- Anthony Davis is considered day-to-day after being poked in the right eye during today’s scrimmage, Lakers coach Frank Vogel tells Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link). L.A. has one more scrimmage Monday before starting its seeding games Thursday against the Clippers.
- Clippers center Ivica Zubac reported to Orlando Friday night and is being quarantined for two days, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
A third Clippers player has left the NBA’s Walt Disney World campus, according to Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link), who hears that Lou Williams has been excused for personal reasons and is expected to return soon.
Williams joins Montrezl Harrell and Patrick Beverley as Clippers players who have left the Disney campus to attend to personal matters within the last few days.
While it seems likely that those three players will all return well before the postseason begins in mid-August, the Clippers could have another absence to prepare for down the road. According to Tania Ganguli of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link), forward Marcus Morris said today that he has a son due in September and plans to be there for the birth.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he said.
Depending on when exactly Morris leaves and how the Clippers fare in the playoffs, he could end up missing a portion of the Western Conference Semifinals or Western Finals.
Players who leave the NBA’s campus with team and/or league approval must quarantine for four days upon returning, as long as they return negative coronavirus tests every day they’re away (or for each of their last seven days away, if they’re gone for more than a week). Failing to take those tests on a daily basis would result in a quarantine period of up to 10-14 days — obviously, a positive COVID-19 test would result in a longer absence.
The Clippers‘ proposed Inglewood arena took an important step forward on Tuesday, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN, who writes that the Inglewood City Council unanimously approved the environmental impact report for the building.
As Youngmisuk details, the Clippers intend to build a “sprawling campus” that will include an outdoor plaza, as well as the club’s corporate offices and practice facility. Barring any setbacks, the plan is for construction to begin in the summer of 2021 and for the team to begin playing in the new arena at the start of the 2024/25 season, after the Clippers’ Staples Center lease expires.
Clippers starting point guard Patrick Beverley left the NBA’s Orlando campus tonight to deal with “an emergency personal matter,” according to Malika Andrews of ESPN. Andrews notes that Beverley, who practiced with the Clippers this morning, plans to rejoin the club at some point during the league’s season restart.
Last week, bench big man Montrezl Harrell also departed the Disney World campus to tend to an emergency. The Clippers play their first seeding game on July 30 against their fellow Staples Center residents, the Lakers.
Losing Beverley, a pesky defensive specialist, for any extended period of time would be a significant blow for the Clippers, the No. 2 seed in the West with a 44-20 record. The 32-year-old boasts a slash line of 7.9 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 3.7 APG for the season. He is connecting on 37.9% of his 4.1 three-point attempts a night. Beverley is in the first season of a three-year, $40MM contract he signed with Los Angeles last summer.
Sharpshooting Sixth Man of the Year candidate Lou Williams could fill in for Beverley as a temporary starter. New waiver wire addition Reggie Jackson could provide additional support. Andrews speculates that Jackson could start ahead of Williams, who is more of a defensive liability. Led by 2019 Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and six-time All-Star Paul George, the Clippers, along with the Lakers and Bucks, are widely viewed as a top contender for a title when the 2019/20 season resumes.
If a player is away from the Disney campus for seven or more days, he will have to test negative for COVID-19 for seven consecutive days before touching down again in Orlando. If the player is off-site for fewer than seven days, he must test negative for each of those days. The player would then quarantine for four days upon returning. If Beverley isn’t tested regularly for the novel coronavirus while away, he may need to quarantine for 10-to-14 days.
According to Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register (Twitter link), Clippers forward Marcus Morris is at the team’s Tuesday morning practice today, having reported to the campus and cleared his quarantine period. His twin brother Markieff Morris will be joining the Lakers soon, Marcus tells Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link). Dave McMenamin of ESPN tweets that Markieff is expected to arrive at the campus today and will begin his initial quarantine.
- Clippers big man Joakim Noah has benefited from the NBA’s hiatus, which gave him more time to get fully healthy after suffering an Achilles injury, writes Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. Noah’s new teammates are impressed by what they’ve seen so far from the veteran center. “He’s just bringing that energy every day,” guard Rodney McGruder said. “That’s something that I’m learning from him, and it’s just the intensity and just the persistence that he plays with on the defensive end, how you always hear his voice. He’s always yelling, he’s always talking.”
The NBA has announced the official summer rosters for each of the 22 teams involved in the resumption of the 2019/20 season. A total of 350 players make up the 22 squads, with only eight clubs carrying the maximum allowable 17 players. The Trail Blazers have the smallest summer roster, with just 13 players.
Injured players who didn’t make the trip to Orlando – such as Nets stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant – don’t show up on the official rosters list, but injured players who traveled with their teams – including Mavericks big man Dwight Powell and Pacers swingman Jeremy Lamb – are included, even if they won’t play this summer.
Besides players who are injured, voluntarily opted out, or were ruled out after contracting COVID-19, there are a few more notable omissions on the list, which we’ll round up here:
- Houston Rockets: William Howard
- A two-way player, Howard recently reached a two-year deal with ASVEL Basket in France, so it makes sense that he won’t be playing for the Rockets this summer.
- Los Angeles Clippers: Johnathan Motley, Mfiondu Kabengele
- As previously reported, Motley and Kabengele didn’t travel to Orlando with the Clippers and won’t be playing this summer.
- Milwaukee Bucks: Cameron Reynolds
- The Bucks only brought one of their two-way players (Frank Mason III), as Reynolds doesn’t show up on their official roster. The reason for his absence is unclear.
- New Orleans Pelicans: Josh Gray
- Darius Miller also isn’t listed on the Pelicans’ roster, but he’s injured, so it appears that Gray – a two-way player – is the player being replaced by Sindarius Thornwell, who was signed as a substitute player earlier this month. That would mean that Gray was one of three Pelicans players who contracted COVID-19 in June.
- Philadelphia 76ers: Ryan Broekhoff
- Broekhoff was signed as a substitute player to fill the Sixers’ open two-way slot, but later announced that he hadn’t traveled to Orlando because his wife, who is “high risk,” tested positive for COVID-19. Based on his omission from Philadelphia’s roster, it appears that Broekhoff won’t be joining the club after all.
- Phoenix Suns: Tariq Owens
- The Suns left one of their two-way slots open and apparently didn’t bring their lone two-way player to Orlando. The reason for Owens’ absence is unclear.
- Portland Trail Blazers: Moses Brown
- Despite only having 13 players available in Orlando, the Trail Blazers won’t have Brown – their second two-way player – with them. The reason for his absence is unclear.
- Washington Wizards: Gary Payton II
- Like the Pelicans, the Wizards signed a substitute player (Jarrod Uthoff) without announcing who he’d be replacing. It appears that player is Payton, who reportedly tested positive for COVID-19.
- The Clippers are using their practices in the NBA’s Disney World campus to fully integrate recent additions Marcus Morris, Reggie Jackson and Joakim Noah, per Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register. “It’s pretty much we know who we want to play, but as far as the rotations and the minutes, I think that’s still a little bit in flux,” head coach Doc Rivers noted. “We’ll see. You kind of decide on what you’re going to do going by how you’re practicing.”
Clippers power forward/center Montrezl Harrell has departed the NBA’s Orlando campus due to a family emergency, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Harrell intends to return to the Disney World campus this season.
Harrell, a leading candidate for the 2019/20 Sixth Man of the Year Award, has been enjoying the best season of his five-year NBA career with Los Angeles. In just 27.6 MPG across 63 games, he boasts a slash line of 18.6 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 1.7 APG and 1.1 BPG. The 44-20 Clippers are the No. 2 seed in the West.
The 25-year-old Harrell, undersized at 6’7″, will be an unrestricted free agent in a shallow class this offseason. He is coming off a sweetheart two-year, $12MM contract extension he signed with the Clippers in 2018, and looks ready to command a major raise after this season.
Should Harrell miss any games in the season restart, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers could look to spell some of his minutes with backup big men JaMychal Green and Patrick Patterson — plus maybe even new addition Joakim Noah. Rivers claimed to not know the status of starting center Ivica Zubac in the Orlando campus. “As far as guys that have showed up and not showed up, we don’t talk about that,” Rivers said. “So we’re going to continue to not talk about it.”
The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor detailed the league protocols for players departing and returning to campus when addressing yesterday’s departure of Zion Williamson. Any player who departs the Orlando campus must test negative for COVID-19 for seven consecutive days ahead of his return (or test negative every day, if he’s away for fewer than seven days). After that player returns, he must undergo a four-day quarantine. If the player does not adhere to those testing rules, he will have to isolate himself in a 10-day quarantine after touching back down in Orlando.
The Kings were one of 22 teams chosen to play in the NBA’s restart, which begins in a couple of weeks in Orlando, Florida. The Kings are currently 3.5 games behind Memphis for the eighth seed and could make the playoffs if they can play how they did before the season was suspended.
That will hinge not only on how De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield play, but also how Kings head coach Luke Walton utilizes second-year big man Marvin Bagley. This past weekend, Walton was asked about where does the former Duke standout fit on the court and responded by saying that Bagley is a position-less player.
“We see Marvin as a player that, down the road, is going to be pretty much a position-less type of basketball player,” Walton said. “For now, and getting him back, we got him getting most of his reps at the five and the four.”
Richard Ivanowski of The Sacramento Bee disagrees with Walton’s assessment and opines that Bagley should be considered a center or big man. Ivanowski points out that the former second overall pick struggles to shoot from three-point range (28.8%) and is not someone who can initiate the offense. Instead, Bagley is better around the rim and is an adequate defensive rebounder.
Here’s more from around the Pacific Division:
- Clippers guard Terance Mann, who is the team’s NBPA rep, told reporters on Tuesday that the players’ decision to play was “a pretty long process,” per ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk (Twitter link). The Clippers, who will be back in action on July 30 against the Lakers, had several Zoom conversations about the restart before deciding to participate, Mann said.
- Mann also told reporters that he is back to full contact after undergoing hand surgery in March, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic (Twitter link).
- Anthony Slater and John Hollinger of The Athletic discussed the current state of the Lakers and where they’ll go from here. The Athletic duo talked about how Los Angeles did in free agency last summer, what to do with Kyle Kuzma (who is eligible for an extension this offseason), and Anthony Davis‘ future.
- According to Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register (Twitter link), veteran forward Markieff Morris, who has an excused absence, is expected to join the Lakers soon in Disney World.
After appearing in 51 of the Clippers‘ 64 games before the NBA went on hiatus in March, star forward Kawhi Leonard said this week that he feels good and is ready to go, as Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times writes.
Clippers head coach Doc Rivers suggested there would be “no limits” on the former Finals MVP, who hasn’t played in back-to-back sets over the last couple seasons due to leg issues. However, Rivers acknowledged that the Clips’ priority will be to keep Leonard in top shape, which may mean not pushing him too hard during the eight seeding games.
“Kawhi is healthy for the most part,” Rivers said. “That still doesn’t mean that we don’t want to maintain him and get him through the first eight games and get ready for the playoffs. We want to be smart about this. Not just for Kawhi, it’s with everybody.”
Here’s more on the Clippers and their L.A. rivals:
- The Clippers will have 15 players available in Orlando when the season resumes, according to Greif, who notes in a separate Times story that the club didn’t bring rookie forward Mfiondu Kabengele or two-way center Johnathan Motley. Teams were permitted to bring up to 17 players to the NBA’s campus, but the Clips elected to “load up on medical personnel” to fill out their traveling party, writes Greif.
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is the leading candidate to replace Avery Bradley in the Lakers‘ starting lineup, head coach Frank Vogel said on Monday, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link). Bradley, who opted out of the rest of the season, started 44 games this year, typically alongside Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Danny Green, and JaVale McGee.
- With Bradley not playing this summer and Rajon Rondo sidelined due to a broken thumb, Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register wonders if Dion Waiters could assume some ball-handling duties off the bench for the Lakers. “Losing Rondo put more of a need on Dion’s skillset, so I look forward to seeing what he can do more as we get into games,” Vogel said.