- Clippers coaches “love” rookie guard Terance Mann, according to Sean Deveney of Forbes.com, who tweets that the club was more willing to give up a first-round pick than Mann at the trade deadline in February. Mann’s name did reportedly come up in the Marcus Morris trade talks with New York — at the time, a report suggested the Knicks preferred draft picks to young players.
More than three weeks after leaving the NBA’s campus in Florida for personal reasons, Clippers center Montrezl Harrell has returned to Walt Disney World. As Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN writes, Harrell published an Instagram video early on Monday morning showing the view from his Disney hotel, and posted, “I’m back!!!!!!!!” on Twitter.
Harrell left the NBA’s campus before last month’s scrimmages began, in order attend his grandmother’s funeral and to be with his family. The 26-year-old was very close with his grandmother, whose death hit him hard. The team had told Harrell to take as much time as he needed to grieve before returning to Orlando.
Having left the bubble with an excused absence, Harrell will likely be subject to a quarantine period of just four days now that he’s back, as long as he tested negative for the coronavirus each of the last seven days of his absence. If he didn’t abide by the league’s testing protocols, his quarantine period could be up to 10-to-14 days, but for now there’s no indication that will be the case.
As Youngmisuk notes, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers was asked on Sunday whether the team might have Harrell available for its final seeding game this Friday vs. Oklahoma City.
“We hope so,” Rivers replied. “That’s all I can say.”
Of course, even if Harrell clears quarantine on Thursday, he may need a practice or two to get back up to speed, considering he hasn’t worked out with the team since mid-July. But his return to Disney World bodes well for his availability for the postseason, which is scheduled to begin a week from today.
The NBA has announced the finalists for several awards as the seeding games on the Orlando campus move forward and the postseason nears. It was announced in July that all awards for the 2019/20 season would be based on games up until March 11, when the coronavirus pandemic shuttered play. Media members made their votes before the seeding games began on July 30.
NBA Most Valuable Player Finalists:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
- LeBron James (Lakers)
- James Harden (Rockets)
NBA Defensive Player of the Year:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
- Anthony Davis (Lakers)
- Rudy Gobert (Jazz)
NBA Rookie of the Year:
- Zion Williamson (Pelicans)
- Kendrick Nunn (Heat)
- Ja Morant (Grizzlies)
NBA Most Improved Player:
- Bam Adebayo (Heat)
- Luka Doncic (Mavericks)
- Brandon Ingram (Pelicans)
NBA Sixth Man of the Year:
- Montrezl Harrell (Clippers)
- Dennis Schröder (Thunder)
- Lou Williams (Clippers)
NBA Coach of the Year:
- Mike Budenholzer (Bucks)
- Billy Donovan (Thunder)
- Nick Nurse (Raptors)
The winners for the awards will be announced during the NBA playoffs after the seeding games period concludes on August 14.
Clippers center Montrezl Harrell has been away from the NBA’s campus at Walt Disney World for approximately three weeks, attending to his family and grieving following the recent death of his grandmother. However, he appears to be getting close to a return.
[RELATED: Clippers Tell Montrezl Harrell To Take Time To Grieve]
During a Thursday night appearance on TNT, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (video link) reported that Harrell’s grandmother will be laid to rest this Saturday, with the Clippers center expected to travel to Orlando soon after that.
Sources tell Haynes that Harrell has been getting tested daily for the coronavirus and has continued to receive negative results. That means that when he does return to the NBA’s campus, he should only be subject to a four-day quarantine period. That would put the Sixth Man of the Year candidate on track to rejoin the team in time for the start of the playoffs on August 17, though he’ll probably need a couple practices to get back up to speed before being activated.
The Clippers have been somewhat shorthanded since the seeding games began. Lou Williams missed the first two contests due to his extended quarantine period, Patrick Beverley left the third game with a calf injury and remains sidelined, and Harrell, of course, hasn’t played at all this summer.
Head coach Doc Rivers said on Thursday that he’d love to get back the roster to full strength at some point in the next week or two, but added that he’ll continue to make the most of what he has available, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
“It would be nice to have a stretch where our whole team was available, practicing and playing,” Rivers said. “But we haven’t had that all year. It’s been amazing. We just got to keep rolling.”
- Clippers guard Lou Williams took a lot of flack for visiting an Atlanta strip club after temporarily leaving the Orlando campus and he admits to making a bad decision, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN writes. “It’s been documented how much I talk about this place, how much I eat there,” Williams said of Magic City. “I just did something that was routine for me. … At the time, I thought I was making a responsible decision. After looking back on it, with everything going on in the world, the pandemic, maybe it wasn’t the best-quality decision.” Williams is back in action after clearing quarantine.
The Clippers announced on Wednesday that starting point guard Patrick Beverley is out with a left calf injury for Thursday’s game against the Mavericks (Twitter link). In addition to Beverley, forward Montrezl Harrell is still away from the team.
Beverley suffered the injury in the first quarter against the Suns on Tuesday afternoon. The defensive-minded point guard’s injury isn’t considered serious, however, which is good news for the Clippers, who have championship aspirations.
Without Beverley, Reggie Jackson could be inserted into the Clippers’ starting lineup, with Lou Williams and Landry Shamet also handling point guard duties.
Clippers point guard Patrick Beverley left Tuesday’s game against Phoenix in the first quarter with a left calf injury and didn’t return, as Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN details. The injury isn’t considered serious, but Doc Rivers suggested after the game that the team will play it safe, with the postseason not scheduled to begin until August 17.
“I don’t think it’s bad,” the Clippers’ head coach said. “We’re going to be very cautious, I can tell you that.”
Beverley’s injury occurred just as Lou Williams returned to action for the Clippers following his 10-day quarantine period. If Beverley is able to get back on the court soon and Montrezl Harrell reports to the team within the next week or so, L.A. should be back at full strength before the playoffs get underway.
After making a surprise retirement announcement during the summer of 2019, veteran point guard Darren Collison was said to be mulling the idea of coming out of retirement to join either the Lakers or Clippers earlier this year. However, Collison – who elected to stay retired – said during an appearance on the A Minute Til 6 podcast (video link) that rumors of a comeback were overstated.
“To keep it 100, they overhyped the whole thing,” Collison said. “I wasn’t even thinking about coming back. … Mentally, I just wasn’t in that right frame of mind. I’m still trying to work some things out in my life and trying to help the youth out as well. I always felt like after this season, yeah, I’ll assess everything else. But this season I just never thought about coming back.”
An appearance at a Lakers/Rockets game in early February alongside Lakers owner Jeanie Buss fueled speculation that Collison might want to team up with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. However, Collison said during his A Minute Til 6 appearance that he was just at that game to watch his friend Russell Westbrook in action.
Reports of Collison’s potential return persisted for weeks in January and February, so if he never seriously considered the idea, it’s odd that he didn’t squash those rumors at the time. Still, it wouldn’t have made a lot of sense for him to sign a prorated minimum salary contract after potentially passing up an eight-figure salary last summer.
Collison, who will turn 33 later this month, played well for the Pacers in 2018/19, with 11.2 PPG and 6.0 APG on .467/.407/.832 shooting in 76 games as the club’s starting point guard, so his retirement was unexpected. He said at the time that he wanted to dedicate more time to volunteer work and his Jehovah’s Witnesses ministry.
Based on his latest comments, it doesn’t sound as if Collison has entirely ruled out the possibility of seeking an NBA return at some point — if he does decide to come out of retirement, he’d be an intriguing option for teams in need of a veteran point guard.
Clippers guard Lou Williams has cleared quarantine and will be available to play on Tuesday against the Suns, agent Wallace Prather tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Williams, who left the NBA’s Walt Disney World campus last month to attend a funeral, was photographed at popular Atlanta strip club Magic City during his absence. Although Williams said he was only there for the food – Magic City’s lemon pepper BBQ wings are named after him – he had to undergo a 10-day quarantine upon returning to Orlando.
Players who leave the NBA’s campus with permission can quarantine for as few as four days when they return, but any potential violations of the league’s protocols can instead result in a 10-to-14-day quarantine period, as was the case for Williams.
The extended quarantine period sidelined Williams for the Clippers’ first two seeding games, but it sounds like he’ll be ready to resume his sixth-man role on Tuesday vs. Phoenix. His return figures to result in a reduction in minutes for the likes of Reggie Jackson and Landry Shamet.
With Williams back, the Clippers are nearing full strength. However, L.A. is still missing Montrezl Harrell, who is taking some time away from the team to deal with his grief following the death of his grandmother.
The Clippers are slowly getting their full roster together in Orlando, but they may have to wait a while for Montrezl Harrell, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
The backup big man received permission to leave the Walt Disney World campus two weeks ago because of the death of his grandmother. He doesn’t appear ready to focus on basketball yet, posting on Instagram last night that he doesn’t know when he “will stop crying.”
“I don’t know how to feel right now,” Harrell wrote. “I feel lost empty you are my queen, my best friend, my light in all darkness. I never had you leaving my side. I don’t know how I’m do it but I got to find some way but losing you today isn’t going to make any day I wake up easy.”
Coach Doc Rivers told reporters today that the team will give Harrell as much time as he needs to deal with his grief. He said the league needs to recognize the importance of mental health and treat those situations as seriously as it does physical injuries.
“I’ve talked to him … From others I get asked from inside like, ‘When is Trez coming back’ and my answer’s been the same — when he’s ready,” Rivers said. “When he’s ready, he’ll come back. You can’t play if you’re not right mentally and because of the emotional part of it. His grandmother is very tight with him, so all I told him is ‘I love you and take your time. We’ll be ready with open arms when you come.'” (Twitter link from Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times)
Harrell, Lou Williams and Patrick Beverley all left the Clippers for personal reasons over the past two weeks. Williams and Beverley have both returned, but Williams is on an extended quarantine, while Beverley is playing under a minutes restriction.