- Nuggets guard Monte Morris has used the frustration of sliding in the 2017 draft as incentive to prove he belongs in the NBA, writes Steve Kosmider of the Athletic. Morris was projected as a first-rounder in some circles, but went to Denver with the 51st pick and had to work his way up from a two-way contract. “I was really mad about it,” Morris recalled. “Guys I dominated in college on multiple occasions were getting picked ahead of me. I got hurt during the draft process. I pulled my quad at the Laker workout, which was like my third workout. I still had about 15 workouts to go. I feel like if I had did them I would have moved up. I only worked out for three teams so that may have hurt me, but I still think my resume, doing what I did at Iowa State, should have had me going higher.”
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic tested positive for the coronavirus last week in Serbia, delaying his return to the United States, report Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst of ESPN (via Twitter).
According to the ESPN duo, Jokic has been asymptomatic since testing positive. The All-Star big man is expected to be cleared to travel to Denver within the next week, per Woj and Windhorst.
We learned last week that Jokic may have been exposed to COVID-19, having been in close proximity to KK Partizan center Nikola Jankovic, who tested positive shortly thereafter. Tennis star Novak Djokovic, who was at the same event, announced earlier today that he has tested positive for the coronavirus as well.
While Jokic’s return to Denver will be delayed, it doesn’t sound as if he’s suffering from any symptoms, and it seems likely he’ll be recovered before the Nuggets travel to Orlando in July. Assuming that’s the case, the 25-year-old will be able to participate in training camp with the team and should be good to go for the eight seeding games and the postseason.
There’s a good chance the Nuggets will use the open spot on their 15-man roster to add a player this week, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post. Although Denver has no pressing needs, the team will likely fill that opening for insurance purposes, Singer notes.
[RELATED: What To Expect During This Week’s Transaction Window]
The Nuggets, who haven’t had a ton of breathing room below the luxury tax line for much of the season, have carried 14 players (not including their two-way players) for most of 2019/20, maintaining roster flexibility.
Given the extra financial flexibility the club created at the trade deadline and the modest cost of a free agent signing at this point in the season, Denver wouldn’t be in any danger of going into the tax by filling that open roster spot with a minimum-salary player.
Singer doesn’t identify any specific players the Nuggets might be targeting, but they’ll be able to choose from anyone who is currently a free agent and didn’t play in an international league this season.
Denver would also have the option of converting PJ Dozier‘s two-way contract into a standard deal, having him become the team’s 15th man. In that scenario, the Nuggets would be able to sign a new player to a two-way contract, starting Saturday. That player would need to have between zero and three years of NBA service — that same restriction wouldn’t apply to a player signing a standard contract.
- Mike Singer of the Denver Post examines whether Nikola Jokic‘s sudden weight loss could negatively impact his game. Jokic has slimmed down during quarantine with hopes of getting in better shape and becoming quicker, though his past successes with the Nuggets have come with a wide seven-foot, 280-pound frame.
Having created a space to track the NBA’s head coaching changes this year, we’re now doing the same for the teams shaking up their front offices.
The front office structure for an NBA franchise generally isn’t as cut-and-dried as a coaching staff. All 30 teams will enter the 2020/21 season employing a head coach and a staff of assistant coaches. But not every team will have an executive with the title of “president of basketball operations” or “executive VP of basketball operations” on its payroll. And while some general managers around the league have decision-making power within their organizations, that doesn’t apply to all of them.
Nonetheless, we’ll do our best to track this offseason’s front office changes in the space below, monitoring which executives have decision-making power in each new management group. Some of these searches could extend well into the summer or fall, so be sure to check back for the latest updates.
You’ll be able to access this page anytime under the “Hoops Rumors Features” menu on the right sidebar on our desktop site, or on the “Features” page in our mobile menu.
Updated 10-24-20 (1:43pm CT)
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Chicago Bulls
- In:
- Out:
Some combination of Paxson and/or Forman had been running the show in Chicago since Jerry Krause‘s departure in 2003, so when the Bulls overhauled their front office this spring, there was skepticism among fans that the duo known as GarPax would really be stripped of its power.
Paxson remained in the organization and may be involved in some basketball decisions, but Forman is gone, and by all accounts, the Bulls are prepared to give the reins to Karnisovas and his new right-hand man Eversley. One of their first orders of business will be making a decision on head coach Jim Boylen, who is very much on the hot seat.
Denver Nuggets
- In:
- Out:
- General manager Arturas Karnisovas left for job with Bulls (story)
The Nuggets had to replace Karnisovas once he decided to take the top job in Chicago, but didn’t technically conduct a full-fledged search for his replacement, opting instead to stay in-house and promote Booth. He’ll be the new top lieutenant in Denver for president of basketball operations Tim Connelly.
Detroit Pistons
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- Out:
Senior advisor Ed Stefanski has served as the Pistons’ de facto head of basketball operations for the last two years, but at the time of his hiring, he wasn’t necessarily viewed as someone who would hold that position for the next five or 10 years.
With its hiring of Weaver, Detroit has brought aboard a GM who will work with Stefanski and “run the basketball side of things,” according to team owner Tom Gores. While Stefanski, vice chairman Arn Tellem, and head coach Dwane Casey figure to be involved to some extent in basketball decisions, it sounds as if Weaver will take the lead on those matters.
It’s worth noting that the Pistons are expected to hire a couple new assistant GMs, so while their GM search is finished, their front office additions likely aren’t.
Houston Rockets
- In:
- Rafael Stone, general manager (story)
- Note: Promoted from executive VP of basketball operations
- Rafael Stone, general manager (story)
- Out:
After losing McNair to the Kings, the Rockets saw their longtime head of basketball operations exit the organization, as Morey resigned from his GM position.
Rather than launching a full-fledged search for a new general manager, the Rockets promoted Stone, a longtime Morey lieutenant who will take control of the team’s basketball operations department. Assistant GM Eli Witus will take on additional responsibilities as Stone’s new right-hand man.
New York Knicks
- In:
- Leon Rose, president of basketball operations (story)
- William Wesley, executive VP/senior basketball advisor (story)
- Frank Zanin, assistant general manager – pro scouting (story)
- Walt Perrin, assistant general manager – college scouting (story)
- Brock Aller, VP of basketball and strategic planning (story)
- Out:
- Retained:
- Scott Perry, general manager (story)
The Knicks made their changes in the winter, firing Mills during the first week of February and officially bringing Rose aboard less than a month later. Still, we’re including them here because the work they’ve done reshaping their front office has extended into the offseason, with the hiring of Zanin, Perrin, and Aller.
Following the Knicks’ surprising decision to extend Perry’s contract by one year, the next items on the docket include hiring a permanent head coach and deciding how to use their cap room once free agency begins.
Sacramento Kings
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Out:
Although Divac’s departure was classified as him “stepping down” from his general manager position with the Kings, subsequent reporting suggested that team owner Vivek Ranadive wanted him to accept a reduced role, with Dumars taking on more power in Sacramento’s front office.
Dumars briefly took the reins as the Kings’ interim executive VP of basketball operations and general manager, and was involved in the search for a new permanent GM, but transitioned to a chief strategy officer position once Sacramento landed on Rockets assistant GM McNair as its new head of basketball operations.
- Nuggets forward and 2020 restricted free agent Torrey Craig could parlay his play in Orlando into a big contract when the NBA resumes its season this summer, according to The Athletic’s Nick Kosmider. Craig, a two-way threat in spot minutes on a deep Denver squad whose counting stats belie his skills, is currently a steal as he wraps up a two-year, $4MM contract.
Nuggets head coach Michael Malone revealed on Monday that he contracted the novel coronavirus in March.
Malone is the first NBA coach known to have tested positive for the virus. In March, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton was the first prominent head coach in a major U.S. sport who revealed he had COVID-19.
Malone made his revelation during an interview with CBS Denver 4 (hat tip to ESPN). Malone didn’t find out he had the virus until he received an antibody test approximately two months later.
“I’d say around March 20, I started not feeling well, and we began reaching out to team doctors to see if I could get a test,” Malone said. “Unfortunately, at that time, there was no testing available. So I only found out after the fact. I was able to get an antibody test probably right around Memorial Day weekend. And not surprisingly, our team doctor called up and said, ‘Listen, you tested positive.'”
Numerous players contracted the virus in March following Rudy Gobert‘s positive test that resulted in the suspension of play, including Gobert’s teammate Donovan Mitchell, Kevin Durant, Christian Wood and Marcus Smart. Interestingly, an unnamed member of the Nuggets organization also tested positive in March. That person was experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19 on March 16.
Malone’s team was 43-22 when play was halted and remains one of the top contenders for the title. Malone is hopeful that the Orlando bubble environment will limit the possibility of an outbreak among participants.
“I hope that going down to Orlando will be a safe environment and we can limit the amount of people that actually get [COVID-19],” he said.
Nuggets guard Jamal Murray is confident the team can win the NBA championship this season, explaining his thoughts to reporters on a Zoom call last week.
“We know we can go win the title,” Murray said, according to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. “Me and Joker (Nikola Jokic) have been in Denver this whole time, working out.
“Why not?” Murray later replied upon being asked whether Denver could win it all. “We have proven to be one the best teams year in and year out since we have been building. We have beaten good teams consistently. We shouldn’t have lost to Portland (last year in the Western Semifinals). That was more on us, our inexperience and they are a good team. But we don’t think that there is a team that can beat us in a seven-game series when we are playing at our best.”
The Nuggets are 43-22 on the season, good for the third-best record in the Western Conference behind the Lakers (49-14) and Clippers (44-20). Murray’s confidence lies in the team’s offensive capabilities, coupled with how Jokic has slimmed down significantly during quarantine.
“If we can just find that consistency and play at a high level,” Murray said of the Nuggets’ biggest issue. “When me and Joker are on, I don’t think there is anybody that is going to stop us. And if they do, then good game.”
Denver has consistently been one of the NBA’s best regular-season teams in recent seasons, though the franchise has failed to achieve playoff success. The Nuggets will be among the 22 teams slated to play in Orlando when the league resumes later this summer.
There’s more from the Western Conference tonight:
- Barring a new setback or injury, Mavericks star Luka Doncic will be healthy for the NBA’s restart, Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News writes. Doncic has dealt with a sprained ankle, an illness and various thumb and wrist injuries in 2020. Caplan also examines other Mavs-related notes, including the team’s starting lineup and who could be a potential X-factor in the playoffs.
- The Lakers will be ready to build on their previous hot streak once the NBA returns, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times writes. Los Angeles was firing on all cylinders before the season was suspended, winning 11 of their its 13 games and holding a 49-14 record. “There will be a lot of focus for the Lakers and all the teams on basketball only, with the family not being there right away,” an official for one NBA team told Turner. “I think that they will be really in-tuned. I think the basketball will be sloppy in the beginning, but it’ll be good as it goes along.”
- Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta discussed a number of subjects in an interview with Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, including his team’s title hopes, the NBA return, and more. Houston is among the 22 teams set to return in Orlando this summer, playing an unprecedented version of small-ball before the season was officially halted.
While the Trail Blazers were the only NBA team to vote against the NBA’s return-to-play plan, they weren’t the only Northwest club that would have preferred a solution besides the 22-team format the league settled on.
Two league sources tell Mike Singer of The Denver Post that the Nuggets initially voted in favor of a plan that would have sent the 16 current playoff teams immediately to the postseason. According to Singer, Denver was “strongly” opposed to a 20-team format that would’ve involved a World Cup-style group stage, believing it undermined the team’s regular season success.
While those 16- and 20-team plans received consideration, Silver ultimately decided that the 22-team format was in the NBA’s best interest, and when he brought it to the league’s Board of Governors for a vote on Thursday, the Nuggets voted to approve it.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- Now that the Nuggets have officially clinched a playoff spot, Nikola Jokic ($466K) and Paul Millsap ($150K) have secured their playoff bonuses for the 2019/20 season, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks observes (via Twitter).
- In a series of pieces for The Athletic, Tony Jones examines what the NBA’s return-to-play format means for the Jazz, while Jason Quick does the same for the Trail Blazers and Jon Krawczynski explores what’s next for the Timberwolves now that they’ve been left out of the league’s return. Although Utah is assured a playoff spot and Portland isn’t, the Jazz will be missing injured forward Bojan Bogdanovic, while the Blazers should get big men Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins back in their lineup.
- Within his own look at what the restart plan means for the Thunder, Erik Horne of The Athletic reports that Andre Roberson would be ready to play now if the season hadn’t been suspended. Without being able to scrimmage or practice at all over the last three months, it’s not clear if Roberson will return this summer, but it sounds like it’s a possibility. The veteran forward, who has battled multiple knee issues, hasn’t played in an NBA game in over two years.
It got a bit lost in the shuffle amidst all of Thursday’s updates, but the NBA provided some important details on how this year’s draft lottery seeding and odds will work. They are as follows:
- The eight teams not included in the Orlando restart will be the top eight teams in the lottery standings.
- The 9-14 spots in the lottery will be made up of the six teams that don’t make the playoffs following this summer’s “seeding games” and possible play-in tournaments. Their seedings and odds will be based on their records as of March 11.
- The rest of the first round will be sorted by record, as usual. The order will be based on teams’ regular season results and the results of the eight seeding games this summer.
With those rules in mind, we have a pretty good sense of how traded first round picks for 2020 will be affected, so let’s take a closer look…
Picks whose fates have essentially been decided:
Cavaliers‘ first-round pick (traded to Pelicans if not in top 10)
- As the league’s second-worst team in 2019/20, the Cavaliers can’t fall below sixth in the lottery, so they’ll keep their pick, which will land anywhere from No. 1 to 6.
Sixers‘ first-round pick (traded to Nets if not in top 14)
- The Sixers have a nine-game lead on Orlando, which means they’ve now clinched a playoff spot and will send their pick to Brooklyn. It’s currently projected to land at No. 19 or 20, but it could move up or down based on this summer’s seeding games.
Pacers‘ first-round pick (traded to Bucks if not in top 14)
- Like the Sixers, the Pacers have now clinched a playoff spot, which assures they’ll send their pick to Milwaukee. This pick is also currently projected to land at No. 19 or 20 (Philadelphia and Indiana are tied at 39-26), but it could move higher or lower once play resumes.
Rockets‘ first-round pick (traded to Nuggets)
- This pick is unprotected, so the Rockets will send it to Denver. At 40-24, the Rockets are tied with Oklahoma City, putting their pick in line to be No. 21 or 22. They’re bunched up with a few teams in the standings though, so that could change when play resumes.
Jazz‘s first-round pick (traded to Grizzlies if it falls between 8-14)
- The Jazz have now clinched a spot in the postseason, so they’ll keep their pick for at least one more year. It’s currently projected to be No. 24 overall, but that may change.
Nuggets‘ first-round pick (traded to Thunder)
- An unprotected pick, the Nuggets’ first-rounder is currently projected to be No. 25. They’ll send it to Oklahoma City.
Clippers‘ first-round pick (traded to Knicks)
- This is another unprotected selection, which the Clippers will send to New York. For now, it projects to be No. 27.
Bucks‘ first-round pick (traded to Celtics)
- The Bucks, who will send this pick to Boston, have a four-game lead for the NBA’s best record, so this selection will likely be No. 30, though it could theoretically move up a spot or two.
Picks whose fates remain up in the air:
Nets‘ first-round pick (traded to Timberwolves if not in top 14)
- At 30-34, the Nets have a half-game lead over Orlando and a six-game cushion over Washington. If they slump when play resumes, there’s a scenario in which they lose their playoff spot. The Magic would have to pass them and the Wizards would have to pull to within four games before beating Brooklyn twice in a row in a play-in tournament.
- If the Nets miss the playoffs, this pick would end up at either No. 13 or 14 in the lottery standings, and Brooklyn would keep it.
- If the Nets hang on a clinch a playoff spot, it figures to be the No. 15, 16, or 17 pick, and they’ll send it to the Timberwolves.
Grizzlies‘ first-round pick (traded to Celtics if it’s not in top six)
- The Grizzlies have a 3.5-game lead over three Western teams (Portland, New Orleans, and Sacramento), with a four-game cushion over San Antonio and a six-game cushion over Phoenix.
- They’re in position to secure a playoff spot, and if they do, they’ll send this pick to the Celtics. It would fall between Nos. 15-17.
- If the Grizzlies lose their playoff spot, they’ll move to No. 14 in the lottery standings. In all likelihood, the pick would end up there and they’d still have to send it to Boston. However, they’d have a minuscule chance (2.4%) of moving into the top four via the lottery, in which case they’d keep the pick.
Thunder‘s first-round pick (traded to Sixers if not in top 20)
- Based on the Thunder’s current 40-24 record, this pick currently projects to be No. 21 or 22, in which case OKC would have to send it to Philadelphia.
- However, if the Thunder lose ground during this summer’s seeding games, they could be surpassed in the standings by as many as three teams, meaning the pick could end up in the No. 18-20 range. In that case, Oklahoma City would keep it.