Kobe, Duncan, Garnett, Tomjanovich To Be Inducted Into Hall Of Fame
Former NBA stars Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).
This year’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony figures to be an emotional affair, with Bryant headlining the 2020 class just months after his tragic passing. The Lakers‘ legend was an 18-time All-Star and five-time NBA champion, winning the MVP award in 2008 to go along with a pair of Finals MVPs. He is fourth on the league’s all-time scoring list and won scoring titles in 2006 and 2007.
Bryant will be joined by a pair of fellow NBA champions, including Duncan, who won three Finals MVPs and five titles in total. Like Bryant, he was named to an All-NBA team 15 times over the course of his career. The longtime Spurs‘ big man was one of the best players of his era, ranking sixth on the NBA’s all-time rebounding list and fifth in blocked shots.
While Garnett’s résumé isn’t quite as decorated as that of Bryant and Duncan, he earned 15 All-Star nods, an MVP award (in 2004), a Defensive Player of the Year award (2008), and a title in 2008 with the Celtics. Garnett, who began his career with the Timberwolves, ranks in the NBA’s top 20 in career points, rebounds, blocks, and steals.
Bryant, Duncan, and Garnett may be this year’s headliners, but they aren’t the only ones being inducted into the Hall of Fame. According to Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston (Twitter link), former Rockets head coach Rudy Tomjanovich has also been elected.
Tomjanovich is one of just three coaches to win both an NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal. He coached Houston to a pair of championships in the mid-1990s and had an impressive career as a Rockets player prior to his coaching days, earning five NBA All-Star nods in his 11-year career.
Tamika Catchings, Kim Mulkey, Eddie Sutton, and Barbara Stevens were announced as Hall of Fame finalists in February — it’s unclear if anyone from that group will be inducted into the 2020 class alongside Bryant, Duncan, Garnett, and Tomjanovich. The official announcement will happen on Saturday.
It remains to be seen what form this year’s induction ceremony will take. It’s scheduled to happen on August 29 in Springfield, Massachusetts, but there’s no guarantee that the coronavirus situation will have improved enough by then to hold large-scale gatherings.
Bulls To Seek Interviews With Karnisovas, Webster, Others
1:24pm: Pacers GM Chad Buchanan will join Karnisovas and Webster on the Bulls’ list of first-wave interview targets, per K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune (via Twitter). Sources tell Darnell Mayberry and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) that Heat assistant GM Adam Simon will be part of that group as well.
According to Mayberry (Twitter link), the Bulls won’t pursue Ujiri or Thunder head of basketball operations Sam Presti and won’t go the player-agent route like New York and other teams have.
12:41pm: The Bulls have formally launched their search for a new top front office executive who will have full authority on basketball decisions, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. We had previously heard in a series of February reports that the team was laying the groundwork for front office changes.
Those February reports suggested that executive VP of basketball operations John Paxson would retain a “valuable seat at the table” amidst the front office upheaval and that general manager Gar Forman would have his responsibilities cut back.
Wojnarowski confirms that Paxson is expected to continue in an advisory role and says that the club will have more conversations with Forman about his future. Previous reports indicated Forman would likely be re-assigned to a scouting position.
According to Wojnarowski, Chicago plans to seek permission to interview Nuggets general manager Arturas Karnisovas and Raptors GM Bobby Webster, among others. The club’s goal is to complete its planned front office changes “well before” the NBA resumes play, per Woj, who hears that interviews will begin next week and will be conducted virtually rather than in person due to the coronavirus.
Neither Karnisovas nor Webster is the head of basketball operations for his respective team — Tim Connelly serves as Denver’s president of basketball operations, while Masai Ujiri holds that position in Toronto. However, the two GMs have risen through their respective organizations in recent years and have played important roles in building the Nuggets’ and Raptors’ talented rosters.
According to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, who identified Karnisovas and Webster as two possible targets for the Bulls in a March mailbag, Pacers GM Chad Buchanan, Heat assistant GM Adam Simon, Jazz GM Justin Zanik, and Clippers GM Michael Winger are among the other executives on Bulls president/COO Michael Reinsdorf‘s list of potential candidates (Twitter link).
Many of those executives are under contract beyond the 2019/20 season, but likely wouldn’t be held back by their respective teams if the Bulls’ job is viewed as a promotion from their current roles. Based on Woj’s description, it should be.
The timing of Chicago’s search is interesting. Ujiri spoke earlier this week about putting business like contract extensions for himself and Nick Nurse on hold during the NBA’s stoppage, and we heard on Thursday that the Knicks aren’t pursuing front office changes or a new head coach during the hiatus. Nets GM Sean Marks also said this week that his team isn’t moving forward with its head coach search at this time.
However, no official hiring or firing freeze has been instituted by the NBA, and the Bulls’ situation is a little different from that of those other teams — a new top front office executive would lead the team’s decisions in the draft and free agency, making that search a more pressing matter than a head coaching hire, lower-level front office changes, or extensions for current execs and coaches.
WNBA Postpones Training Camps, 2020 Season
The WNBA announced today in a press release that it has postponed the opening of its training camps and the start of the 2020 season, which had been scheduled to tip off on May 15. Although the league didn’t make it official until today, the move was long expected due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“While the league continues to use this time to conduct scenario-planning regarding new start dates and innovative formats, our guiding principle will continue to be the health and safety of the players, fans, and employees,” commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement.
Considering the NBA isn’t expected to have a chance to resume until June or July at the earliest, it’s safe to say the same is true of the WNBA. Like the NBA, the women’s league figures to explore experimental ideas and pragmatic solutions – including the possibility of playing behind closed doors – as it looks to salvage its season.
Despite the fact that the WNBA season has been delayed indefinitely, the league will move forward with its draft on April 17, two weeks from today. Instead of being an in-person event, the 2020 draft will be virtual, with prospects taking part remotely.
Depending on how the COVID-19 situation evolves in the coming months, it’s possible the NBA will have to take similar steps with its own draft, which is still tentatively scheduled for June 25.
Some Knicks Were Frustrated By Randle’s Playing Style
Some Knicks players, including prized rookie RJ Barrett, were frustrated during the 2019/20 season by Julius Randle‘s approach on offense, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post.
As Berman explains, Barrett – who is accustomed to having the ball in his hands – was among the players put off by Randle’s tendency to hang onto the ball too long and overdribble. While Berman suggests that the chemistry between Barrett and Randle will be worth keeping an eye on going forward, he notes that 2019’s No. 3 overall pick wasn’t the only player who was irked by Randle’s playing style.
“A lot of players felt like that with the exception of Elfrid Payton,” one source told The Post.
Unlike every other free agent signed by the Knicks during the 2019 offseason, Randle received a guaranteed multiyear commitment. He’ll earn $18.9MM in 2020/21, so it’s safe to say he’ll be back with the team unless there’s an offseason trade.
Reports before February’s trade deadline indicated that the Knicks were willing to discuss Randle, with Ian Begley of SNY.tv writing this week that the club engaged with the Hornets on a potential swap that would have included Randle, Dennis Smith, Terry Rozier, and Malik Monk, among other assets.
Assuming Randle returns, one Eastern Conference personnel person who spoke to Berman thinks the Knicks would be wise to avoid tasking him with the lead scoring role, despite the fact that the big man put up a team-high 19.5 PPG in 2019/20 (Marcus Morris scored 19.6 PPG as a Knick, but was traded in February). Randle struggled when he found himself receiving the brunt of opposing defenses’ attention, turning the ball over frequently.
“He absolutely should not be your No. 1 or even No. 2 option, maybe not even No. 3 on a serious contender,” that personnel man told Berman. “He doesn’t have a good enough feel (and is) much too ball-dominant. I don’t trust his decisions with the ball. As sixth man, he would fit perfectly because I don’t think he gives you much defensively either. That’s more in line with a sixth-man role.”
NBL: Sale Of Illawara Hawks To LaMelo Ball, Manager Not Yet Final
10:06pm: Australia’s National Basketball League issued a statement confirming discussions with Ball and Jackson, but stressing that a sale of the Illawarra Hawks hasn’t been finalized.
“At this point we are continuing to work with current licence holder Simon Stratford on a number of options for what we hope will be a fruitful outcome for Illawarra and the NBL,” the league’s statement reads. “The NBL has final approval on any transfer of licence and no application has been made to date. The NBL has no further comment at this stage.”
12:13pm: After playing for Australia’s Illawarra Hawks for most of the 2019/20 season, draft prospect LaMelo Ball – along with manager Jermaine Jackson – has purchased the National Basketball League franchise, per an ESPN report.
“We own the team,” Jackson told ESPN. “It’s a done deal.”
The youngest Ball brother ended up playing in just 12 games for Illawarra, with a foot injury bringing his season to an early end. However, as Jackson explained to ESPN, Ball enjoyed his time in Australia with the Hawks so much that he wanted to get involved when the team faced financial issues.
“Melo loves the Illawarra fans,” Jackson said. “He loves that community. They opened their arms to him. They made us feel like we are at home. When we started hearing about the issues they were going through, we talked about it and decided, ‘Let’s own the team.'”
Jackson went on to talk about hiring “the right people” to oversee the franchise with the goal of creating an elite basketball program that may appeal to other top high school prospects who are considering following in Ball’s footsteps by playing overseas rather than in the NCAA.
“When high school kids hear LaMelo owns the team, they will want to come,” Jackson said. “They’ll know they will be taken care of. We’re going to put the organization on steroids, building it into a program that guys want to play for. I’m in touch with several former NBA GMs that want to go there to help out and high-level coaches that won every championship you can imagine.”
While Ball won’t be the first NBA player to own a basketball franchise in an international league, the fact that he’s in position to make such an investment before even entering the league is fascinating. At this point, we don’t have specific details on how bad the Hawks’ financial situation was or what the purchase price was for Ball and Jackson.
Ball, who averaged 17.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG, and 7.0 APG in the NBL, with multiple triple-doubles, is viewed as a near-lock to be a top-five pick in the 2020 NBA draft. He’s currently the No. 2 overall prospect on ESPN’s big board.
Vegas Remains Most Likely Host For Potential NBA Postseason
Following up on a CNBC report from last week that suggested the NBA is mulling the idea of playing games in Las Vegas if the 2019/20 season is resumed, Chris Mannix of SI.com confirms the league is exploring the viability of holding its entire postseason in Vegas.
As we noted last week and as Mannix reiterates in today’s article, Vegas makes the most sense as a neutral site because the NBA has an existing relationship with the city, which hosts Summer League games at the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion each July. And a single, neutral site may be the only realistic way to complete the playoffs, since travel restrictions may vary in different parts of the country and games would almost certainly have to be played behind closed doors anyway.
Another recent report indicated that the NBA has had internal discussions about locales such as Orlando, Atlantic City, Hawaii, or Louisville hosting games. However, according to Mannix, Vegas is currently the only city receiving “serious” consideration from the league.
Unsurprisingly, several team and league officials who spoke to Mannix confirmed there’s no chance of a traditional postseason happening this summer, so the NBA is getting creative as it considers its options. Still, it’s unclear if holding the playoffs in a single city would be doable either, since thousands of support staffers would be required at hotels and arenas. As Mannix writes, it’s probably not a viable solution unless the COVID-19 situation improves significantly in the coming months and rapid tests become widely available.
“We all want to play,” one executive from a playoff team told Mannix. “But we all know we can’t play until things are dramatically different.”
Meanwhile, the NBA will have to figure out how a resumed season might impact the 2020 draft, which is currently scheduled for June 25. The league’s preference would almost certainly be to postpone the event until after the conclusion of the resumed season, since offseason rules apply to the draft for roster and trade purposes.
However, as Ian Begley of SNY.tv explains, player agents are concerned about the idea of delaying the draft beyond July. If the draft ends up being pushed to August or September, the early-entrant decision deadline would likely be postponed along with it, causing it to bump up against the start of the fall semester, which would create major complications for prospects and college coaches alike.
Knicks May Target Elton Brand As GM
7:33pm: The Sixers are happy with Brand’s performance as GM and have no plans to let him go, a team source tells Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). The source points to Brand’s strong relationships with players, agents and other executives.
6:19pm: Sixers general manager Elton Brand may be a candidate for the same position with the Knicks, a league source tells Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News.
New president of basketball operations Leon Rose is reportedly very interested in Brand, who remains under contract with Philadelphia. Rose wants to see if Brand would be fired if the Sixers have a disappointing performance in the playoffs, per Bondy.
Rose, who is from the Philadelphia area, formerly served as the agent for Joel Embiid and had a close working relationship with Brand in that capacity.
Scott Perry is the Knicks’ current GM, but his future with the organization is shaky. Perry and the team both have opt-outs for his contract after the season.
Sources tell Bondy that Rose also has interest in hiring Cavaliers capologist Brock Aller for a spot in the front office. Rose reportedly received permission from the Cavs to interview Aller before league went on hiatus.
Isaiah Stewart Enters 2020 NBA Draft
University of Washington freshman Isaiah Stewart has declared for the 2020 NBA draft, as he tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Although Stewart can test the waters while maintaining his remaining college eligibility, the big man sounds prepared to go pro, telling Givony he’ll sign with Roc Nation for representation.
“It feels weird to be declaring for the draft with all this going on,” Stewart told ESPN, referring to the coronavirus pandemic. “I understand that there are bigger issues going on in the world, but I also want to let people know what my plans are. I’m just trying to make this as much of an opportunity as possible and try to gain whatever edge I can.”
In his first college season, Stewart averaged 17.0 PPG, 8.8 RPG, and 2.1 BPG in 32 games (32.2 MPG) for the Huskies. He projects as a potential first-round pick, ranking 26th overall on ESPN’s big board of 2020 prospects. ESPN also places him third among centers, behind probable lottery selections James Wiseman and Onyeka Okongwu.
In his scouting report on Stewart, ESPN’s Mike Schmitz praises the youngster’s size, frame, and strength, along with his willingness to “do the little things” such as setting hard screens. Schmitz cautions that Stewart struggles to defend on the perimeter and doesn’t have the leaping ability that would make him a great “natural rim protector.”
Force Majeure Provision Opens Window To New CBA
The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted the 2019/20 NBA season and it could have a lasting effect on the financial structure of the league.
The “force majeure” provision in the latest CBA covers a variety of catastrophic circumstances, including epidemics and pandemics, and it calls for players to lose approximately one percent of their salary per canceled game. It’s automatically triggered once games are canceled, though the league has simply “suspended” the season at this point.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reports that if the force majeure provision is triggered, the league has the ability to re-open and renegotiate the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, which runs through 2025. There have been no conversations yet between the NBA and the Players Association about utilizing this feature.
The league and the union are discussing withholding 25% of players’ remaining salaries in an escrow in the event that the remainder of the regular season is canceled, per Wojnarowski. If no agreement is reached on withholding players salaries beginning on April 15, players would continue to be paid in full and would be required to pay back a portion of their salaries down the road if games are canceled.
Under the current CBA, the league holds 10% of players’ salaries in escrow and returns it to them at the end of the season. However, the amount of projected revenue lost for the 2019/20 season exceeds the $380MM that the league has in escrow, so players and teams will likely attempt to work out an arrangement to mitigate those losses.
Another variable is how players get paid. Around 10% of players including LeBron James, are paid their full salary in 12 installments between November 15 and May 1. The overwhelming majority of players receive their income spread out over a full year – November 15 to November 1 – though some players receive larger installments as part of the payout structure. The NBA doesn’t want a scenario where it has to chase down players to recoup payment.
The league, as Woj adds, is hopeful that it can resume part of the regular season before entering the postseason. It has no plan to announce the cancellation of the season, preferring to continue to look for ways to salvage the campaign.
NBA Plans To Launch Players-Only 2K Tournament
12:07pm: The Boardroom has provided a full list of the 16 participants in the tournament, along with the first-round matchups (Twitter link). Devin Booker (Suns), Trae Young (Hawks), and Zach LaVine (Bulls) are among the other stars set to take part in the event.
11:19am: With no NBA games expected to happen on the court anytime soon, the league is setting up a virtual tournament in an attempt to sate fans’ appetite for basketball, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
According to Haynes, the league intends to launch an NBA 2K tournament that will feature NBA players competing against one another. The goal is to begin the 10-day event this Friday, though the league is still working out and finalizing the details, sources tell Haynes. The tournament would be broadcast on ESPN.
Nets star Kevin Durant, Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers center Andre Drummond, and free agent big man DeMarcus Cousins are among the 16 players expected to participate, per Haynes.
Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel had previously tweeted that Trail Blazers center Hassan Whiteside and Heat swingman Derrick Jones were among the players set to play in an NBA 2K20 Players Tournament in April. That info appears to be based on an announcement from the NBPA, which was quickly deleted. Jeff Garcia of Spurs Zone (via Twitter) shares the full list of participants the NBPA identified in that premature release.
According to Winderman, the tournament is expected to have a $100K prize for charity.