Frustration over his hamstring injury led Magic forward Aaron Gordon to leave the Orlando campus, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets. “He’s so frustrated because there were days when he felt good and looked like he might be close to playing, and (then) he can’t run, can’t sprint,” coach Steve Clifford said. “And every time he tried to amp it up and do more, he was just never all that close.”
We have more from the Eastern Conference:
- Wizards GM Tommy Sheppard vows not to embrace any short-term fixes in his quest to build a true contender, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. “There’s no shortcuts to anywhere we’re going to,” Sheppard said. “That’s the hardest thing is to step back and look at a team and say ‘Hey, there’s ways we can probably artificially inflate this team up’ and grab a couple players and get a couple more wins and feel a little bit better at the end of the year. But is that really about winning at a really large scale, and where we want this to be?”
- Sheppard would still like to see progress in the form of a playoff berth next season and he hopes the team’s top pick will help them get there, Fred Katz of The Athletic writes. Washington didn’t move up in the lottery and will have the No. 9 overall pick. “Next year, we don’t want to rely on the draft lottery to get better,” Sheppard said. He’s also willing to move up the draft, possibly by packaging the lottery pick the second-rounder it owns at No. 37 overall, Hughes tweets.
- The safest route for the Bulls to go with the No. 4 pick would be a small forward, either Deni Avdija or Isaac Okoro, to eventually replace Otto Porter Jr., Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times opines. Cowley explores various options regarding the pick in his article.
Bulls take Deni or Okoro. Then they have to sign a PG. Even one for two yrs. Conley is available, Drajic, VanVleet. Rumors are Ball is available. Payton will be available. Rozier was shopped last yr. Dinwiddie is out there. They are much better with a real PG.
Conley isn’t going to be available. There’s no way he doesn’t pick up his player option at north of $34 million
I thought he was FA. You right about that.$$$$
I doubt Porter is so horrible. He’s just been overpaid. Probably he would like to get out too.
Otto Porter is not only overpaid, he’s constantly injured and therefore unreliable. Same with Hutchison, who has shown flashes and could be a decent addition but he just can’t stay healthy.
I’m not sold on any player in this draft and surely don’t want to gamble on Ball, especially if we want to have a closer at LaVine and White together. I would love us to sign a veteran point guard for a a couple of years, to figure things out. Conley would be a fantastic addition to mentor this young team.
Would be a terrible pick for the Bulls at 4. There are 5 top talents in this draft Wiseman Toppin Edwards Ball and Haliburton. After that there is a big fall off and if you have a top 5 pick you have to go with talent over need.
Wiseman is a reach in the top 5. Could be another Greg Oden.
Wiseman is a beast just never got to showcase it at college cause he got kicked out. He’s going to be legit. I can see him being a future all star
I put Okongwu in there too. Wiseman is for real I agree. You can’t teach size. Size with big time talent. Is very rare. I’m pretty sure someone will try and trade with Warriors. To get Wiseman.
Only 2 top talents, Wiseman & Ball, after that I would pick Avdija at #3
Ball is only in the top 5 due to the weakness of this draft….I don’t think there’s any future cornerstones here. Just good role players and support to other stars.
Nah no way Anthony Edwards is going to be a future all star.
I’d have to rank them Wiseman Edwards both future all stars, Ball who knows could be multiple all star or could be trash
3 players won’t make it to top 5
Okoro – can’t shoot and can’t pass
Haliburton – too thin
Toppin – too experienced
I like Deni and Okoro. Okoro is already NBA size. He’s already a playmaker. Its his shot that needs work. He’s unselfish so he will learn. His mechanics are fine. Deni too has to get his shot going. Both very young man. Deni is bigger. Both team players. Both will be solid pros imo.