Beal Acknowledges Frustration As Wizards’ Slide Continues
Wizards star Bradley Beal scored 47 points on Wednesday, but it wasn’t nearly enough to topple the Pelicans, who won by a score of 124-106. The Wizards’ record dropped to an NBA-worst 3-11, and the outcome made Beal the first player in NBA history to lose 10 consecutive games in which he scored 40 or more points (Twitter link).
Asked after the game if he’s frustrated by how things are going for the team as of late, Beal replied rhetorically, “Is the sky blue?” (link via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com).
When trade speculation about Beal was beginning to heat up in 2019, the All-Star guard quieted it by signing a two-year, $72MM contract extension to remain in Washington through at least 2021/22. However, the team has a 28-58 (.326) record across parts of two seasons since then, which aren’t exactly the results Beal was hoping for.
“It’s tough,” Beal said, per Youngmisuk. “I am not going to sit here and be naive. … We want to win, and I want to win. This is why I stayed. I want to win. I figured this is the place I can get it done. It’s tough. Last year was what it was. We had a lot of guys out. John (Wall) was out. It was just a rotten year. COVID hit.
“This year it’s the same thing. Like in a mini-bubble outside the bubble. No fans, no nothing, no practice time. It’s been tough.”
The Wizards have had some bad injury luck this year. Starting center Thomas Bryant suffered a season-ending ACL tear, while newly-acquired point guard Russell Westbrook – who sat out the second half of a back-to-back set on Wednesday – has also been limited by health issues, including a quad injury.
Additionally, Washington has been hit harder this year by the coronavirus pandemic than perhaps any other NBA team. Seven of the Wizards’ players have reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 since the 2020/21 season began.
While Deni Avdija, Davis Bertans, Troy Brown, Rui Hachimura, Ish Smith, and Moritz Wagner all remained sidelined due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols on Wednesday, Wizards head coach Scott Brooks said last night that he thinks there’s a “great chance” the club will get a few of those players back soon, perhaps as early as Friday (Twitter link via Fred Katz of The Athletic).
Those reinforcements could help stabilize the Wizards’ rotation, and with 58 of 72 games still to play, there’s plenty of time to turn things around. Beal said on Wednesday that the group’s confidence level remains high (link via Katz), while Brooks expressed hope that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and stressed that Beal’s desire to win is “critical to our future success” (Twitter link via Ava Wallace of The Washington Post).
Still, it’s safe to assume teams around the league will continue to monitor the situation in Washington in the coming weeks or months. For now, Beal’s frustration hasn’t risen to the point where he’s seeking a change of scenery, but he’d instantly become the NBA’s most sought-after trade target if he’s made available at any point this season.
Only One Positive COVID-19 Test This Week
NBA players recorded just one positive result in the latest round of COVID-19 testing, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. There were 492 players tested during the past week.
The figures are sharply down from recent results, which showed 11 positives last week and 16 the week before. The league is now up to 91 total positive results since players reported for training camp early last month.
Twenty-two games have been postponed so far as several teams have been without the league minimum of eight eligible players. They become ineligible either by contracting the virus or entering the league’s health and safety protocols due to contact tracing.
NBA G League Announces 2020/21 Schedule
The NBA G League has formally announced its schedule for the 2020/21 season, which will begin on February 10 at the league’s bubble in Walt Disney World.
The G League regular season will run from February 10 to March 6, with each team playing 15 regular season games during that 25-day window.
The top eight teams at the end of the regular season will participate in a single-elimination postseason tournament, which will tip off on March 8. The G League Final will be played on March 11.
As we previously relayed, only 18 teams will take part in the 2020/21 NBAGL season, since the single-site format couldn’t accommodate all 29 squads. Seventeen of the participating clubs are affiliates of NBA teams, while the 18th is the G League Ignite, a select team made up of a few NBAGL veterans and a handful of prospects who joined the Ignite rather than attending college.
In a typical G League season, rosters are constantly in flux as NBA teams frequently assign, recall, transfer, and call up players over the course of the year. While that will still happen to some extent in 2020/21, I’d expect far less turnover than usual, given the COVID-19 protocols that players must clear to participate in the bubble and to return to an NBA roster.
NBA To Open All-Star Voting On Thursday
The NBA has yet to make a final decision on whether an All-Star Game will be played during the 2020/21 season, but the league will open voting for this season’s All-Star teams on Thursday at 11:00 am central time, according to a press release.
As has been the case in recent years, NBA All-Star starters will be determined by a combination of fan voting (50%), media votes (25%), and player votes (25%).
Voting will close at the end of the day on Tuesday, February 16, with TNT revealing the All-Star starters on Thursday, Feb. 18. TNT will subsequently announce the All-Star reserves – voted on by NBA head coaches – on Tuesday, Feb. 23.
Whether or not a game takes place this season, the expectation has always been that All-Star teams will still be selected. As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), some players have incentives in their contracts that hinge on being named to an All-Star squad.
A report earlier this week indicated that the NBA and NBPA have discussed the possibility of holding an All-Star Game in Atlanta during the league’s midseason break, which will run from March 5-10. Marc Stein of The New York Times suggests (via Twitter) that there is “momentum building” toward that possibility, but nothing has been finalized yet.
This year’s All-Star Game was originally set to be played in Indianapolis, but the NBA has had to adjust its plans due to the coronavirus pandemic. Indiana will now host the 2024 event.
Wendell Carter Jr. Suffers Right Quad Contusion, Out 4+ Weeks
An MRI revealed that starting Bulls center Wendell Carter Jr. suffered a “severe” right quad contusion, the Bulls have announced in a tweet. Carter is set to miss at least four weeks of game action before Chicago reassesses him, the team continues.
Carter was having a stellar season. Across 14 games in 2020/21, the defensive-oriented center was averaging 12.8 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.4 APG, 0.6 BPG and 0.6 SPG in just 26.9 MPG.. He will now have missed major time in all three of his pro seasons. Injuries limited the 6’10” big man from Duke to just 44 of 82 games as a rookie in 2018/19 and 43 of 65 possible games last season.
Second-year center Daniel Gafford has started in Carter’s stead for the past three games. As K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago notes (via Twitter), forwards Lauri Markkanen and Thaddeus Young have moonlit at center occasionally as well.
Bulls head coach Billy Donovan would not commit to the identity of Carter’s long-term replacement at center, but Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times speculates (via Twitter) that Markkanen could slide up a position during Carter’s absence.
Donovan added that until Carter fully recuperates, he will be fairly limited in his conditioning, per Eric Woodyard of ESPN (Twitter link).
Clippers, Knicks Interested In Derrick Rose
The Clippers and Knicks are among the teams interested in Pistons point guard Derrick Rose, according to a report from Shams Charania of The Athletic.
There’s no indication of Detroit’s willingness to include Rose, 32, in a deal before the March 25 trade deadline, though the team did use its No. 7 pick to select guard Killian Hayes in last year’s NBA draft.
Hayes is expected to miss at least seven or eight more weeks due to right hip subluxation, but Rose continues to come off the bench for the Pistons. He missed Monday’s game with soreness, as starter Delon Wright finished with 28 points and nine assists.
Rose is in his second season with Detroit, coming off a campaign that saw him average 18.1 points and 5.6 assists per game in 50 contests. He shot a career-high 49% for the season, mostly playing off the bench in 26 minutes per game.
The Clippers could use another creator alongside Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, having failed to upgrade their point guard position during the offseason. The team did add veterans Nicolas Batum and Serge Ibaka to improve its creation, ball movement and floor-spacing. Rose met with the franchise in free agency after it traded away Chris Paul three-and-a-half years ago.
New York also has some familiarity with Rose, as the former Most Valuable Player spent a full season with the team in 2016/17. Head coach Tom Thibodeau also coached Rose with Chicago from 2010-16 and then again with Minnesota from 2017-19.
Pelicans Receiving Trade Calls On Lonzo Ball, J.J. Redick
The Pelicans are receiving trade calls on Lonzo Ball and J.J. Redick, according to a report from Shams Charania of The Athletic.
New Orleans has shown a willingness to discuss the two guards with interested teams, Charania writes, and rival executives believe the Pelicans will be prominent in the trade market this season.
The news isn’t exactly surprising — the team has opened the 2020/21 season with a 5-10 record and both Ball and Redick didn’t suddenly become available. A move for either player would likely result in more playing time for young guards Nickeil Alexander-Walker and/or Kira Lewis.
The Pelicans have briefly discussed a potential deal involving Kelly Oubre Jr. with the Warriors, according to Charania, though it hasn’t gained any traction. It’s unclear whether Golden State would’ve been targeting Ball or Redick in such a deal.
Teams typically begin ramping up dialogue in the weeks prior to the trade deadline, which is scheduled for March 25 this season.
In addition to Ball, Redick, Alexander-Walker and Lewis, the Pelicans also have point guard Eric Bledsoe on their roster. Bledsoe, 31, has started in 13 of 14 games this season.
Mavericks Expect Three Players To Return From Protocols
The Mavericks may have three players back from NBA health and safety protocols in time for Wednesday’s game at Utah, according to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News.
Josh Richardson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Dwight Powell are all listed as questionable for the game after spending nearly three weeks in quarantine. However, Maxi Kleber is still in the protocols and won’t accompany the team to Salt Lake City.
“It’s great having them back on the floor … it’s three of our best defenders.” coach Rick Carlisle told Townsend (Twitter link). “I think we’ll have all three of them available.”
Finney-Smith, Richardson and Jalen Brunson all remained in Denver after a January 7 game due to coronavirus concerns. Finney-Smith and Richardson both tested positive for COVID-19, and all three spent more than a week in Denver. Positive tests were confirmed later for Powell and Kleber.
Brunson never got the virus, but he said it was difficult to be quarantined for so long, which resulted in missing four games.
“I don’t recommend taking 10 days off from playing a game,” he said, “but sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
Full Recovery Expected For Caris LeVert
Caris LeVert had surgery Monday to treat renal cell carcinoma of his left kidney and is expected to make a full recovery, the Pacers announced. LeVert remains out indefinitely, but no further treatment will be needed.
A mass was discovered on LeVert’s kidney earlier this month as part of a routine physical required for the trade that sent him to Indiana. The Pacers had the option to void the deal, but elected to go through with it in the belief that the talented guard would eventually return to action.
Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard expressed hope that LeVert might be able to play this season.
The opportunity to acquire the 26-year-old motivated the Pacers to get involved in the James Harden trade completed earlier this month. LeVert averaged 18.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists in 12 games with the Nets before being moved.
John Wall Opens Up About Being Traded By Wizards
John Wall isn’t hiding his desire to prove something to the Wizards when he faces them tonight for the first time since being traded, writes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports. Wall, who spent 10 seasons in Washington before the December 2 deal that sent him to Houston, believes the organization lost confidence after injuries sidelined him for the past two years.
“Just seeing everybody that’s over there, a lot of people that’s on that side that probably didn’t believe I could come back to be the person I am. And probably some people that had a little say so into me being traded,” Wall said. “I feel like it was a whole process and it wasn’t just something that happened overnight. I think this was in the works. That’s my motivation. Who wouldn’t want to beat the team that traded them and felt like I was done?”
Wall has shown flashes of his old self during the first month of the season. He has played in eight of the Rockets‘ first 15 games and is averaging 17.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists per night. He has also adopted a leadership role and was one of the team’s most vocal players when James Harden was forcing his way out of Houston.
Wall’s comments are from an in-depth interview with Chris Miller that NBC Sports Washington will air before tonight’s game. Wall admits he considers the contest to be personal.
“I feel like it is. I definitely feel so because, I know I had my say so and my responsibilities with what I did off the court and things I (did), but I owned up to those. I said my apologies and that’s the best I can do,” Wall said. “Nobody’s perfect. We all live and learn from our mistakes. I wish it would have never happened, but it happened, yes. I moved forward from it. My mindset was to come back and compete at a high level in the one jersey I only knew for 10 years.”
Wall’s is likely referring to an offseason video of him at a party where he allegedly displayed gang signs.
“I just wish I would have known up front and not have to beat around the bush to figure things out,” he continued. “That’s just my motivation there. They thought I was done. Basically, that’s how I feel. This is my opportunity to show them that I’m not done. But the most important thing for me is get the win. I don’t care how many numbers I have, it’s about getting the win. That’s the most important thing because if I get 40 and then we lose, the trade don’t look as bad from their aspect because they beat us that one game they did play us. So my ultimate goal is to try to get a win for my team.”
“Most importantly, all I really wanted from the start of all of it was just to be told the truth,” Wall said. “That’s the most important thing and what made it so hard for me to understand what was going on because I wasn’t told the truth. I understand it’s a business and things go on and people move on and you get traded, organizations in different ways. When I heard the rumors, I called and asked are these true or are these something not to worry about? From that day forward, all I heard was ‘no, those rumors aren’t true, don’t worry about it.’ In all reality, it was true.”