International Notes: Bogut, France, Slovenia, Jeter
Former NBA center Andrew Bogut says players in Australia’s NBL were “used like pawns” in the league finals, according to an Associated Press report. His team, the Sydney Kings refused to fly across the country for Game 4 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Their opponent, Perth, had a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series and was eventually awarded the title. Travel restrictions were coming into effect across Australia when the Kings decided against taking the flight. “It’s something the NBL needs to learn from,” he said. “The disappointing thing is that it was left up to the players to decide.”
We have more from around the basketball world:
- The French LNB plans to complete its season when the pandemic subsides, according to Nicola Lupo of Sportando. The LNB is evaluating several different formats if the season resumes, Lupo adds.
- The Dutch Basketball League Eredivisie has decided to cancel the rest of the season and the Slovenian league has taken the same action. Neither league will crown a champion, according to the two posts from Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia.
- Former NBA guard Pooh Jeter has returned to China and is eager to play again next month, he told Marc Spears of The Undefeated. Jeter has played there for eight years and is under quarantine there after flying back from the U.S. “It will definitely be exciting to play again,” he said. “I know China. And China definitely wanted to show it did things the right way.”
Central Notes: Love, Pacers, Forman, Nance
The Cavaliers continue to value Kevin Love highly and don’t regret giving him a four-year, $120MM contract extension, according to Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Love’s attitude and play improved once J.B. Bickerstaff replaced John Beilein as head coach after the All-Star break. The Cavs don’t feel the need to dump salary this offseason, Fedor continues, so in any Love deal they’d want some combination of draft picks and young players.
We have more from around the Central Division:
- The coronavirus pandemic could impact renovations planned for the Pacers‘ Bankers Fieldhouse prior to next season’s All-Star game, Scott Agness of The Athletic writes. Some work has already begun but the renovations were scheduled to ramp up once the season ended. Phase one (of three) is supposed to be completed before the All-Star Game but if Indiana’s games resume this season and last into July, it could impact those scheduled renovations prior to next season.
- Bulls GM Gar Forman has essentially been reduced to a lead scout, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The franchise is expected to overhaul its front office once the league shutdown is lifted. Forman will lose his GM title and will have no decision-making authority once the restructuring is completed, Cowley adds.
- Cavaliers big man Larry Nance Jr. is especially concerned about COVID-19 due to other health factors, as Kelsey Russo of The Athletic explains. Nance was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease as a teenager. Since the illness is treated with immunosuppressive medication, he is more susceptible to infections in general. “You’d hear every now and again somebody say like, ‘Oh we’re blowing this out of proportion, it’s not that big of a deal.’ And for me, it was like, ‘What?’ This is a huge deal,” Nance said.
How 2020 NBA Draft May Be Impacted By Hiatus
While it seems likely that the June 25 draft will be pushed back, especially if the NBA wants to resume its 2019/20 season following the current hiatus, a team executive tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN that there hasn’t been any guidance so far from the NBA on what the league’s evolving schedule will mean for the draft.
It’s possible more information could come during the league’s next conference call with the Board of Governors, but for now the NBA is more focused on its “core revenue-driving business,” sources tell Givony, making the draft less of a priority.
“The draft is the last thing on their list,” the executive told ESPN. “We saw it in the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations in 2016. They never even got to (the draft). Revenue drivers will come first, and then we’ll see what happens with the draft after all that gets figured out. It might be a while.”
Although the NBA hasn’t provided any concrete updates on whether scouting events like the draft combine will actually happen or whether the draft itself will be postponed, front office executives, draft prospects, college coaches, and agents are all preparing for a delayed draft and a “heavily reduced” pre-draft process, Givony writes.
[RELATED: Potential No. 1 pick Anthony Edwards declaring for draft]
As we’ve noted in previous stories, a limited ability to travel for workouts and meetings will likely force teams to rely heavily on video scouting, with face-to-face meetings perhaps replaced by video conferences. Although clubs would likely be willing to spend money to charter flights and set up face-to-face meetings or light workouts with prospects they’re targeting, that may not be possible — plus, NBA owners may instruct front office to keep expenses to a minimum, given the current situation, per Givony.
The unusual pre-draft process would have a ripple effect that impacts college programs and NBA teams alike. The NCAA’s deadline for prospects who are “testing the waters” to withdraw from draft consideration (June 3) could be changed if everything else is pushed back, leaving college coaches uncertain about which players are returning to their programs.
Additionally, without medical testing taking place at the combine, it’s unclear how teams will gain access to those records. One NBA team president speculated to Givony that without a clear-cut procedure for how medical tests will happen, it could open the door for agents to steer clients to specific teams.
“If a team wants to keep those medicals out of the hands of 29 other organizations, they might try and lock down that player with a promise that they’ll draft them,” the executive said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if agents decided to go out and do their own medicals, and then dispersed them to the teams of their choosing to try and guide players to specific situations.”
It will be fascinating to see how the process plays out, particularly during a draft year in which there’s already uncertainty surrounding a handful of potential lottery picks. Some NBA executives who spoke to Givony believed that teams might make more informed decisions without all the “distractions” that pre-draft events in May and June bring. Others believe the most well-run organizations will have an advantage as a result of the changes.
“Losing conference tournaments, March Madness, and workouts means that bad teams won’t be able to play catch up after being asleep at the wheel for most of the season, and that’s where having an experienced staff who has been out working all year will play huge dividends,” an assistant GM told ESPN. “If you don’t have accurate measurement data on all the players in the draft at this stage, you’re (probably) not going to get them anymore from individual workouts or the combine.”
Northwest Notes: Mitchell, Taylor, Sikka, Nuggets
The Jazz are hopeful that time will heal the fractured relationship between Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, Tony Jones of The Athletic reports. This could be the biggest challenge for Jazz coach Quin Snyder and the front office in recent years, Jones continues, with Gobert having one year remaining on his contract and Mitchell potentially headed to restricted free agency after next season. Mitchell has been frustrated with Gobert for his careless actions prior to both testing positive for the coronavirus, Jones confirms.
We have more from the Northwest Division:
- Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor remains optimistic the league can resume the season, Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. “I’m really hopeful. I think we’re going to do it, if it’s at all possible,” Taylor said. “This is a health issue that we have no control over, but I think for our players and our fans, I would like to see us take a break and hopefully we can get back in 30 days and finish the season. I think the playoffs, they’re just so much fun and so important to our fans and our players.”
- Timberwolves vice president of basketball performance and technology, Robby Sikka, was well ahead of the curve in terms of preparing the team for the coronavirus, as Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic details. Sikka warned players to wash their hands and to avoid close contact with ill people as far back as late January. Sikka was hired by president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas last summer to prioritize player health and wellness. He’s been integral in drawing up plans to help the organization get through the pandemic, including daily checks on the players.
- The Nuggets need to acquire another impact player to become true contenders, Joel Rush of Forbes.com argues. They’d have to be willing to move Will Barton, Gary Harris or any bench player outside of Michael Porter Jr. this offseason to accomplish that goal, Rush adds.
Coronavirus Updates: Scouting, TV Deals, Preparations
Preparations for the draft will continue even though practice facilities will be closed indefinitely starting on Friday, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN. Scouts will do their work remotely by watching tape, doing background checks, and holding weekly conference calls. There remains plenty of uncertainty regarding the date of the draft, whether a combine will eventually be held and if individual workouts will be conducted at some point (Twitter links).
We have more coronavirus-related news:
- NBA teams are still receiving payments from their national broadcast partners, AT&T Inc.’s Turner and Walt Disney Co.’s ABC and ESPN, Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg reports. Those agreements pay the league about $2.6 billion annually. However, the value lost by the networks due to the suspension of play must be made up over the life of the deals, which run through the 2024/25 season. The exact value must be negotiated, and might include more games or additional advertising, Soshnick continues. Disney stands to lose approximately $700MM in ad revenue should the season be canceled, while Turner — which also holds the rights to NCAA men’s basketball championship — could lose $960MM in ad revenue.
- The league began making preparations in late January for the spread of the coronavirus, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN details. The NBA sent at least three memos to team officials in February, urging them to prepare for the pandemic in North America. Those preparations set in motion a series of protocols that had the NBA and its teams at the front of the line for testing by the time the Jazz’s Rudy Gobert became the first player that was diagnosed with COVID-19.
Two Lakers Players Test Positive For Coronavirus
8:14pm: JaVale McGee has tested negative, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets. The veteran center has asthma and battled pneumonia last season.
6:58pm: The Lakers plan to test a small group of coaches and staffers who had close contact with the players, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. Both of the players with positive tests are currently asymptomatic, in quarantine and under the care of a team physician, according to the team’s Twitter feed (Twitter link).
6:25pm: A pair of Lakers players have tested positive for the coronavirus, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
The number could grow as the team could test other players who were not tested on Wednesday morning, Charania adds.
The amount of players and personnel testing positive for COVID-19 throughout the league continues to rise at an alarming rate.
The news regarding the Lakers players broke just minutes after the Sixers revealed that three members of their organization – not necessarily players – tested positive.
With the addition of the Lakers duo, nine NBA players are known to have tested positive for COVID-19 so far: Jazz stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, Pistons big man Christian Wood, former MVP Kevin Durant, and three other unidentified Nets players and the Lakers pair. Adding the trio from the Sixers and a member of the Nuggets’ organization who has also tested positive, the total number of NBA players and personnel with the coronavirus has jumped to 13.
[UPDATE: Marcus Smart tests positive for coronavirus]
In their last four games before the stoppage of play, the Lakers played Philadelphia, Milwaukee, the Clippers and Brooklyn.
Marcus Smart Tests Positive For Coronavirus
7:04pm: Smart said he was tested five days ago and received the result on Thursday night, he tweets. He currently has no symptoms, feels “great” and is thankful he has self-quarantined since the test.
6:52pm: A Celtics player has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a team press release (Twitter link). Guard Marcus Smart has announced he is the player who tested positive, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
According to the statement, “The Boston Celtics learned today that a player has tested positive for COVID-19. Testing was initiated because of exposure to a known positive case. The Celtics player, who is not exhibiting symptoms, has been in isolation for several days and will continue to do so while being monitored by team medical staff.
The team is awaiting further testing results and will communicate them as appropriate. Taking steps to maintain the health and safety of everyone in our organization and across the NBA remains our top priority, and we will continue to work closely with health officials and the league in addressing this situation.”
This bring the total of NBA players and personnel who have tested positive to 14. That group includes at least 10 players: The Jazz duo of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, Pistons big man Christian Wood, former MVP Kevin Durant and three other unidentified Nets players, two unnamed Lakers players and Smart. In addition, three members of the Sixers organization and a member of the Nuggets organization have tested positive.
During the month of March, Boston faced Brooklyn, Cleveland, Utah, Oklahoma City and Indiana.
Three Members Of Sixers’ Organization Test Positive For Coronavirus
Three members of the Sixers’ organization have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a team press release (hat tip to The Athletic’s David Aldridge).
Upon recommendation, certain individuals from the organization — including players, coaches and some basketball operations staff members — were tested for COVID-19. The tests were secured and processed privately after consultation with medical experts and the league. All others that were tested turned up negative for the virus.
The latest positive tests adds to the growing fear over COVID-19 within the league and its teams. Seven NBA players are known to have tested positive for COVID-19 so far: Jazz stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, Pistons big man Christian Wood, former MVP Kevin Durant, and three other unidentified Nets players. Earlier on Thursday, it was revealed that a member of the Nuggets’ organization had also tested positive.
Philadelphia returned from a lengthy West Coast trip just prior to the suspension of the season. The Sixers faced the Lakers, Clippers, Kings and Warriors, though there are no known COVID-19 positives among those organizations. They played a home game against the Pistons and Wood last Wednesday, the night that the league decided to halt play over concerns regarding the coronavirus.
Hiatus Notes: Training Facilities, NBA Calendar, Nuggets
With the NBA requiring teams to close their training facilities beginning on Friday, players around the league don’t have many options left for conducting workouts, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
As Bontemps explains, players have also been told not to work out at any non-team public facilities, such as health clubs, fitness centers, college facilities, or gyms. The league is essentially telling players to shut it down outside of home facilities, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. While that’s an option for some players, many live in apartments and have little to no workout equipment at home, Bontemps notes (via Twitter).
There are still ways for players to stay active, but a lack of training facilities for weeks or months could be an issue, as Lakers forward Jared Dudley pointed out on Twitter.
“If we can’t train properly for a month or two, an athlete would need at least a month starting from scratch,” Dudley wrote, when asked how much time players would need to be “game-ready” if the season resumed. “Injuries would be the biggest concern … so it all depends on this lay-off from our facilities.”
Here’s more on the coronavirus situation and the NBA’s hiatus:
- The NBA is discussing “every imaginable scenario” for restarting games, league sources tell Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. As O’Connor outlines, some of those hypothetical scenarios include having a postseason play-in tournament replace the end of the regular season, shortening playoff series, playing games at a neutral site, and pushing back the start of next season until December or even 2021.
- Within that same article, O’Connor reports that team executives around the NBA seem to be “warming” to the idea of starting the 2020/21 regular season in December. While acknowledging that their opinions may by shifting out of necessity, O’Connor points out that this could be a good opportunity for the league to experiment with a new-look calendar, as we observed earlier this week.
- Although the Nuggets had a member of their organization test positive for COVID-19, they don’t plan on testing other players or staffers unless they show symptoms, a source tells Mike Singer of The Denver Post. According to Sam Amick of The Athletic (via Twitter), the affected person with the Nuggets followed state guidelines and was tested by means of the public system — the test wasn’t privately procured.
Member Of Nuggets Tests Positive For Coronavirus
A member of the Nuggets‘ organization has tested positive for the coronavirus, the team announced today in a press release. The Nuggets didn’t offer much in the way of specifics, so it’s unclear if the affected person is a player, coach, executive, or staff member.
“The person, who was tested after experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19 on March 16th, is currently under the care of team medical staff and in self-isolation,” the club said in its statement. “The testing was undertaken following guidance from state public health officials and team physicians.”
The Mavericks were the last team to play the Nuggets before the NBA’s hiatus begun, with that game taking place last Wednesday. It’s not clear when the affected Nugget contracted the virus, or if members of the Mavs, Bucks, Cavaiers, or Hornets – all of whom played Denver in the last two weeks – are at risk of having been exposed.
Seven NBA players are known to have tested positive for COVID-19 so far: Jazz stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, Pistons big man Christian Wood, former MVP Kevin Durant, and three other unidentified Nets players.
If the Nugget who tested positive today is a player, that total would increase to eight. Either way, it seems safe to assume that the number of affected players and members of NBA organizations in the coming days and weeks will continue to grow.
“A whole lot of us are going to test positive,” NBPA executive director Michele Roberts told Mark Medina of USA Today earlier this week. “… I certainly know there will be more players, more league staff and my own staff (that will be tested positive). I was hearing the numbers that 40-50% of our population will be positive for the virus, whether or not we test for it.”