LeBron James Speaks Out Against All-Star Game
LeBron James has been an All-Star for the past 16 seasons, but he doesn’t believe this year’s game should be played, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
The most prominent voice among NBA players, James told the media after Thursday’s game that he believes it’s a mistake to hold the event while the pandemic continues. Twenty-three games have been postponed since the season began.
“I have zero energy and zero excitement about an All-Star Game this year,” he said. “I don’t even understand why we’re having an All-Star Game.”
James is also unhappy about not having a mid-season break after a short offseason, calling it a “slap in the face” for him and his teammates. Because last year’s NBA Finals lasted through October 11, the Lakers had just 71 days off before training camp began.
The NBA and its players union reached an agreement Thursday to hold the game March 7 in Atlanta, rather than Indianapolis, which had originally been scheduled to host. Atlanta is one of nine cities currently allowing fans at home games. It isn’t clear whether other All-Star weekend events, such as the skills competition, 3-point competition and dunk contest, will be part of the arrangement.
“We’re also still dealing with a pandemic,” James said. “We’re still dealing with everything that’s been going on, and we’re going to bring the whole league into one city that’s open? Obviously, the pandemic has absolutely nothing to do with it at this point when it comes to that weekend. Obviously, you guys can see that I’m not very happy about it.”
Kings guard De’Aaron Fox was the first player to speak out publicly after the agreement was announced, calling it “stupid” and asking, “If we have to wear masks and do all this for a regular game, what’s the point of bringing the All-Star Game back?”
James adds a very loud dissenting voice, although his objections may not matter now that the union has agreed to go through with the game.
“It’s the agreement that the players’ association and the league came about. … It’s out of my hands,” James said. “I’ll be there if I’m selected. But I’ll be there physically, but not mentally.”
Rockets Fear Extended Absence For Christian Wood
An MRI will be conducted today on Rockets center Christian Wood, who injured his right ankle in Thursday night’s win over the Grizzlies, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
Wood had to be helped off the court after rolling the ankle on a drive to the basket during the third quarter. He split two defenders, but landed awkwardly and fell to the ground in pain. It’s the second time in less than three weeks that he has hurt the ankle. He missed three games after a similar injury on January 20, but sources tell MacMahon the Rockets are concerned it will be much longer this time.
“I don’t know,” coach Stephen Silas said after the game when asked how long Wood might be sidelined. “It didn’t look great. It was unfortunate.”
Acquired by Houston in a sign-and-trade during the offseason, Wood has emerged as an All-Star candidate, averaging 22.0 points and 10.2 rebounds through 17 games.
DeMarcus Cousins will become the Rockets’ starting center while Wood is sidelined. He was outstanding in that role in the three games Wood missed in January, averaging 17.3 points, 14.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists per night. Cousins is playing on a non-guaranteed contract that won’t become fully guaranteed until the league-wide date later this month.
Houston doesn’t have much size apart from Cousins, so the team could be looking at a roster move if Wood is forced to miss several weeks.
“It was difficult for me,” Silas said of watching the injury. “I had to like sit down and collect my thoughts and gather myself. As good as he’s been playing, I mean, really just like a breakout season and doing everything we needed him to do … Yeah, it sucks.”
Avery Bradley Strains Calf, Out 3-4 Weeks
A strained right calf will sideline Heat guard Avery Bradley for three to four weeks, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).
The 6’3″ veteran combo guard has only appeared in 10 games with his new club, having been limited as a result of his recent contraction of the novel coronavirus COVID-19. Bradley boasts a slash line of 8.5 PPG/1.8 RPG/1.4 APG, and is shooting a solid 47% from the field and 42.1% from the three-point line.
The Heat inked Bradley to a two-year, $11.6MM contract during the 2020 offseason. The second year is a team option.
As Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald notes (Twitter link), an extended absence for Bradley will likely open up more extended run for second-year guard Kendrick Nunn in the Miami rotation.
The news about Bradley marks the second recent major injury for a 2020 Heat free agent signing. Center Meyers Leonard, re-signed to a two-year deal worth up to $20MM in the off-season (the second season is a team option), suffered a season-ending left shoulder injury that required a Tuesday surgery.
Coronavirus-related absences and key injuries have combined to create a sluggish start to the Heat’s season. After a 2020 Finals run, Miami is the No. 13 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 7-14 record for 2020/21.
NBA, Players Association Agree To Hold All-Star Game
7:45pm: The league and NBPA now expect to officially finalize their agreement for scheduling the Atlanta-based All-Star game by next week, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
8:14am: The NBA and the Players Association have reached an agreement to hold the All-Star Game in Atlanta on March 7, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. They are expected to finalize the plans by Thursday, Charania adds.
The 2021 NBA All-Star weekend was originally scheduled to take place in Indianapolis, but the league postponed it. Indiana will now host the All-Star festivities in 2024.
Chris Paul, the president of the players’ union, has been among those pushing a revamped All-Star Game in Atlanta, which he’d like to use to benefit historically black colleges and universities and COVID-19 relief.
It remains to be seen whether any other events will be held that day. It was previously reported that All-Star weekend would be condensed into a single-night event at State Farm Arena and would also include skills competitions.
Not all potential All-Stars are on board with playing an All-Star Game this year during the pandemic. On Wednesday, Kings guard De’Aaron Fox called the idea of playing an ASG “stupid,” Jason Jones of The Athletic tweets.
“I’m going to be brutally honest, I think it’s stupid,” Fox said. “If we have to wear masks and do all this for a regular game, what’s the point of bringing the All-Star Game back?”
Raptors Sign GM Bobby Webster To Multiyear Extension
The Raptors have signed general manager Bobby Webster to a multiyear contract extension, the team announced in a press release today. The exact terms of the agreement weren’t made available.
Webster, who was named general manager in June of 2017, is currently in his eighth season with the organization. He initially joined the team in 2013 as vice president of basketball management and strategy, working his way through the franchise and later becoming assistant GM in 2016.
“I think everyone knows what Bobby brings to our organization: intelligence, poise, and creativity,” president Masai Ujiri said in a statement. “I’m very pleased that our team will continue to benefit from his many skills for seasons to come.”
Webster was one of the main architects behind the 2019 champion Raptors team, bringing an array of experience and expertise to the table. He spent the first seven seasons of his NBA career in the league office.
“It’s great to be able to continue the work of building the next Raptor championship team – a goal which is part of our organizational DNA,” Webster said. “I’m grateful to Larry Tanenbaum, MLSE ownership and leadership, our great players and staff, and the people of Toronto for making this my home for the past years, and for the future.”
The Raptors will have to address another front-office matter in the near future, as Ujiri, the team’s longtime president, is currently in the final year of his contract.
Bjelica Wants To Be Moved, Kings Hoping To Oblige
The Kings’ Nemanja Bjelica would like to be traded and the front office is continuing to explore the market for the veteran forward, according to Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee.
Bjelica’s situation has been one of the oddest in the league this season. Sacramento could have shed Bjelica’s $7.15MM salary in November but instead opted to guarantee the contract.
However, he’s clearly not in the team’s plans. He hasn’t played since January 9 and the team has looked into trade possibilities as far back as the draft in November.
There have been conflicting reasons for his absence, as Anderson notes. It was initially called a coach’s decision, then personal reasons and more recently, back spasms. However, he was not listed on the injury report on Wednesday, when Sacramento defeated Boston.
There never were personal issues for Bjelica, Anderson adds, other than his lack of playing time. Bjelica, 32, has appeared in 10 games this season, averaging 6.6 PPG and 3.6 RPG in 15.1 MPG.
He had his best season as a pro in 2019/20, starting 67 of 72 games at power forward for the Kings. The veteran stretch four established new career highs in PPG (11.5), RPG (6.4), APG (2.8) and 3PT% (.419).
He’ll be an unrestricted free agent after the season.
Former Raptor Lucas Nogueira Announces Retirement
Former Raptors center Lucas Nogueira is retiring from basketball, according to a post on his Instagram.
The Celtics initially drafted the rights to the 7-footer with the No. 16 pick in 2013 (one pick after reigning two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo), packaging him in a draft-night deal with the Hawks. During the summer of 2014, with Nogueira still overseas, the Hawks sent his draft rights to the Raptors in a package that also included sharpshooting off-guard Lou Williams.
Nogueira played 141 games for the Raptors between 2014-18. Toronto decline to tender the big man an extension offer for the 2018/19 season, making him an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2018. He opted to return overseas, playing for clubs in Spain and Bahrain. Nogueira posted career NBA averages of 3.2 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 1.0 BPG in 12.4 MPG.
The 28-year-old alluded to incurring a new injury after a prior injury kept him off the court for the better part of two years.
“Certainly the sad moments [on the court] were those that took me away from the courts due to injuries,” Nogueira said in his Instagram post. “I always knew that returning to the [court] after almost two years away from her would be very difficult and challenging, but I was willing to take on more of this challenge in my career. However, last Tuesday, it happened again, so I made this difficult decision and asked to leave Fortaleza Basquete Cearense.”
Zero Positive COVID-19 Tests Among Players Since Jan. 27
The NBA has continued to avoid another outbreak of COVID-19 cases for the time being, having recorded no new positive confirmed tests among 482 players since January 27, as Shams Charania of The Athletic reports (via Twitter).
The league has been announcing its testing results on a weekly basis, and has been trending in the right direction since confirming 16 positive tests on January 13. There were 11 positive tests the following week, one positive test from Jan. 20-27, and now zero over the last week.
That encouraging trend has been reflected in the NBA’s schedule as well. After a flurry of postponed games in mid-January, the league has only had to postpone one game since January 27 — that contest, Monday’s game between the Pistons and Nuggets, was pushed back due to a false positive test result.
Knicks Still Interested In Victor Oladipo?
The Knicks are among the teams with interest in Rockets guard Victor Oladipo and will be keeping an eye on him leading up to next month’s trade deadline and potentially beyond, league sources tell A. Sherrod Blakely of Bleacher Report.
Marc Berman of The New York Post reported back in October that the Knicks would likely have trade interest in Oladipo during the 2020 offseason, but later wrote during the first week of free agency that their interest had cooled. At the time, Berman suggested GM Scott Perry was more enthusiastic than president of basketball operations Leon Rose about the idea of acquiring Oladipo.
Much has changed in the two-plus months since that report. For one, Oladipo has already been traded once from the Pacers to the Rockets, though there has been no indication that a long-term deal with Houston is a certainty — the 28-year-old remains on track for free agency this summer.
Oladipo has also looked more like his old self this season after an underwhelming return from a quad tendon injury in 2019/20, boosting his numbers to 20.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game this year after posting just 14.5 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 2.9 APG last season. If Rose’s reservations were related to Oladipo’s health and his subpar ’19/20 showing, it’s possible some of those concerns have been alleviated.
Within his report, Blakely notes that two league officials he spoke to believe the 9-13 Knicks are more inclined to be a buyer than a seller at this season’s trade deadline, and may try to land a high-scoring guard. Besides Oladipo, Hornets guards Terry Rozier and Devonte’ Graham are worth watching, Blakely says. New York has had interest in Rozier in the past, Graham is in a contract year, and LaMelo Ball looms as Charlotte’s point guard of the future.
Generally speaking, the Knicks would like to acquire young veterans who can help lead the team’s young core while growing along with that core, according to Blakely.
Magic Sign Frank Mason To Two-Way Deal, Cut Jordan Bone
FEBRUARY 3: The Magic have officially signed Mason, announcing in their press release that they’ve waived Bone to open up the required two-way slot. Roy Parry of The Orlando Sentinel notes (via Twitter) that Mason should be able to forgo the usual quarantine period for a newly-added free agent, since he has been at the G League bubble in Disney.
FEBRUARY 2: Free agent guard Frank Mason has agreed to sign a two-way contract with the Magic, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The 34th overall pick in the 2017 draft, Mason has appeared in a total of 99 NBA regular season games for the Kings and Bucks over the last three seasons. While his NBA output (6.8 PPG on .397/.298/.757 shooting) has been modest, the 26-year-old had a huge year in the G League in 2019/20, averaging 25.3 PPG with a .502/.428/.815 shooting line in 24 games (30.2 MPG) and earning NBAGL MVP honors.
Mason was signed and waived by the Sixers in December for G League purposes, as the team intended to make him an affiliate player for the Delaware Blue Coats. For now though, it sounds like Mason will report to the Magic once he officially signs a contract and clears the NBA’s health and safety protocols. There could be a pathway to immediate playing time with Markelle Fultz (ACL) out for the season and Michael Carter-Williams (foot) also ailing.
While the NBA and NBPA have talked about creating a third two-way slot for teams this season, there’s no indication any agreement on that front is imminent, so the Magic will presumably have to waive one of their current two-way players to make room for Mason. Of the two, Jordan Bone has been a more regular part of Orlando’s rotation than 20-year-old rookie Karim Mane.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.