New York Knicks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

More Teams, Players Pledge To Support Arena Workers During Hiatus

March 16th, 2020 at 11:42am CST by Luke Adams

The list of teams and players who have vowed to help support arena workers who will lose wages during the NBA’s hiatus continues to grow. Here are several of the updates from the couple days:

The Bulls‘ ownership group, along with United Center ownership, announced that it will pay day-of-game employees through the remained of the originally scheduled season. The Nets issued a press release indicating they’ll do the same for hourly employees who worked games and events at Barclays Center. A team official said the Sixers are doing so too, tweets John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
The Spurs announced the formation of a fund totaling $500K+ that will be used to pay its part-time employees through the rest of the season. The Hornets also established a fund to assist the organization’s part-time employees who had been scheduled to work Hornets and Greensboro Swarm games through the end of their respective seasons.
The Nuggets‘ ownership group pledged to pay its part-time and hourly employees for the next 30 days, per a press release.
Madison Square Garden has committed to paying event-driven employees, including those who work at Knicks games, through March 22 and is working to come up with a longer-term plan, per a memo obtained by Ian Begley of SNY.tv. The Suns, meanwhile, are paying their employees who were scheduled to work their two home games in March, noting that the staffing for their four home games in April hadn’t yet been finalized.
The Raptors said in a press release that they have joined forces with Toronto’s other sports franchises to create a fund for arena and stadium workers. “Being a good teammate means looking out for our neighbours, friends and the people we work with,” Raptors president Masai Ujiri said in a statement. “Through this fund, we all pledge to be good teammates to our arena, stadium and support staff. We want to be here for them, the way they are always here for us.”
Following the lead of stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, the rest of the Bucks‘ roster has also committed to making donations to impacted Fiserv Forum workers, per the team (Twitter link). Magic center Mohamed Bamba vowed to do the same for Amway Center employees (Twitter link).
Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns is making a $100K donation as well, but his money will be going to the Mayo Clinic, which is rolling out a test to detect the virus that causes COVID-19. “My hope is that we can fight this virus quicker and more efficiently by increasing the testing capabilities and availability and Mayo Clinic’s overall COVID-19 response,” Towns tweeted.

Cavaliers Salary Cap Expert Brock Aller Emerges As Possible Front Office Addition

March 15th, 2020 at 4:05pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

As the Knicks continue to overhaul their front office, Cavaliers salary cap expert Brock Aller has emerged as a potential addition to new team president Leon Rose‘s staff, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. After spending a decade as the personal assistant to team owner Dan Gilbert, Aller graduated to a position as senior director of basketball operations in 2017.

Knicks Notes: Coronavirus Threat, Dolan, Van Gundy

March 15th, 2020 at 10:22am CST by Arthur Hill

The positive test by Detroit’s Christian Wood adds to fears that the Knicks may have been exposed to coronavirus, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. New York hosted the Pistons last Sunday, with Wood playing 33 minutes. That came the night after Detroit faced the Jazz, who have both Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell with confirmed cases of the virus.

The Knicks also had a game against Utah on March 4, but a source tells Berman there’s only a 1% chance that Gobert and Mitchell were infected at that point.

The NBA advised the Knicks’ traveling party to self-quarantine Thursday night when they returned from their game in Atlanta. No one was exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, but nobody had been tested as of Friday morning, Berman adds. However, that could change in light of the news about Wood.

There’s more Knicks news to pass along:

The BIG3 has taken a swipe at owner James Dolan in an ad promoting its upcoming stop in New York, Berman relays in a separate story. It features a picture of Spike Lee, who was involved in recent dispute with Dolan, and states, “Players are not property. The fans are our guests.” BIG3 organizers and Madison Square Garden officials both declined to comment on the ad.
Former Knick Charles Oakley tells Berman in another piece that he doesn’t believe an old-school coach like Jeff Van Gundy can succeed in today’s game. Van Gundy has frequently been mentioned as a candidate in the organization’s upcoming coaching search. “Basketball has changed. You’re not getting the 1990s back,” Oakley said. “The game has a totally different atmosphere. You got to build a team with leadership and players willing to sacrifice. These kids don’t care about basketball. All they care about is getting the check, playing video games and the social media.”
Steve Popper of Newsday looks back at a chaotic partial season that included a coaching change and a new president of basketball operations, but provided little information about the Knicks’ direction for the future. Of the seven free agents who came to New York last summer, Marcus Morris made the biggest difference and he has already been traded. Among the young players, Kevin Knox and Frank Ntilikina both saw reduced minutes, while Damyean Dotson and Allonzo Trier were often out of the rotation.

Coronavirus Notes: Mitchell, Thunder, More

March 12th, 2020 at 1:48pm CST by Luke Adams

After reporting on Wednesday that the Knicks were the only NBA team that wanted to maintain the status quo until forced by a government mandate to play games without fans, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski updated that report today.

According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), two other teams expressed reservations about playing games behind closed doors before receiving a formal mandate to do so. Those teams were the Rockets and Pacers. Woj adds (via Twitter) that while the Rockets were resistant to the idea of playing games in the short-term without fans, they were in favor of a three-or-four-week hiatus that would have pushed the schedule into the summer.

That discussion is moot now, in the wake of Jazz stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell testing positive for coronavirus and the NBA shutting down its regular season indefinitely. Mitchell confirmed his positive test today in an Instagram post.

“We are all learning more about the seriousness of this situation and hopefully people can continue to educate themselves and realize that they need to behave responsibly both for their own health and for the well being of those around them,” he wrote in his statement. “… I am going to keep following the advice of our medical staff and hope that we can all come together and be there for each other and our neighbors who need our help.”

Here’s more on the coronavirus situation:

The NBA has a call with its Board of Governors scheduled for 2:30pm central time this afternoon, according to Wojnarowski (via Twitter). The call was initially supposed to happen earlier in the day.
There’s some concern among NBA players about coronavirus test results being leaked to the media, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link), given the damage it can do to a player and his family and the stigma it creates. As Amick notes, the fact that it’s a public health crisis complicates the situation. When the Jazz and the NBA announced Gobert’s and Mitchell’s positive tests, they didn’t identify them — the two affected stars were revealed by media reports.
Although they weren’t initially tested for coronavirus at the Chesapeake Energy Arena following Wednesday night’s postponed game against Utah, Thunder players and staffers were advised to self-quarantine for 24 hours and will be tested, writes ESPN’s Royce Young. Since Gobert wasn’t at the arena at all on Wednesday, the risk wasn’t considered high for members of the Thunder, but now that Mitchell has tested positive as well, the Oklahoma State Health Department feels that testing is warranted.

Celtics, Pistons Among Teams Self-Isolating Due To Virus

March 12th, 2020 at 1:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics, who played the Jazz in Boston last Friday, announced in a press release today that they’re having players and staffers who were in close contact with Utah players or who traveled to Milwaukee this week self-quarantine at least through the weekend.

All of the Celtics’ players – as well as staff members who came into close contact with Jazz players or exhibit COVID-19 symptoms – will be tested over the weekend, the team said in its release. After consulting with health experts, the Celtics believe it’s unlikely that any of their players came into contact with Rudy Gobert or Donovan Mitchell while they were contagious, but they want to take precautions nonetheless.

Meanwhile, the Pistons – who played Utah on Saturday in Detroit – announced today that there’s no indication the coronavirus was passed along to any of their players or staffers. However, they’re asking their players, coaches, basketball staff, and traveling party to self-isolate “until further notice” out of an abundance of caution.

A league source tells Rod Beard of The Detroit News (Twitter link) that coronavirus tests are available for Pistons players, but if they’re not exhibiting any symptoms, those tests are optional.

The Cavaliers, whose game with Utah took place back on March 2, believe based on conversations with the Jazz and health experts that Gobert and Mitchell did not have coronavirus when the Jazz visited Cleveland last week, league sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. No players or staff members have shown symptoms, so there are no plans for testing at this time, Fedor adds. If symptoms surface, that would change.

In an official statement, the Cavs confirmed that none of their players have experienced symptoms and indicated that the club isn’t currently under a mandatory quarantine.

The Knicks, whose game against Utah happened on March 4, are under the impression they’ll be self-quarantined, per Ian Begley and Alex Smith of SNY.tv. Marc Berman of The New York Post tweets that the Knicks remain at their hotel in Atlanta as of 1:00pm CT, with no concrete departure time set yet.

Earlier today, we passed along word that the Raptors, who played the Jazz on Monday, are being tested for coronavirus and have been advised to self-isolate for two weeks, while the Wizards – Utah’s opponent on February 28 – are also self-isolating for the next few days, just to be safe.

Latest On NBA’s Coronavirus Response

March 11th, 2020 at 11:21pm CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of Rudy Gobert‘s positive coronavirus test, the NBA has announced that its season will be suspended indefinitely, as we detailed earlier tonight.

While it remains to be seen exactly how long that suspension will last, one person who spoke to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press said the NBA expects the league to be shut down for at least two weeks. That source cautioned that the situation is very fluid.

As Dan Feldman of NBC Sports passes along, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said in a TV appearance tonight that there’s a feeling around the NBA that the season will eventually be resumed. It’s “clearly going to be a truncated schedule” though, according to Woj.

No games will take place while the suspension is ongoing, but Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said tonight that the NBA has told teams they can continue to practice, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). Players have been told they shouldn’t have any visitors from out of town, MacMahon adds.

Here’s more on how the coronavirus situation has shaken up the NBA:

After Gobert was tested for COVID-19 on Wednesday, Jazz and Thunder officials worked together to make sure no Oklahoma City players had any contact or exposure to Utah players, tweets Wojnarowski. According to ESPN’s Royce Young (Twitter links), Thunder players were tested tonight for fever, but not for the coronavirus. Jazz players are still expected to be tested tonight, however — the team is currently quarantined in OKC, per Woj (Twitter link).
According to reports from Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald (Twitter link) and ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, players from teams that have played the Jazz in the last 10 days have been advised to self-quarantine. That list of clubs includes the Cavaliers, Knicks, Celtics, Pistons, and Raptors.
Knicks players aren’t being tested yet, according to Steve Popper of Newsday (Twitter link). Blake Murphy of The Athletic tweets that Raptors players are getting tested. Cavaliers coaches and players haven’t yet heard about potential testing, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

Spurs’ DeRozan To Opt Out If Not Extended?

March 11th, 2020 at 11:07am CST by Luke Adams

Spurs swingman DeMar DeRozan intends to opt out of his contract this summer if he and the team don’t reach a contract extension by the end of June, league sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

DeRozan, whose player option for 2020/21 is worth $27,739,975, must make a decision on that extension by June 29, per Basketball Insiders. DeRozan and the Spurs have until June 30 to agree to terms on a veteran contract extension.

DeRozan is having one of the best years of his NBA career, averaging 22.2 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 5.6 APG in 61 games (34.3 MPG). His .526 FG% is easily a career high. However, there are a few factors working against him as he nears potential free agency.

Among those factors: DeRozan will be entering his age-31 season in the fall; his mid-range game is out of sync with most teams’ offensive approaches; and he and LaMarcus Aldridge appear unlikely to lead the Spurs to a playoff spot this spring. On top of that, San Antonio has actually been better without DeRozan on the court (+1.0 net rating) than when he plays (-2.7).

This year’s league-wide salary cap situation is also a point in favor of DeRozan picking up his option. Only a handful of teams will have significant cap room available, and most of those clubs are in the process of rebuilding, reducing the odds that they’ll want to invest heavily in a veteran player like DeRozan.

Still, it’s possible this offseason will represent DeRozan’s best chance at one last lucrative long-term deal — he could comfortably exceed the amount of that $27.7MM option on a multiyear contract, even if he doesn’t match that salary in ’20/21. If he doesn’t reach an extension with the Spurs and opts out, that wouldn’t close the door on a possible return to San Antonio, according to Haynes, who adds that the Knicks are among the teams expected to be interested in the former ninth overall pick. A sign-and-trade to an over-the-cap club could also be an option for DeRozan.

If DeRozan doesn’t sign an extension with the Spurs, I imagine he wouldn’t opt out unless he has a solid Plan B lined up, like Al Horford did last June when he declined his $30MM+ player option with Boston. For his part, the Spurs’ leading scorer downplayed Haynes’ report when he was asked about it on Tuesday night, as Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio-Express News writes.

“Who reported it? Did my Mama say it?,” DeRozan said. “Don’t listen to it then.”

Dennis Smith Jr. Set To Return For Knicks

March 10th, 2020 at 6:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Meanwhile, Dennis Smith Jr., who has missed the Knicks‘ last five games, has been cleared from the NBA’s concussion protocol and will be active on Tuesday night in Washington, head coach Mike Miller told reporters this evening (Twitter link via Ian Begley of SNY.tv).

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 3/9/20

March 9th, 2020 at 7:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Here are Monday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA G League:

Forward Donta Hall has been recalled by the Pistons, James Edwards of The Athletic tweets. Hall is nearing the end of his second 10-day contract with the club. He has appeared in three Pistons games since signing his first one.
The Grizzlies assigned and then recalled swingman Justise Winslow, the team’s PR department tweets. Winslow participated in a practice with the G League club as part of a rehab assignment for his back injury.
The Hornets recalled guard Dwayne Bacon from their Greensboro affiiliate, according a team press release. Bacon has appeared in 39 games with Charlotte, posting averages of 5.7 PPG, 2.6 RPG and 1.3 APG in 17.6 MPG.
The Knicks assigned rookie Ignas Brazdeikis to their Westchester affiliate, according to the G League transactions log. Brazdeikis, a second-round pick out of Michigan, has appeared in nine Knicks games.
The Jazz assigned guard Miye Oni to the Salt Lake City Stars, according to the same log. The rookie out of Yale has played in five Utah games.

Knicks Notes: Coaching Job, Smith, Paul, Spike Lee

March 9th, 2020 at 6:41pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Knicks would be wise to strike quickly regarding their head coach position, Steve Popper of Newsday opines. The Nets will also be seeking a head coach and several other franchises with better reputations than the dysfunctional Knicks could be in the market as well. Interim replacement Mike Miller has done an admirable job but if they’re interested in a coach not currently under contract, such as Kenny Atkinson, Tom Thibodeau, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson, they’ll need to beat other teams to that candidate.

We have more on the Knicks:

Dennis Smith Jr. is close to returning from a concussion, Greg Joyce of the New York Post relays. Smith suffered the head injury on February 27 and has missed five games. He practiced on Saturday but did not play against Detroit on Sunday. In 34 games, the third-year guard is averaging 5.5 PPG and 2.9 APG. Smith is signed through next season.
Thunder point guard Chris Paul calls trade rumors regarding the Knicks “crazy,” according to an NBA Central video post. Frank Isola reported last week that New York has been “gathering intel” on Paul and might seek a trade for the veteran point guard, whose former agent is new Knicks president Leon Rose. Some members of the organization believe CP3 could provide strong leadership for the Knicks’ young roster and help to instill a winning culture, sources tell SNY.tv. Paul’s onerous contract would wreck the team’s cap sheet for the summer of 2021 when high-profile free agents are expected to be on the market but the team’s need at point guard could override that, Popper notes.
Paul was disappointed Spike Lee wasn’t at the Thunder-Knicks last week due to Lee’s rift with owner James Dolan, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. “I’ve known Spike for a while. I had spoken to him a couple of days ago and looked forward to him being at the game to watch me play because I hadn’t played (at Madison Square Garden) the last two years,” Paul said.