clean up this fall. My guess is some players weren’t aware of the rules, and will end up getting scared they can’t go back, forcing them to leave school and then go undrafted because of this.”
Chinese Basketball Association Faces Another Setback
The Chinese government issued an order on Tuesday that will delay the restart of the Chinese Basketball Association’s 2019/20 season and other group sporting events in the country, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
The order represents the latest setback for the CBA, which has been suspended since late January and had hoped to resume in early May. Windhorst writes that China’s General Administration of Sport didn’t provide a timeline for how long the restriction will be in place, resulting in uncertainty about if or when the basketball league might be able to resume its season.
Despite the setback, CBA teams have been telling players that they still expect to resume play and that they should have more clarity within the next few weeks, sources tell ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. Emiliano Carchia of Sportando confirms that the CBA doesn’t intend to cancel its season and will have a meeting later in April to discuss the situation.
The Chinese Basketball Association had been planning to split its 20 teams into a pair of groups and send them to two separate cities to play in empty arenas, per Windhorst. The league, which had to deal with a coronavirus shutdown well before the NBA did, is viewed as a “test case” for American sports leagues, as Windhorst explains, so the fact that its resumption keeps getting delayed isn’t a positive sign.
According to Windhorst, even though the spread of COVID-19 has slowed significantly in China, sports officials are concerned about asymptomatic carriers. This figures to be an issue for the NBA and other North American sports leagues when they attempt to resume their own seasons in the coming months.
NBA Continues To Mull Possible Playoff Scenarios
As industries across North America and around the world continue to be hit hard by the ongoing effects of the coronavirus pandemic, NBA executives are still hanging onto hope that the 2020 postseason can be salvaged, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post.
“They’re very determined to have a champion,” one source told The Post.
League executives are hoping it will be possible to play five-to-seven regular season games followed by a 16-team playoff, according to Berman, who suggests those games would all happen in a single city and would be played behind closed doors. The NBA only wants to consider a single-elimination postseason as a last resort, but reducing each round to a best-of-three series is a possibility. One league official tells Berman that “nothing is off the table.”
Previous reports have suggested that the NBA would like to have each team play at least 70 regular season games, since there’s language in regional TV deals calling for a minimum of 70 local games. However, that has become less of a priority as of late, according to Berman, who adds that that idea of completing the full regular season is essentially a non-starter at this point.
A best-case scenario might see the NBA resume its 2019/20 season in late June or early July, with the intent of pushing the start of the ’20/21 campaign back to December, says Berman.
As for where the season might be completed if it resumes, one report last week said the league was eyeing Las Vegas as a candidate, since the city has multiple venues and has a preexisting relationship with the NBA as a result of Summer League. Berman confirms that Vegas is a possibility, but suggests the NBA has also had “internal talks” about locales such as Orlando, Atlantic City, Hawaii, and Louisville.
Hiatus Notes: Marbury, Gallinari, Van Gundy, Season
Former Knicks guard Stephon Marbury is working to set up a deal to bring 10 million N95 masks to New York amidst the coronavirus pandemic, Rich Calder of the New York Post writes.
Marbury has arrangements with a company in China that’s willing to supply New York with the masks for $2.75 each, Calder notes, roughly five dollars below what many retailers have been quoting around the state.
“At the end of the day, I am from Brooklyn,” Marbury said. “This is something that is close and dear to my heart as far as being able to help New York. I have family there in Coney Island, a lot of family … who are affected by this, so I know how important it is for people to have masks during this time.”
Marbury played 14 NBA seasons before playing in the Chinese Basketball Association. With hopes of facilitating his idea, he reached out to Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who has struggled to get in contact with Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio. Despite the situation being murky, Marbury’s intentions are clear.
“We’ve been communicating back and forth with the city and state, and for some reason they are saying they don’t need any more masks, but the hospitals are saying they do,” Adams said.
Here are some other notes related to the NBA’s hiatus:
- Thunder forward Danilo Gallinari has funded 400 COVID-19 testing kits, according to ESPN’s Royce Young. Gallinari partnered with the Oklahoma City-County Health Department to fund the kits and other equipment such as face shields, gloves, gowns and N95 masks. “There is a need, and so people in my position, if we can help, if I can help, it’s something that I feel that I want to do and I need to do,” Gallinari said.
- Jeff Van Gundy does not expect the NBA season to resume, as relayed by the Boston Globe. “We’re all underestimating the fear,” Van Gundy said. The NBA is still determining how to proceed amidst the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed over 30,000 lives globally as of Sunday night.
- Kevin Paul Depont of the Boston Globe examines why the NBA and NHL should consider canceling their seasons and shifting their respective focuses to September. Both leagues formally postponed their seasons just over two weeks ago due to COVID-19.
Marcus Smart Cleared From Coronavirus
Celtics guard Marcus Smart has officially been cleared from COVID-19, he announced on social media (Twitter link).
The clearance came from the Massachusetts Department of Health, with Smart originally testing positive for the disease two weeks ago.
“Corona Free as of two days ago,” Smart wrote. “Cleared by Mass Dept of Health. Thanks for everyone’s thoughts and prayers and I’m doing the same for everyone that’s been effected by this. Stay safe and stay together- apart! Much love!”
Smart joins Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell and Christian Wood as known NBA players to be cleared from the coronavirus. Several other figures around the league, including Brooklyn star Kevin Durant, also contracted the virus this month.
Smart, who’s in his sixth season with the Celtics, is averaging a career-high 13.5 points, 4.8 assists and 1.6 steals per contest.