Chris Paul Listed As Probable For Game 3
Chris Paul‘s availability could determine the Suns‘ chances to knock off the Lakers in the first round, and Phoenix fans have reason to be encouraged for Game 3. The veteran guard is listed as probable for Thursday’s contest in the official injury report, tweets Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.
After suffering a right shoulder contusion in Game 1, Paul was visibly limited in the Game 2 loss Tuesday night, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. The shoulder was wrapped with kinesiology tape, but Paul moved much slower than usual and passed up midrange shots that he normally takes.
Suns coach Monty Williams didn’t want to risk further injury with so much of the series left to play. He took Paul out of the game four minutes into the second half and kept him on the bench for the rest of the third quarter. He let Paul play about two and a half minutes in the fourth quarter, but pulled him for good with 7:01 remaining.
“That was all me,” Williams said of the decision. “Just looking at him holding his arm the way that he was, I just couldn’t watch him run like that. He was trying to make plays. He battled. I just made a decision to take him out.”
Paul said he “heard a crack” after colliding with teammate Cameron Johnson in the second quarter on Sunday. Johnson’s shoulder hit the side of Paul’s face and caused his neck to twist. Paul grabbed his right trapezius in pain after the collision, but the problem turned out to be with his shoulder. Phoenix isn’t releasing much information on the injury, other than calling it a contusion.
The team spent two days working on Paul’s shoulder and arm mobility. He wasn’t listed on the Game 2 injury report, and the Suns were encouraged by the progress he showed at Tuesday’s shootaround. Those feelings quickly changed once the game began.
“He’s not able to make the passes he wants,” Williams told reporters afterward. “He was laboring tonight. I don’t want to get into too many details until I talk to him. But you could see that his arm wasn’t … he wasn’t even running the way he ran and dribbled the ball this morning.”
NBA Sends Teams Preliminary List Of Seniors Entering Draft
After originally sending NBA teams a list of 104 seniors who are declaring for the 2021 draft, the league has updated that list, which now includes more than 130 players, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Twitter link).
In a normal year, all seniors would be draft-eligible, but because the NCAA granted athletes an additional year of eligibility due to the coronavirus pandemic, seniors who want to enter the 2021 draft have to go through the early entry process.
Typically, seniors would get a head start on talking to NBA teams, since clubs can’t contact underclassmen who declare the draft until after the entry deadline has passed. However, because seniors are part of the early entry group this year, the league is sending teams these preliminary lists made up only of seniors so that they can instigate contact.
The rest of the early entrant list, including freshman, sophomores, juniors, and any seniors who declare within the next few days, is expected to be released next week.
In the meantime, here’s the list of seniors who have declared for the draft, per Givony:
- Derrick Alston Jr., G/F, Boise State
- Jose Alvarado, G, Georgia Tech
- Jonah Antonio, G, Wake Forest
- Jonathan Baehre, F, Clemson
- Geo Baker, G, Rutgers
- Mitch Ballock, G, Creighton
- Troy Baxter Jr., F, Morgan State
- Dalonte Brown, F, Miami (Ohio)
- Marcus Burk, G, IUPUI
- Jordan Burns, G, Colgate
- Manny Camper, G/F, Siena
- Nahziah Carter, G, Washington
- Arinze Chidom, F, UC-Riverside
- Matt Coleman III, G, Texas
- T.J. Crockett, G, Lindenwood (MO)
- Jalen Crutcher, G, Dayton
- Ryan Daly, G, St. Joseph’s
- Zaccheus Darko-Kelly, G/F, Univ. of Providence (MT)
- Oscar Da Silva, F, Stanford
- Marek Dolezaj, F, Syracuse
- Chris Duarte, G, Oregon
- Ian DuBose, G, Wake Forest
- Juwan Durham, F, Notre Dame
- Tahj Eaddy, G, USC
- Navar Elmore, F, Livingstone (NC)
- Romeao Ferguson, G, Lipscomb
- LJ Figueroa, G, Oregon
- Aleem Ford, F, Wisconsin
- Blake Francis, G, Richmond
- DJ Funderburk, F, N.C. State
- Ty Gadsden, G, UNC Wilmington
- Marcus Garrett, G, Kansas
- Luka Garza, C, Iowa
- Samson George, F, Central Arkansas
- Asante Gist, G, Iona
- Terrell Gomez, G, San Diego State
- Jordan Goodwin, G, Saint Louis
- Justin Gorham, F, Houston
- Elyjah Goss, F, IUPUI
- Jayvon Graves, G, Buffalo
- Quade Green, G, Washington
- Dou Gueye, F, Louisiana
- Matt Haarms, C, BYU
- Javion Hamlet, G, North Texas
- Deion Hammond, G, Monmouth
- Amauri Hardy, G, Oregon
- Romio Harvey, G, Harding University (AR)
- Sam Hauser, F, Virginia
- Jay Huff, F/C, Virginia
- Jhivvan Jackson, G, UTSA
- Loren Cristian Jackson, G, Akron
- Casdon Jardine, G/F, Hawaii
- DeJon Jarreau, G, Houston
- Tristan Jarrett, G, Jackson State
- Justin Jaworski, G, Lafayette
- David Jean-Baptiste, G, Chattanooga
- Jalen Johnson, F, Mississippi State
- Carlik Jones, G, Louisville
- Christiaan Jones, G, Stetson
- Herb Jones, F, Alabama
- Corey Kispert, F, Gonzaga
- John Knight III, G , Southern Utah
- Cameron Krutwig, C, Loyola Chicago
- Spencer Littleson, G, Toledo
- Isaiah Livers, F, Michigan
- Jaizec Lottie, G, Flagler (FL)
- Loudon Love, F, Wright State
- Denzel Mahoney, G/F, Creighton
- Sandro Mamukelashvili, F/C, Seton Hall
- Kyle Mangas, G, Indiana Wesleyan
- Remy Martin, G, Arizona State
- Kameron McGusty, G, Miami
- JaQuori McLaughlin, G, UCSB
- Jadyn Michael, F, Colorado Christian
- Asbjorn Midtgaard, C, Grand Canyon
- Isaiah Miller, G, UNC Greensboro
- Davion Mintz, G, Kentucky
- Damek Mitchell, G, Lewis-Clark State College (ID)
- Matt Mitchell, F, San Diego State
- Ruot Monyyong, F/C, Little Rock
- Alex Morales, G, Wagner
- Clay Mounce, F, Furman
- Obadiah Noel, G, UMass-Lowell
- Eugene Omoruyi, F, Oregon
- EJ Onu, F, Shawnee State (OH)
- Darius Perry, G, UCF
- Jock Perry, C, UC-Riverside
- John Petty Jr., G, Alabama
- Jamorko Pickett, F, Georgetown
- Danny Pippen, F, Kent State
- Yves Pons, G/F, Tennessee
- Micah Potter, F/C, Wisconsin
- Brandon Rachal, G/F, Tulsa
- Austin Reaves, G, Oklahoma
- Nate Reuvers, F, Wisconsin
- Elvin Rodriguez, G, Science & Arts of Oklahoma
- Colbey Ross, G, Pepperdine
- Olivier Sarr, C, Kentucky
- Jordan Schakel, G, San Diego State
- Quentin Scott, F, Texas State
- Taz Sherman, G, West Virginia
- Devontae Shuler, G, Ole Miss
- Aamir Simms, F, Clemson
- Jericho Sims, F/C, Texas
- Dru Smith, G, Missouri
- Justin Smith, F, Arkansas
- Mike Smith, G, Michigan
- Anthony Tarke, G/F, Coppin State
- Jalen Tate, G, Arkansas
- Maleek Taylor, F, Allen University (SC)
- Terry Taylor, G/F, Austin Peay
- MaCio Teague, G, Baylor
- Christian Terrell, G, Sacramento State
- Koby Thomas, G/F, Coppin State
- Ethan Thompson, G, Oregon State
- Clyde Trapp, G, Clemson
- D’Mitrik Trice, G, Wisconsin
- Jordy Tshimanga, C, Dayton
- Justin Turner, G, Bowling Green
- Stanley Umude, G, South Dakota
- Chandler Vaudrin, F, Winthrop
- Alonzo Verge Jr., G, Arizona State
- Eric Vila, F, UTEP
- Mark Vital, G/F, Baylor
- M.J. Walker, G, Florida State
- Josh Washburn, G, Carthage (WI)
- Fabian White Jr., F, Houston
- Romello White, F, Mississippi
- Devin Whitfield, G, Lincoln Memorial Univ. (TN)
- Keith Williams, G, Cincinnati
- McKinley Wright IV, G, Colorado
- Moses Wright, F, Georgia Tech
- Jacob Young, G, Rutgers
No New Positive COVID-19 Tests Among Players Since May 19
Of the 337 NBA players who have been tested for COVID-19 since May 19, none have returned a new positive confirmed test, the league and the players’ union announced today in a press release.
It’s great news for the NBA and NBPA, who are conducting their first postseason outside of a bubble setting since the coronavirus pandemic began. The league remains concerned about possible positive tests that could affect the playoffs, but things have run smoothly so far.
This is the first time since April 14 that the NBA and NBPA have announced zero new positive COVID-19 tests among players in a given week, though things have been trending in the right direction as of late — the league and the union had just one new positive test during the week of May 12-19 and one during the week of May 5-12.
While the playoff field still features 16 teams for now, it won’t be long before that number starts to decline, so there will be fewer players tested on a daily basis in future weeks.
Julius Randle Named 2020/21 Most Improved Player
All-Star Knicks forward Julius Randle has been named the Most Improved Player of the 2020/21 NBA season, the league announced in a press release.
Randle was listed as one of three finalists for the award last week, along with Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. and Porter’s former teammate, current Pistons forward Jerami Grant.
Randle received 98 of 100 possible first-place votes from polled reporters and journalists, while Grant netted the other two. Rockets center Christian Wood and Bulls guard Zach LaVine rounded out the top five vote-getters.
JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors supplies the full voting results here (Twitter link).
Randle, who was drafted with the seventh pick out of Kentucky in 2014 by the Lakers, posted impressive numbers with Los Angeles and later the Pelicans, but has secured a true home while blossoming into an All-NBA talent under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden.
Across 71 of a possible 72 games, the 26-year-old averaged 24.1 PPG, 10.2 RPG, and 6.0 APG, all career-bests, while leading New York to its first playoff berth in eight seasons. The 6’8″ forward also posted a slash line of .456/.411/.811 during the 2020/21 regular season.
Thanks to the improvement of Randle and RJ Barrett and the game-planning expertise of new head coach Tom Thibodeau, the Knicks didn’t just make the postseason under Randle’s leadership — they also nabbed the No. 4 seed in the East with a 41-31 record, clinching home court advantage in the ongoing first round of the playoffs.
Randle, who inked a three-year, $63MM deal with the Knicks in the summer of 2019, will be eligible for a veteran extension this summer, ahead of the non-guaranteed final year of his deal. If Randle and the Knicks agree to a maximum four-year extension, such a deal could carry a $106MM+ base value, with added incentives.
Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram won the award last year.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NBA Fines Kristaps Porzingis $50K For Violating League Protocols
The NBA has fined Mavericks forward Kristaps Porzingis $50K for socializing in a club on Sunday, according to an official league press release (Twitter link).
Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets that Porzingis attended a Los Angeles-area strip club following the Mavericks’ first game against the Clippers. MacMahon adds that Porzingis has been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus COVID-19.
This appearance violated a league rule designed to prevent players from attending a club, lounge or bar, whether or not the players themselves have received the vaccine for COVID-19.
“In consultation with medical experts, and based on all facts and circumstances, it was determined that his attendance did not create risks related to the spread of COVID-19 and therefore no quarantine is necessary,” the league wrote in its statement.
League spokesman Mike Bass clarified the difference between the fine for Porzingis and the treatment of Lakers All-Star forward LeBron James, who also recently violated the league’s COVID-19 protocols, albeit under different circumstances, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).
“LeBron briefly attended an outdoor event related to an individual commercial activity where everyone was either required to be vaccinated or return a negative (COVID-19) test,” Bass said. “The league reviews each potential protocol violation on a case-by-case basis, and determines quarantines and imposes discipline based on the individual facts and circumstances of each matter.” James was not penalized with a fine or suspension.
2021 Pre-Lottery NBA Draft Order
The NBA conducted its draft tiebreakers on Tuesday, further cementing the draft order for 2021. While we’ll have to wait until the June 22 draft lottery to learn the exact order for this year’s event, we now know what most of the 60 selections look like.
Listed below is the pre-lottery 2021 NBA draft order. Each lottery team’s chances of landing the No. 1 overall pick are noted in parentheses. We’ve also included notes for picks whose status remains up in the air — for example, the Timberwolves‘ first-round pick could still technically end up with either Minnesota or the Warriors.
The second-round draft order for teams with identical regular season records is the inverse of their first-round order. So regardless of today’s tiebreakers, the exact order of a few second-round picks will hinge on next month’s lottery results.
For instance, even though the Thunder won the tiebreaker vs. the Cavaliers for the No. 4 spot in the lottery standings, Cleveland could still leapfrog Oklahoma City in the lottery, in which case the Thunder’s second-round pick would move ahead of the Cavs’ second-rounder.
We’ll provided an updated list after the June 22 lottery, once the official draft order is set, but here’s the tentative 2021 NBA draft order:
First Round:
- Houston Rockets (14.0%)
- Note: The Thunder will have the ability to swap the Heat’s first-round pick (No. 18) for this selection if it falls outside of the top four.
- Detroit Pistons (14.0%)
- Orlando Magic (14.0%)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (11.5%)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (11.5%)
- Golden State Warriors (from Timberwolves) (9.0%)
- Note: The Timberwolves will retain this pick if it moves into the top three.
- Toronto Raptors (7.5%)
- Orlando Magic (from Bulls) (4.5%)
- Note: The Bulls will retain this pick if it moves into the top four.
- Sacramento Kings (4.5%)
- New Orleans Pelicans (4.5%)
- Charlotte Hornets (1.8%)
- San Antonio Spurs (1.7%)
- Indiana Pacers (1.0%)
- Golden State Warriors (0.5%)
- Washington Wizards
- Oklahoma City Thunder (from Celtics)
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Oklahoma City Thunder (from Heat)
- Note: The Thunder will have the ability to swap this pick for the Rockets’ pick if Houston’s pick falls outside of the top four.
- New York Knicks
- Atlanta Hawks
- New York Knicks (from Mavericks)
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Houston Rockets (from Trail Blazers)
- Houston Rockets (from Bucks)
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Denver Nuggets
- Brooklyn Nets
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Phoenix Suns
- Utah Jazz
Second Round:
- Milwaukee Bucks (from Rockets)
- New York Knicks (from Pistons)
- Orlando Magic
- New Orleans Pelicans (from Cavaliers)
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Note: The Nos. 34 and 35 picks would swap places if Cleveland gets a higher first-round pick than Oklahoma City via the lottery.
- Oklahoma City Thunder (from Timberwolves)
- Detroit Pistons (from Raptors)
- Chicago Bulls (from Pelicans)
- Sacramento Kings
- New Orleans Pelicans (from Bulls)
- Note: The Nos. 38, 39, and 40 picks may swap places based on the lottery results. However, the Bulls will always pick ahead of the Pelicans, since Chicago has the ability to swap second-round picks with New Orleans.
- San Antonio Spurs
- Detroit Pistons (from Hornets)
- Note: The Nos. 41 and 42 picks would swap places if San Antonio gets a higher first-round pick than Charlotte via the lottery.
- New Orleans Pelicans (from Wizards)
- Brooklyn Nets (from Pacers)
- Boston Celtics
- Toronto Raptors (from Grizzlies)
- Toronto Raptors (from Warriors)
- Atlanta Hawks (from Heat)
- Brooklyn Nets (from Hawks)
- Philadelphia 76ers (from Knicks)
- Memphis Grizzlies (from Trail Blazers)
- Detroit Pistons (from Lakers)
- New Orleans Pelicans (from Mavericks)
- Indiana Pacers (from Bucks)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (from Nuggets)
- Charlotte Hornets (from Clippers)
- Charlotte Hornets (from Nets)
- New York Knicks (from Sixers)
- Brooklyn Nets (from Suns)
- Indiana Pacers (from Jazz)
2021 NBA Draft Tiebreaker Results
The NBA conducted a series of random tiebreakers today to determine the lottery standings and the 2021 draft order. These tiebreakers involved teams that finished the regular season with identical records.
The results are as follows, per Jeremy Woo of SI.com (Twitter link):
- Oklahoma City Thunder (No. 4) over Cleveland Cavaliers (No. 5)
- Chicago Bulls (No. 8) over Sacramento Kings (No. 9) over New Orleans Pelicans (No. 10)
- Note: The Magic will receive the Bulls’ first-round pick if it doesn’t move up into the top four.
- Charlotte Hornets (No. 11) over San Antonio Spurs (No. 12)
- New York Knicks (No. 19) over Atlanta Hawks (No. 20)
- New York Knicks (No. 21) over Los Angeles Lakers (No. 22) over Houston Rockets (No. 23)
- Note: The Knicks’ pick is courtesy of the Mavericks, while the Rockets’ pick is courtesy of the Trail Blazers.
- Los Angeles Clippers (No. 25) over Denver Nuggets (No. 26).
Lottery teams that finished tied in the regular standings are granted essentially identical odds to move up into the top four. For instance, the Thunder and Cavaliers will each have an 11.5% chance at the No. 1 overall pick, while the Bulls, Kings, and Pelicans will have matching 4.5% odds at the top selection.
However, the tiebreaker is still important for lottery teams because it dictates which team(s) will draft first in the event that neither club moves into the top four. For example, the Cavs could theoretically slip as far as No. 9 in the draft now, while the Thunder couldn’t fall below No. 8.
Outside of the lottery, the tiebreaker results simply determine the draft order. That order is subsequently reversed in the second round. For instance, the Clippers and Nuggets will pick at Nos. 25 and 26, respectively in the first round, but in round two, Denver’s pick (traded to the Thunder) will be No. 55, while the Clippers’ pick (traded to Charlotte) will be No. 56.
The Thunder and Knicks are among the big tiebreaker winners. Oklahoma City’s odds of securing a top-six pick improved by virtue of its tiebreaker win over Cleveland. As for the Knicks, they could’ve ended up with the 20th and 23rd overall picks, but will instead draft at 19 and 21.
The Magic are an under-the-radar winner as well, since they hold Chicago’s first-round pick (top-four protected). The Bulls’ tiebreaker win didn’t affect the team’s odds of moving into the top four, but it substantially increased the odds that Orlando will end up with a pick at No. 8 or 9 instead of 10 or lower.
Hornets To Pick Up James Borrego’s Option For 2021/22
The Hornets will exercise their option for next season on head coach James Borrego, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
When Charlotte hired Borrego in 2018, he was given a contract with three guaranteed years, along with an option for the fourth. Although his record is just 95-124 with the Hornets, he has spent most of that time overseeing a rebuilding project.
With the offseason addition of Gordon Hayward in free agency and the performance of Rookie of the Year candidate LaMelo Ball, Charlotte appears to be headed in the right direction. Charania notes that the Hornets were in the race for home-court advantage before Hayward and Ball were injured (Twitter link). The team wound up making the play-in tournament, but was eliminated in the first game.
Borrego, 43, was an assistant coach for eight years with New Orleans, Orlando and San Antonio before becoming a head coach. He served as an interim head coach with the Magic for 30 games during the 2014/15 season.
Jordan Clarkson Captures Sixth Man Award
Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson has won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award, according to a league press release.
This is the first time Clarkson has won the award. He’s also the first Jazz player to be given the honor.
Clarkson, who re-signed with Utah last offseason for four years and $51MM, received 65 first-place votes and earned 407 total points from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters. His teammate, forward Joe Ingles, finished in second place with 272 points (34 first-place votes). Knicks guard Derrick Rose finished third with 77 points (one first-place vote).
Clarkson averaged a career-high 18.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG and 2.5 APG in 26.7 MPG while appearing in 68 games. Playing his first full season with Utah and seventh in the NBA, Clarkson recorded two games with at least 40 points, five games with at least 30 points and 23 games with at least 20 points off the bench.
Montrezl Harrell, then with the Clippers, won the award last season. Lou Williams captured the honor with the Clippers the previous two seasons.
Mavericks teammates Jalen Brunson and Tim Hardaway rounded out the top five vote-getters for this year’s Sixth Man award. The full voting results can be found here.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Donovan Mitchell To Return For Game 2
Jazz star Donovan Mitchell will be available to play in Game 2 vs. Memphis on Wednesday, the team announced today.
Mitchell – who was a full participant in practice on Monday, per Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link) – missed Game 1 on Sunday and hasn’t played at all since April 16 due to a right ankle sprain.
We’re still more than 48 hours away from tip-off in Utah, so there was no urgency to announce a decision on Mitchell right away. However, with reports indicating that the 24-year-old was angry at the team for holding him out of Game 1, today’s announcement may represent a step toward easing tensions.
Based on those earlier reports, it sounds like Mitchell’s own trainers and the Jazz’s training staff may not have been on the same page regarding his readiness. Mitchell spoke on Sunday as if he would play in Game 1 before Utah officially ruled him out.
Facing a 1-0 defect in their series against the Grizzlies, the Jazz will welcome the return of their leading scorer. Mitchell averaged a career-best 26.4 points to go along with 5.2 assists and 4.4 rebounds in 53 games (33.4 MPG) in 2020/21.