- Rod Boone of the Charlotte Observer asked experts and officials around the NBA for their input on the Hornets, who rank eighth in the East at 17-17. Charlotte has played 22 games on the road (9-13) and just 12 games at home (8-4) this season.
The league continues to be ravaged by COVID positives with an increasing number of players entering the league’s health and safety protocols. Here are the latest updates:
- Warriors star forward Draymond Green has entered the protocols, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Green joined four other Warriors in the protocols heading into a pair of games against Denver.
- The Grizzlies’ Dillon Brooks, De’Anthony Melton and Yves Pons all entered the protocols prior to their game against Sacramento on Sunday, the team’s PR department tweets. Memphis now has five players under those restrictions.
- Darius Bazley became the first Thunder player in protocols, Andrew Schlecht of The Athletic tweets.
- Veteran Rockets guard D.J. Augustin has entered the health and safety protocols, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
- Clippers two-way player Jay Scrubb has been placed in the protocols, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times tweets.
- Wizards guard Raul Neto has joined two other Washington players in the protocols, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets.
- Two Hornets regulars, Miles Bridges and P.J. Washington, are now in the protocols, the team’s PR department tweets.
- On the positive side, Sixers forward Georges Niang has cleared the protocols, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets.
- Hornets guard LaMelo Ball is happy to be back on the court after a tough bout with COVID, Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer writes. Ball most recently finished with 27 points, four rebounds and five assists in a loss to Portland on Friday.
Celtics swingman Josh Richardson and Hornets swingman Cody Martin have entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols, the teams announced (Twitter links).
Richardson, 28, exited the league’s protocols just under a week ago. Boston now has seven players in protocols ahead of Monday’s game against Philadelphia, plus Jayson Tatum (left ankle sprain), Romeo Langford (neck pain) and Dennis Schroder (illness) on the injury report as questionable.
Martin, 26, will enter protocols for the first time this season. His brother, Caleb, is going through the same situation with the Heat, though it’s unclear if this is related to Cody’s addition.
Richardson has provided two-way production for Boston this season, averaging 10.7 points in 25.2 minutes per game this season. Martin has done much of the same for Charlotte, though the third-year player is shooting a scorching 51% from three-point range.
Richardson and Martin are part of a growing list of players who are in the NBA’s protocols. Over a dozen players were placed on Sunday, while five game postponements were announced.
- The Hornets announced today (via Twitter) that Ish Smith has cleared the health and safety protocols and is joining LaMelo Ball in the G League on Wednesday to practice with the Greensboro Swarm for reconditioning purposes. Smith and Ball will have to pass cardiac tests before they get the OK to return to action for Charlotte.
Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball has exited the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols, the team announced on Tuesday (Twitter link). Ball was assigned to Charlotte’s NBA G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, to get back into game shape. Rod Boone of the Charlotte Observer adds (via Twitter) that the second-year guard was subsequently recalled from Greensboro following the practice with the NBAGL club.
The Hornets also announced (Twitter link) that forward Jalen McDaniels has fully cleared the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols and will be available to suit up for Charlotte in the team’s next game, Wednesday against the Spurs.
There’s more out of the Southeast Division:
- In a conversation with Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, second-year Magic point guard Cole Anthony discussed his candidacy for the 2021/22 Most Improved Player award after a hot start to his sophomore season. Anthony revealed that vying for the award had been a goal ahead of his second year in Orlando. “Coming into this season, that’s an award me and my team talked about winning,” Anthony said. “It’s something that I’d love to win, but at the end of the day, if it happens, it happens. I want to make sure my team is functioning well, everyone is getting better, and that’s a bigger win to me. That being said, I wouldn’t be mad if I won that award. It would be pretty cool to be rewarded for your hard work.” The 6’2″ Anthony was drafted with the No. 15 pick by the Magic out of North Carolina. This season, he is averaging 20.5 PPG on .425/.376/.874 shooting splits, plus 6.1 RPG, 5.6 APG and 0.9 SPG.
- Though the Wizards opened the 2021/22 season with a red-hot 10-3 start, they have since fallen back to earth, going 5-10 in their 15 most recent contests. Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington writes that the club could greatly benefit from the returns of forward Rui Hachimura and center Thomas Bryant, neither of whom has played a game for Washington this year. Hughes notes that the 24-year-old Bryant is at least a few weeks away as he continues to recuperate from a February ACL surgery. The 23-year-old Hachimura, who has missed every game this year for undisclosed personal reasons, is currently practicing to acclimate his body to NBA-level play again.
- The 13-14 Hawks are striving to improve their on-court cohesion after a disappointing start to the 2021/22 season, per Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. “I feel like it’s approach,” recently-extended power forward John Collins said. “We need to understand each moment. I don’t think talent, playing the game or any basketball factors are what’s wrong. It’s a matter of analyzation and execution. That’s what needs to change.” Kirschner pinpoints the absences of shot creators Bogdan Bogdanovic and De’Andre Hunter, the team’s lackluster reserve point guard play, and a lack of defensive intensity as the root causes for Atlanta’s frustrating first few months.
- Hornets forward Jalen McDaniels and center Mason Plumlee cleared the league’s health and safety protocols on Monday and were sent to the G League to complete a conditioning/rehab assignment with the Greensboro Swarm, the club announced (via Twitter). Charlotte still has LaMelo Ball and Ish Smith in the protocols, but the team is moving closer to getting all its affected players back after Terry Rozier was cleared on Sunday (Twitter link).
- Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer examines whether the Hornets should pursue Pacers big men Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner. Indiana is reportedly open to discussing the players in trades as it ponders whether to start a rebuilding phase. Both Sabonis and Turner would likely start if they were acquired by the Hornets, who currently starts Mason Plumlee at center.
- There’s been no change regarding the Hornets‘ COVID-19 issues. LaMelo Ball, Jalen McDaniels, Mason Plumlee, Terry Rozier and Ish Smith are all listed as out for Friday’s game against Sacramento due to the league’s health and safety protocols, the team’s PR department tweets. Charlotte’s depleted roster has managed to beat Atlanta and lose two close games to Philadelphia since those players were sidelined over the weekend.
Pacers big man Myles Turner, who has heard his name included in trade rumors for multiple years, told Jared Weiss of The Athletic that he loves playing in Indiana and wants to win with the team. However, he has also been frustrated with playing what he views as a limited role.
“It’s clear that I’m not valued as anything more than a glorified role player here, and I want something more, more opportunity,” Turner said to Weiss. “I’m trying really hard to make the role that I’m given here work and find a way to maximize it. I’ve been trying to the past two, three seasons. But it’s clear to me that, just numbers-wise, I’m not valued as more than a rotational role player, and I hold myself in a higher regard than that.
“… I’ve been given many roles in the years that I’ve been here, and I feel like I’ve been able to produce at a high level in the roles I’ve been given,” Turner added. “I’ve shown that I can do the things they ask me to do, and I think it’s time to put that all together and be a more prominent night-in, night-out guy on the offensive side of the ball instead of someone who is asked to be a floor spacer and hide in the shadows.”
Turner has enjoyed the occasional offensive outburst this season, scoring 40 points in Washington on October 22 and knocking down seven 3-pointers vs. New York on November 3. However, his modest season-long scoring average of 12.9 PPG is right in line with his career rate (12.7 PPG).
Head coach Rick Carlisle told Weiss that Turner, a talented rim protector, has a significant impact on winning whether he’s scoring or not, noting that the big man’s 40-point night may have “kind of skewed what the day-to-day expectations are” for him offensively. Carlisle and the coaching staff met to discuss Turner’s role this week and vowed to make an effort to get him involved in more actions as a roller. However, sources tell Weiss that Turner remains unconvinced that any positive changes to his role will stick.
“Myles has always wanted a bigger, more important role on the offensive end, but we absolutely know his value overall,” president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard told Weiss. “Sometimes with Myles, we know how good he is and how dominant he is on the defensive end, and I think he wants to be a more complete player, not just a defensive player. I respect the s–t out of that. You know I do.”
Here’s more out of Indiana:
- Pritchard told Pacers players this week that the team is fielding trade calls for Turner and Domantas Sabonis, but still believes the pairing can work and would be fine seeing it through this season, sources tell Weiss. Carlisle also remains convinced Turner and Sabonis can succeed alongside each other, pointing to their net rating as evidence, Weiss notes. The Pacers have a +10.9 rating when the two big men share the court this season.
- Turner and Sabonis told reporters on Wednesday that they’re unfazed by the trade rumors and have grown accustomed to them, writes James Boyd of The Indianapolis Star. “We want to be here,” Sabonis said. “And as long as we represent the team and have that jersey on our backs we’re gonna come out and compete.”
- If the Pacers move one of their two big men, Turner appears to be the more likely trade candidate. However, Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer wonders if it should be the other way around, exploring whether Indiana ought to be more open to the idea of building around Turner.
- There are people in the Knicks‘ front office who like the idea of pursuing a Turner trade this season, Ian Begley of SNY.tv writes in a follow-up to his recent report on the Knicks and Turner.
- In the latest episode of the HoopsHype Podcast, Michael Scotto and Yossi Gozlan identified the Warriors and Hornets as two teams they view as logical suitors for Turner.
- The Pacers canceled their practice on Thursday out of “an abundance of caution” related to the NBA’s health and safety protocols, tweets ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. The team didn’t offer any additional details, so it’s unclear whether a member of the organization tested positive. Currently, Justin Holiday is the only Pacers player in the league’s health and safety protocols, having been unavailable since November 30.