Category: NBA Teams

NBA teams blog

No surprise, Kings suspend basketball operations activities

The coronavirus crisis is putting a stop to many things around the world, including most sports competition. Since last Wednesday night, NBA games are on hold. Individual teams can choose to maintain certain levels of activity. But almost all of them that we know of have trimmed activity down to a minimum, with most or all employees working from home.

As for the Sacramento Kings, here’s the Sacramento Bee:

The Kings suspended basketball activities Tuesday night in response to a directive from county health officials, the latest development in the abrupt and increasingly complete shutdown of the NBA due to the coronavirus.

The Kings issued a statement saying all basketball operations activities at the team’s Golden 1 Center practice facility have been suspended until further notice. The team noted that no Kings players have exhibited coronavirus symptoms. The organization acted in accordance with a directive from Sacramento County health officials to “stay at home.”

Basketball operations staff will continue to work remotely, but the team’s practice facility is closed.

Unfortunately, this topic will continues to dominate the news world these days. We’ll keep you updated.

Lakers players will reportedly be tested for coronavirus, then self-quarantine

Sports-related coronavirus news continues, now with the Lakers reportedly set to be tested, and entering 14-day quarantine. Here’s the Los Angeles Times reporting:

The Lakers plan to get their players tested for the coronavirus Wednesday and have asked their players to self-quarantine for 14 days, according to people familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly.

The information was relayed to players during a conference call Tuesday and follows an announcement by the Brooklyn Nets that four players tested positive for the coronavirus, three without symptoms. The Athletic reported that one of those players was injured Nets star Kevin Durant, who was on the trip to Los Angeles last week.

Unfortunately, stories about coronavirus will be dominating the news for the near future.

But we’ll be sure to get fun, regular basketball content to you on a daily basis again — at least on weekdays — starting any day now.

The next offseason is a pivotal one for the Warriors

Teams around the league are all dealing with the same key issue — the coronavirus. But getting more specific, here’s the Mercury News focusing on the Warriors:

In what will be a pivotal offseason for a Warriors organization aiming to vault back into contention next season, the fallout of the coronavirus could impact the quality of its draft pick, how much it is willing to spend on free agents and more.

Beyond the health concerns and the Warriors’ bottom line, this will also impact next season’s salary cap, which is based on a negotiated portion of basketball-related income. Without gate revenue, the league as a whole could stand to lose as much as $500 million, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

Meanwhile, with seven home games at Chase Center likely lost, the Warriors could lose as much as $25 million in revenue, according to a source familiar with the Warriors’ finances. There are also television, radio and advertising partnerships to consider.

Steph, Klay and Dray obviously proved able to do big things together in the past. It’ll be interesting to see who their supporting cast is once the next offseason’s player movement results are set.

Of course, we’re all still hoping to see the rest of this currently-paused season played. But these Warriors are all about the future.

Mavs guard Jalen Brunson undergoes surgery

Dallas Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson underwent surgery today to address an injury to the labrum of his right shoulder.

Brunson suffered the injury in the first quarter of the Mavericks game at Atlanta on Feb. 22. The second-year guard has seen action in 57 games (16 starts) for the Mavericks this season with averages of 8.2 points, 3.3 assists, 2.4 rebounds and 17.9 minutes per contest.

No timetable for his return has been set at this time.

Pelicans, the final road team on last night’s schedule, head home

Yesterday, in news that materialized very quickly, the NBA season was put on hold, after the conclusion of last night’s games. And the final game on the schedule, start time-wise, was a Pelicans vs Kings matchup in Sacramento that wound up not being played. Here’s the New Orleans Times Picayune reporting:

The New Orleans-Sacramento matchup was supposed to be the final game before the NBA’s indefinite suspension kicked in, but the Pelicans had concerns about referee Courtney Kirkland, who had officiated one of Gobert’s games two days earlier. They remained in their locker room during warmups, and just as the game was about to start, the NBA decided to cancel the game.

They headed to the bus, had a meal and then eventually boarded a flight, which arrived in New Orleans a little after 5 a.m.

In a statement, the Pelicans announced they support the NBA’s decision to suspend the season and that they are working with health officials outside the organization to figure out the best course of action to deal with the coronavirus.

While we’re now in a waiting period for the NBA to resume — and that will take at least 30 days, if not more — we’ll keep posting fun basketball content each day. Some coronavirus-related items, because unfortunately that’s necessary, but mostly fun bball stuff, as usual.

In G League, Capital City Go-Go add forward Jordan Bell

The Capital City Go-Go, the Washington Wizards’ NBA G League affiliate, added forward Jordan Bell off of waivers today. In a corresponding move, the team waived forward Stefan Jankovic due to a season ending injury.

Bell, a 6-8, 216 pound forward-center from the University of Oregon, has appeared in 29 games with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Memphis Grizzlies this season. Originally taken with the 38th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls, Bell was traded on draft night to the Golden State Warriors and played in 125 games (16 starts) for the Warriors between 2017 and 2019, averaging 3.9 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. In his time with Golden State, Bell also appeared in 32 playoff games and was a member of the 2018 NBA Champion Warriors team.

Bell was signed as a free agent by the Timberwolves in 2019 and played in 27 games prior to being included in a four-team trade that sent him to Houston in February. Bell was traded from Houston to Memphis the following day and appeared in two games with the Grizzlies before being waived on March 2.

Bell played three seasons at Oregon, leaving as the school’s all-time leader in blocks (235) and field goal percentage (.610). Bell helped lead the Ducks to a Final Four appearance his redshirt junior season, where he also was voted the 2017 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year.

Warriors did uncover some talent this season

Okay, maybe it hasn’t been the Warriors’ year. It’s nice that Stephen Curry recently made his return — though a common flu quickly put a temporary stop to that — but clearly this squad, which of course also includes Draymond Green and an out-for-the-season Klay Thompson, is all about next season.

Still, here’s NBC Sports Bay Area ounding up some 2019-20 positives:

In the front court, Eric Paschall has emerged as a potential future foundational piece, sporting an offensive game that combines unique strength to go with mature finesse. Marquese Chriss might end up being the starting center next season as he has blossomed into an impactful young big man.

In the backcourt, Damion Lee has proven himself to be a high energy, reliable rotation piece that can put up points in a hurry. Jordan Poole has struggled with an inconsistent shot this season, but at only 20 years old, has grown considerably in his playmaking and ball handling, making him more valuable than just a potential future floor spacer.

It’ll be interesting to see who starts for the Warriors next season alongside Steph, Klay and Dray. And almost as importantly, who the key bench guys are. With some slick signings and key role player additions, the Warriors next year could leap high up in the standings once again.

Rockets break losing streak, beat Timberwolves

The Rockets have racked up losses lately. But the Timberwolves are in a state of rebuild, and do have D’Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns, but with KAT out of action, Houston suddenly remembered how to win again. Here’s the Houston Chronicle:

Facing a team with the third-worst record in the NBA and playing without star Karl-Anthony Towns, the Rockets had seemed heading to another inexplicable defeat, trailing by 10 late in the third quarter. When they finally got on the sort of roll they could not find for a week, the Rockets built a 13-point lead and finished off the Timberwolves, 117-111, Tuesday at Toyota Center.

It might have been much more difficult than they would have liked. But by the fourth quarter, much of the formula was back in place. Harden finished with 37 points, making 5 of 10 3s (including a heave from the backcourt he missed.) Russell Westbrook had 27, driving to fourth-quarter slams.

When the Timberwolves were within six, Eric Gordon, who had missed his first six 3-pointers in his first game back from a sore knee, nailed consecutive 3s to take the lead back to a safe double-digits.

The Rockets continue to play extreme “small-ball,” starting 6-foot-7, 209-pound Robert Covington and 6-foot-5, 245-pound forward P.J. Tucker at their big-man spots.

Celtics coach discusses possibility of playing NBA games with no fans in arena

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, many sports teams in various countries around the world are playing games, but with no fans in attendance. As a health safety precaution. All sports fans should consider the very real possibility that other leagues are pondering this option as well. As for the NBA? Here’s the Indianapolis Star reporting:

Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens isn’t in favor of playing in front of empty arenas, saying it’s “counterintuitive” to play games without fans.

“Nobody wants to play without fans,” he said before the Celtics played the Pacers on Tuesday night. “That would be really too bad. But totally understand if those decisions are made … This thing is built on people liking it. The reason why we are where we are, and get a chance to do this for a living, and make a good living, is people are interested in it.”

Gordon Hayward, the Brownsburg alum who plays for the Celtics, said players aren’t taking precautions beyond those health officials recommend for the general public — common sense and cleanliness — but he said the situation is “certainly concerning.”

As Celtics coach Stevens said, he understands if it’s necessary. But hopes it can be avoided. Same with us. Same with everybody.

But if we were given a choice of games not being played, or being played safely with almost nobody else in the building and fans all forced to watch on TV at home, the latter is certainly preferable to the former.

Knicks, like all teams, adjusting to new health safety standards in wake of coronavirus

Like pro sports teams across the country and world, players on the Knicks are adapting to new safety standards to protect themselves from the coronavirus outbreak. Here’s the New York Post:

With the NBA closing locker rooms to the media before and after games and the threat of fan-less contests, the Knicks are making their adjustments.

No high-fives during practices and games, just elbow and forearm bumps. And the club is “rationing” hand sanitizer, according to forward Taj Gibson.

A Knicks spokesman said there’s plenty of sanitizer for the players, but some are trying to stock up sanitizer for their families.

“No fist-bumps,’’ Knicks veteran Gibson said. “Always do it with your elbow. Any little movement, you’re touching the ball, you got to cleanse, you got to wash your hands. (We) ran out of hand sanitizer. It’s insane. But you do what you got to do.”

In some other countries, some sporting events are being played without fans in the stands. It’ll be interesting to see what leagues here in the United States choose to do there. Discussions are ongoing.