- Rockets stars Russell Westbrook and James Harden are expected to arrive in Orlando soon, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes. Houston had its first team practice on Saturday without the star duo, with head coach Mike D’Antoni hinting that the two All-Star guards will likely join the club in the next few days.
69-year-old Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni, who says he has cleared his medical screenings with Houston, has flown with the team to Orlando, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon (Twitter link). Though D’Antoni was granted no “formal NBA thumbs up,” as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets, the league also did not restrict D’Antoni’s campus attendance following the medical clearance.
D’Antoni is the league’s second-oldest head coach, after 71-year-old Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. The 40-24 Rockets are currently the No. 6 seed in the West, 1.5 games clear of the seventh-seeded Mavericks.
There’s more out of Houston:
- D’Antoni and Rockets general manager Daryl Morey are relishing the opportunity for the team to practice together ahead of the league’s scheduled July 30 restart, per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “Because we had a major change in the components of the team, we do think a second training camp benefits us,” Morey said. “Because when you’re integrating a starter onto a very good team, getting more time to drill… will allow us to integrate (Robert) Covington in, and I do think that slightly favors us.”
- Rockets All-Stars James Harden and Russell Westbrook did not travel with the rest of the team to Orlando today, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (Twitter link). They are expected to arrive later this week. Newly-signed substitute player Luc Mbah a Moute and player development coach John Lucas also did not travel with the rest of the Rockets, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
- 35-year-old Rockets forward/center and defensive stalwart P.J. Tucker has indicated that he would like an extension on his current four-year contract, which expires after the 2020/21 season, per Fox 26 Houston’s Mark Berman (Twitter link). “I want to retire as a Houston Rocket,” Tucker said. “The fans, the city have embraced me since day one. So fingers crossed, I hope we can strike a deal and get it done.”
- Rockets GM Daryl Morey said this week that he isn’t too concerned about the 2020/21 salary cap uncertainty, having concluded that any fluctuation is “probably not going to impact us too much,” tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN. As ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets – and as I pointed out when I previewed Houston’s ’20/21 cap – a shifting tax line could affect the Rockets, since they already have more than $123MM committed to six guaranteed contracts.
JULY 7: Mbah a Moute has officially signed his contract with the Rockets, according to Charania (via Twitter). GM Daryl Morey published a tweet confirming the move.
As a result of the team signing Mbah a Moute as a substitute player, Sefolosha is ineligible to return this season.
JULY 1: Former Rockets forward Luc Mbah a Moute will rejoin the team for the NBA’s restart, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. He will serve as a substitute player for Thabo Sefolosha, who opted out of Orlando earlier today.
Mbah a Moute hasn’t played in the league this season, but worked out for the Rockets in early March, shortly before the hiatus. He and the team had mutual interest in a reunion for a while, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
A defensive specialist, Mbah a Moute was a rotation player for Houston during the 2017/18 season before being injured late in the year. He signed with the Clippers before the start of last season, but injuries limited him to just four games.
Free agent swingman Gerald Green received interest from multiple NBA teams during the league’s transaction window at the end of June, reports Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link). However, according to Stein, Green decided not to participate in the NBA’s restart this summer for family reasons, including the expected birth of a child in August.
Green, 34, began the 2019/20 season with the Rockets but didn’t suit up for any games, having undergone foot surgery on October that was expected to sideline him for at least six months. According to Stein (via Twitter), Green has since recovered from that procedure and received medical clearance, but has decided not to seek a new deal until the offseason.
The Rockets are believed to be one of the clubs that expressed interest in Green, Stein adds (via Twitter). However, Houston traded the veteran to Denver as part of the four-team Robert Covington/Clint Capela deal at the February deadline, and the Nuggets subsequently waived him. As a result, the Rockets became ineligible to re-sign Green this season — they instead shifted their focus to another swingman coming off an injury, signing David Nwaba to a two-year contract.
In his last full season, Green averaged 9.2 PPG and 2.5 RPG with a .400/.354/.838 shooting line in 73 games (20.2 MPG) for the ’18/19 Rockets. He’ll turn 35 in January, but as long as he’s healthy, he could still provide value to an NBA team as a three-and-D wing.
- Arizona forward Zeke Nnaji had an interview with the Rockets and is meeting with the Warriors this week, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News.
Veteran Rockets swingman Thabo Sefolosha will be skipping the NBA’s bubble season restart and subsequent playoffs, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The 36-year-old defensive specialist, who was born in Switzerland, inked a fully guaranteed one-year, veteran’s minimum contract with Houston at the start of the 2019/20 season, but has seen limited rotation minutes. Sefolosha opting out of the bubble will effectively make him an unrestricted free agent, though his contract won’t expire until the fall.
Across 41 games, Sefolosha – a former teammate of Rockets All-Stars James Harden and Russell Westbrook while all three were on the Thunder – averaged 2.2 PPG, 2.3 RPG, and 0.6 APG during 10.6 MPG the 2019/20 season, his 14th in the league. Though just 6’6″, Sefolosha primarily logged time as a power forward in coach Mike D’Antoni and team GM Daryl Morey‘s ultra-small ball Rockets lineups.
Sefolosha relayed his concerns about joining the bubble for an extended duration of time, away from his family with the coronavirus pandemic still on the rise, on an episode Brodie and the Beard, a podcast from Kelly Iko of The Athletic, per a tweet from Iko. In that conversation, Sefolosha called an isolated bubble tenure a “huge commitment.”
[RELATED: List Of Players Opting Out Of NBA’s Restart]
Iko observes in a separate tweet that the Rockets front office has been prepping contingency plans for Sefolosha potentially avoiding the season restart. A substitute for Sefolosha will now be sought by the Rockets. Sefolosha stands to lose about $230K in salary, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link).
The NBA will resume its 2019/20 season in July, with the league’s top 22 teams taking part in the restart at Walt Disney World in Florida. However, not every player on those 22 clubs’ rosters will be participating in the resumption of the season.
Players will be permitted to voluntarily opt out of the restart for any reason without facing a fine or suspension from the NBA or their respective teams. A player who opts out would lose a portion of his pay for 2019/20, forfeiting 1/92.6th of his salary for each game missed (up to a maximum of 14 games). Otherwise though, he wouldn’t receive any additional penalty.
If a player voluntarily opts out anytime before August 14, his team can sign a “substitute player” to replace him. The replacement player will receive a rest-of-season, minimum-salary contract and will become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, regardless of how many years of NBA service he has. Meanwhile, the player being replaced becomes ineligible to participate in the remainder of the ’19/20 season.
We’ll use this space to keep tabs on the players opting out and the substitute players replacing them. Here are the players who have voluntarily withdrawn from participating:
Trevor Ariza, F, Trail Blazers (story)
Ariza would have missed a one-month visitation period with his son if he had opted to play this summer, since family members aren’t permitted to join players on the NBA’s Disney campus until the end of August.
Jaylen Adams, who finished second this season in NBA G League MVP voting, will take Ariza’s spot on the roster as a substitute player.
Ariza, meanwhile, has a $12.8MM salary for 2020/21, but it’s only partially guaranteed for $1.8MM, so he’s no lock to remain on Portland’s roster beyond this season.
Avery Bradley, G, Lakers (story)
Bradley is the most intriguing player to have opted out so far, since he’s the only one who’s a member of a legitimate championship contender. Although Bradley has been among the players voicing concerns about the resumption of the season drawing attention away from the fight for social justice, family considerations – including the well-being of his three children – were said to be the primary factor in his decision.
Bradley has a $5MM player option for 2020/21, so he could return to the Lakers next season. As for his replacement, L.A. has signed J.R. Smith to a rest-of-season deal.
Davis Bertans, F, Wizards (story)
The first player to opt out of the restart, Bertans did so because he has a history of ACL injuries and doesn’t want to jeopardize his health ahead of a potentially big payday this summer. He projects to be one of 2020’s top unrestricted free agents, following a career year, and his decision won’t affect the Wizards’ desire to re-sign him — it’s still considered a top priority for the franchise.
If Washington were higher in the standings, Bertans may have made a different decision, but the team faces long odds to even make the playoffs. And even if the Wizards do defy those odds and claim the No. 8 seed, the Bucks would likely make quick work of them in round one.
Point guard Jerian Grant has replaced Bertans on the Wizards’ roster as a subsitute player.
Willie Cauley-Stein, C, Mavericks (story)
Cauley-Stein and his partner are expecting a newborn child in July, prompting him to skip the restart to spend time with his family. With a $2.29MM player option for 2020/21, he could still return to Dallas next season.
Despite missing Cauley-Stein and injured big man Dwight Powell in their frontcourt, the Mavs didn’t make it a priority to add another center. With Courtney Lee and Jalen Brunson also on the shelf due to injuries, Dallas instead focused on adding backcourt depth, reaching a deal with veteran guard Trey Burke to become the substitute player for Cauley-Stein.
Wilson Chandler, F, Nets (story)
An unrestricted free agent at season’s end, Chandler has decided to use the summer to spend more time with his family, including his grandmother (who raised him) and his three children.
Like the Mavs, Brooklyn has been hit hard by injuries, with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Nicolas Claxton also sidelined for the return to play. Those injured players aren’t eligible to be replaced by a substitute player, but Chandler is. That substitute player is Lance Thomas, who has now signed with the Nets.
Thabo Sefolosha, F, Rockets (story)
Sefolosha, who opted out on July 1, had previously expressed concerns about heading to Walt Disney World for an extended duration of time, away from his family with the coronavirus pandemic still on the rise, calling it a “huge commitment.” He’ll be an unrestricted free agent this fall, so it’s possible he has played his last game with Houston.
The Rockets have signed Luc Mbah a Moute as a replacement player for Sefolosha. Mbah a Moute has previous experience with Houston, so it should be a quick readjustment for the veteran forward.
Caleb Swanigan, F, Trail Blazers
Swanigan cited person reasons when he decided to opt out of the NBA’s restart back on July 1. He rarely saw any action for the Blazers, who decided not to sign a substitute player to replace him. Swanigan will be an unrestricted free agent this fall.
In addition to the players who are voluntarily opting out of the restart for a wide variety of reasons, there will also be players who opt out or are replaced as a result of a COVID-19 diagnosis. Here are the players who won’t participate in the remainder of the season due to a positive COVID-19 test:
- Spencer Dinwiddie, G, Nets (story)
- Dinwiddie had hoped to participate, but he and the Nets’ team doctors ultimately decided he should sit out. Brooklyn has signed Jamal Crawford to replace him.
- DeAndre Jordan, C, Nets (story)
- Jordan was immediately ruled out for the summer after testing positive for the coronavirus. He has been replaced in Orlando by big man Donta Hall.
- Taurean Prince, F, Nets (story)
- Prince tested positive just before the Nets were scheduled to travel to Orlando. The team ruled him out because his chances of recovering in time to contribute were in jeopardy and signed Michael Beasley as a substitute player.
- Michael Beasley, F, Nets (story)
- Beasley became the first substitute player who needed to be replaced, having tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after he signed with the Nets. Brooklyn signed Justin Anderson after voiding Beasley’s new contract.
- Josh Gray, G (story)
- The Pelicans announced in early July that they’d signed Sindarius Thornwell as a substitute player, without indicating which player Thornwell was replacing. Three Pelicans had tested positive for COVID-19 at that point, and a subsequent report suggested one of those players was being replaced by Thornwell. When the NBA announced New Orleans’ official roster, Gray wasn’t on it, so it appears that he was the one replaced by Thornwell.
- Gary Payton II, G (story)
- The Wizards signed Jarrod Uthoff as a substitute player without announcing which player he’d be replacing. However, Payton reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 and wasn’t on the team’s official roster when it was announced, so it looks like he was the one replaced by Uthoff.
Players who have been ruled out of the restart due to injuries won’t forfeit their salaries and aren’t eligible to be replaced by substitute players, so they’re not listed here. However, that growing list of players is not insignificant — it includes Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and John Wall, among others.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
- The Rockets will use their second training camp to fully incorporate Robert Covington into their style of play, writes Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Covington was acquired shortly before the trade deadline in early February and played just 14 games for Houston before the hiatus.
The Pelicans and rookie star Zion Williamson will face the Jazz on July 30 at 6:30 p.m. ET in the first game of the NBA’s restart, the league announced on Friday.
There will be 88 “seeding” games from July 30 to August 14 prior to the postseason.
The Clippers will square off against the Lakers in the second game on July 30 at 9 p.m. ET. The first two games will be broadcast by TNT.
It will get very busy the next day with six games scheduled, highlighted by Celtics vs. Bucks and Rockets vs. Mavericks. There will be a maximum of seven games per day, with start times ranging from 12-9 p.m.
At the conclusion of the seeding games, the seven teams in each conference with the highest combined winning percentages across regular-season games and seeding games will be the first through seventh seeds for the conference playoffs. If the team with the eighth-best combined winning percentage (regular-season games and seeding games) in a conference is more than four games ahead of the team with the ninth-best combined winning percentage in the same conference, then the team with the eighth-best winning percentage would be the No. 8 seed.
If the team with the eighth-best combined winning percentage in a conference is four games or fewer ahead of the team with the ninth-best combined winning percentage in the same conference, then those two teams would compete in a play-in tournament to determine the No. 8 playoff seed in the conference. The play-in tournament will be double elimination for the eighth-place team and single elimination for the ninth-place team.
Much of the intrigue regarding the seeding games concerns the final Western Conference spot. The Grizzlies, currently eighth, hold a 3 1/2-game lead over the Trail Blazers, Pelicans and Kings, a four-game lead over the Spurs and a six-game advantage on the Suns.
Memphis will face the Blazers, Spurs, Pelicans, Jazz, Thunder, Raptors, Celtics and Bucks during the seeding round. Among the Grizzlies’ pursuers, the Pelicans appear to have the weakest schedule. After opening against the Jazz, they’ll face the Clippers, Grizzlies, Kings (twice), Wizards, Spurs and Magic.
The Nets and Magic need only to hold off the Wizards in the East to claim the final two spots in their conference. Washington trails Brooklyn by six games and Orlando by 5 1/2 games.
The breakdown of each team’s seeding schedule can be found here. The day-by-day schedule and national TV schedule can be found here.