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NBA Starts Allowing Teams To Test Asymptomatic Players For Coronavirus

May 8th, 2020 at 2:43pm CST by Luke Adams

After previously being advised by the NBA not to test asymptomatic players for COVID-19, teams have now been informed by the league that they’ll be permitted to administer those tests — as long as they’re in areas where testing is readily available to at-risk health care workers, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Magic, for instance, have been granted written authorization from the Orange County Department of Health – as well as approval from the NBA – to test their players and staffers for the coronavirus, whether or not they’re exhibiting symptoms, a spokesperson confirmed. A Magic official told Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link) today that May 12 is the most likely target date for the team to reopen its practice facility.

“We have been assured we are not taking any tests from healthcare workers, first responders, or anyone whether they are experiencing symptoms or asymptomatic,” the Magic told Woj in a statement (Twitter link). “As we’ve been told, the general public in our community can go to numerous locations to receive a coronavirus test.”

The Lakers and Clippers are among the other clubs that are expected to receive permission soon from the NBA and local health authorities to conduct coronavirus tests on players entering their facilities, according to Wojnarowski.

Although the NBA is allowing teams to reopen their practice facilities, the league has been reluctant to ramp up testing for its players and staffers yet. When the NBA suspended its season in March, multiple teams were able to conduct immediate tests on dozens of asymptomatic players and staffers, drawing criticism from politicians who were dealing with local shortages.

The NBA doesn’t want to create the impression that the league is receiving preferential treatment, which is why any teams in municipalities with testing shortages still won’t be permitted to test asymptomatic players for now.

However, if an increasing number of teams get the go-ahead to move forward with testing asymptomatic individuals, that will represent a crucial step forward for the NBA. If the league wants to resume its 2019/20 season, it will need access to thousands – and potentially tens of thousands – of tests to regularly administer them to players, staffers, and other officials.

As long as those tests still aren’t readily available for asymptomatic people in many areas of the country, it would be a bad look for the NBA to procure them in massive quantities. But if and when shortages are no longer a concern, that would no longer be a roadblock for a potential return to play.

Lawsuits Over Clippers' Inglewood Arena Plan Dismissed

May 7th, 2020 at 1:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Following the completion of the sale of The Forum to a group led by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, a lengthy legal battle over the team’s plan to build an arena in Inglewood has come to an end, writes Nathan Fenno of The Los Angeles Times. The Madison Square Garden Co., the former owner of The Forum, had filed or backed several lawsuits opposing the arena proposal, but paperwork was filed this week to dismiss those suits as part of the sale agreement, clearing the way for the Clippers to move forward with their Inglewood plans.

Ballmer Finalizes Purchase Of Inglewood’s Forum

May 4th, 2020 at 3:54pm CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers issued a press release today announcing that CAPSS LLC – a recently-formed company backed by team owner Steve Ballmer – has completed its purchase of The Forum in Inglewood, California. The venue was previously owned by the Madison Square Garden Company.

The sale agreement was initially reported in March, when the two sides reached a deal for Ballmer’s group to buy The Forum for $400MM in cash. MSG Co. – controlled by Knicks owner James Dolan – had previously been engaged in a legal battle with Ballmer and the Clippers, who are trying to build a new arena in Inglewood.

The sale of The Forum will help end that litigation, paving the way for the Clippers to move forward on their new building. The Forum, meanwhile, will continue to operate as a live entertainment venue. The Forum’s existing leadership team of Geni Lincoln and Mike Fallon will now report to Gillian Zucker, the Clippers’ president of business operations, according to today’s announcement.

“The talented team at The Forum has created a world-class live entertainment venue, and we are committed to building upon that reputation,” Zucker said in a statement. “Having The Forum just a short distance from the L.A. Clippers’ new arena will give us the opportunity to provide the City of Inglewood with a number of benefits, including a collaborative approach to managing traffic and community activities.”

The Clippers are locked into their Staples Center lease through 2024, but Ballmer has long prioritized the idea of the team moving into a building of its own. The franchise will now be able to move forward on plans to build a state-of-the-art, 18,000-seat arena in Inglewood.

Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN reported in March that the Clippers’ proposal was undergoing an environmental review by Inglewood, with public hearings to approve the project expected to be held in the summer. It’s not clear whether the coronavirus pandemic has changed that timeline at all.

Draft-And-Stash Prospect Michineau Signs Extension With French Team

May 4th, 2020 at 1:21pm CST by Luke Adams

Clippers draft-and-stash prospect David Michineau, the 39th overall pick in the 2016 draft, has signed an extension through 2023 with French team Metropolitans 92, the club announced in a press release (hat tip to Sportando).
In case you missed it last week, we previewed the Lakers‘ and Clippers‘ salary cap outlook for 2020/21 and passed along word that the NBA’s four California teams are lobbying the state in the hopes of reopening their practice facilities later this month.

Coronavirus Notes: Facilities, “Bubble” Concept, Vegas, More

May 1st, 2020 at 12:25pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has said it will allow teams to reopen their practice facilities as early as May 8, one week from today. However, as Sam Amick and Joe Vardon of The Athletic detail, at least half of the league’s 30 teams are located in areas that have stay-at-home orders in place beyond that date, and some teams without those mandates in place are still weighing whether or not to actually reopen their facilities next Friday.

Amick and Vardon note that the NBA has said it will attempt to make “alternative arrangements” for teams in areas that won’t be open for business by next Friday. The Lakers, Clippers, Warriors, and Kings are lobbying California Governor Gavin Newsom to include them in the second phase of the state’s reopening plan in the hopes of returning to their facilities by the third week of May, sources tell The Athletic.

Within their report, The Athletic’s duo also digs into the extensive safety measures the league has put in place for teams as they reopen facilities and explores the competitive imbalance concerns that could arise if certain teams are back at their facilities while others are still locked out.

“The thing I keep hearing is the whole competitive advantage idea,” a player on a team that could resume individual workouts next week told The Athletic. “If we open up half the teams’ facilities when it’s safe, what’s a team like Brooklyn going to do? That’s a question because I certainly have no idea what that looks like.”

Here’s more on the issues the NBA is working through as it considers how and when to resume play:

If the NBA attempts to resume the season in a “bubble” location, what would that look like? Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN break it down, examining how many people would need to be in the bubble, what role COVID-19 testing would play, and how long it would take to finish the season. Interestingly, sources tell Bontemps and Windhorst that the league has rejected the idea of quarantining players without their family members.
The ESPN duo also estimates that if the NBA is intent on playing the rest of the regular season, it would take 33 days to do so, with no more than 55 days required for a full postseason. The league could cut back on that 88-day total by reducing or eliminating the rest of the regular season and/or by tweaking its playoff format.
While Las Vegas was initially viewed as the most likely location if the NBA were to move forward with a “bubble” plan, recent comments made by Mayor Carolyn Goodman didn’t make a good impression on the league’s power brokers, writes Chris Mannix of SI.com. Goodman suggested in a CNN interview that she was willing to offer up the city’s citizens as a control group to assess what happens when all coronavirus-related restrictions are lifted.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Thursday that the idea of starting the 2020/21 NBA season in December and having it run through July or August is gaining some momentum. With that in mind, ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link) goes into detail on what a new calendar might look like. The highlights include free agency opening on August 30, the trade deadline falling on April 8, and the Finals starting on August 1. Marks also suggests moving the draft to September 8, delaying it until after the first week of free agency.

2020/21 Salary Cap Preview: Los Angeles Clippers

April 28th, 2020 at 5:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is looking ahead at the 2020/21 salary cap situations for all 30 NBA teams. Due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the NBA, it’s impossible to know yet where the cap for 2020/21 will land. Given the league’s lost revenue, we’re assuming for now that it will stay the same as the ’19/20 cap, but it’s entirely possible it will end up higher or lower than that.

After going all-in during the 2020 offseason, giving up a boatload of draft picks – and rising star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – in order to land Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, the Clippers were one of the NBA’s best teams in 2019/20. Despite only firing on all cylinders a handful of times throughout the season due to some injury and chemistry issues, the club entered the league’s hiatus with a 44-20 record, good for second in the West.

The Clippers will be one of the teams hit hardest if the NBA can’t resume its 2019/20 season and play out its postseason. After all, Leonard and George will be entering contract years in ’20/21, so it’s unclear how long the team’s window will be open. As for the 2020 offseason, the Clips have some big free agent decisions to make and may have to go into tax territory if they want to retain Montrezl Harrell, Marcus Morris, and JaMychal Green.

Here’s where things stand for the Clippers financially in 2020/21, as we continue our Salary Cap Preview series:

Guaranteed Salary

Paul George ($35,450,412)
Kawhi Leonard ($34,379,100)
Patrick Beverley ($13,333,333)
Lou Williams ($8,000,000)
Ivica Zubac ($7,000,000)
Rodney McGruder ($5,192,307)
Landry Shamet ($2,090,040)
Mfiondu Kabengele ($2,075,880)
Terance Mann ($1,517,981)
Total: $109,039,053

Player Options

JaMychal Green ($5,005,350)
Total: $5,005,350

Team Options

None

Non-Guaranteed Salary

Joakim Noah ($2,692,991)
Amir Coffey (two-way)
Total: $2,692,991

Restricted Free Agents

Johnathan Motley ($1,678,854 qualifying offer / $1,678,854 cap hold): Bird rights
Total (cap holds): $1,678,854

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Marcus Morris ($18,000,000): Non-Bird rights
Montrezl Harrell ($11,400,000): Bird rights
Reggie Jackson ($1,620,564): Non-Bird rights
Patrick Patterson ($1,620,564): Non-Bird rights
Total: $32,641,128

Offseason Cap Outlook

With $109MM+ in guaranteed money committed to nine players for 2020/21, the Clippers aren’t in bad shape — even if the cap doesn’t increase, that would give them plenty of wiggle room below the tax line to fill out the final five or six spots on their roster.

However, if they intend to bring back all their key free-agents-to-be, they may need all that wiggle room and then some. Harrell is due a significant raise on his current $6MM salary; Morris will likely be in line for another eight-figure salary; and Green will add another $5MM+ to the books if he simply exercises his player option. Team salary would increase further if the club wants to make use of its mid-level exception to bring in more talent.

For now, we’re assuming the Clippers will do all they can to retain their rotation players, which will likely mean entering tax territory. But the team could gain more cap flexibility if one or two of those key free agents don’t return.

Cap Exceptions Available

Taxpayer mid-level exception: $5,718,000 ¹
Trade exception: $3,567,720 (expires 2/8/21)
Trade exception: $1,445,697 (expires 2/8/21)

Footnotes

This is a projected value. If the team doesn’t approach the tax apron, it could have the full mid-level exception ($9,258,000) and bi-annual exception ($3,623,000) available.

Note: Minimum-salary and rookie-scale cap holds are based on the salary cap and could increase or decrease depending on where the cap lands.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders and Early Bird Rights was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Examining Mark Hughes' Role With Clippers

April 28th, 2020 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

As Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times writes, the Clippers are happy to retain assistant general manager Mark Hughes, who was one of several candidates to interview for Chicago’s open GM job. Greif takes an in-depth look at the role Hughes plays in Los Angeles and how he has become one of the most well-liked members of the Clips’ front office.

Lue, Kidd, JVG, Jackson Among Nets’ Coaching Candidates

April 23rd, 2020 at 1:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Tyronn Lue, Jason Kidd, Jeff Van Gundy, and Mark Jackson are among the names on the Nets‘ developing list of potential head coaching candidates, reports Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link). According to Stein, interim coach Jacque Vaughn, who replaced Kenny Atkinson last month, will also receive consideration for the permanent job.

As Stein explains (via Twitter), the Nets aren’t expected to complete their search and name a head coach until the 2019/20 season has been completed or canceled, so presumably this list of candidates is preliminary and figures to evolve in the coming weeks and months.

Still, the names are worth noting, as are the ones noticeably absent. For instance, Stein says that Tom Thibodeau is believed to be “solely a Knicks candidate” for the time being, despite some rumblings linking him to the Nets.

There has been speculation that Brooklyn will target a veteran coach who would be comfortable leading a veteran roster that aims to be a title contender in 2020/21. As such, it makes sense that all the candidates identified by Stein have previous head coaching experience, with Kidd having already served as the Nets’ head coach once, albeit not under the current ownership or management group.

Currently, Kidd works as a Lakers assistant under Frank Vogel, while Lue is on Doc Rivers‘ Clippers staff. Van Gundy and Jackson are analysts for ESPN and ABC.

Lue, who was said earlier this week to have interest in Brooklyn’s coaching job, would reunite with Kyrie Irving if he were to land the job. Citing that Irving connection, Stein adds (via Twitter) that Warriors assistant Mike Brown – another former Cavaliers coach – is another name to monitor.

Tyronn Lue Reportedly Interested In Coaching Nets

April 21st, 2020 at 10:24am CST by Luke Adams

Former Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue is interested in the Nets‘ head coaching job, a source tells Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News.

Bondy’s report comes about a month and a half after Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports suggested that Nets point guard Kyrie Irving would like to see the team hire Lue, his coach in Cleveland. We noted a week later that oddsmakers had installed Lue as the early favorite for the Brooklyn job.

The Nets parted ways with Kenny Atkinson just four days before the NBA suspended its season in March. Jacque Vaughn took over the role on an interim basis, winning his first two games before the league went on hiatus.

Under normal circumstances, the franchise would likely be in the midst of a full-fledged head coaching search right now, since the regular season was scheduled to end last Wednesday. However, with everything on hold as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the Nets are putting off their coaching search as well — GM Sean Marks said three weeks ago that pursuing potential candidates at this time “would completely not be fair to our group.”

Once they do initiate their coaching search, the Nets seem likely to consider Lue, who led the Cavs to a 128-83 (.607) record, three Finals appearances, and a championship in two full seasons and parts of two others. Lue reportedly received strong consideration from the Lakers last spring for their coaching job, but was said to be seeking a stronger commitment than the club was willing to offer. He ended up joining the Clippers instead as an assistant on Doc Rivers‘ staff.

Bondy speculates that Tom Thibodeau, Mark Jackson, Phil Handy, and Jason Kidd could be some of the other coaching candidates who receive consideration from the Nets.

Lou Williams Wants To Finish Career With Clippers

April 18th, 2020 at 6:29pm CST by Arthur Hill

After bouncing around the NBA for much of his 15-year career, Lou Williams is determined to finish up with the Clippers. The three-time winner of the Sixth Man of the Year award made his intentions clear in an interview with Ros Gold-Onwude of ESPN (hat tip to Garrett Chorpenning of Sports Illustrated).

“This is it,” Williams said. “Listen, all teams out there, I’m not playing for anybody else after this. … That’s my leverage. I identify with this group of guys, I identify with this organization. I don’t see me finding that somewhere else.”

After spending his first seven seasons in Philadelphia, Williams played for the Hawks, Raptors, Lakers and Rockets in a span of five years before being shipped to the Clippers in the Chris Paul trade in 2017. He admits he didn’t feel comfortable at first with his new team, but eventually coach Doc Rivers helped him revive his career.

“Never give up,” Williams said. “That’s my Clippers story, never give up. I was at a place in my career where I thought that I was done, and Doc and the rest of the guys rejuvenated me again and gave me that confidence that I needed to move forward in my career. And I’ve had the best years of my career with the Clippers.”

Williams has remained productive at age 33, averaging 18.7 PPG through 60 games before the hiatus and putting himself in contention for another Sixth Man award. He’s making $8MM this season and the same amount next year before becoming a free agent in 2021. Williams told Gold-Onwude he believes he can play four more years of “high-level” basketball.