Simons, Stanley, Toppin To Compete In Dunk Contest
Anfernee Simons of the Trail Blazers, Cassius Stanley of the Pacers, and Obi Toppin of the Knicks will compete for the annual Slam Dunk title at halftime of the All-Star game on Sunday at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, the NBA announced in a press release.
Simons, a 6’3” guard, is averaging 8.2 PPG in his third NBA season. Stanley is a 6’5″ rookie guard on a two-way contract after being selected in the second round last fall. He recorded a maximum vertical leap of 44 inches in the 2020 draft combine. Toppin, a 6’9″ rookie forward and lottery pick, is averaging 4.6 PPG in 25 games off the bench.
The 3-Point Contest, which will be held prior to the game, has a lot more star power. Suns guard Devin Booker and Warriors guard Stephen Curry, former winners of the long-ball contest, head the list of participants. The Celtics’ Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the Bulls’ Zach LaVine and the Jazz‘s Donovan Mitchell round out the six-man field.
The Skills Challenge, which will also be held prior to the game, also has plenty of All-Star firepower. Mavericks guard Luka Doncic and Suns guard Chris Paul head that six-man list. Knicks forward Julius Randle, Pacers forward Domantas Sabonis, Magic center Nikola Vucevic and Trail Blazers forward Robert Covington round out the field.
NBA To Loosen Restrictions On Two-Way Contracts For 2020/21
The NBA and NBPA intend to further loosen the restrictions facing players on two-way contracts for the rest of the 2020/21 season, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Currently, players on two-way contracts are limited to appearing in 50 regular season games and aren’t eligible for the postseason. The plan is to eliminate both of those restrictions, pending Board of Governors approval, according to Charania.
[RELATED: 2020/21 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker]
The rule change would allow standout two-way players such as Wizards guard Garrison Mathews, Raptors forward Yuta Watanabe, and Warriors wing Juan Toscano-Anderson to play in all their teams’ remaining regular season games and to be active for the playoffs as well.
Players on two-way deals who exceed 50 games played would earn a salary bump, according to Charania. Currently, those players are making $449,155, half of the rookie minimum. If a two-way player appears in more than 50 games, his salary would be the rookie or veteran’s minimum that corresponds with his years of NBA service, as seen here.
The rule change will give teams some added roster flexibility during a season in which they’ve often found themselves missing a player or two due to the NBA’s health and safety (COVID-19) protocols. Sources tell Charania (Twitter link) that the lifting of those two-way restrictions received “massive support” among NBA executives today on a conference call.
Rubio On Wolves’ Play: “I Don’t Feel Like This Is Building Something”
So far, a midseason coaching change has done nothing to help the Timberwolves turn things around. After starting the season with a league-worst 7-24 record, Minnesota replaced head coach Ryan Saunders with Chris Finch, but the club has lost Finch’s first four games by an average of 17 points per contest.
Besides being frustrated by the results on the court, veteran point guard Ricky Rubio is concerned about the Wolves’ process and the habits they’re developing, as Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes.
“We have to build good habits from day one, and I don’t think we are in the right way, to be honest,” Rubio said on Sunday. “I can be here and be positive like we’re trying to be and it’s OK. But we have the worst record in the league. We lost way too many games by 20-plus, and I don’t feel like this is building something. It’s hard. You always have to take positive things and of course, we want to get better, but at one point we got to start wanting to change something, and it’s not happening.”
After hosting the Hornets on Wednesday in their final game of the first half, the Wolves will be off for a week, and Rubio expressed hope that the All-Star break will benefit a team that is “not playing good.”
Rubio made it clear he wasn’t blaming Finch, who “has a lot on his plate” taking over a struggling team in the middle of the season. More practice time under the new coach might help, according to Rubio, who was frustrated by the fact that the Wolves couldn’t stop Devin Booker and the Suns from scoring on Sunday when Phoenix repeatedly ran the same set.
“When you’re young and you gotta play through the mistakes, I understand,” Rubio said, per Krawczynski. “But at one point, if you do the same mistake over and over again, it means you’re not learning. Learning through mistakes as a young team can happen, but then make different mistakes. I think we’re doing the same mistakes over and over.”
Rubio, who was reacquired by Minnesota in the fall to complement young guard D’Angelo Russell, hasn’t been a great on-court fit with D-Lo and is having one of the worst seasons of his 10-year NBA career, averaging a career-low 7.6 points per game on 37.8% shooting. While president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas may explore dealing Rubio at the trade deadline, the guard’s $17.8MM guaranteed salary for 2021/22 will make him a tricky piece to move.
Pistons-Raptors Game Postponed Until Wednesday
The Pistons–Raptors game scheduled for Tuesday in Tampa has been postponed and tentatively rescheduled for Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET, pending additional coronavirus test results, according to an NBA press release.
The game is being postponed due to positive test results and ongoing contact tracing within the Raptors organization.
Toronto had its game against Chicago on Sunday postponed for the same reason, as the Raptors didn’t have the required minimum of eight players available.
If the Pistons-Raptors game is played on Wednesday, both teams will finish their first half schedules with back-to-backs. Detroit is playing at New York against the Knicks on Thursday, while Toronto has a road game against the Celtics.
The Raptors are dealing with a virus outbreak that affected star forward Pascal Siakam and most of their coaching staff for Friday’s game against Houston. Siakam, who reportedly returned an inconclusive rapid test on Friday, is expected to be out of action through the All-Star break.
The latest postponement is the 35th since the season began, and the 31th caused by the virus. Three others were due to harsh weather in Texas last week and one was a scheduling choice to accommodate a makeup game.
Nate McMillan Agrees To Be Hawks’ Interim Head Coach
6:50pm: It’s official, according to a team press release.
6:17pm: Nate McMillan has agreed to coach the Hawks on an interim basis, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
McMillan, who was the team’s associate head coach, was initially reluctant to replace close friend Lloyd Pierce. Pierce’s support to take the job swayed him, Wojnarowski reports in another tweet. Pierce was dismissed on Monday afternoon after coaching Atlanta for two-and-a-half seasons.
McMillan has a 661-588 (.529) record in 16 seasons as head coach with Seattle, Portland and Indiana.
McMillan coached the Hawks for a couple of games in February while Pierce attended the birth of his second child. He was hired as Pierce’s top assistant in November, just over two months after he was let go by the Pacers.
McMillan, 56, guided the Pacers to a 183-136 (.574) record over the last four seasons, earning four consecutive playoff berths during that stretch. However, Indiana was swept in the first round in three of the last four years. He initially planned to take this season off but had a change of heart after several teams pursued him with assistant jobs.
Hawks Fire Lloyd Pierce
The Hawks have dismissed head coach Lloyd Pierce, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). The club has put out a press release officially confirming the decision to relieve Pierce of his duties.
“We would like to thank Lloyd for his work and commitment to not only the Hawks organization but the city of Atlanta. He and his wife, Melissa, are tremendous people who have made a positive impact throughout the city,” general manager Travis Schlenk said in a statement. “We have high expectations for our team on the court and we believe by making this change now that we can have a strong second half of the season.”
Pierce, who previously served as an assistant coach in Cleveland, Golden State, Memphis, and Philadelphia, was hired as the Hawks’ head coach by Schlenk in 2018. Pierce led the team to a 63-120 (.344) record in two-and-a-half seasons, with no playoff appearances.
The Hawks’ sub-.500 records in Pierce’s first couple seasons were to be expected, since the organization was still in rebuilding mode. However, there were increased expectations in Atlanta in 2020/21 — the club badly wants to make the postseason this spring following a major spending spree in free agency. The Hawks are just 14-20 after getting off to a 10-9 start, and have coughed up a number of fourth-quarter leads.
It’s worth noting that Atlanta has been hit hard so far in ’20/21 by the injury bug, with all of the team’s major free agent additions – Bogdan Bogdanovic, Danilo Gallinari, Rajon Rondo, Kris Dunn – missing at least a dozen games due to health issues. Dunn has yet to suit up at all for his new team, while up-and-coming youngster De’Andre Hunter has been out since January. However, it seems the Hawks’ decision-makers weren’t willing to attribute the club’s inconsistent and underwhelming play in the first half to those absences.
According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), the Hawks are hoping that lead assistant Nate McMillan will take over as their interim head coach.
McMillan is certainly the most logical candidate to assume the reins on an interim basis — his résumé includes lengthy head coaching stints for the Pacers, Trail Blazers, and SuperSonics, and he ranks 22nd on the NBA’s all-time list with 661 wins as a head coach. However, McMillan – who is meeting with Pierce and the rest of Atlanta’s coaching staff this afternoon – has been “fiercely loyal in his support of Pierce,” Woj notes.
[UPDATE: Nate McMillan Agrees To Be Hawks’ Interim Head Coach]
Pierce, who is set to be part of Gregg Popovich‘s Team USA coaching staff at this year’s Olympics in Tokyo, is the second NBA head coach to be dismissed during the 2020/21 season, joining former Timberwolves coach Ryan Saunders.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Joakim Noah To Retire
Veteran big man Joakim Noah is “effectively” retiring as a player, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Charania, the plan is for Noah to eventually retire as a Bull.
Noah, who turned 36 last Thursday, spent nine of his 13 seasons with the Bulls after being selected by the team with the ninth overall pick in the 2007 draft. His best seasons came in Chicago, where he was the anchor of the team’s frontcourt under head coach Tom Thibodeau, playing alongside Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, and Luol Deng.
Noah earned an All-Star berth, as well as a spot on the All-Defensive First Team, in both 2013 and 2014. He was named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year for the 2013/14 season and was a member of the All-NBA First Team that year as well. He also received an All-Defensive Second Team nod in 2011.
The former Florida Gator standout had a decorated college career before entering the NBA, winning back-to-back NCAA championships in 2006 and 2007 under head coach Billy Donovan.
Following his stint with the Bulls, Noah signed a four-year, $72MM contract with the Knicks during 2016’s infamous free agency period. He appeared in just 53 total games across two seasons in New York before being waived and stretched — his annual $6.4MM cap hits remain on the Knicks’ books through 2021/22.
Noah also enjoyed brief stints with the Grizzlies in 2018/19 and Clippers in ’19/20. When Noah was waived by Los Angeles at the start of training camp in December, agent Bill Duffy said his client would likely end up retiring.
When Noah officially signs a ceremonial contract with Chicago to retire as a Bull, he’ll be following in the footsteps of his former teammate Deng, who did the same thing in 2019.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Victor Oladipo Declines Extension From Rockets
Rockets guard Victor Oladipo has turned down a two-year, $45.2MM contract extension from the franchise, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Due to extend-and-trade restrictions, that two-year offer is the most lucrative deal the Rockets could give to Oladipo prior to the offseason, and the fact that he turned it down is unsurprising — before he was dealt to Houston, the 28-year-old reportedly declined an extension offer from the Pacers that would have started at $25MM.
Oladipo, who has long expressed a preference to reach free agency, is seeking a longer-term contract, according to Wojnarowski. Houston will need to decide whether to keep him past the March 25 trade deadline.
Oladipo started the season with the Pacers and was dealt to Houston in January as part of the multi-team trade featuring James Harden. He’s averaged 18.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 13 games with the Rockets this season, shooting 39% from the floor and 29.5% from deep in those contests.
As Wojnarowski notes, the Heat and Knicks are among the teams who have expressed interest in Oladipo. Both teams would have the cap space to sign the two-time All-Star outright in free agency.
R.J. Hampton In COVID-19 Protocols Through All-Star Break
Rookie Nuggets point guard R.J. Hampton will be placed in the league’s coronavirus-related health and safety protocols, according to Mike Singer of the Denver Post.
Denver anticipates that Hampton will be away from the team through at least the All-Star break, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). The Nuggets have three road games scheduled ahead of the NBA’s five-day All-Star pause. The All-Star break concludes on March 10.
More Nuggets absences may be on the horizon, as Woj tweets that the club is conducting supplemental contact tracing to determine if other players or Denver personnel could have been exposed to COVID-19.
Hampton, who was selected with the No. 24 pick after spending his year of college eligibility with the New Zealand Breakers, has seen limited playing time with Denver thus far. In 24 games, the 6’4″ 20-year-old is averaging 2.5 PPG and 2.0 RPG across 9.2 MPG.
Bulls-Raptors Game Postponed
Tonight’s game between the Bulls and Raptors has been postponed, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The decision was made because Toronto doesn’t have the league minimum of eight players available due to positive COVID-19 tests and contact tracing (Twitter link).
The Raptors are dealing with a virus outbreak that affected Pascal Siakam and most of their coaching staff for Friday’s game. At least one coach reportedly tested positive, while the rest are in quarantine. Siakam, who reportedly returned an inconclusive rapid test on Friday, is expected to be out of action through the All-Star break, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Toronto has two games remaining before the break, and both may be in jeopardy considering the league’s policy of being cautious amid coronavirus outbreaks. The Raptors are scheduled to host the Pistons on Tuesday and the Celtics on Thursday.
The Bulls shouldn’t be affected, as they just arrived in Florida on Saturday, tweets K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports. They will return home for Monday’s game against the Nuggets. It remains to be seen if today’s news will have any effect on the Rockets, Toronto’s opponent on Friday, who are scheduled to face the Grizzlies tonight.
The Raptors had been one of just four teams without a postponement during the first half of the season, tweets Tim Bontemps of ESPN. The only remaining unaffected teams are the Lakers, Clippers, and Nets.
Tonight’s game is the 34th to be postponed since the season began, and the 30th caused by the virus. Three others were due to harsh weather in Texas last week and one was a scheduling choice to accommodate a makeup game. You can see the complete list here.