- After 79-year-old Pacers executive Donnie Walsh announced he would be vacating his position as team consultant, team owner Herb Simon released a statement praising the longtime Indiana staffer. “Over my thirty-year relationship with Donnie, I have been amazed to watch him help lead this organization to what it has become,” Simon said in part.
Starting Pacers small forward T.J. Warren has incurred a small navicular left foot stress fracture and will need surgery to address it, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. There is no timetable for his return to the hardwood, but Warren is expected to miss a decent portion of the 2020/21 season, says Wojnarowski.
New Pacers head coach Nate Bjorkgren could look to compensate for Warren’s loss by giving additional minutes to Justin Holiday, Doug McDermott and Kelan Martin at the wing.
This season, Warren was looking to build on a scorching run he enjoyed in the Orlando 2019/20 season restart, averaging almost 31 PPG in six regular season Orlando games. He was Indiana’s fourth-leading scorer during the young ’20/21 season, averaging 15.5 PPG (on 52.9% shooting from the floor) and 3.5 RPG across Indiana’s first four games. The Pacers were 3-1 in those contests.
Wojnarowski notes that the 6’8″ forward out of North Carolina State underwent a similar surgery on his right foot while with the Suns in 2016. Bobby Marks of ESPN adds (via Twitter) that Warren has thus far missed 119 of a possible 569 regular season games since being drafted with the No. 14 pick by Phoenix in 2014.
Warren, 27, has two years and $23.9MM remaining on his current contract with Indiana.
Veteran NBA executive Donnie Walsh is stepping down from his position as a Pacers consultant, league sources tell Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. Walsh confirmed the news to Matthew VanTryon of The Indianapolis Star.
“I’m getting older and don’t have the energy,” said Walsh, who is 79. “It’s a young man’s sport. This job has always occupied a great deal of my time. The Pacers were always in my head. This gives me an opportunity to pay attention to my children, my grandchildren and my wife (Judy) of 58 years.”
According to Agness, team employees were informed of the news on Wednesday during a company conference call.
Walsh, who first joined the Pacers in 1984, has been a crucial part of the franchise over the last few decades. He became the club’s general manager in 1986 before being promoted to president of basketball operations in 1988.
Walsh held that role for 20 years, overseeing a period in which Indiana made the playoffs in 16 of 17 seasons. Although the Pacers never won a championship during that time, they appeared in the Eastern Conference Finals six times and represented the East in the NBA Finals once.
Following a four-year stint with the Knicks from 2008-12, Walsh returned to the Pacers as the team’s interim president of basketball operations when Larry Bird took a one-year sabbatical. Since 2013, Walsh has been a consultant, working with current president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard, GM Chad Buchanan, and the rest of the Indiana front office.
“The best period of my life was running the franchise,” Walsh told The Indianapolis Star today. “I accomplished every dream I had. We established a winning tradition and I got the opportunity to work with really good people. The Simon family has been great ownership. I liked everybody that we had in the franchise. We worked well together and strove to make it one of the better franchises in the league.
“As I’ve come back as a consultant, I believe we’ve gotten better. I’m happy with my part in it, but I’m also happy that the franchise has continued to improve.”
We’re one week into the NBA’s 2020/21 season, and just four of the league’s 30 teams have yet to lose a game. A handful of Eastern Conference teams – the Pacers, Magic, Hawks, and Cavaliers – make up that unlikely foursome.
While all four of those clubs are 3-0, they may not be undefeated much longer. This NBA season has been an unpredictable one so far, with unexpected blowouts and upsets taking place on a nightly basis. And as good as these teams have looked so far, I don’t expect any of them to be a powerhouse this season — it seems unlikely that we’ll see a 10-0 run to start the season.
Here are the upcoming schedules for each of the NBA’s four undefeated teams:
- Indiana Pacers: vs. BOS (12/29), vs. CLE (12/31), vs. NYK (1/2), at NOP (1/4), vs. HOU (1/6)
- Orlando Magic: at OKC (12/29), vs. PHI (12/31), vs. OKC (1/2), vs. CLE (1/4), vs. CLE (1/6)
- Atlanta Hawks: at BKN (12/30), at BKN (1/1), vs. CLE (1/2), vs. NYK (1/4), vs. CHA (1/6)
- Cleveland Cavaliers: vs. NYK (12/29), at IND (12/31), at ATL (1/2), at ORL (1/4), at ORL (1/6)
We want to know what you think: Which of these four undefeated teams will be the last to lose a game?
While it may be tempting to write off the Magic and Cavaliers, given their modest preseason expectations, the Pacers and Hawks have tough games on tap — Indiana will have to beat a Boston team that it squeaked past by a single point on Sunday, while Atlanta will be facing a rested Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn tomorrow.
Of the four undefeated teams, the Cavaliers have the most favorable fourth game (at home vs. the Knicks), but they’re missing power forward Kevin Love. And even if they get past New York, they improbably have games on tap against the other three undefeated clubs.
A year ago, the Sixers were the only team in the NBA to win more than three consecutive games to start the season. Will multiple squads do it this year? And which will remain undefeated the longest?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to weigh in with your predictions!
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- Malcolm Brogdon wasn’t thrilled with the Pacers’ previous coach but he has been quick to praise new coach Nate Bjorkgren, Akeem Glaspie of the Indianapolis Star writes. Bjorkgren drew up the game-winning play on Sunday, a Domantas Sabonis basket against Boston. “It takes a high-IQ coach and a patient coach to draw something like that up there,” said Brogdon, who was reportedly the Indiana player who was most outspoken and displeased with Nate McMillan’s coaching style.
The trade rumors surrounding Victor Oladipo died down to some extent as the 2020 offseason progressed. Reports suggested that he had hit it off with new Pacers head coach Nate Bjorkgren, while Oladipo himself said he had never told the team he wanted to be elsewhere.
Still, that doesn’t mean everyone is convinced that he’ll play out his full contract year with the Pacers. One NBA executive recently predicted to Bob Kravitz of The Athletic that Indiana will trade the two-time All-Star by the March 25 trade deadline: “He’s gone. They’ll move him.”
Kravitz isn’t ruling out the possibility of Oladipo thriving under Bjorkgren and deciding that he wants to remain the Pacers long-term, but predicts a deadline deal. No matter what happens, it’d be a win-win situation for Oladipo and the Pacers if the 28-year-old has a strong bounceback season in 2020/21 — it would make Indiana competitive on the court, increase Oladipo’s trade value, and increase the likelihood of signing a lucrative long-term contract when he becomes a free agent in 2021.
Seventeen teams have indicated that they plan to participate in the NBA G League bubble, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN, who notes that the G League Ignite select team will be the 18th squad.
While we don’t yet have a full, official list of the teams participating in the G League bubble, Ridiculous Upside has done a good job passing along reports (including some of ours) and providing new details on which clubs are in and out. Their list includes 13 teams believed to be in, not counting the Ignite, as follows:
- Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario (Clippers)
- Austin Spurs (Spurs)
- Canton Charge (Cavaliers)
- Delaware Blue Coats (Sixers)
- Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Pacers)
- Lakeland Magic (Magic)
- Long Island Nets (Nets)
- Memphis Hustle (Grizzlies)
- Oklahoma City Blue (Thunder)
- Raptors 905 (Raptors)
- Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz)
- Santa Cruz Warriors (Warriors)
- Westchester Knicks (Knicks)
G League expert Adam Johnson says the Greensboro Swarm (Hornets), Iowa Wolves (Timberwolves), and Erie BayHawks (Pelicans) are also expected to take part (Twitter link).
The G League reportedly asked for teams to volunteer to opt out, since bringing 29 franchises to the bubble wouldn’t have been logistically possible, so the clubs passing on the bubble aren’t necessarily doing so because they’re not interested in participating.
Teams opting out of the bubble who signed players to Exhibit 10 contracts before the season will be given the option to loan or “flex” those players to another G League team for the bubble and will be responsible for paying all expenses for those players, Givony explains.
The Wizards, for example, aren’t expected to have the Capital City Go-Go play in the bubble, but will likely use the Pelicans’ affiliate – the BayHawks – as their temporary affiliate for their former Exhibit 10 players, such as Caleb Homesley, Marlon Taylor, and Yoeli Childs, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic.
A G League draft would take place in January, according to Givony, who reports that players whose returning rights are held by non-bubble teams would temporarily be dispersed to other clubs in that draft. If non-bubble teams don’t want to “flex” their former Exhibit 10 players to G League teams participating in the bubble, those players will also enter the draft pool, says Givony.
Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News reported earlier this week that the tentative start date for the G League season is February 8. Adam Zagoria of Forbes (Twitter link) shares a more detailed breakdown of the proposed timeline, which would see G League players and staffers begin an “at-home” quarantine period on January 13.
Givony confirms that teams participating in the bubble still expect to play a minimum of 12 games apiece (not including the playoffs), as was reported in November.
Finally, Givony reports that the G League is making adjustments to its roster rules to make it easier for NBA teams to recruit and sign veterans with five or more years of NBA experience. Each team will be able to designate an “NBA Vet Selection” who fits that bill, and won’t have to navigate the NBAGL’s complicated waiver process to add that player, per Givony.
As Johnson tweets, the rule will be a one-off for this season and will allow – for instance – the Warriors to add Jeremy Lin to their Santa Cruz affiliate, like they wanted to.
- The Pacers have officially hired Ted Wu as VP of Basketball Operations, according to a team press release. Wu worked eight years with the NBA league office, specializing in salary cap management. Wu will be the team’s capologist.
The Pacers have picked up a pair of rookie scale contract options for the 2021/22 season, announcing today in a press release that they’ve exercised Aaron Holiday‘s fourth-year option and Goga Bitadze‘s third-year option.
[RELATED: Decisions On 2021/22 Rookie Scale Team Options]
Holiday, 24, saw an increased role in Indiana’s backcourt last season, averaging 9.5 PPG and 3.4 APG to go along with a .414/.394/.851 shooting line in 66 games (24.5 MPG).
After earning $2.35MM this season, Holiday will make $3.98MM in 2021/22 as a result of his newly-exercised option. He’ll be eligible for a rookie scale extension in 2021. If he doesn’t sign a new deal at that point, he’d be on track for restricted free agency in ’22.
Bitadze, the 18th overall pick in the 2019 draft, appeared in 54 games as a rookie for the Pacers, averaging 3.2 PPG and 2.0 RPG in 8.7 minutes per contest. After dealing with visa issues and knee problems during his first year as a Pacer, the big man is currently battling an ankle sprain and will miss the start of the season.
Bitadze’s 2021/22 option – which is now fully guaranteed – is worth $3.1MM. The Pacers will have to decide next year whether to pick up his $5.79MM option for ’22/23.
The NBA’s offseason felt awfully busy, with free agency opening just two days after the draft and training camps starting about 10 days later. As hectic as those couple weeks were though, they actually didn’t feature a ton of player movement relative to a typical offseason.
A year ago, for instance, when we looked at the teams with the most and least roster continuity from year to year, we found that only one team was bringing back 13 players (counting two-ways) from its previous squad, while a total of four had 11 or more returning players.
This time around, seven clubs are bringing back 13 or more players from their end-of-season 2019/20 rosters, and a total of 18 teams will have 11 or more returning players. The Bulls and Pacers lead the way, having carried over 14 players apiece.
While the condensed offseason made for an exciting November, the quick turnaround also likely played a major part in teams’ decisions to stand relatively pat. Without a Summer League or the opportunity to conduct offseason mini-camps, teams haven’t had a lot of time to integrate new players, and have generally opted for as much continuity as possible.
Of course, while that may have been the general rule for the 2020 offseason, it certainly doesn’t apply to every team. A year ago, seven teams – including the eventual-champion Lakers – brought back just six players from their 2018/19 rosters. This time around, two clubs had that much turnover.
Of those two clubs, one – the Pistons – exhibited an impressive disregard for roster continuity, retaining just four players (Blake Griffin, Derrick Rose, Sekou Doumbouya, and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk) from last season’s roster. That’s the lowest number of returning players a team has had to start a season since the 2017 Celtics.
Here are the number of returning players for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, from most to fewest:
- Chicago Bulls: 14
Indiana Pacers: 14 - Boston Celtics: 13
Brooklyn Nets: 13
Memphis Grizzlies: 13
Miami Heat: 13
San Antonio Spurs: 13 - Golden State Warriors: 12
Orlando Magic: 12 - Cleveland Cavaliers: 11
Los Angeles Clippers: 11
Los Angeles Lakers: 11
Minnesota Timberwolves: 11
New York Knicks: 11
Sacramento Kings: 11
Toronto Raptors: 11
Utah Jazz: 11
Washington Wizards: 11 - Charlotte Hornets: 10
Dallas Mavericks: 10
Denver Nuggets: 10 - Portland Trail Blazers: 9
- Atlanta Hawks: 8
Houston Rockets: 8
New Orleans Pelicans: 8
Phoenix Suns: 8 - Milwaukee Bucks: 7
Philadelphia 76ers: 7 - Oklahoma City Thunder: 6
- Detroit Pistons: 4