In NBA real estate news, Draymond Green buys new house

Warriors forward Draymond Green has reportedly bought a new $9.6 million house in California. Here’s the San Jose Mercury News reporting:

Though he’s played solely for the Golden State Warriors since the 2012 NBA draft, it appears Draymond Green is looking to spend his future off-seasons a bit further south of San Francisco. The three-time All-Star and Michigan native has bounced into a lavish estate in L.A.’s prestigious Brentwood area, the same neighborhood that is also home to other superstar ballers like LeBron James, Blake Griffin, and Russell Westbrook.

The $9.6 million house picked out by Green and his fiancee, television personality Hazel Renee (“Basketball Wives,” “Real Housewives of Atlanta”) is essentially all-new, completed in 2019 and described in listing materials as a “timeless Georgian Colonial.” Complete with elegant snow white paint and jet black trim, the mansion is indisputably grand and guaranteed to impress guests with its multitude of high-style sconces, plus its columned porch and soaring roofline.

Inside, a two-story foyer with paneled walls and checkerboard marble floors sets the tone for the rest of the public rooms, which are decidedly posh and veer toward the formal side of the decor spectrum. There’s a gourmet kitchen with Italian marble countertops and luxe Woolf appliances that connects to the dining room and adjoining wine closet, plus a butler’s pantry servicing a lounge-like den. The living room and downstairs private office are both equipped with fireplaces and bronze chandeliers, and European oak hardwood lines the floors.

Sounds solid.

Okay, it sounds fantastic.

We’ve enjoyed Dray’s commentary on Inside the NBA on TNT. He’s got a bright future as an NBA analyst once his playing days are over. But that’s not anytime soon. Right now, the Warriors will be focused on using their lottery pick to add to their already star-filled cast.

The 2020-21 NBA season might not start in December

As you know by now, just about all event dates in 2020 and perhaps 2021, sports-related or otherwise, that take place in public, or involve groups of people, are subject to change. And while the NBA bubble at Disney has been what we’d firmly call a complete success, once the league exits the bubble it’s still totally up in the air when next season will begin and what the conditions will be. Everything beyond the Finals is still being organized. Here’s the New York Post with the latest regarding when next season may begin:

Friday is the six-month mark of the Knicks’ last regular-season game.

With the draft being pushed back from Oct. 16 to mid-November, league sources told The Post that the season opener will almost certainly be pushed back until after Jan. 1 – with no consensus on even the month.

According to a source, some league executives would like to see next season’s opener land on Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 18 — considering the climate of the times.

However, sources have suggested the NBA is completely open-minded about a starting date for February – and March has not been completely ruled out either.

For now, we are of course focused primarily on enjoying the 2020 NBA playoffs, which by any measure have been fantastic.

Heat star Jimmy Butler speaks on next possible playoff opponent

The Miami Heat are waiting to see who their opponent will be in the Eastern Conference Finals. It’ll either be the Celtics or Raptors, who on Friday will play a Game 7. NBA players tend to not name a preference as to who they’re about to face. And as outspoken as Jimmy Butler often is, he took that route as well. Per the South Florida Sun Sentinel:

“We know either way it goes, we’ve got a really good team that we’ve got to play against,” forward Jimmy Butler said. “But we still have to play our style of basketball. We’re not discouraged. We’re not scared. We’re not running from any matchups. I think that’s what makes us us.”

Based on the regular-season series, the preference might be Toronto, with the Heat 2-1 this season against the Raptors, but 1-2 against the Celtics. But that script was flipped after the NBA’s four-month layoff, with the Heat losing their lone matchup against the Raptors at Disney and winning their lone bubble matchup against the Celtics.

As the No. 5 seed in the East, the Heat will enter as the “road” team against either the No. 2 Raptors or No. 3 Celtics. However, with all games played on the neutral courts of Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex, such homecourt advantage is removed. The only spectators allowed are a limited amount of friends and families of the teams.

“It just gets harder from here,” center Kelly Olynyk said of either of the Heat’s potential opponents.

In disposing of the Bucks, who had the best record in the NBA this season, Heat sent the entire NBA a loud message, that they’re as much of a championship contender as any squad in the league.

Yes, Playoff Rondo exists

Yes, Playoff Rondo does exist. Here’s the OC Register diving into the hot-button, room-dividing topic:

He doesn’t always arrive on time, so he’s not like Santa Claus. But he’s not so rarely glimpsed as Bigfoot.

So it’s hard to find the perfect match among mythic characters for Playoff Rondo — most importantly because he’s not mythical at all…

“It’s real: Playoff Rondo is real,” Anthony Davis said. “His intensity picks up, he wants to guard the best perimeter guy. We see he guards James and Russ sometimes, he wants to… on the floor he’s shooting the ball very well, making the right passes, so his IQ is on another level.”

Historically, Rondo has distaste when people point out the difference between his regular season persona and who he is in the playoffs. But there’s a definitive gulf: His scoring, assists and net rating all rise in his playoff career versus his regular season career. He’s tied for fourth on the postseason triple-doubles list (10), and two of the four guys ahead of him are on the Lakers sideline.

But to really appreciate Playoff Rondo, you have to examine where he really shines. Looking at his Game 3 dimes, it’s telling to see how they came: off verticality, like the two times Davis spun off of his man, and Rondo delivered a picture perfect lay-up. They also came on cuts, like a bounce pass to a driving Kyle Kuzma in the fourth quarter that was close to a clinching basket.

Rondo has played in three playoff games so for in 2020 for the Lakers, all in the current round against the Rockets, for an average of 13.0 points and 7.3 assists per outing.

2020 NBA draft may take place in November instead of October

The NBA draft usually takes place in late June, but due to the coronavirus pandemic it was tentatively pushed back to October. But now reportedly may take place in November. Here’s the Bay Area News Group reporting:

The Warriors will have to wait to make the No. 2 pick in the upcoming NBA draft, as the league plans to delay the current Oct. 16 date by as much as a month.

Sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that the NBA informed teams Wednesday that the draft will be pushed back, potentially to Nov. 18, though negotiations between the league and Players’ Association are ongoing. A decision could be made as soon as this week.

Pushing the date of the draft back from Oct. 16 allows the league more time to hold a virtual combine, and for teams to gather crucial information on this draft class. It also allows the NBA to formulate a potential start date for next season — which Commissioner Adam Silver said won’t be Dec. 1 as initially intended after the league went on hiatus — and for the NBA and NBAPA to negotiate a new salary cap for 2020-21.

A guess is that the 2020-21 NBA regular season may start in late December, but we won’t be surprised at all if it tips off a bit later.

But, there’s no reason to think too much about that right now. We’re in the playoffs. The Eastern conference No. 1 seed Bucks got eliminated yesterday. And the Raptors are playing a must-win game against the Celtics in a few hours. Enjoy the action.

Official 2019-20 NBA All-Defensive Teams

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, the 2019-20 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year, leads the 2019-20 NBA All-Defensive First Team, the NBA announced today.

Antetokounmpo received 97 NBA All-Defensive First Team votes from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters and earned 195 total points. This marks the second straight NBA All-Defensive First Team selection for Antetokounmpo, who also made the Second Team in 2016-17.

Joining Antetokounmpo on the 2019-20 NBA All-Defensive First Team are Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (187 points; 87 First Team votes), Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons (185 points; 88 First Team votes), Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (180 points; 85 First Team votes) and Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart (152 points; 57 First Team votes).

Davis, who finished in second place for the 2019-20 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, has been named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team for the second time to go with two Second Team honors. This is the fourth consecutive NBA All-Defensive First Team selection for Gobert, the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Smart has been selected to the First Team for the second season in a row. Simmons is a First Team choice in his NBA All-Defensive Team debut.

The 2019-20 NBA All-Defensive Second Team consists of LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (128 points), Bucks center Brook Lopez (67), Miami Heat forward Bam Adebayo (61), Clippers guard Patrick Beverley (60) and Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe (59).

Leonard has been named to the NBA All-Defensive Team (First Team and Second Team) for the sixth time. This is the third NBA All-Defensive Team selection for Beverley and the second for Bledsoe. Adebayo and Lopez join Simmons as first-time selections to the NBA All-Defensive Team.

With the selection of Antetokounmpo to the NBA All-Defensive First Team and Lopez and Bledsoe to the Second Team, the Bucks are the first team to have at least three players named to the NBA All-Defensive Team since the Memphis Grizzlies in 2012-13 (Tony Allen, Mike Conley and Marc Gasol).

Players were awarded two points for each vote to the NBA All-Defensive First Team and one point for each vote to the Second Team. Voters selected two guards, two forwards and one center for each team, choosing players at the position they play regularly. Players who received votes at multiple positions were slotted at the position at which they received the most votes.

The voting was conducted based on regular-season games played through March 11. The seeding games, which were played July 30 – Aug. 14 as part of the 2019-20 season restart, did not count toward voting for the NBA All-Defensive Team or the league’s other traditional end-of-season awards.

Oklahoma City Thunder and head coach Billy Donovan part ways

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Billy Donovan have mutually agreed to part ways, the club announced today.

According to the Oklahoman, “Donovan’s contract expired at the end of the season as the Thunder fell to the Rockets in the first round of the playoffs.”

“I have great respect for Billy and will always appreciate our work together. He is a terrific basketball coach and we are proud of what he has accomplished with the Thunder,” said Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager, Sam Presti. “We had planned to sit down at the end of the season and discuss the best way to move forward for both of us. After those discussions, it became apparent that we couldn’t provide him the information on the future direction of the team over the next several seasons to give him the level of clarity that he understandably desires at this stage of his career. Therefore, we close this chapter and reflect fondly on all that he has given to the team, organization and community. Billy will always have a place in the Thunder family.”

More from the Oklahoman: “Veterans like Chris Paul, Dennis Schroder and Steven Adams remain on the roster, but their futures with the organization are uncertain. Danilo Gallinari is set to enter free agency.”

Donovan was named the head coach of the Thunder on April 30, 2015 after serving the previous 19 years at the University of Florida. Over the past five seasons as the head coach of the Thunder, Donovan led the team to a 243-157 record (.608), resulting in playoff appearances in each season at the helm.

“Coaching the Oklahoma City Thunder the past five seasons has been a great honor, and I thank Mr. Bennett, Sam and the entire organization for the opportunity,” said Billy Donovan. “I have a great respect and admiration for the players I coached in Oklahoma, and I also want to thank the coaches I worked with, who gave unbelievable time and expertise to our common goal. Lastly, I want to thank the Oklahoma City community for being so welcoming to my family during our time here. This place will always be special to us. I will always hold this organization in the highest regard and wish the Thunder and their fans the success they deserve.”

“Billy Donovan will be remembered fondly for his personal integrity and professionalism during his time as our head coach,” said Thunder Chairman, Clayton I. Bennet. “We wish him and his family nothing but the best.”

Suns reportedly adding Brian Randle to coaching staff

Here’s the Arizona Republic reporting that Brian Randle is being hired by the Phoenix Suns:

Randle served as player development coach with Minnesota Timberwolves this past 2019-20 season.

A former player at Illinois (2003-08), Randle initially joined the Timberwolves as an assistant video coordinator for the 2018-19 season after playing 10 seasons overseas.

Our only thought on the Suns right now is, they really did go 8-0 in the NBA bubble, and we look forward to seeing them play next season.

A look at NBA draft prospect Anthony Edwards

Here’s the San Jose Mercury News with a look at top NBA draft prospect Anthony Edwards. The Warriors have the No. 2 pick in the upcoming draft, so of course they’ll have familiarized themselves with Edwards:

Before Anthony Edwards began his lone season at Georgia, head coach Tom Crean sat down with the freshman and told the 18-year-old that he would be entrusting him with the offense, but that he had to become more consistent and efficient.

A year later, Edwards leaves Georgia as one of the nation’s highest scoring freshmen and among the most productive in program history — but he was dogged by inconsistency. Despite those struggles, Edwards, now 19, is considered a potential No. 1 overall pick because of his 6-foot-5, 225 pound frame, unique skill set and ability to put up eye-popping numbers.

Scouts and draft analysts can point to Edwards’ production (19.1 points per game) as evidence that he can develop into a go-to scorer at the NBA level, but his efficiency numbers (40.2% overall and 29.4% on 7.7 3-pointers per game) raise questions about whether or not he can be impactful in a lesser role as a rookie.

Some top prospects in the 2020 draft include Edwards, LaMelo Ball and James Wiseman. There are obviously other names worth mentioning but we’ll get into that in other posts.

The Warriors are in a great position, having a top lottery selection available to them despite having an already super-competitive roster that had major health issues last season but should be fine and of playoff caliber going forward.

Raptors coach Nick Nurse says team needs more energy

The Raptors weren’t competitive yesterday in their Game 5 loss to the Celtics. Here’s the Toronto Star reporting what head coach Nick Nurse had to say:

“I think a lot of this game, in general, has to do with … energy and rhythm,” coach Nick Nurse said Tuesday. “It’s kind of hard to explain how we don’t have a little bit more energy (in Monday’s 111-89 loss), and it’s even probably harder to explain how we don’t have it in Game 1 of the series.

“The energy has got to be there. I think when we do bring the energy, we’re right there, we’re supercompetitive for sure, and look great.”

Strategically, it’s easy to pinpoint what the Raptors need. They could use more offence from Marc Gasol — “It’s not like we need 25 from him, but we need him to chip in with some, just because there’s opportunities there for him,” said Nurse — and a huge offensive game from Pascal Siakam would be a blessing.

The Raptors got off to a shockingly miserable start yesterday, falling behind 25-11 after one quarter and then getting outscored by seven points in the second quarter. Their play in the second half was solid, but no big comeback was launched, and then lost by a final score of 111-89.

The big winner in the game was Boston’s defense. Toronto shot horribly, both in two-point and three-point range.

We’ll see if the team can come out of the gates hot at the start of Game 6 tomorrow.