Category: General NBA insight

General NBA insight

Avery Bradley’s defense should help Heat this season

Defensive-minded guard Avery Bradley left the Lakers this offseason and joined the Heat. Here’s the Miami Herald quoting Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra’s analysis of the squad’s new addition:

“You see him as a 6-2, 6-3 guard, but he’s able to literally defend one through four,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And offensively, he’s a player that can fit in any system, because he can play off the ball, you can put the ball in his hands. He can play as a point guard. You can play him running off of dribble hand offs. Or he can just play off of your great players or your great offensive threats. And he’ll find a way to be effective. And that’s what we’ve already seen in a couple of days.

“I know he’s going to make Tyler [Herro] and [Kendrick Nunn] better just from practices. His level of intensity and his on-ball defense is incredible. It’s an area we felt we could improve, not only in player development, but with a personnel addition. He has checked that box, just with what we’ve seen in a short period of time.”

Point-of-attack perimeter defense was a Heat weakness opponents tried to take advantage of last season, with teams repeatedly running isolation sets against players such as Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson in the playoffs.

Bradley (6-3, 180), who turned 30 on Nov. 26, will certainly help in that area this season.

On the Detroit Pistons preseason opening night scene

The Pistons went above and beyond in their quest to make their first home preseason game feel as regular as possible in the wake of coronavirus-related restrictions. The team hosted the Knicks Friday on NBA preseason opening night, and will host them again today. Here’s the Detroit Free Press on what the preseason opening night scene was like in Detroit:

After walking into an NBA arena for the first time in nine months Friday, the most surprising aspect wasn’t the new COVID-19 protocols for team personnel and media, or the absence of fans in the arena — those were anticipated changes the rest of the sports world has already embraced.

What stood out was the loudness, and pervasiveness, of the music. The Detroit Pistons tipped off their preseason slate Friday, and it was their first live basketball game since their 2019-20 season ended March 11. Throughout the entire game and in the time leading up to it, Little Caesars Arena played the usual mix of top-40 rap hits and stadium classics.

I, like much of the rest of the world, have been working from home and avoiding loud, public environments since mid-March. I’m not sure I had heard or even thought of “Yeah!” by Usher during the nine months leading into the game. But hearing it while the Pistons played the New York Knicks made me realize how much I missed those environments.

It was one of multiple steps the Pistons took to create something resembling a normal game day environment. John Mason, their long-tenured public address announcer, did his usual pregame introduction routine. Cheerleaders still danced in the stands. Fake crowd noise reacted after every made and missed shot. Eventually, it all melded into something resembling a basketball game in a normal year.

Toronto Raptors played their first game in the NBA 25 years ago today

When did the Toronto Raptors play their first game in the NBA? Exactly 25 years ago today. Here’s the Toronto Sun on it:

Tuesday is a big day worldwide, with the most anticipated U.S. election in years taking place. North of the border, it’s also a day to reflect on an important sporting anniversary.

For 25 years earlier — Nov. 3, 1995 — the NBA officially arrived in Canada, with the Toronto Raptors taking on the New Jersey Nets at SkyDome.

The Raptors won 94-79, with former all-star Alvin Robertson starring with 30 points and future rookie-of-the-year Damon Stoudamire turning the negative opinions of fans — who had booed him on draft night — around by notching his first of 86 double-doubles with Toronto.

Sporting white, pin-striped jerseys adorned in the front with a large red dinosaur, the Raptors showed more than 33,000 fans what the best professional basketball players in the world could do. Well, kind of. It was a far different era for hoops. The play was more rugged, three-pointers were largely an after-thought (the teams combined for five treys on just 19 attempts), and defence was prioritized and emphasized through the rules of the day. The Nets shot a putrid 33% from the field overall and committed 29 turnovers against only 15 assists.

Up next for the Raptors is the NBA draft, though their only first-round pick is No. 29.

The start date for free agency hasn’t been decided by the NBA yet. But when it begins, key Raptors Fred VanVleet, Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol will be in search of new deals.

Raptors reportedly ponder using Newark as temporary home for 2020-21 NBA season

A big obstacle facing the world during the coronavirus pandemic is travel. This goes for individual situations, like people working from home instead of having to commute to an office. It also goes for entire team situations in sports, where the less travel, the better.

While the city of Toronto is a pretty quick flight to New York City, Philadelphia, Boston or Washington D.C., a luxury bus ride from, say, Newark, New Jersey is both cheaper and safer. So will the Raptors play in Toronto in 2020-21, or temporarily relocate? Here’s the New York Daily News:

The Raptors have spoken to the operators of the Prudential Center about using their 19,500-seat arena, according to a source. It’s one of a few options for Masai Ujiri’s squad, and a preference for the NBA because of its close proximity to all of Toronto’s division foes.

The Raptors have also discussed playing in Tampa Bay or Nashville or as tenants in another NBA team’s arena, according to a source. Kansas City pitched its T-Mobile Center. Louisville was floated and reportedly shot down. There’s been speculation about the team moving over the border to Buffalo, just like the Toronto Blue Jays during the last MLB season. While some of those destinations offer a warmer climate, none can match the geographical sense of The Rock.

The Raptors playing in Newark sounds like a great idea. Perhaps some other teams might consider a relocation as well. But the Raptors are the most obvious candidate.

Lakers coach Frank Vogel reflects on the NBA bubble championship experience

Nothing has been normal for most of 2020. But in the Disney NBA bubble, basketball was played. The rules were the same. The court was the usual size. A full playoffs were played. And the Lakers won the championship.

Here’s the OC Register:

There are trinkets to remind him: the Ace of Spades champagne bottle which doused the Lakers’ locker room; the championship T-shirts and hats that were drenched; the Kobe Bryant pin and the Coaches for Racial Justice pin that were attached to his polo daily.

Frank Vogel also kept his thermometer and pulse oximeter – two pieces of equipment used daily in the NBA bubble that remind him why all of those games were played at Disney World in the first place.

“For something that had never been done before, it was done on a gold-standard level,” Vogel said recently. “To me, that was the most incredible thing about the bubble: getting that buy-in from 99 percent of the staff and players. There are things you come away with when you leave, like you felt there was a security blanket when you were there.”

While the championship-winning head coach of the Lakers hoped to have some safe travel in his offseason plans, some of the most rewarding moments since leaving the bubble have been mundane, everyday life. After 95 days away from his family, Vogel said one of the things he missed the most was driving his two daughters to soccer practice.

Up next in the NBA is a November 6 deadline for either the NBA or the Players Union to terminate the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, should either side wish to do that. And then the 2020 NBA draft, on Wednesday, November 18. Both dates had been rescheduled.

NBA and Players Union extend deadline to terminate CBA

The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) announced today that they have agreed to push back to November 6 the date by which either party may notify the other of an intention to terminate the current Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The deadline had previously been today.

If either party provides notice by November 6, the CBA will terminate by December 14, unless the parties agree otherwise.

Miami Heat face some tough free agency decisions this offseason

The Miami Heat beat all expectations this season, clawing their way in the postseason to the NBA Finals, where they fell in six games to the Los Angeles Lakers. They have some big decisions to make in free agency this summer, in regard not just to their roster for next season, but also with the following offseason in mind. That offseason could feature Giannis Antetokounmpo as a free agent. Here’s the Miami Herald:

The Heat’s current salary-cap breakdown for next season looks like this: Jimmy Butler ($34.4 million), Andre Iguodala ($15 million), Kelly Olynyk ($12.2 million player option), Bam Adebayo ($5.1 million), Tyler Herro ($3.8 million), Duncan Robinson ($1.7 million), Kendrick Nunn ($1.7 million), KZ Okpala ($1.5 million), Chris Silva ($1.5 million), a projected $2.4 million cap hit for the 20th overall pick in the Nov. 18 draft, a $5.2 million waive-and-stretch cap hit for Ryan Anderson that’s still on the books, and a $350,000 waive-and-stretch cap hit for AJ Hammons.

Assuming Olynyk opts in to the final season of his contract and the Heat keeps the player it drafts this year, Miami will have about $85 million committed to 10 players for next season.

That means the Heat can create up to $22 million in cap space, including cap holds, if it renounces the rights to its six impending free agents — Jae Crowder, Goran Dragic, Udonis Haslem, Solomon Hill, Derrick Jones Jr. and Meyers Leonard.

A team that just reached the Finals, and does not have an age problem, has every reason in the world to focus primarily on immediate continued success. So, while possibly targeting Giannis, who may or may not be available two offseasons from now, is something to keep in mind, the main Heat goal right now is to do whatever it takes to get themselves back into the Finals in 2021.

Next NBA season start date still might be as early as late December

Reports over the last few months have suggested that the 2020-21 NBA season may start in January or as early as late December, and that’s still the case. Here’s New York Newsday on it:

Less than two weeks after the NBA season finally came to an end, the league could be looking toward a start to next season as soon as Dec. 22.

The Athletic reported that a source inside the NBA’s Board of Governor’s meeting Friday indicated that a Dec. 22 start with a 72-game schedule is the target. ESPN said that Christmas Day could be the startup date with a schedule of 70 to 72 games.

A league source said that while NBA commissioner Adam Silver has stated that the league would not start before Christmas Day, that day was still on the table and it was discussed with teams at the meeting on Friday.

But the NBA and the team owners are not the only ones who have to agree to this. The NBA players association must OK a plan.

If the season does wind up starting in late December, that means we’ll have a very fast free agency period.

Typically, the top free agents tend to agree to deals very early in free agency, but plenty of other players, including most deep-bench players, soemtimes take weeks or even a month or two to land deals. It sounds like that entire process will be sped up. Which isn’t a problem at all, actually.

Will there be a 2020-21 G League season?

Will there be a 2020-21 G League basketball season? Hopefully. But there are rough waters to navigate, due of course to the coronavirus pandemic. Here’s the New York Post reporting:

According to industry sources, there have been discussions of various scenarios for a G-League campaign, including not holding one at all and expanding NBA rosters instead.

One plan could feature having a handful of week-long G-League showcases in a bubble setting to ensure young players stay active. If a more normalized G-League season is attempted, sources said it would have to be with a regionalized schedule to reduce travel.

Because G-League teams have modest budgets, clubs mostly fly commercial, which is risky amid the COVID-19 crisis. Teams occasionally bus to games against nearby clubs…

There are safety concerns stemming from G-League players intermingling with NBA players, whether through emergency signings or the recently established two-way contracts.

All of these concerns are perfectly logical.

One idea I’m proposing right now is, they could have a G League season that doesn’t involve “call-ups.” Where G League players stay in the G League all season. Which would eliminate two-way contracts for a season. Which solves one issue. Leaving many far more complicated issues left to navigate.