Category: NBA Teams

NBA teams blog

Nets need consistency from Taurean Prince

Here’s the New York Post with some words on Nets forward Taurean Prince:

Prince found himself pulled from the starting lineup by Atkinson in the deposed coach’s final game, and was still used as reserve by interim coach Jacque Vaughn until the season was shut down.

“I’m a grown man, it’s fine,” Prince had said. “Do I want to come off the bench? Completely not. But do I want to do whatever it takes to help the team get to where we ultimately want to go? Any day of the week.”

But how can the Nets best use Prince to get where they want to go when — or if — play resumes? Or next season when Kevin Durant returns?

Prince averaged 12.1 points and a career-high six rebounds, but his 37.6 shooting percentage was the worst of his career and lowest of any Nets rotation player. And after inking Prince to a two-year, $29 million extension in October that kicks in next season, the Nets need a more consistent Prince.

The NBA season is currently on hold, and it’s unclear if we’ll get more action anytime soon.

Kevin Garnett part of 2020 Basketball Hall of Fame class

The 2020 Basketball Hall of Fame class was announced this weekend, and one of the former NBA superstars to make it is Kevin Garnett.

Here’s the New York Post reporting his reaction to the honor:

“It’s the culmination,” Garnett said on ESPN. “It’s the culmination, man. You put countless hours into this. You dedicate yourself to a craft. You take no days off. You play through injuries. You play through demise. You play through obstacles. You give no excuses for anything. You learn, you build.

“This is the culmination. All those hours … this is what you do it for, right here. For me, to be called a Hall of Famer, is everything.”

The Class of 2020 will be enshrined in the Hall, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Saturday, August 29, 2020.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra speaks on being home during shutdown

Here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel on how Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is managing these days:

Had the NBA not been shut down after the Heat’s March 11 loss to the Charlotte Hornets at AmericanAirlines Arena, the Heat would be in the midst of a four-game, eight-day trip. Instead, Spoelstra is home with [wife] Nikki, [two-year-old child Santiago Ray] and four-month-old Dante.

“It’s been an incredible blessing to be around our family much more often,” Spoelstra, 49, said. “We’re able to spend our meals together. I wake up every single morning and not be in a rush to do anything. I can be at breakfast. I’m barbecuing every single night. I’ve never been a barbecue guy. I’ve always been a takeout, order-out guy, but now I’m cooking meals for this family. I’ve had a lot of peace of mind doing that every afternoon…

“Look, my kids are young kids under the age of two. They have no idea what’s going on. They just think this is a big party in the backyard every single day. So, it is unique, and we do want our team to be thinking of others and to feel the real empathy and giving nature during this time. That also can help deal with some potential anxiety or stress that somebody may be going through with this, to focus on helping other people.”

We’re all just trying to make the best of this global coronavirus situation. Which for most of us will involve just staying home for the time being.

On the last Thunder game before league play was put on hold

Here’s the Oklahoman editorializing on the last game the OKC Thunder played before league play was put on hold, a Sunday, March 8 105-104 win against the Celtics in Boston, with comments from point guard Chris Paul:

After the 105-104 win, Paul told Thunder sideline reporter Nick Gallo that he hadn’t gotten that excited in a long time. Paul also talked about how great a win it was, how much fun the team was having, how together everyone was.

I knew that game was in the final days before the coronavirus shut down the NBA, then all of sports in this country, but since the past few weeks feel like a few years, I couldn’t remember if the Thunder played any more games after that game in Boston.

I went to check my calendar.

(Yes, I’m old — I still keep a written calendar in a day planner.)

That game in Boston was Sunday, March 8. The Thunder then had two days off before a home game Wednesday, March 11 against the Jazz.

You know what happened there.

So, that game at Boston, that masterful win against the Celtics was the last time the Thunder played.

That win was OKC’s 8th in their last 10 games. It was their third win in a row, for a 40-24 record, tying them with the Rockets for the 5th best winning percentage in the Western conference.

Bucks staying ready in case season continues, says coach

The Bucks spent the 2019-20 season as winners, and per this ESPN.com report, their head coach says the team has no interest in breaking that mentality:

While some might speculate that the NBA season will not resume because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Milwaukee Bucks, who had the league’s best record when play stopped, are going forward as if they will eventually be on the court.

“We are operating and functioning and just have a mentality that we will play,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said Wednesday during a conference call. “I think it’s important for players and all of us to function that way, to think that way, and it’s out of our hands.

“Luckily, [commissioner] Adam Silver and the league office, they’ll make the hard decisions and they’ll do what’s best for everybody, but I think it’s certainly important that we kind of operate and have a mentality that we will play again, and we’ll be excited about that if and when it does happen.”

There is no downside to these guys staying ready.

Unfortunately, for now, there’s no reason to expect action to resume anytime soon.

Blazers guard Damian Lillard staying in shape with home gym

Here’s an update on Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, via NBC Sports Northwest:

“I haven’t been able to get into the training facility,” Lillard said. “At the moment, they don’t want us in the practice facility. They don’t want us training with any of our coaches or anything like that. They also don’t want us training at a third-party gym or with a third-party trainer, so it’s basically like if you don’t have a gym at home, you can’t train. So fortunately for me, I have a gym at home, so I’ve been able to kind of continue and get work done.”

The only players allowed to enter the Trail Blazers practice facility at the moment are the players who are still rehabbing from injuries, including Zach Collins, Jusuf Nurkic and Rodney Hood…

Lillard has thought about the players around the league who aren’t able to continue to train and workout in a home gym.

“People who don’t have that and at some point are going to be expected to come back as a professional athlete and perform on call, that makes it tough,” Lillard added.

It’s no surprise, of course, that Lillard has a gym at home. Most NBA players do. And for the near future, home is where they’ll be staying safe and healthy while waiting this whole thing out as the world deals with the coronavirus saga.

Kelly Olynyk faces opt-out decision next NBA offseason

Here’s the Miami Herald reporting on Heat big-man reserve Kelly Olynyk:

When life was normal, less than a month ago, it seemed no Heat player faced a tougher offseason decision than Kelly Olynyk, who has the option of bypassing $13.6 million in the final year of his contract and instead entering free agency this summer.

Now, with pro sports facing unprecedented uncertainty in the coming months amid the coronavirus pandemic, coupled with the possibility of a lower NBA salary cap because of lost revenue, the choice could essentially be made for Olynyk and many others with 2020-21 player options: The security of opting in suddenly seems pretty appealing.

Even before coronavirus affected everything, Olynyk faced a landscape in which only six other teams, besides Miami, would have cap space above $10 million this offseason, per capologist Jeff Siegel: Atlanta at $49.1 million, New York at $44.3 million, Detroit at $31.9 million, Charlotte at $25.2 million, Memphis at $16 million and Phoenix at $13.9 million.

The big takeaway here goes way beyond Olynyk. League-wide, it makes sense, as of a few weeks ago, to assume that lots of players with contract options who may have tested free agent waters during the next offseason to play it safer and opt for short-term security.

On the great NBA rookie season of Ja Morant

Here’s the Memphis Commercial Appeal on Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, who was doing big things in the 2019-20 season before action was paused due to the world’s coronavirus spread:

Zion Williamson was averaging 26.4 points on 59.8% shooting in his last 11 games. The Pelicans forward looked every bit like the No. 1 overall pick with his highlights and dynamic play. But there’s nothing he can do to supplant Morant.

Morant’s 27-point, 14-assist performance to beat the Lakers on Feb. 29 was enough evidence to show why he’s made the Grizzlies a playoff contender. He was still leading all qualified rookies in points, assists and double-doubles, so the question isn’t his resume; it’s how he would’ve added to it to finish the year.

Could he break the Grizzlies’ rookie record with 15 assists in a game? Who else would he have dunked on to send Memphis and NBA fans into a frenzy? That’s what’s being missed now.

We look forward to seeing Morant’s magic on the court when play eventually resumes.

ESPN Michael Jordan documentary reportedly coming in April

There will be some top-notch basketball TV-viewing available in April. Not the NBA. But something we all want to see. Here’s the New York Post reporting:

ABC/ESPN’s highly anticipated 10-part Michael Jordan documentary, “The Last Dance,” is being moved up to April, The Post has learned.

Sources said the start date will be Sunday, April 19. It was originally slated for June…

Netflix owns the international rights to the docuseries.

And here’s the Chicago Sun-Times:

Fans haven’t been the only ones pining for the early release. Lakers star LeBron James told ESPN’s “Road Tippin” podcast last week that there’s no better time to air the series.

”If they release that thing right now? The views on it?” he said. “Listen, if I’m Michael Jordan, I’m going in there and I’m making a conference call and I’m like, ‘OK, what’s the reason that we’re going to hold on to it until June now? Compared to now when everybody is at home?’ Because it’s done [being edited]. It’s done. Yeah, it’s done.”

There’s no reason to think the NBA will suddenly return to action in April. This Jordan doc should absolutely be the best basketball TV we get.

Some Bulls frontcourt questions

The Chicago Bulls are a work in progress. A squad in construction. A team for the future.

Here’s NBC Sports Chicago pondering some questions on the team’s frontcourt:

While the backcourt is starting to take shape, the frontline is loaded with question marks. Was Lauri Markkanen’s slump in his third NBA season just an outlier, or will the Bulls have to adjust their evaluation on his potential? Can Wendell Carter Jr. have success as an undersized center and find a consistent role in the offense? Can Otto Porter Jr. stay healthy long enough to contribute?

Markkanen’s future is the biggest question facing the franchise right now. Was he held back by the changes to the offensive system this season, or does he simply lack the aggressiveness necessary to average 20 points and 10 rebounds over a full season? …

The Bulls also were hoping to bet a better read on Carter and Porter over the final 17 games. Carter missed about six weeks of game action because of a serious ankle sprain, but was just rounding back into game shape when the suspension hit.

The Bulls were 22-43 when NBA league play was put on hold a few weeks ago. They have Zach LaVine’s scoring, and plenty of young potential building blocks, but across the roster as a whole, almost as many questions as they have answers.