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Ty Lue Expected To Be Popular Head Coaching Candidate

August 13th, 2020 at 12:42pm CST by Luke Adams

Tyronn Lue hasn’t been an NBA head coach since early in the 2018/19 season, when he was let go by the Cavaliers, but it sounds as if it may just be a matter of time before he returns to that role with a new team. Multiple league executives tell Chris Mannix of SI.com that they expect Lue to be a leading candidate for head coaching jobs that may open this offseason.

Lue, who is currently the lead assistant on Doc Rivers‘ Clippers staff, has been identified as a probable candidate for the Nets, who expect to formally open a coaching search when their season ends. He’s also viewed as a potential target for the Pelicans if they decide to move on from Alvin Gentry, in part due to his connection to David Griffin.

In addition to mentioning Brooklyn and New Orleans, Mannix identifies the Rockets and Sixers as other teams that could make coaching changes, though he doesn’t explicitly say that either club would have Lue on its wish list.

Of course, given the financial ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s possible fewer NBA teams than usual will make offseason coaching changes, as they look to avoid paying two coaches at once. In that scenario, Lue’s options figure to be more limited.

Having coached the Cavaliers for two full seasons and parts of two others, Lue compiled a 128-83 (.607) regular season record and a 41-20 (.672) mark in the playoffs, including an NBA title in 2016. Cleveland is already on its third head coach (Larry Drew, John Beilein, J.B. Bickerstaff) since firing Lue following his 0-6 start in ’18/19.

Sixers Assured Of Receiving OKC’s 2020 First-Round Pick

August 13th, 2020 at 9:29am CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder‘s last-minute win over the Heat on Wednesday assured that Oklahoma City will send its 2020 first-round pick to the Sixers, as Derek Bodner of The Athletic tweets.

That selection had been top-20 protected, and the Thunder had been hovering around the league’s 10th-best record since even before the season was suspended in March. Currently, Oklahoma City is tied with Houston at 44-27, meaning the pick projects to land at either No. 23 or 24, as our reverse standings show.

If OKC loses its final seeding game on Friday against the Clippers, the pick could end up as high as No. 21. However, it can’t get to No. 20, since the Heat and Pacers (both currently 44-28) will play each other on Friday, guaranteeing that at least one of those teams will finish with a worse record than the Thunder. As such, the top-20 protection won’t apply.

The pick will be an important asset this offseason for the 76ers, since they previously traded their own 2020 first-round pick to the Clippers (who flipped it to Brooklyn). If the Thunder’s first-rounder had landed in the top 20, Philadelphia would have instead received OKC’s 2022 and 2023 second-round picks.

The Sixers originally acquired the Thunder first-rounder in 2016 in exchange for Jerami Grant. Philadelphia sent it to Orlando during the 2017 draft to acquire Anzejs Pasecniks‘s rights, but later acquired it back in its 2019 Markelle Fultz trade with the Magic.

Seven Of Eight First-Round Playoff Matchups Set

August 13th, 2020 at 6:59am CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 13: Following wins by the Thunder and Clippers on Wednesday night, three Western Conference first-round matchups have now been set, with only the Lakers still awaiting their opponent. Those first-round series are as follows:

Los Angeles Lakers (1) vs. Play-in winner (8)
Los Angeles Clippers (2) vs. Dallas Mavericks (7)
Denver Nuggets (3) vs. Utah Jazz (6)
Oklahoma City Thunder (4/5) vs. Houston Rockets (4/5)

We’ll know by the end of Thursday which two teams out of the Trail Blazers, Grizzlies, Suns, and Spurs will be participating in the play-in tournament in the West, but it may be Sunday before the Lakers know their first-round opponent.

AUGUST 12: As a result of the Pacers’ 108-104 win over Houston this afternoon, the four Eastern Conference matchups for the first round of the postseason have been set. They are as follows:

Milwaukee Bucks (1) vs. Orlando Magic (8)
Toronto Raptors (2) vs. Brooklyn Nets (7)
Boston Celtics (3) vs. Philadelphia 76ers (6)
Miami Heat (4/5) vs. Indiana Pacers (4/5)

Typically, the Heat and Pacers would be continuing to fight for home court advantage in their series, but the unusual nature of this season means claiming the No. 4 seed instead of No. 5 won’t make much of a difference.

Despite the fact that several teams were within two or three games of one another in the standings when the restart began – or were even tied, like the Pacers and Sixers – the first-round matchups in the East look exactly the same as they did when the season was suspended on March 11.

Over in the West, a small number of teams – including the No. 1 Lakers – are locked into their playoff spots, but most matchups remain up in the air. For now, the most likely pairings are Lakers/play-in winner, Clippers/Mavericks, Nuggets/Jazz, and Rockets/Thunder, but one or more of those could change by Friday.

Joel Embiid Returning For Sixers On Wednesday

August 12th, 2020 at 12:55pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

All-Star Sixers center Joel Embiid is expected to rejoin his teammates tonight against the Raptors, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Embiid injured his left ankle in the first quarter of an eventual 124-121 defeat by the Trail Blazers on Sunday. He subsequently missed a 130-117 loss against the Suns on Tuesday.

Embiid will be joined by returning Sixers starters Tobias Harris, Al Horford and Josh Richardson — all of whom also sat out for yesterday’s Phoenix contest — in the bout against the Raptors, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Reserve Sixers guard Alec Burks, meanwhile, will miss today’s contest to address left foot soreness, according to a separate tweet from Pompey. The injury is not anticipated to be a lasting impediment for Burks.

At 42-29, the 76ers currently occupy the sixth seed in the East. They are one game behind the fifth-seeded Pacers with two left to play. Philadelphia is 3-3 on the Disney World campus.

Pompey also tweets that young wings Oshae Brissett and Patrick McCaw will be sitting for the Raptors due to knee soreness. Toronto forwards OG Anunoby and Serge Ibaka will also miss the game, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports (Twitter link).

Sixers Draft-And-Stash Pick Vasilije Micic Staying In Europe For 2020/21

August 11th, 2020 at 9:15pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Point guard Vasilije Micic, drafted by the Sixers with the No. 52 pick in 2014, is returning to Anadolu Efes of the Turkish Basketball Super League and the EuroLeague for the 2020/21 season, according to Justin Grasso of Sports Illustrated.

Nets To Formally Launch Coaching Search When Season Ends

August 11th, 2020 at 8:53am CST by Luke Adams

Although interim head coach Jacque Vaughn has done an admirable job with the Nets during the NBA’s restart this summer, the team still intends to formally launch a full head coaching search when their season comes to an end, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.

As Charania explains, team owner Joseph Tsai wants to identify the best possible “partner for team ownership, the front office, coaching staff, and players.” The team will be prioritizing building its culture based on relationships and “pursuing sustainable success.”

It’s possible the Nets’ search will lead them back to Vaughn, as Charania indicates he’s expected to receive serious consideration to retain his current position. Since replacing Kenny Atkinson in March, Vaughn has led Brooklyn to a 6-2 record, and four of those wins have come with a depleted squad in Orlando. Although the seventh-seeded Nets aren’t expected to win a playoff series, putting up a spirited fight against the defending-champion Raptors in the first round could further bolster Vaughn’s chances.

Still, Brooklyn is expected to consider several outside candidates as well. Charania identifies former NBA head coaches Jason Kidd, Tyronn Lue, and Jeff Van Gundy as possible targets, echoing an April report from The New York Times.

Sixers assistant Ime Udoka is also among the Nets’ potential candidates, according to Charania, who notes that more contenders could emerge “as job statuses around the league change.”

Of course, with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving due back from injuries for the 2020/21 season, an ability to connect with and command the respect of those superstars will be a major factor the Nets consider as they decide on a permanent head coach.

Sixers’ Embiid Out Tuesday, Simmons Undergoes Surgery

August 10th, 2020 at 4:26pm CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers issued a pair of injury updates on their two star players this afternoon, indicating that center Joel Embiid (left ankle) will miss Tuesday’s game vs. Phoenix, while guard/forward Ben Simmons underwent successful surgery in Philadelphia to remove a loose body from his left knee (Twitter links via Derek Bodner of The Athletic and Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer).

Simmons, whose procedure had been reported over the weekend, will be re-evaluated in two weeks, the Sixers indicated in today’s announcement. However, the expectation is that the former No. 1 overall pick will likely miss the rest of the season, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

While Simmons’ outlook for the remainder of 2019/20 isn’t good, there’s optimism that Embiid’s ankle injury isn’t serious and that he’ll be back soon, Wojnarowski tweets. Even after tomorrow’s game, the 76ers have two more seeding contests on Wednesday and Friday, so Embiid will have a couple more opportunities to suit up before the playoffs begin next week.

Embiid’s unavailability for Tuesday is good news for the Suns, who are 6-0 in the bubble and are pushing hard to participate in a play-in tournament for the final postseason spot in the West. According to Bodner (Twitter link), Josh Richardson will also miss Tuesday’s game for rest purposes, while Al Horford (left knee soreness) and Tobias Harris (right ankle soreness) are considered questionable.

Ben Simmons To Undergo Knee Surgery

August 8th, 2020 at 2:21pm CST by Arthur Hill

Sixers star Ben Simmons will have arthroscopic surgery on his injured left knee and may be lost for the rest of the season, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The team announced today that Simmons will have a loose body removed from the knee. He suffered the injury in Wednesday’s game and was diagnosed with a subluxation of the left patella.

There’s no set timetable for how long Simmons will need to recover, but sources tell Wojnarowski that the Sixers would have to make a long playoff run for the former No. 1 pick to have any chance to return this season. Simmons is expected to leave the Walt Disney World complex in a few days to have the operation.

The resumption of the season was supposed to provide a fresh start for Simmons, who was sidelined with lower back pain when the hiatus began in March. He was moved to power forward as part of a lineup change and has adapted well to his new position.

The Sixers, currently tied for fifth in the East at 42-27, will go into the postseason without one of of their top weapons on both ends of the floor. Simmons averaged 16.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.0 assists in 57 games and leads the league in steals at 2.1 per night.

The loss of Simmons means Al Horford returns to a starting lineup that now looks the way it did when the shutdown began. Horford posted 21 points and nine rebounds as a starter in last night’s win over Orlando.

“We need (Horford) more than we’ve ever needed him,” coach Brett Brown said after the game.

Sixers, Simmons Evaluating Treatment Options For Knee Injury

August 6th, 2020 at 2:27pm CST by Luke Adams

2:27pm: Evaluating Simmons’ treatment options could take a few days, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), who says the hope is that a season-ending scope on the knee can be avoided.

12:03pm: After leaving Wednesday’s game with a knee injury, Sixers star Ben Simmons has been diagnosed with a subluxation of the left patella, the team announced today. In layman’s terms, that’s a partial dislocation of his left knee cap.

According to the Sixers, Simmons will be ruled out for the time being as he and the club evaluate treatment options. The All-Star guard/forward will definitely be sidelined for Friday’s contest against Orlando — it’s unclear how many more games he may miss after that, but the injury is typically more than just a day-to-day issue.

On the plus side, the MRI on Simmons’ knee didn’t show any ligament damage, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

The 76ers have five more seeding games to play before the postseason begins, and their position in the Eastern Conference standings is reasonably secure. Philadelphia is currently ranked sixth in the conference and won’t slip any further than that. Moving up to fourth or fifth remains a possibility, but is unlikely to be a top priority for the team.

With Simmons sidelined, the Sixers will have to shuffle their starting lineup, with big man Al Horford among the top candidates to return to the starting five. Getting back Mike Scott (knee) and Glenn Robinson III (hip) would provide more depth to help make up for Simmons’ absence, but we don’t know yet when they’ll be able to return.

Growing Momentum For Jim Boylen To Keep Job?

August 6th, 2020 at 11:13am CST by Luke Adams

There appears to be strong growing momentum for Bulls head coach Jim Boylen to retain his current position, according to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times, who reports that financial considerations are expected to play a key role in the decision.

Nearly three months ago, Cowley reported that new Bulls executives Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley were believed to be leaning toward making a head coaching change after receiving a “mixed bag” of feedback on Boylen from Bulls players. Cowley writes today that the team’s top basketball operations execs had even reached out through back-channels to potential candidates such as Sixers assistant Ime Udoka and Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin.

However, the Bulls’ financial landscape has changed over the last few months. Team owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who doesn’t have a reputation for aggressive spending, has claimed that financial losses for the Bulls and his Chicago White Sox are “in the nine figures.” There’s also ongoing uncertainty about what the 2020/21 NBA season will look like and how the coronavirus pandemic may continue to impact team and league revenues.

Although he cautions that the situation is fluid, Cowley suggests that the Bulls’ financial situation has greatly increased the chances of Boylen’s return. It doesn’t help matters that there are still no plans in place to have the NBA’s bottom eight teams conduct some form of organized offseason activites. Karnisovas has previously spoken about wanting to evaluate Boylen in such a setting, but he may not get an opportunity to do so.

ESPN reported last month that the financial strain caused by the pandemic may make teams around the league less inclined to change coaches this offseason, so the latest update on Boylen doesn’t come as a huge surprise.

Still, as Cowley rightly points out (via Twitter), it’s not as if replacing Boylen with a first-time coach like Udoka or Griffin would be exorbitantly costly for the franchise, at least in relative terms. Boylen is making just $1.6MM and a first-time coach could potentially be hired for a salary in the $2.5MM range. The league’s highest-paid coaches – Doc Rivers and Gregg Popovich – are reportedly earning $10MM+ per year.

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