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Pelicans season ticket-holders offered refund for remaining home games

We’re all waiting to see what will happen with the remainder of the NBA season, and the playoffs. Here’s the New Orleans Times Picayune with a Pelicans-related update:

Pelicans season-ticket holders now have the option of receiving a refund for the nine home games postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

On Monday, the team told season-ticket holders they could get their money back or receive credit toward next season for games New Orleans was supposed to host between March 16 and April 13.

“While we await a decision from the league office, we wanted to begin proactively communicating with you now in an effort to present you with options for a refund or credit toward future ticket purchases,” the email to season-ticket holders read.

The Pelicans are one of the NBA’s hot young teams to watch, due to a talented core that should only get better.

But for now, we wait.

Some insight on the state of the Timberwolves

Truly changing a franchise starts at the top. The front office dictates the direction. Then comes roster changes. Then comes player development, team chemistry, etc. Here’s the Minnesota Star Tribune reporting on the Timberwolves:

When Gersson Rosas became president of the Timberwolves, he promised to remake the roster by making it younger and finding talent that could play an up-tempo style of basketball. He added that one of the primary ways he would accomplish that was through trades.

Rosas wasn’t hiding much in those statements, because as Rosas marks his one-year anniversary on the job, the Wolves roster looks nothing like the one he inherited — and even nothing like the one he assembled after his first free-agent cycle. Just Josh Okogie and Karl-Anthony Towns remain from the roster Rosas inherited. Several came in the days preceding the trade deadline: Malik Beasley, Juancho Hernangomez, James Johnson and the apple of Rosas’ eye from the moment he took the job, D’Angelo Russell.

“Building an organization, building a foundation, the DNA and the values of who we’re going to be, I feel like we’ve done that in a very tangible way after Year 1,” Rosas said in a phone interview. “Rosterwise, our front office staff deserves a ton of credit because as we sit here, we’ve changed over 13 out of 15 roster spots. … That typically takes organizations two to three years. That we were able to do it by the trade deadline was quite an achievement for our staff.”

Right now, the Timberwolves core is Karl-Anthony Towns up front and D’Angelo Russell in the backcourt. Roster-wise, there’s much work to be done, and it won’t happen overnight.

Some Suns players may soon begin working out at team facility

Actual pro basketball games aren’t returning just yet. Neither is any total team activity. But as for some individiual players making use of team facilities, that could happen soon. In limited fashion. Here’s the Arizona Republic:

The Phoenix Suns are looking to take advantage of the NBA allowing teams to use their practice facilities and arenas to train as the 2019-20 season remains on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Team officials said they’re prepared to have controlled, voluntary workouts May 16 at the earliest at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum as Gov. Doug Ducey announced last week the stay-at-home order would, with some modifications, be in place until May 15.

Talking Stick Resort Arena is under renovations as part of a $230-million project and the new state-of-the-art indoor practice facility on 44th and just north of Camelback Road has been under construction…

The NBA informed teams last week that as numerous state and local governments make “modifications of stay-at-home orders and other restrictions on non-essential business activity beginning”, the league plans to “modify its guidance regarding the use of team practice facilities and player training.”

This mainly means that the individual players will be better able to train. We’re still nowhere near games resuming. But it’s a positive step.

Nets swingman Joe Harris is now recovered from sprained ankle

Here’s Virginia.edu reporting on Nets swingman Joe Harris, who says he suffered a serious sprained ankle just before NBA play was put on hold back in mid March due to the coronavirus pandemic:

Brooklyn’s final game last month was a road win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Harris, a 6-foot-6 swingman, scored 12 points in the Nets’ 104-102 victory, but severely sprained his left ankle at Staples Center that night.

“So I was going to be out a month, no matter what, and then [the NBA shutdown] went down literally the next day,” Harris said. “I wasn’t even with the team. I flew back to New York with one of our trainers, and we were supposed to play at Golden State [on March 12]. The rest of the team was in San Francisco, and they just had to pack up their stuff and leave from there.”

His ankle has healed, Harris said, but he still reports to the Nets’ practice facility to work on his mobility and stability.

“The only loophole that I have right now is that the NBA allowed guys that were in the midst of rehab go into the facility and work with the trainer, so I’ve been able to do that for the last few weeks,” Harris said. “But when I go in, I have to wear a mask and gloves the entire time, and only you and the trainer are allowed in there.”

The Nets were 30-34 this season, which may or may not resume. They’re 7th in the East. Sometime this month, more information on how 2019-20 may resolve should be known.

Some insight on NBA draft prospect Cole Anthony

Here’s the New York Post reporting on 2020 NBA draft prospect Cole Anthony, with insight from trainer Chris Brickley:

While the knee injury is considered a negative to some, Brickley termed it “a pivotal moment.” Anthony returned on Feb. 1 after a six-week absence.

“Ninety percent of projected lottery picks, with the team not doing well, they’re not going to come back,” Brickley said. “That spoke volumes. He came back the first few games, took charges and sacrificed his body. It was a testament to his toughness and how much he cares.”

Brickley started training Anthony when he was 16 and playing for Archbishop Molloy in Queens. Anthony transferred to basketball factory Oak Hill Academy, where in 2018-19 he averaged a triple double (18.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, 10.2 assists).

Though he logged UNC numbers of 18.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and four assists per game, he shot an inefficient 38 percent. Criticism also surfaced about him not being a good enough playmaker who makes teammates better.

The big draft news lately is that both the draft lottery and combine, which were to take place later this month, have been postponed. It remains to be seen if the actual draft will take place in late June as per usual.

New Bulls GM Marc Eversley shares player-first mentality

The Bulls have a new front office. It’s a new era in Chicago. Okay, the start of one. Possibly. It’s all about results. Anyway, here’s the Chicago Sun-Times reporting:

“One of my mottos is ‘players first,’ ‘’ new GM Marc Eversley said on Friday, when he was officially introduced to the media via Zoom. “I think you have to create a players-first mentality. And I agree with you – we were the second-youngest team in the NBA last year, and I really believe it starts with a foundation of player development. True player development, that’s really when we can see what kind of players we have on our roster.’’

Develop the players to their fullest potential and then actually have a real selling point to a superstar?

Sure, former GM Gar Forman and vice president of basketball operations John Paxson spoke about that often, but had very little idea on how to execute it.

The best player developer Forman and Paxson had was one-time coach Tom Thibodeau, who was so adept at bringing the best out of players, he covered up a lot of the mistakes his bosses made both in the draft and free agency.

And here’s NBC Sports Chicago:

It seemed telling that Karnisovas answered a question on division of labor with a collaboration-focused response. Whether it’s internally or in inter-organization dealings, Karnisovas and Eversley will work in concert. For, say, a trade negotiation, one of Karnisovas or Everlsey might have a stronger relationship with an executive to leverage. In a different scenario, one might share a strong connection with an agent for a free agent pursuit. Even externally, Karnisovas said they will share duties like meeting with reporters to detail the team’s vision and actions.

“The luxury that we have with our current hires is that we’re coming from a lot of different programs. And we can take the best scouting practices and how we look at evaluating players, how we look at player development,” Karnisovas said. “We’re going to share our responsibilities. We’re going to hear each other out and make a decision at the end of the day.

First up will be the draft, which is scheduled for late June, but with May’s draft lottery and draft combine postponed, it’s possible the actual draft date might change as well.

2020 NBA Draft Lottery and NBA Draft Combine are postoned

The NBA has postponed the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery and the 2020 NBA Draft Combine.

Both events were scheduled to take place later this month in Chicago.

The draft lottery determines the order of team selections in the draft.

The combine includes player workouts, scrimmages and measurements, of prospects hoping to be selected in the draft.

In our opinion, there are ways the NBA can replace much of what goes on at the combine. But the draft lottery literally determines the structure of the draft, in terms of which teams has wish draft selection, so it’s absolutely essential and absolutely does have to be rescheduled.

Some quick words on a few Steph Curry NBA accomplishments

Here’s NBC Sports Bay Area reminding the world of some of Stephen Curry’s style of play, and a few of his lofty accomplishments:

When Curry is on the court, he is a head-hunter. He lives for the kill shot and — like MJ and the others — is haunted by his misses. Don’t fall for the veneer, the displays of glee, the easy grin and the honey-colored skin. This genuinely joyful soul with scripture on his sneakers has spent most of his career as the league’s most prolific undercover executioner.

Over the past seven postseasons, Curry has beaten every MVP, or MVP candidate, that has beaten him. Only Kawhi Leonard, who as a member of the San Antonio Spurs played only 24 minutes over nine postseason games against the Warriors, can be argued as an exception.

Curry is 3-1 against LeBron James in The Finals and 4-0 against James Harden in the playoffs. He’s 3-0 against Damian Lillard. In the lone instance when Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook represented the roadblock, Curry took them out.

There’s much more to say about Steph — namely his historic shooting from three-point range — but the above certainly speaks volumes.

With the Kevin Durant era over in Golden State, but the team presumably at full health by the time NBA play eventually resumes, it’ll be great fun seeing what Steph accomplishes in 2020-21.

Chicago Bulls hire Marc Eversley as new general manager

The Chicago Bulls have hired Marc Eversley to be the team’s General Manager. In this role, Eversley will report directly to Executive Vice President – Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas and primarily be responsible for overseeing the implementation of all elements of the basketball operations process.

“I set out to find a General Manager who complemented my vision and values, and who could help implement them at the Bulls in a fresh way. Marc’s background and skills do exactly that,” said Karnisovas. “He has a history of building strong relationships across the board, identifying talent at organizations that have had success during his time there, and the necessary insight for building a network that will be an asset to our program. He’s ready for this next step in his career, and I’m looking forward to working with him to build the Bulls back into a perennial contender.”

Eversley comes to Chicago with 14 years of NBA experience, working for the Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers. In his latest role as Senior Vice President of Player Personnel with the 76ers, he not only oversaw player personnel and talent evaluation, but was also involved in Philadelphia’s recruiting and decision-making process. He was promoted to Senior Vice President after serving the first two seasons as Vice President of Player Personnel. He also oversaw Philadelphia’s scouting department on the collegiate, NBA and international levels.

“Becoming a General Manger in the NBA and joining the Chicago Bulls family is a dream come true,” said Eversley. “I’m grateful to be working with someone like Arturas who shares my level of passion and commitment to winning basketball, and having both come from successful programs, we will put in the work and all it entails to become a sustainable and winning team. I want to thank Arturas, as well as Jerry and Michael Reinsdorf, for trusting in my leadership abilities to move this iconic franchise forward.”

Here’s the Chicago Tribune:

It’ll be hard not to notice Eversley when he walks into a room, considering he stands at 6-foot-8 and is a former NAIA college basketball player at Urbana University in Ohio, which recently closed. Eversley played 95 games in his career and averaged 11.3 points per game. Although neither Eversley nor Karnisovas ever played in the NBA, they both come to the Bulls front office with some basketball experience.

Eversley was on the 76ers staff when the team selected Ben Simmons first-overall in the 2016 NBA Draft, and he helped Philadelphia transition from a team that won 28 games his first season in 2016-17 to one that won 50-plus games the next two seasons. This year’s team was on pace for 50 wins again before the NBA went on hiatus during the 2019-20 season. He had a hand in acquiring such players as J.J. Redick, Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris to fortify a roster that included Simmons and Joel Embiid.

And more from the Tribune:

The Bulls do not overhaul their front office often, so when their search for Karnisovas started and finished without successfully interviewing any black candidates — in a league where about 70 percent of the players are black — they drew criticism from African American executives around the league. Chief Operating Officer Michael Reinsdorf said they were denied permission to interview the people of color on their list. Regardless, Karnisovas said he would make it a point to change that and emphasized diversity within his candidate pool.

Prior to joining the 76ers, Eversley spent three seasons with the Washington Wizards as Vice President of Player Personnel. He began his NBA career with the Toronto Raptors where he spent seven seasons as an Assistant General Manager responsible for player development, then personnel scouting and evaluation, and he played a lead role in drafting DeMar DeRozan ninth-overall in the 2009 NBA Draft. Eversley concluded the final two seasons of his Toronto tenure as the Vice President of College Scouting.

How Steve Kerr learned to not yell at Klay Thompson

Different players react to coaching and motivational methods in different ways. A huge part of being a basketball coach is learning how to share information and instructions to players in a manner that the player will understand and, just as importantly, accept.

As for the Warriors, here’s NBC Sports Bay Area reporting on head coach Steve Kerr and what he learned about coaching shooting guard Klay Thompson:

“My very first season, I lit into Klay. I took an early timeout, lit into Klay, and he didn’t respond very well,” Kerr said on the Runnin’ Plays Podcast. “And he went out and was kind of rattled, made a couple mistakes.”

Confused, Kerr solicited advice from folks around the eccentric guard, then in his fourth NBA season, and found that Thompson is more receptive to a different style of coaching.

“I kind of checked that box,” Kerr said. “I said, ‘Klay’s not a guy who’s going to respond to yelling.’ ”

The adjustment worked.

After racking up multiple championships, then seeing the departure of Kevin Durant, all while suffering a big stack of injuries, the Warriors were at the bottom of the league in 2019-20. It’ll be interesting to see what they’re able to do in the next offseason in building up a supporting cast for 2020-21.