- Free agent point guard Isaiah Taylor is working out for the Nuggets in Denver this week, league sources tell Harrison Wind of BSN Denver (Twitter link). After spending the 2017/18 season with Atlanta, Taylor was pushing for a spot on Cleveland’s roster last fall when he suffered a stress fracture in his leg and was subsequently waived. Now healthy, Taylor has also worked out for the Suns and Celtics, according to Wind.
Team USA officially issued an update on injured Celtics forward Jayson Tatum this morning, confirming in a press release that Tatum suffered a left ankle sprain during the club’s tense win over Turkey on Tuesday, as Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press tweets.
Tatum has been ruled out for Team USA’s next two games. He’ll miss Thursday’s matchup against Japan and Saturday’s contest against a to-be-determined opponent before being re-evaluated on Monday. If the 21-year-old is deemed ready to return at that point, he could play in Monday’s game, but it’s possible he’ll be sidelined a little longer.
Tatum’s injury occurred when he rolled his left ankle during the final seconds of overtime in USA’s 93-92 victory on Tuesday, but it looked worse than it was — after the game, he was walking under his own power and telling reporters that he already felt better, which is good news for the Celtics.
Team USA’s game against Japan on Thursday will have no impact on their standing in the tournament, since the squad has already qualified for second-round play. However, the club would certainly like to have Tatum back in its lineup for the last two games in the round-of-16, if possible.
USA will be part of a second-round group that also includes Brazil. The winners of tomorrow’s Czech Republic/Turkey and Greece/New Zealand showdowns will fill out the group. The game that Tatum misses on Saturday will be against one of those five teams.
Jayson Tatum rolled his left ankle in the final seconds of Team USA’s nail-biter of a win over Turkey today, but the injury – diagnosed as an ankle sprain – doesn’t appear to be serious. The Celtics forward texted head coach Brad Stevens and told him as much about 20 minutes after suffering the injury, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.
Tatum later addressed reporters in China, including Joe Vardon of The Athletic and ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (Twitter links), and said he was already feeling better. The 21-year-old was walking under his own power and didn’t have much of a limp, according to reports, which is great news for the Celtics.
It remains to be seen whether Tatum’s World Cup run is over. We should know more by Wednesday, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if USA Basketball plays it safe with the young forward, sending him back stateside to focus on getting healthy for his upcoming season with the Celtics.
Team USA survived a scare on Tuesday in Shanghai, narrowly pulling out a 93-92 win vs. Turkey in overtime and securing a spot in the second round of the 2019 World Cup. The Turkish team missed four free throws in the final minute of the game, opening the door for the USA Basketball squad to seal the victory.
Having defeated the Czech Republic and Turkey, Team USA will take a 2-0 record into its final first-round matchup against 0-2 Japan. The top two teams in each group move on to the round of 16, so even if Japan pulls off an extremely unlikely upset in Thursday’s game, Team USA would advance. The winner of Thursday’s Czech Republic/Turkey contest will also secure a spot in the second round.
Although they held off a strong push from Turkey, it wasn’t all good news for Team USA today. Jayson Tatum was forced out of action in the game’s final minute after rolling his left ankle, as a video from Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston shows.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst tweets that the official word on Tatum is a left ankle sprain. The Celtics forward will be re-evaluated on Wednesday, at which point we should have a better idea of whether or not we’ll see him suit up again in China.
Meanwhile, Team Canada was eliminated from medal contention on Tuesday after falling to Lithuania by a 92-69 margin. Canada, which lost to Australia on Sunday, is one of the only countries that theoretically features enough NBA players to fill out an entire 12-man squad. However, only two NBA players – Cory Joseph and Khem Birch – participated in the World Cup and Nick Nurse‘s squad couldn’t keep up with Australia and Lithuania in Group H.
Canada will enter the classification round along with the other 15 teams eliminated from the World Cup in round one. Those games will still be important, since Canada will have to finish between 17th and 23rd to clinch a spot in next summer’s Olympics qualifying tournament. A finish below 23rd would ensure the program doesn’t participate in the 2020 Olympics.
- Although he’s a member of the Celtics now, forward Gordon Hayward is a product of Indiana and is on the short list of humans most capable of understanding the thought process behind Andrew Luck’s decision to retire from the NFL. “It sucks; you feel isolated,” Hayward, no stranger to extensive rehabilitation, told A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports. “It feels like a job because you’re not getting to do the fun parts of it. And you always have those [thoughts], ‘What if I’m not the same player?’ You have to bottle that and just focus on the present … I understand exactly where [Luck is] coming from.“
We’re just two days away from FIBA’s 2019 World Cup officially tipping off, and more national teams have officially set their 12-man rosters for the event, including a pair of countries whose squads will feature multiple NBA players.
Team Germany made its final cut this week, dropping Wizards youngster Isaac Bonga from its roster. Even without Bonga on the team, there are plenty of familiar faces for NBA fans — Dennis Schroder (Thunder), Daniel Theis (Celtics), and Maxi Kleber (Mavericks) will represent Germany in this year’s tournament.
The Italian national team, meanwhile, will be led by Thunder forward Danilo Gallinari and Spurs sharpshooter Marco Belinelli. Former NBA forward Gigi Datome and 2014 second-round pick Alessandro Gentile are also part of Italy’s squad.
Here are more details on teams that have established their 12-man World Cup rosters:
- Former Knicks and Nuggets forward Renaldo Balkman, ex-Mavericks shooting guard Gian Clavell, and current Kings camp invitee Isaiah Pineiro are among the players on Puerto Rico’s team for the World Cup, per FIBA.
- No current NBA players are on the Chinese or Russian World Cup rosters, but Yi Jianlian and Zhou Qi are among the former NBAers representing China, while former Cavaliers and Nets wing Sergey Karasev is leading Russia’s squad.
- Cote d’Ivoire also announced its 2019 World Cup roster, as FIBA relays. It doesn’t feature any NBA players.
Trey Burke may have just a partially guaranteed training camp contract with the Sixers, but he’s overflowing with confidence that he can win a roster spot, relays Marc Narducci of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The 26-year-old guard is expected to battle fellow free agent addition Raul Neto for playing time behind Ben Simmons and possibly a place on the team. However, Burke envisions a much larger role for himself.
“I think throughout stretches of the game we (Burke and Simmons) can play together and I can be out there with the starting lineup at times,” he told reporters. “That is the competitor in Trey Burke. That is who I am and what I bring to Philadelphia.”
Burke – whose minimum-salary contract reportedly has a $405K partial guarantee – hasn’t enjoyed a consistent role like that since his second season in the league. He was been with four teams in the past four years, splitting last season between the Knicks and Mavericks.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Celtics signed Enes Kanter with the expectation that he will shoot more from the perimeter, writes Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Kanter’s first step was to get together with Gordon Hayward, whom he played with in Utah, and a few more of his new teammates. “When I was in Boston, I played with (Hayward) in two-on-two action and I feel like he’s gained more confidence,” Kanter said. “When he played, he wasn’t scared of anything. It was me, Gordon, Jaylen Brown and Tacko (Fall). I was guarding Tacko. He’s good, man, and I love him. His personality is amazing, real good character. He’s a hard worker. I’m definitely really excited to play with him.”
- Kanter made an appeal for someone to sign Carmelo Anthony during an appearance Wednesday morning on FOX Sports 1’s “First Things First” (Twitter link). “So you’re telling me a guy like ‘Melo can’t make a 15-man roster on 30 teams? It’s definitely crazy,” Kanter said. “Melo belongs in the NBA and he can still get 15-20 points.”
- Malachi Richardson will play in Israel this season, but he tells Ben Stinar of Amico Hoops that he hasn’t given up on his NBA dream. “I think I just have to show teams who I am,” he said. “Just being able to go and play and just showing, ‘OK, this is why he was a first-round pick.’” Richardson played 22 games for the Raptors last season before being traded at the deadline to the Sixers, who waived him the next day.
The Lithuanian national team has announced its roster for the 2019 World Cup, according to Donatas Urbonas, who tweets that the 12-man squad will include Grizzlies center Jonas Valanciunas and Pacers big man Domantas Sabonis in the frontcourt. Former Knicks forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas is also on the roster.
Lithuania is viewed as a contender to make a deep run in this year’s tournament, but it won’t have an easy path to even make it out of the first round. The Lithuanian national team is part of a group that also includes Australia, Canada, and Senegal — only two of those clubs will advance to the round of 16.
Here’s more on the 2019 World Cup, which will tip off in just four days in China:
- Speaking of Team Canada, head coach Nick Nurse said after the team’s exhibition loss to Team USA on Monday that he still expects Kings point guard Cory Joseph to join the squad in China for the World Cup itself (video link via Olgun Uluc of FOX Sports Australia). “As far as I know, he is,” Nurse said. “I exchanged a text with him a little earlier today and he said he was getting on a plane [on Tuesday]. He said he’d see me there.”
- Nigeria has set its 12-man roster for the World Cup, as Emiliano Carchia of Sportando relays. Josh Okogie (Timberwolves), Al-Farouq Aminu (Magic), Chimezie Metu (Spurs), Ekpe Udoh, and Ike Diogu are among the current and former NBA players representing Nigeria.
- Team France’s 12-man roster for the 2019 World Cup features plenty of familiar NBA names too, including Rudy Gobert (Jazz), Nicolas Batum (Hornets), Evan Fournier (Magic), and Frank Ntilikina (Knicks). New Celtics center Vincent Poirier and former NBA players like Nando De Colo and Axel Toupane made the team as well.
- Venezuela’s national team also announced its 12-man World Cup roster.
- Without a “proven bailout option” to score crucial buckets in big moments, Team USA doesn’t have a significant margin of error in this year’s World Cup, opines ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
Recent developments have boosted the stock of Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown, as Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston points out.
An already watered down free agent class for next summer took another hit when the Nets signed Caris LeVert to an extension on Monday. Brown will be a restricted free agent if, as anticipated, the Celtics extend a $8,573,696 qualifying offer after the upcoming season.
They can try to reach a rookie scale extension agreement with Brown prior to 2019/20’s opening night, though the price tag would likely be significantly higher than the three-year, $52.5MM offer that LeVert accepted. As Forsberg notes, Brown is two years younger and doesn’t have an injury history, unlike LeVert.
Brown has also excelled with Team USA during exhibitions prior to the FIBA World Cup. He’s averaging nearly 12 points a game while shooting 71.4% from the field. He’s third on the team in scoring behind Kemba Walker and Donovan Mitchell.
Brown had already shown a knack for increasing his production when the stakes are high. In the NBA playoffs the past two seasons, Brown averaged 18.0 PPG and 4.8 RPG in 2017/18 and 13.9 PPG and 5.8 RPG in 2018/19.
If Brown has a solid season in 2019/20, he might get a giant offer sheet from a team that views him as a major piece to their puzzle. The Celtics would then have to decide whether to match it, having already invested heavily in Walker and knowing Jayson Tatum‘s potential free agency is just around the corner.
Since the price tag on Brown is probably already high, there isn’t much risk for the Celtics to allow Brown to test restricted free agency, Forsberg adds.
NBA teams have now completed the brunt of their offseason work, with the draft and free agency practically distant memories. Still, with training camps more than a month away, many clubs around the league have at least one or two outstanding issues they’ve yet to address.
Over the next week, we’ll be looking at all 30 NBA teams, separating them by division and checking in on a key outstanding question that each club still needs to answer before the 2019/20 regular season begins.
We’re starting today with the Atlantic division, so let’s dive right in…
Boston Celtics
How will the Celtics’ World Cup contingent respond to the experience?
Six Celtics players are set to represent their respective countries at the 2019 World Cup in China, starting this weekend, including four for Team USA.
Boston’s top priority will be making sure that Kemba Walker (USA), Jayson Tatum (USA), Marcus Smart (USA), Jaylen Brown (USA), Vincent Poirier (France), and Daniel Theis (Germany) make it through the tournament healthy. But the team will also be curious to see how its international contingent performs in China and is affected by the experience.
A strong World Cup showing for a player like Poirier or Theis could increase his confidence heading into the 2019/20 season and put him in position to take on a more prominent rotation role. Meanwhile, a run at a gold medal could help the Team USA group develop the kind of on- and off-court chemistry that last year’s Celtics never quite had.
Brooklyn Nets
What’s next for second-round pick Jaylen Hands?
One of just four second-round picks who remains unsigned, Hands doesn’t project to be part of the Nets‘ regular season roster for 2019/20. The club already has 15 players on fully guaranteed contracts and is unlikely to cut one of its veterans for the No. 56 overall pick.
The logical place for Hands to begin his career would be in one of Brooklyn’s two-way contract slots, where he’d spend much of his rookie season developing his game with the Long Island Nets in the G League. Henry Ellenson currently occupies one of the Nets’ two-way slots, but the other one is open.
Still, there were rumblings that Brooklyn had interest in Ron Baker as a potential two-way player before he headed overseas. And if the Nets had that second two-way slot earmarked for Hands, it seems like the two sides would have completed a deal by now. It’s still possible that he’ll end up on a two-way deal, but it’s far from a certainty — we should find it in the coming weeks what the team has in mind for the rookie out of UCLA.
New York Knicks
Does Frank Ntilikina have a place in the Knicks’ plans?
NBA teams have completed a total of 43 trades so far this offseason, but not one of them involved Ntilikina, who was among the league’s most frequently cited trade candidates heading into the summer.
The Knicks didn’t land the star free agents they were hoping for, but they reshaped their roster with a series of veteran signings in early July, jettisoning all of their own free agents. As New York goes through a transition period, it remains to be seen whether the club will recommit to finding out what it has in Ntilikina or whether his inevitable departure has just been delayed.
Shortly after the regular season begins, the Knicks will have to decide whether or not to exercise Ntilikina’s fourth-year option for 2020/21. But if the club revisits the trade market this fall, it’s possible another team will be making that decision on the the former lottery pick.
Philadelphia 76ers
Do the Sixers plan on making Trey Burke their 15th man?
Currently, the Sixers have 14 players on fully guaranteed contracts, leaving a potential spot open on the team’s projected 15-man regular season roster. However, that count doesn’t include Burke, whose salary for 2019/20 is said to be partially guaranteed.
Although Burke appears likely to be Philadelphia’s 15th man, the specifics on his deal remain a question mark — if his partial guarantee isn’t significant, he’s not necessarily a lock to make the team.
The 76ers signed Raul Neto as a backup this offseason and may rely on Shake Milton to play a larger role behind Ben Simmons as well. If the team determines that it has a more pressing need at another position, perhaps it brings in someone else to fill that 15th and final roster spot.
Toronto Raptors
Will Pascal Siakam or Kyle Lowry sign an extension?
The Raptors have two of the more intriguing extension candidates in the NBA, as Siakam and Lowry each project to be top-10 free agents on the 2020 market if they don’t get new deals before then.
Lowry, who is eligible for a veteran extension, recently said that he’d “love” to sign a new deal to remain in Toronto rather than reaching unrestricted free agency next summer. It’s unclear whether he and the club will see eye-to-eye on his value though as his 34th birthday nears.
As for Siakam, he’s among the top candidates for a rookie scale extension. However, given the dearth of talent on the 2020 free agent market, he may only be willing to ink a new deal if he gets a max salary or something close to it — after all, he can reasonably expect to get offers in that range next summer if he continues to improve.
Siakam will certainly be a part of the Raptors’ long-term future. Since we can’t definitively say the same about Lowry, the up-and-coming forward is probably more likely to be extended within the next couple months than the veteran guard.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.