Orlando Magic reportedly lay off 31 full-time employees

Here’s the Orlando Sentinel reporting that dozens of Magic employees recently lost their jobs:

The Orlando Magic acknowledged Saturday the organization has laid off 31 full-time employees from a staff of about 300 workers.

Magic CEO Alex Martins said in a statement that the franchise, like many organizations across the country, had to take cost-cutting measures due to the adverse financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The layoffs were first reported by The Athletic.

“Our business, as well as many others like us, are significantly impacted due to COVID-19. We have had to make some very difficult business decisions in these unprecedented times. Due to this reality we have had to make the very hard decision to evaluate our overall structure, reorganize and reduce our headcount,” Martins wrote…

In mid-March, the Magic ownership group — the DeVos family — funded a $2 million compensation package to pay 1,800 hourly workers for the Magic, Amway Center, Lakeland Magic and Orlando Solar Bears for remaining regular-season games those part-time employees otherwise would have worked.

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Magic forward Gary Clark knows fishing

Orlando Magic forward Gary Clark obviously knows basketball. But when it’s time to go fishing, he’s ready to shine. Here’s the Orlando Sentinel reporting:

Clark said he recently caught his biggest bass ever during the coronavirus shutdown.

“It was actually during quarantine, I was at my grandpa’s house and I caught like an 8½-pound bass,” Clark said of the fish he caught in Angier, N.C. “It’s in my freezer right now, still waiting for it to get mounted.”

His grandparents have some land near Angier and he likes to fish on their property whenever he gets a chance.

“[During quarantine] I’d go down there every weekend to see my grandpa and my grandmother,” said Clark, who lives near Wake Forest University. “It’s about 40 minutes from Raleigh. … They have a pond on their land where they live on and nobody’s ever fished it because it’s private property.

“The fish after that, I had, I was actually scared of what was on the other end of the line because it was pulling so hard. It was one of those moments when I was like, ‘Is this a beaver or what’s going on?’ … I was terrified. It had to be bigger than my 8½-pound bass, but I lost it right at the bank.”

Enjoy the fishing content while you can. Because by next week, the main focus at the Disney NBA restart campus will be team scrimmages. And in just 1.5 weeks, actual real game action will resume.

Lance Thomas happy for opportunity with Nets at NBA restart

The Nets, with much of their top talent unavailable for the upcoming NBA restart, recently added forward Lance Thomas. Here’s the New York Post reporting:

The 32-year-old Thomas is thrilled to have the opportunity. The defensive-minded forward spent training camp with the Nets, but he was waived on Oct. 18. Nobody picked him up following four seasons with the Knicks. He stayed mostly at home in his New York City apartment due to the virus until June, but stayed in shape and had recently been working out at the NBAPA’s gym…

“Me, personally, I’m going to just be tenacious,” Thomas said. “Make open shots, do whatever the team needs me to do, probably guard the other team’s best player, do things that got me into the league, things that I enjoy doing. … I play the hand I’m dealt. I think myself being a player who’s been in the league you learn how to quickly adapt to any situation. Again, I’m ready for whatever comes my way.”

Thomas helps add depth, but the team’s likely biggest need may be scoring. But points may be hard to come by. Look for Nets shooting guard Caris LeVert, by far the best bucket-producer on the team who will be active during the league restart, to have a serious green light.

Steve Kerr discusses the past Warriors season

The Warriors had a rough season in 2019-20. And yes, that’s putting it very mildly. But, had Stephen Curry been active all season? Things still would have been tough, says head coach Steve Kerr. Here’s NBC Sports Bay Area reporting:

When 95.7 The Game’s Damon Bruce asked Kerr what Golden State’s season would’ve looked like with Curry healthy the whole year, Kerr said the Warriors still would’ve faced an uphill climb into contention.

“Well to be honest, I think it still would’ve been a struggle, Damon,” Kerr said on “Damon, Ratto & Kolsky.” “I think there were just too many factors that were going against us. Obviously, we would’ve won a lot more games. Steph is so talented that he would’ve undoubtedly won plenty of games on his own.”

Curry, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney and Jacob Evans were the only Warriors who dressed in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals and in the first game of the 2019-20 regular season. The Warriors had seven new players in their opening-night lineup, aside from Damion Lee, who played 32 games with Golden State during the previous regular season but none in the playoffs.

The Warriors still have a lot of work to do in free agency this coming offseason. Their frontcourt is thin and their bench is limited. On paper, they should be a good team in 2020-21. Certainly a playoff team. But as for contending for a championship, roster moves need to happen.

Nets sign Justin Anderson as Substitute Player for NBA restart

The Brooklyn Nets have signed guard/forward Justin Anderson as a Substitute Player for the remainder of the 2019-20 NBA season.

The Nets are incredibly short-handed going into the NBA restart, which tips off July 30 at the single-location NBA campus at Disney Wide World of Sports in Florida, with 22 participating teams.

Anderson (6’5”, 231) was previously signed to a 10-day contract with Brooklyn on Jan. 6 and appeared in three games. He also saw action in 16 games (14 starts) this season with Brooklyn’s NBA G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, averaging a team-high 20.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.0 steals in 33.6 minutes per game en route to All-NBA G League Third Team honors.

The Montross, Va., native has appeared in 219 games across five NBA seasons with Dallas (2015-17), Philadelphia (2017-18), Atlanta (2018-19) and Brooklyn (2020), recording averages of 5.3 points and 2.5 rebounds in 13.1 minutes per contest. He has also seen action in 38 career NBA G League games, registering averages of 21.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.0 steals in 34.5 minutes per game.

With a 30-34 record, the Nets sit 7th in the Eastern conference, above the 8th place Magic and 9th place Wizards. Although Orlando is a healthy squad, the Wizards are without backcourt stars John Wall and Bradley Beal. The Nets face a tough road during the “seeding games” they’ll be playing, but the Wizards, who are 5.5 games out of the 8th spot, face an incredibly difficult task.

Anderson was originally selected by the Mavericks with the 21st pick in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft following a three-year (2012-15) collegiate career at the University of Virginia. While playing for the Cavaliers, Anderson earned National Basketball Coaches Association All-America Third Team honors and was named to the All-ACC Second Team as a junior. He was also named the ACC Sixth Man of the Year by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association as a sophomore.

Raptors coach Nick Nurse pondering alternate ‘jumbo’ lineup

Alternate lineups can often come in handy when the situation calls for some innovation. And it’s always best to work such things out before the playoffs begin. Here’s the Toronto Star reporting on Raptors head coach Nick Nurse and possible lineup experiments that we may see once NBA play resumes July 30:

Nurse isn’t going to get into specifics but it’s pretty certain there will be different looks. Even before this portion of training began he was intrigued by a “jumbo” lineup that would include OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol with one of Kyle Lowry or Fred VanVleet. And he’ll toy with tweaks to existing plays, all done with plenty of practice time to get them ingrained into the players.

“We are certainly going to add some things,” he said. “I would say our late-game special situations, we will look at some additions there. A lot of it is just kind of building from what’s there. Doing stuff that looks similar but there’s a counter to it or maybe an addition or maybe moving the pieces around a little bit … Your set looks like something is coming and it changes from what maybe they thought was coming and you get an open look.”

The Raptors were an Eastern conference second-best 47-18 when play was put on hold back in March. They’re the reigning NBA champions. And have no plans to go out without a fight.

NBA news: Wizards sign Jarrod Uthoff as Substitute Player

The Washington Wizards today signed forward Jarrod Uthoff (pronounced “YOU-toff”) as a substitute player for the remainder of the 2019-20 season.

Uthoff (6-9, 221) spent most of the season with the Memphis Hustle (the Grizzlies’ G League affiliate), where he appeared in 34 games (all starts) and averaged 18.9 points, 10.7 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks in 34.9 minutes. The 26-year-old was also named to the Western Conference Midseason All-NBA G League Team in February. Uthoff saw limited action in four games with the Memphis Grizzlies after signing a 10-day contract on Feb. 27.

His previous NBA stop included a nine-game stint with the Dallas Mavericks during the 2016-17 season, where he averaged 4.4 points and 2.4 rebounds in 12.8 minutes. Uthoff originally went undrafted out of the University of Iowa in 2016, where he was named to the All-Big Ten First Team as a senior.

Zion Williamson leaves NBA Disney restart campus to attend family matter

Pelicans rookie forward Zion Williamson departed Orlando this morning to attend to an urgent family medical matter. He intends to rejoin the team in Orlando for the NBA restart at a later date.

“We fully support Zion’s decision to leave the NBA campus to be with his family,” said Pelicans Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin. “Out of respect for the Williamson family, we will have no further comment at this time.”

Spurs forward Trey Lyles out for remainder of season

San Antonio Spurs forward Trey Lyles underwent an appendectomy earlier today in Orlando, Fla.

In his first year with San Antonio, Lyles averaged 6.4 points to go along with a career-high 5.7 rebounds while shooting a career-best .387 from the three-point line. The fifth-year forward had appeared in all 63 games thus far and made 53 starts.

Lyles will miss the remainder of the 2019-20 season.

With knee health in mind, Celtics being cautious with Kemba Walker

NBA play has been on hold since March 11, but the Celtics are still playing it safe with Kemba Walker, whose knee had been giving him issues before the shutdown. Over four months have since passed, but the team is still being cautious. Here’s the Boston Herald reporting:

For now, it sounds a lot like the regular season, when rest and maintenance for the point guard’s balky left knee was a focus after the All-Star break.

As such, Walker is on what Brad Stevens calls a one-day on, one-day off schedule, with him missing Wednesday’s practice. Instead, Walker ran through an intense session on Tuesday when the rest of the team was off.

“He did a harder workout on the off-day, so they’ve got him on a one-day off, one-day on plan,” said the Celtics coach. “He did a lot of running yesterday, shooting. He’s shooting a little bit right now. He’s reacted great, his knee feels good, and that’s a good thing. He’s really prioritizing accumulating strength in that knee, so the day-on, day-off thing will be in effect for awhile.”

The Bucks were looking like the best team in the Eastern conference (and NBA) this season prior to play stoppage, but the Celtics are one of seelct few teams that should be able to put up a serious battle should they meet Milwaukee in the playoffs. It’s definitely a concern that Kemba’s knee might still be an issue.