- Clippers star Paul George could make his season debut as early as Monday after being cleared for five-on-five practice this weekend, Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register writes. George had separate surgeries earlier this year to repair a partially torn tendon in his right shoulder and a small labrum tear in his left shoulder.
Paul George is almost ready to return to the court after going through his first five-on-five practice yesterday, writes Mark Medina of USA Today. Coach Doc Rivers told reporters that George’s debut with the Clippers could come tomorrow against the Raptors, although Wednesday against the Rockets or Thursday against the Pelicans remains more likely.
No matter when it happens, George, who was involved in one of the highest-profile trades of the offseason, is eager to stop rehabbing and start playing. He had surgery on both shoulders shortly after the Thunder were eliminated from last season’s playoffs and has been operating on a limited basis since training camp opened.
“I’m used to being in this rehab stage and knowing what it takes to get my body prepared,” George said, referring to a broken leg he suffered in 2014. “It’s a long process. But with me going through it and having a drastic injury in my leg, I know what to expect. I know what pressure to put on myself and what pressure not to put on myself.”
There’s more from Los Angeles:
- Monday’s game will mark Kawhi Leonard‘s first meeting with the Raptors since leading the team to the NBA title in June, notes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Leonard said he meets a lot of Canadians in Southern California and they thank him for bringing a championship to the country. “The guys, the journey,” Leonard responded when asked what he will remember from his season in Toronto. “Also the country. The city was amazing. And it’s just so much, you can keep going on and talking about it.”
- Rajon Rondo is getting closer to his season debut for the Lakers, but it won’t come today against Toronto, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. The veteran guard, who is recovering from a calf injury, went through a full workout Saturday and will participate in another practice today to help build his endurance.
- Lakers center JaVale McGee won’t complain about a reduced role as long as the team keeps winning, relays Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. McGee is playing 25% fewer minutes and taking half as many shots as he did last season, with much of his time going to Dwight Howard. “Being on Golden State set me on (a path), let me have a mindset to where I’m not worried about minutes,” McGee said. However, he added, “If we’re losing and this is happening, then it’s a different situation.”
- Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard was blindsided by the league revealing the nature of his knee injury while fining the team $50K for making conflicting statements about his health, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN relays. According to the league statement, Leonard is dealing with a patella tendon issue in his left knee. “I mean it was shocking, but it doesn’t matter to me,” he said. “I’m not a guy that reads the media anyway. We’re going to manage it the best way we can to keep me healthy and that’s the most important thing, me being healthy moving forward.”
- The way the Clippers handled the Leonard load management controversy may have been sloppy but it showed that the organization has his back, Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic opine. The Clippers are trying to follow the Raptors’ blueprint to success, which includes giving Leonard a number of nights off.
Here are Friday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA G League:
- The Bucks assigned power forward Dragan Bender to the Wisconsin Herd, according to a team press release. Bender, a major disappointment since the Suns used the No. 4 overall pick on him in 2016, has yet to appear in a game for the Bucks this season. He’ll play in the Herd’s season opener against the Windy City Bulls.
- The Clippers assigned center Mfiondu Kabengele and guard Derrick Walton Jr. to the Agua Caliente Clippers, the team’s PR department tweets. The duo also practiced with the G League team on Thursday and were recalled. They could see action in Agua Caliente’s season opener on Saturday.
- The Wizards recalled forward Admiral Schofield and guard Justin Robinson prior to their game against Cleveland, the team’s PR department tweets. Schofield, a second-round pick, has appeared in five games during his rookie campaign while Robinson, an undrafted rookie, has seen action in three games.
Here are Thursday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA G League:
- The Nuggets have assigned rookie forward Vlatko Cancar to the Erie BayHawks, the team’s PR department tweets. The 2017 second-round selection has appeared in one game, a two-minute cameo on Oct. 31. Denver doesn’t have a G League affiliate.
- The Clippers assigned center Mfiondu Kabengele and guard Derrick Walton Jr. to the Agua Caliente Clippers for a practice and then recalled them, Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweets.
- The Bulls assigned swingman Denzel Valentine, who missed last season due to an ankle injury, to the Windy City Bulls, the team’s PR department tweets. Valentine practiced with the G League team and is expected to remain with them for their first two games on Friday and Saturday. Rookie power forward Daniel Gafford was also assigned to the Windy City Bulls and will remain for their season opener, according to another team tweet.
- The Spurs assigned forward Chimezie Metu to their Austin affiliate, then recalled him prior to their game against Oklahoma City, according to a team press release. He’ll be re-assigned to Austin for its season opener on Friday.
- The Hawks assigned swingman Allen Crabbe to the College Park Skyhawks for a practice and then recalled him, according to Sarah Spencer of the Atlanta Journal Constitution and the team’s PR department (Twitter links). Crabbe is working his way back from knee surgery.
- The Hornets assigned two rookies, guard Cody Martin and forward Caleb Martin, to the Greensboro Swarm for a practice and then recalled them, according to a team press release. They also recalled rookie forward Jalen McDaniels, according to another team release.
The NBA has fined the Clippers for inconsistent statements, including those by head coach Doc Rivers, regarding forward Kawhi Leonard‘s health status, according to a league press release.
Leonard sat out for the second time this season on Wednesday against Milwaukee as part of the team’s load management strategy for the superstar forward. Los Angeles’ decision to sit Leonard for ESPN’s nationally-televised game against Milwaukee was questioned in many circles.
Rivers unwittingly fanned the flames by saying in his press conference on Wednesday that Leonard felt just fine.
“He feels great. But he feels great because of what we’ve been doing… We’re just going to continue to do it,” Rivers said. “There’s no concern here. But we want to make sure. I think Kawhi made a statement that he’s never felt better. It’s our job to make sure he stays that way.”
Leonard’s absence was listed as a knee issue. The league’s statement regarding the fine indicated the team’s decision to sit Leonard was “consistent with league rules,” adding, “The team has reasonably determined that Leonard is suffering from an ongoing injury to the patella tendon in his left knee and has been placed by the team at this time on an injury protocol for back-to-back games.”
Essentially, the league has signed off on allowing Leonard to sit out a game on back-to-backs as long as the team doesn’t give the impression that Leonard is 100 percent.
The Clippers play the Trail Blazers in another nationally-televised event, this one on TNT, on Thursday night. Leonard played only 60 regular-season games in his lone season with the Raptors due to load management, which helped to keep him fresh for the postseason.
- Paul George is scheduled to go through his first full-contact practice as a member of the Clippers on Saturday, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com. A Wednesday report indicated that the team is hoping to have George make his season debut next week, either on November 13 in Houston or November 14 in New Orleans.
- Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic take a deep dive into the Clippers‘ load managing of Kawhi Leonard, exploring whether his nights off are precautionary or if he’s actually dealing with an injury. Sources tell The Athletic duo that there’s no definitive plan to have Leonard miss half of every single back-to-back set this season. The star forward’s rest schedule will be determined a few weeks at a time, and could be adjusted as the year goes on.
A lawsuit seeking to block the Clippers‘ proposed new arena in Inglewood on the basis that the land should be used for affordable housing was denied today by Superior Court Judge Daniel Murphy, writes Jason Henry of The Pasadena Star News.
After hearing legal arguments yesterday, Murphy dismissed the suit filed by the Uplift Inglewood Coalition, a citizens group that was alleging an agreement with the NBA team violates California’s Surplus Land Act, which requires cities to make affordable housing a priority when selling publicly owned land.
City officials contend the land doesn’t qualify as surplus because the stated uses – economic development and aircraft noise mitigation – are permissible under the law. The city purchased properties on the land with a $120MM grant from the Federal Aviation Administration that discourages residential use.
“Under these circumstances, the City did not abuse its discretion in determining the Property remains ‘necessary for the agency’s use’ and is not surplus land,” Murphy wrote in his ruling.
The ruling takes away a significant obstacle for the proposed arena, which the Clippers hope to have ready for the fall of 2024. The project has been targeted by numerous lawsuits since it was announced, including one by the Madison Square Garden Co., which owns the Forum in Los Angeles.
“The people of Inglewood have time and again stood up for, testified for, and voted in favor of this project,” Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts said after today’s ruling was announced. “It would have been a travesty to allow a few malcontents to sabotage so much prosperity for this community.”
The Clippers are hearing complaints after deciding to rest Kawhi Leonard in a pair of nationally televised games, but the NBA has ruled that the load management plan falls within league guidelines, writes ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Leonard will sit out tonight’s home game against the Bucks, depriving viewers of a match-up between reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the MVP of last season’s NBA Finals. L.A. isn’t currently planning to use Leonard in back-to-back situations any time during the season, sources tell Wojnarowski, and the Clippers host Portland tomorrow night.
“Kawhi Leonard is not a healthy player under the league’s resting policy, and, as such, is listed as managing a knee injury in the LA Clippers injury report,” league spokesman Mike Bass said. “The league office, in consultation with the NBA’s director of sports medicine, is comfortable with team medical staff’s determination that Leonard is not sufficiently healthy to play in back-to-back games at this time.”
The Raptors employed the same strategy last year, using Leonard in just 60 regular season games. That preserved him for the playoffs, where he averaged 30.5 points and 9.1 rebounds in 24 games and led Toronto to its first NBA title.
Wojnarowski notes that Leonard hasn’t played on back-to-back nights since April of 2017 when he was still with the Spurs. A quad injury the following season limited him to nine games for the season and led to a falling out with the organization.
“He feels great because of what we’ve been doing,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers told Malika Andrews of ESPN (Twitter link). “There’s no concern here. Our job is to make sure he stays that way.”
Clippers forward Paul George has yet to make his debut for his new team as he continues to recovery from shoulder surgery. However, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic, it sounds like that long-awaited debut may happen sometime next week.
Sources tell Amick that the Clippers are eyeing their back-to-back set of road games on November 13 (in Houston) and November 14 (in New Orleans) for George’s return. The hope is that the six-time All-Star will play in one of those games, but not both.
As Amick notes, there’s a chance that George will be able to return sooner – possibly Monday in Toronto – or that his debut will be postponed a few days, perhaps to November 16 vs. Atlanta. But that back-to-back set on November 13-14 is considered the most likely time for his Clippers debut.
Even if George makes it back for one of those games against the Rockets or Pelicans, it’s unclear if we’ll see the Clippers’ full arsenal on display, since Kawhi Leonard has only been playing one half of the club’s back-to-backs so far. Leonard will sit out tonight vs. Milwaukee before playing on Thursday against Portland, for instance.
If the Clippers decide to load-manage George in their upcoming back-to-back sets while he works his way back to 100%, it will be interesting to see whether the team rests both its stars at the same time or staggers their nights off.