Month: June 2018

Gordon Hayward should be healthy going into next season

The Celtics were clearly one of the best teams in the NBA this past season, and despite falling short, came close to eliminating LeBron James in the Eastern Conference Finals. They did this in the regular season without the services of Gordon Hayward, and then then played excellent basketball in the postseason without Kyrie Irving. Hayward missed the entire season, but says he should be good to go for the start of 2018-19. Here’s ESPN.com reporting:

Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward detailed the reasons for his May surgery to remove hardware from his ankle and said he plans to be full-go for the start of the 2018-19 season in a post to his personal blog on Monday.

In an entry entitled, “Won’t Be Long Now,” Hayward detailed how lingering pain in his surgically-repaired left ankle spurred a decision to have the follow-up surgery but stressed how he plans to be playing full-court, 5-on-5 basketball again by the end of July.

“[The follow-up surgery was] not something we were expecting to be a part of this recovery process but I’m happy to report that I’ll be back out there resuming rehab soon, with my sights set firmly on being back to my usual self for the start of next season,” wrote Hayward, who admitted the procedure was deemed “very rare” by his doctors.

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Patrick McCaw now a restricted free agent

Free agency is approaching. Many players and teams have major decisions to make. One is a team responsibility — deciding whether to extend qualifying offers to players or letting them enter unrestricted free agency. Here’s the Mercury News reporting on the Warriors:

The Warriors took an expected step in providing clarity to their bench, extending reserve guard/forward Patrick McCaw with a $1.641 million qualifying offer that will make him a restricted free agent.

By making McCaw a restricted free agent, the Warriors have the right to match any offer he receives from other teams. Although McCaw would love to maximize his earnings, he also has said he would love to remain with the Warriors because of their recent championship success and how they have developed him.

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Magic Johnson establishes personal Lakers free agency goals

Magic Johnson is more than ready to put pressure on himself in regard to his Lakers front office role. But reminds everybody that it’s not all about this summer, but the next one as well. Here’s the LA Times with more on what Magic said to the media today:

Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson said Tuesday he will step down from his role if the Lakers fail to attract marquee players in the free-agency periods of 2018 and 2019.

“Next summer if nobody comes and I’m still sitting here like this, then it’s a failure,” Johnson said. “But if you judge us on one summer that’s ridiculous. Then a lot of dudes shouldn’t be in their roles. Because if we’re banking on one summer for the Lakers we’re in trouble, we’re in trouble. You have to give us time. This class, like I told you before I took the job and when I took the job, it’s going to be a two-summer thing for the Lakers. This summer and next summer. That’s it.

“If I can’t deliver I’m going to step down myself, she won’t have to fire me,” he said of controlling owner Jeanie Buss. “I’ll step away from it, because I can’t do this job.”

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Timberwolves rookies ready to work

Tons of attention goes towards big-name rookies, but each year plenty of less heralded players emerge, and tracking them, from draft through summer league through the season, is always lots of fun. Here’s the Minneapolis Star Tribune reporting on some new Timberwolves:

New Timberwolves Josh Okogie and Keita Bates-Diop met the Twin Cities media on Tuesday outside the team offices and were set to start their new jobs quickly.

“We’ll begin tonight — their first workout is tonight,” said Wolves coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau.

The players, taken in the NBA Draft on Thursday night, said they were ready to make the big step.

“I think the biggest piece of advice I’ve received is that I’m in charge of my day-to-day, my decisions,” said Okogie, a 6-4 shooting guard who was the team’s first round pick (20th overall) out of Georgia Tech. “I have to be well-suited on and off the court.”

Bates-Diop was taken in the second round (48th) after winning Big Ten player of the year honors as a guard/forward at Ohio State. He was pegged as a first rounder in many mock drafts, but if his fall to the second round hurt him, he didn’t show it.

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Stephen Curry names a favorite food truck

It’s the offseason. Which means focusing on basketball things like the draft, free agency, summer league and more, but also fun stuff like… food trucks that NBA players enjoy. Here’s the SF Chronicle reporting on Warriors star Stephen Curry and one place he likes to grab a bite from:

Ayesha Curry may be known for her sit-down San Francisco restaurant, but when the Curry family eats out, they certainly love a food truck.

In his new YouTube series “Five Minutes From Home,” Stephen Curry took YouTube star Rudy Mancuso — you might recognize him as the guy in Curry’s Brita commercial — to “one of the best food trucks in Oakland.” The pair hopped in a Sprinter van to Scotch Bonnet, a Jamaican food truck that makes stops all around the Bay Area.

Of course, the pair ordered the curry shrimp, with Curry adding an order of their popular beef patties.

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JaVale McGee hopes to stick with Warriors

There have been lots of jokes over the years about some of JaVale McGee’s decision-making on the court. But the fact is, he did some huge things in a supporting role for the Warriors, especially when it mattered most — in the Finals. Here’s ESPN.com reporting that McGee hopes to continue his low-cost winning ways with Golden State:

Free-agent center JaVale McGee told ESPN he wishes to return to the Golden State Warriors and has no desire to relocate.

“I haven’t thought about [another team] mainly because, hopefully, in my mind, I’m a Warrior for the rest of my career,” he said to ESPN on Monday, six days before the free-agency period begins on July 1. “If that happens, it would be a blessing.”

The first half of the 2017-18 season saw the 7-footer receive minimal playing time, including 16 DNPs. But after the All-Star break, head coach Steve Kerr inserted McGee into the starting lineup in place of Zaza Pachulia to try to spark the Warriors, who were struggling by their own standards.

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Orlando Magic waive Shelvin Mack

The Orlando Magic have waived guard Shelvin Mack.

Mack played in 69 games (three starts) last season with the Magic, and averaged 6.9 ppg., 3.9 apg. and 2.4 rpg. in 19.8 minutes per outing. His assists-to-turnover ratio of 3.06 (272/89) ranked 11th in the NBA.

Originally drafted in the second round (34th overall) of the 2011 NBA Draft by Washington, Mack has appeared in 399 regular season games (53 starts) during his NBA career with Washington, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Utah and Orlando, averaging 6.4 ppg., 3.1 apg. and 2.0 rpg. in 17.9 minpg.

Grizzlies waive Omari Johnson

The Memphis Grizzlies have waived forward Omari Johnson.

Johnson (6-9, 220) came off the bench in four games with the Grizzlies as a rookie last season and averaged 5.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 18.8 minutes after signing with the team on April 6. The 28-year-old Kingston, Jamaica native started the season with the Grizzlies’ NBA G League affiliate, the Memphis Hustle, where he appeared in 44 games (38 starts) and averaged 16.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 27.9 minutes.

Glance at 2018 Knicks free agency

Here’s NY Newsday with some insight on what 2018 Knicks free agency this July may look like:

Their plan is to not sign anyone to long-term deals and to shed contracts that have more than one-year remaining on it. That means Courtney Lee and Joakim Noah might not be Knicks for much longer.

Enes Kanter has an $18.6 million option that he needs to make a decision on by the end of the month. The Knicks are not expected to give him a multiyear deal if he opts out, so odds are Kanter, who loves New York, will pick up his option. The Knicks would be fine with that.

The Knicks’ resources will be limited this summer. Their goal is to have the money in 2019 when the likes of Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, Kemba Walker and Kevin Love are free agents. There already are rumblings about Irving’s desire to join the Knicks. He listed them among his preferred destinations when he asked out of Cleveland.

The Knicks want to make New York a desirable location again for free agents.

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Spurs draft Lonnie Walker with 18th pick

The San Antonio Spurs selected Lonnie Walker IV with the 18th overall pick in the first round and Chimezie Metu with the 49th overall selection in the second round of the 2018 NBA Draft, which took place last night in Brooklyn, NY.

Walker, 6-5/205, played last season at Miami University, leading the Hurricanes in scoring by averaging 11.5 points to go along with 2.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 27.8 minutes in his 32 appearances. The Reading, Pa. native was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team in his lone season at Miami. Walker also became the first freshman in school history to earn all-league honors, receiving Honorable Mention All-ACC, while helping the Hurricanes finish 22-10.

Metu, 6-11/225, spent last year at the University of Southern California earning All-Pac-12 First Team honors. The Lawndale, Calif. native averaged 15.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.74 blocks in 31.0 minutes in 34 appearances last year during his junior season for the Trojans. Metu played in a total of 104 games and averaged 12.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.62 blocks in his three seasons at USC, finishing his career third in school history with 168 blocks.