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NBA Announces Official Rosters For Summer Restart

July 20th, 2020 at 5:08pm CST by Luke Adams

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.

Pelicans Notes: Zion, Redick, Ingram, Restart

July 19th, 2020 at 11:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry hasn’t spoken to Zion Williamson since he left Orlando for an “urgent family medical matter,” and there’s no timetable for the star rookie to return to the team, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Few details have emerged about Williamson’s situation since the announcement was made Thursday. Williamson will likely have to be quarantined for at least four days once he returns to the Walt Disney World Complex.

“Basically, we’re going to do our best to hold it down for him until he gets back, whenever that is,” J.J. Redick said on his latest podcast. “As a teammate, he’s a family member. We’ll do our best to keep this thing rolling. But obviously whatever is going on, we want the best for him. I feel awful for him because so much of this season has been a roller coaster for him. It seemed like he was in such a good place. Hopefully we get him back here soon.”

There’s more on the Pelicans, all courtesy of Vardon:

Redick, who turned 36 last month, talked about the strain placed on older players by stopping and restarting the season. In addition to the four-month hiatus, the league is hoping to begin next season in December, which would result in an unusually short offseason. “I feel good still. I feel like I have years left in my body,” Redick said. “As many of you know who have children and have a family, as they get older and you start missing milestones, it becomes harder to be away from them. I think as an athlete you want to have some sort of storybook ending. Most of us don’t get to have that. When you get towards the end, at least my thought process is as I get towards the end you sort of examine things in the moment. And, yeah, there’s uncertainty about next season and maybe even beyond that, it’s in the back of my mind about how much longer I want to play.”
With NBA awards to be based only on games already played, Gentry is campaigning for Brandon Ingram to be named Most Improved Player. Ingram posted career highs with 24.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists and helped New Orleans stay in the playoff race while Williamson was sidelined.
Gentry raved about the steps the league has taken to create a real-game atmosphere for the restart. The Pelicans will be part of the first game, facing the Jazz on TNT. “I think everybody assumed we were just going to play in an empty arena and you’re going to hear the balls bouncing and the officials talking,” he said, “but I think you’re going to be pleasantly surprised when you see the atmosphere we’re going to be playing in.”

Zion Williamson Leaves NBA Campus For Urgent Family Matter

July 16th, 2020 at 3:16pm CST by Luke Adams

3:16pm: Williamson’s exact return protocol will be determined once the league gets more information on the specific circumstances of his absence, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com and Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter links). As noted below, the expectation is that he’ll have to quarantine for at least four days upon returning.

10:28am: Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson has left the NBA’s Walt Disney World campus in order to attend to an “urgent family medical matter,” the team announced today in a brief press release. The expectation is that Williamson will rejoin the team in Orlando at a later date.

“We fully support Zion’s decision to leave the NBA campus to be with his family,” Pelicans VP of basketball operations David Griffin said in a statement. “Out of respect for the Williamson family, we will have no further comment at this time.”

The NBA has a protocol in place for players who receive approval to leave the Disney campus for a personal matter, as Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer relays. As long as the player tests negative for the coronavirus for each of the seven days preceding his return to campus (or tests negative every day, if he’s away for fewer than seven days), he is subject to only a four-day quarantine period upon returning.

An unexcused absence or a failure to follow those guidelines would result in a 10-day quarantine period upon the player’s return to campus. However, with seeding games just two weeks away, I’d expect Williamson to be careful about following the league’s protocols to ensure he maximizes his availability for New Orleans’ eight upcoming games.

The Pelicans will take part in the first game of the NBA restart on July 30 vs. Utah. That game will be followed by crucial matchups with the Clippers (August 1), Grizzlies (August 3), and Kings (August 6). New Orleans’ schedule finishes with games against the Wizards (August 7), Spurs (August 9), Kings (August 11), and Magic (August 13).

The Pelicans, who are 3.5 games back of Memphis for the No. 8 spot in the West, have one of the more favorable summer schedules and are in position to challenge the Grizzlies for the conference’s final playoff spot. The club will hope that Williamson can be a key part of that postseason chase — he has averaged 23.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG, and 2.2 APG in 19 games (29.7 MPG) in his first NBA season.

Western Notes: Holiday, Duncan, Len, Hield, Schiller

July 15th, 2020 at 1:51pm CST by Luke Adams

Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday announced today during an appearance on ESPN’s The Jump that he and his wife Lauren will be putting his remaining game checks toward the Jrue and Lauren Social Justice Impact Fund, as Andrew Lopez of ESPN writes.

The aim of the social justice fund will be to help communities in New Orleans, Indianapolis, and the Los Angeles area, according to Lopez. Holiday plays in New Orleans, his brothers Aaron Holiday and Justin Holiday play in Indiana, and the Holiday family is from the L.A. area.

“We want to make an impact,” Holiday told ESPN. “God has blessed us with so much. We know a couple of things that are important are time and money, and right now, we have both. To be able to give away our money to help further this movement and Black-owned businesses that have taken a hit in COVID-19, to us, it felt like the perfect time and opportunity.”

Lopez suggests that Holiday’s remaining game checks could be worth up to $5.3MM — that estimate seems a little high based on my calculations, but considering the veteran guard has a 2019/20 salary of $26MM+, his donations will be substantial.

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

Spurs assistant coach Tim Duncan won’t be with the team in Orlando, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times, who tweets that Duncan is staying in San Antonio to help oversee LaMarcus Aldridge‘s rehab from shoulder surgery.
Like Harrison Barnes, center Alex Len – who recently contracted COVID-19 – isn’t yet with the Kings at the Walt Disney World campus, reports Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “We have to prepare as if we’re not going to have either one of those guys,” head coach Luke Walton said of Barnes and Len. “And that’s just getting ready for what worst-case scenario would be. And there’s a reality that might be it. So our mindset is we prep that we’re not going to have them with us, and we’re hopeful that they rejoin us.”
Within the same story, McMenamin passes along Buddy Hield‘s comments on his experience with the coronavirus. The Kings sharpshooter said his symptoms were mild and that the virus resulted in just “a little head cold” and “chills one night.”
G League Coach of the Year Martin Schiller, who had been the head coach of the Jazz‘ NBAGL affiliate, is leaving the Salt Lake City Stars to coach Zalgiris Kaunas in Lithuania, as Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune details.

Community Shootaround: Western Conference Seeding

July 13th, 2020 at 1:10pm CST by Luke Adams

As we detailed on Friday when we discussed the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference, there will be an opportunity for teams to move up – or down – in the standings when play resumes on July 30.

With eight “seeding games” on tap, teams are unlikely to make up five- or six-game deficits on the clubs ahead of them in the standings, but there’s a strong likelihood of a shake-up in instances where teams are only separated by a game or two.

That’s even more true in the Western Conference than it is in the East, albeit not necessarily at the very top of the standings, where the 49-14 Lakers hold a fairly comfortable lead on the 44-20 Clippers. The Lakers’ magic number to clinch the conference is just three, so they’re a safe bet to hang onto the No. 1 seed.

After that though, there’s some congestion in the standings. The Clippers’ lead on the Nuggets (43-22) is just 1.5 games. Denver holds an identical lead over the Jazz (41-23). Utah, meanwhile, is just a couple losses away from slipping down to the No. 6 seed, as the Thunder (40-24) and Rockets (40-24) are right on their heels. The 40-27 Mavericks round out this group of six teams, a game-and-a-half behind OKC and Houston and just 5.5 games behind the second-seeded Clippers.

A number of those six clubs bunched up in the middle of the Western Conference playoff picture will face one another when play resumes. For instance, the Thunder – who have the potential to move up or down a couple spots in the standings – will open the restart against the Jazz and Nuggets and eventually finish their season against the Clippers. The Clips will face the Mavericks and Nuggets in addition to OKC. Dallas opens its eight seeding games by playing the Rockets.

Given the strength of competition in the West, seeding could be paramount in the postseason. The Nuggets, for example, could conceivably face the Jazz, Thunder, Rockets, or Mavs in the first round and would likely prefer some opponents to others in that group. The Jazz, currently at No. 4, could be motivated to avoid the No. 6 Rockets in the first round, since they’ve been eliminated by Houston in each of the previous two postseasons.

At the bottom of the playoff picture, the No. 8 Grizzlies (32-33) have essentially no chance to move up, since they’re seven games back of Dallas. But they’ll be looking to increase their lead over the Trail Blazers, Pelicans, Kings, Spurs, and Suns — if they can finish with more than a four-game lead on all those clubs, they’ll avoid a play-in tournament. If the Nos. 8 and 9 seeds finish within four games of one another, a play-in tournament will be necessary to determine that final playoff spot.

A newly-healthy Blazers squad will be a major threat to the Grizzlies, as will a Pelicans team that faces one of the league’s weakest schedules over the course of the eight seeding games.

What do you think? Do you think we’ll see much movement in the Western Conference’s top eight? Will the Grizzlies be knocked out by one of the challengers behind them in the standings? What do you expect the West’s top eight seeds to look like by the time the playoffs begin?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your predictions!

Southwest Notes: Williamson, Rockets, Winslow, Mavs

July 12th, 2020 at 5:57pm CST by JD Shaw

Pelicans star Zion Williamson primarily worked on fundamentals and conditioning during the NBA’s months-long hiatus, according to Andrew Lopez of ESPN.com.

Williamson spent significant time with his stepfather, Lee Anderson, harping on the core principles of his game in recent weeks. With the 2019/20 NBA season officially restarting in Orlando, Williamson is looking to build on what’s already been an impressive rookie campaign.

“His stepfather did a fantastic job of working him out every day, of making him be in good conditioning when we got him back,” head coach Alvin Gentry said. “He’s made a lot of strides in his shooting, I think. Although we weren’t together, he did a lot to improve his game.”

Williamson is averaging 23.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 29.7 minutes in 19 games this season, displaying unprecedented athleticism and power in his first year with the team. New Orleans is tentatively scheduled to have its first scrimmage on Wednesday, July 22 against Brooklyn.

Here are some other notes out of the Southwest Division:

Rockets stars Russell Westbrook and James Harden are expected to arrive in Orlando soon, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes. Houston had its first team practice on Saturday without the star duo, with head coach Mike D’Antoni hinting that the two All-Star guards will likely join the club in the next few days.
Evan Barnes of the Memphis Commercial Appeal examines how Justise Winslow fits in with the Grizzlies, particularly under head coach Taylor Jenkins’ offensive system. Jenkins indicated that Winslow will likely be used in a play-making role during the NBA’s resumed season, Barnes writes. “His versatility is really going to come out in our style of play,” Jenkins said. “That’s why I talk about him being just a great fit and a perfect fit for our system because he can play multiple positions on offense.”
Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News explores how much playoff experience will matter for the Mavericks, whose top two players (Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis) have yet to see postseason action in their careers. The typical home and road atmospheres that teams usually encounter in the playoffs naturally won’t be the same this year due to COVID-19. “It’s hard for me to predict that, how it’s going to be,” Porzingis admitted. “This is going to be my first experience and no matter what the circumstances are, I’m going to try to get the most out of it and get the most experience and play the highest level basketball I’ve ever played.”

Pelicans’ Gentry Cleared To Travel To NBA Campus

July 8th, 2020 at 11:24am CST by Luke Adams

Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry has been cleared to travel with his team to the NBA’s Walt Disney World campus, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). According to Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link), Gentry received the call from the NBA today just minutes before the Pelicans were set to board their plane to Orlando.

Gentry, who is 65 years old, is one of the head coaches who has received extra scrutiny from team doctors and the NBA due to potentially heightened health risks if he contracts the coronavirus. The restart agreement gives the league the right to prohibit certain red-flagged individuals from accompanying their teams to Disney.

The NBA has assured coaches they won’t be red-flagged based on their ages alone. However, if there are also underlying health issues that will put them at greater risk, they can be held out of the restart — that was the case for Lakers assistant Lionel Hollins, for instance.

Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, 71, is expected to travel to the NBA campus on Thursday, per Mike Finger of The San Antonio Express-News. Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni, 69, also said this week that he hasn’t heard anything suggesting he’ll be prohibited from heading to Orlando (Twitter link via Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle). D’Antoni is still waiting the official OK from the league, but there’s optimism he’ll get it, tweets Wojnarowski.

While the Pelicans got good news on Gentry, the club will be without associate head coach Jeff Bzdelik won’t be with the club this summer. He decided to stay in New Orleans and work remotely after consulting with team doctors and CDC regulations.

In addition to Bzdelik, the Pelicans will be missing assistant Jamelle McMillan, who is staying behind to care for his newborn son, according to Lopez (Twitter link).

Pelicans Notes: Thornwell, Replacement, Favors

July 7th, 2020 at 5:00pm CST by Luke Adams

When the Pelicans announced on Monday that they’d signed Sindarius Thornwell, they indicated in their press release that the guard is a substitute player, but didn’t reveal which player on the roster he’d be replacing. More than 24 hours later, we have no further clarity on which New Orleans player will be supplanted by Thornwell.

According to John Hollinger of The Athletic (Twitter link), Thornwell is replacing a player who tested positive for the coronavirus and the Pelicans can’t name that player for privacy reasons. The team previously announced that three players tested positive for COVID-19, but the identities of those players wasn’t reported. Still, it will likely just be a matter of time until we know which Pelican won’t participate in the summer restart, if only by the process of elimination.

Pelicans center Derrick Favors, whose contract expires at season’s end, admitted today that he weighed the risk of suffering a pre-free-agency injury this summer before ultimately deciding to play. “I definitely thought about it,” Favors said, per Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link). “But I trust my body and I trust what I’ve done.”

Free Agency Won’t Deter Ingram From Playing In Restart

July 6th, 2020 at 8:43pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Top restricted free agent Brandon Ingram never considered sitting out the remainder of the season, according to USA Today’s Mark Medina.

The Pelicans‘ star forward was enjoying a breakout season prior to the stoppage of play in March, averaging 24.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG and 4.3 APG in his fourth NBA campaign after being included in the blockbuster Anthony Davis swap. He averaged 18.3 PPG, 5.1 RPG and 3.0 APG in his third and final season with the Lakers.

New Orleans will try to hold off five other teams during the restart and secure the eighth and final Western Conference playoff berth. Ingram felt that he couldn’t let his teammates down despite a big payday looming this offseason.

“I didn’t look at it as if I had a choice of going or not. My teammates knew that I didn’t question it or anything. I just wanted to play basketball at the end of the day,” Ingram said. “I’m going to do it and let my teammates know I’m there 110%. I have to be there. It wasn’t a question.”

The Pelicans will extend a $9,481,458 qualifying offer to Ingram to make him a restricted free agent. He’s unquestionably the top RFA on the market, though few teams have significant salary cap space. Ingram could also gamble and sign the QA, then become an unrestricted free agent next offseason.

Ingram isn’t ready to declare that he’ll stick around New Orleans long-term.

“That is definitely a question that will be answered after the season. But how I feel right now? I feel really good about this team,” he said. “I like where I’m at. But that’s a decision that is going to have a lot of factors after the season.”

Ingram does see a bright future for the team and is excited to find out what his teammates can accomplish on the Orlando campus.

“We’re very excited. We’re building some momentum into getting better each and every day,” Ingram said. “Of course we haven’t reached where we want to go. It’s a long ways away. But I think we’re getting steps and steps closer to where we want to get to be at.”

Ingram’s last season in Los Angeles was cut short after team doctors discovered he had a blood clot called deep venous thrombosis. The Pelicans declined to give him a rookie scale extension last year in part because of health concerns.

He left no doubt about his health this season while making his first All-Star appearance.

Pelicans Sign Sindarius Thornwell As Substitute Player

July 6th, 2020 at 6:25pm CST by Luke Adams

6:25pm: Miller has been officially ruled out as he continues his rehab from right Achilles surgery, ESPN’s Andrew Lopez tweets.

1:04pm: The Pelicans have officially signed free agent guard Sindarius Thornwell for the rest of the season as a substitute player, the team announced today in a press release.

Thornwell, 25, was selected with the 48th overall pick in the 2017 draft and spent the first two years of his professional career with the Clippers. He appeared in 137 total games for Los Angeles, averaging 2.5 PPG and 1.3 RPG on .415/.342/.689 shooting in a limited role (10.7 MPG).

After being waived by the Clippers last July, Thornwell spent the 2019/20 season with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the G League, averaging 9.2 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 4.5 APG in 40 games (28.9 MPG). The 6’5″ guard is considered a strong perimeter defender.

It remains to be seen which player on the Pelicans roster is being replaced by Thornwell. According to Christian Clark of NOLA.com (Twitter link), swingman Darius Miller isn’t traveling to Orlando with the team due to his ongoing Achilles recovery, but an injured player like Miller isn’t eligible to be replaced by a substitute player.

At this point, a substitute player can only be signed to replace a player who voluntarily opts out of the NBA’s restart or who has tested positive for COVID-19. No Pelicans players have announced they plan to opt out, but three tested positive for the coronavirus in June. We’ll have to wait for further updates to confirm which player is being replaced by Thornwell and why — the player in question will be ineligible to return this season.