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Northwest Notes: Roberson, Donovan, Porter, Blazers

July 24th, 2020 at 12:45pm CST by Luke Adams

Thunder forward Andre Roberson hasn’t been a part of the team’s rotation since the first half of the 2017/18 season, having dealt with a series of knee issues that have prevented him from returning to the court. As Royce Young of ESPN details, Roberson finally appears to be close to making his comeback after more than two years of recovery and rehabilitation.

“(It has been) basically a big roller coaster of emotions,” Roberson said of his rehab process. “Just being so close, and then something else would happen. Setback after setback. I don’t know man, it was just tough. … (There were) definitely a lot of times I was ready to give up.”

Roberson, who last suited up on January 27, 2018, says he feels as if he’s “finally ready” to play, though the Thunder won’t raise expectations or put any pressure on the defensive specialist by penciling in for a major role right away. As Young points out, if Roberson plays at all during Oklahoma City’s August 1 restart opener, he’ll have gone 916 days between games.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

Although Thunder head coach Billy Donovan is on an expiring contract, Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman expects the two sides to work out an agreement to keep Donovan in his current role beyond this season.
Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. has cleared his initial quarantine period at the NBA’s campus, a source tells Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link). Porter still needs to pass a cardiac screening to be cleared to practice, but the team is taking small steps toward getting its full roster available.
The Trail Blazers – and head coach Terry Stotts – were happy with what they saw on Thursday from Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins, who were playing for the first time in 16 months and nine months, respectively. As Jason Quick of The Athletic writes, the team still wants to experiment with frontcourt options in its next two inter-squad scrimmages before deciding on a starting five for the seeding games. “Right now, I would like to see Nurk and Hassan Whiteside out there together and we can make decisions after that,” Stotts said. “At this point, I’m just keeping an open mind about it.”

Thunder Notes: Bazley, Donovan, P. Johnson

June 2nd, 2020 at 1:57pm CST by Luke Adams

Despite being one of the youngest players on an NBA roster in 2019/20, Darius Bazley played a regular rotation role for the Thunder for most of his rookie season, logging 17.2 minutes per contest in 53 games. Although Bazley showed flashes of upside this season, particularly when he made use of his length and athleticism on defense, scouts who spoke to Erik Horne of The Athletic believe he still has a ways to go before realizing his potential.

“He’s got a lot of growing to do,” one Eastern Conference scout told Horne. “He’s athletic. Still really raw.”

As Horne notes, the Thunder traded down from No. 21 to No. 23 to draft Bazley, passing on the opportunity to select Brandon Clarke, who went to Memphis with that 21st overall pick. While Clarke certainly had the better rookie season of the two players, he’s nearly four full years older than Bazley, so the Thunder are still hoping they made the right call for the long term.

Here’s more out of Oklahoma City:

With the Thunder seemingly headed for a rebuild and Billy Donovan entering the final year of his contract in 2019/20, there were signs that a coaching change could be around the corner. However, as Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman writes, Donovan flipped the script based on the great job he did in OKC this season. While Donovan hasn’t received an extension yet, GM Sam Presti said in April that he expects to have that discussion soon.
Thunder pro evaluation coordinator Paul Johnson interviewed on Monday for the general manager role with the NBA G League’s new Mexico City franchise, a source tells Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link). Johnson previously served as a referee operations analyst for the NBA.
In case you missed it, Thunder owner Clay Bennett was among those on last Friday’s Board of Governors call who spoke out in favor of including as many teams – and particularly small-market franchises – as possible when the NBA resumes play.

Eastern Notes: Knicks, Play-In Tournament, Irving

May 19th, 2020 at 8:09pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Knicks would technically make the 2020 postseason under a proposed play-in tournament, as I detailed for Heavy.com. The tournament, which is just one of the options being discussed for the NBA’s return, would have the 8-12 seeds in each conference battle for the right to play the No. 1 seed in a series.

New York sits 12th in the Eastern Conference and would take on the Wizards, who hold the ninth spot. The Hornets (10th) would take on the Bulls (11th) and the winner of this bracket would face the Magic to decide which team gets a typical first-round playoff series against the Bucks.

Again, the scenario is just one of many being floated and is nowhere near concrete, though seeing the Knicks in the postseason would nonetheless be an unexpected sight.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Bradley Beal would arguably be the best player on the Eastern Conference side of the bracket, as I explained in the same piece. I’d speculate that Washington—a team that overachieved this season—would be favored in the first-round matchup against New York.
Roughly 11 weeks after undergoing shoulder surgery, Nets guard Kyrie Irving published an Instagram story today suggesting he has returned to the gym, as Anthony Puccio of Nets Daily relays (Twitter link). Irving is in year one of a four-year deal with Brooklyn — it’s not clear if he’d have an opportunity to return if the NBA season resumes this summer.
Thunder coach Billy Donovan had a major impact on Jaylen Brown‘s game, as the Celtics forward explains (h/t Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald). Donovan coached Brown on Team USA’s Under-18 team a few years back. “He told me he wasn’t playing me because he said I didn’t play hard,” Brown said. “… He told me you’re only going to be in the league for three years because you don’t play hard…I was so mad I was crying. But I think Billy Donovan had a big impact on my drive for sure. I’m in the NBA now, and hopefully I have a couple more years now to go, so we’ll see.”

Thunder Notes: Donovan, Practice Facility, Dort

April 30th, 2020 at 6:53pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Billy Donovan is in the final year of his contract with the Thunder, but GM Sam Presti says that he expects the two sides to have “positive” conversations about the coach’s future with the club, as Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman passes along.

“Obviously this is a unique situation for everybody,” Presti said to Lee and the local media during a conference call. “We’ve always been really proud of the fact that Billy’s been our coach. He’s been our coach now for five years, and I think he’s done an excellent job all five years. And our hope is that once we get some clarity on if this is the end of the season, or if we’re playing more, or what have you, we’ll sit down and have those conversations that we always have.”

“…I’m confident that at the right time we will be able to sit down and have a positive conversation with Billy about his future.”

Here’s more from Oklahoma City:

The league has targeted May 8 as the first day that teams can open their facilities, but Presti would not commit to the Thunder starting back up on that date, as Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman relays. “With respect to the May 8 date, what I can say is the league has stated that’s a target date,” Presti said. “And we’re still a week or so away from that before we can even get there. And I think what we’ve all seen that live through this experience is that things are changing literally day by day. So we’re evaluating that. I wouldn’t say we’re committed to doing that.”
In the same piece, Presti said that he doesn’t believe teams that return earlier will gain an advantage over those that return later. “And I don’t mean from a basketball standpoint, I just mean in general,” Presti explained. “And a big part of that is because the amount of uncertainty that everyone is working with. You could make the argument that coming back too soon is a disadvantage, you know what I mean? I think it all depends on how you’re defining that.”
In a separate piece, Lee details how Luguentz Dort ended up with the Thunder. The rookie, who is on a two-way contract, appeared in 29 games for Oklahoma City this past year.

Community Shootaround: Coach Of The Year Favorites

February 16th, 2020 at 5:37pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

This season, the Coach of the Year race appears to have plenty of intriguing candidates. With the All-Star break upon us, we at Hoops Rumors deemed it a good time to reflect on where things stand currently.

Mike Budenholzer is leading the 46-8 Bucks towards potentially the NBA’s third-ever 70+ win season. Superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo may win his second consecutive MVP award under Budenholzer’s tutelage, while wing Khris Middleton has made his second straight All-Star team.

In their second year under Nick Nurse, the Raptors are miraculously on pace for a better record than they had during a champion run last year, minus 2019 Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. Pascal Siakam has blossomed into an All-Star starter. Fellow All-Star Kyle Lowry has remained a steadying presence on the court. Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby and Norman Powell have all taken notable leaps.

Erik Spoelstra has coached the new-look Heat to a 35-19 record in the East, helped center Bam Adebayo become a first-time All-Star, and made the most out of promising rookies Tyler Herro and Kendrick Nunn, plus second-year sharpshooter Duncan Robinson.

The Celtics lost Kyrie Irving and Al Horford to free agency over the summer, and signed Kemba Walker in Irving’s stead. Team chemistry appears to have improved significantly, and coach Brad Stevens has helped Walker return to the All-Star game and Jayson Tatum make his first appearance in the big show, while leading Boston to a 38-16 record (including a recent eight-game win streak).

Though the Lakers missed out on signing priority head coach options Tyronn Lue and Monty Williams over the summer, their supposed “consolation” option Frank Vogel has impressed in his first season with the team. The Lakers have a 41-12 record, tops in the West thus far, and have been able to incorporate several mercurial veterans into an upbeat, defensive-oriented locker room atmosphere.

There are several contenders elsewhere in the NBA. Billy Donovan has helped take the Thunder to a surprisingly robust 33-22 record. Rick Carlisle has brought the Mavericks back to the thick of the playoff hunt with an identical record to the Thunder’s and helped Luka Doncic become a first-time All-Star starter. 35-year-old coach Taylor Jenkins has brought the young Grizzlies back to relevance after the team offloaded former franchise cornerstones Marc Gasol and Mike Conley in 2019.

Who do you think will walk away with Coach of the Year hardware in 2020? Let us know!

Northwest Notes: Donovan, Wiggins, Jazz, Nuggets

December 8th, 2019 at 5:36pm CST by JD Shaw

The NBA implemented a new coach’s challenge for the 2019/20 season, giving head coaches an opportunity to challenge one questionable call per game that requires officials to pause the contest and review a designated play.

The challenge has mostly received poor feedback from the league’s head coaches, who cite that it bogs down what’s already become a slower last few minutes of the game. Among the coaches who believe the challenge should be changed, despite several contesting it should be removed altogether, is Thunder coach Billy Donovan.

“The thing with the challenge, which to me would be a little bit better, would be if you challenge and you’re successful, you keep your challenge,” Donovan said, as relayed by Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman. “Because what ends up happening is you don’t know when to use it. There’s no time to use it because you can look back the next day and go through every play and say, ‘Okay that should have been a time that I used the challenge. But I used it over here.’ You can’t tell.”

Roughly half of the coach’s challenges have come in the fourth quarter to date, showing teams’ tendencies to hold onto the challenge for when they need it most. Donovan’s idea likely won’t sit well with the portion of NBA viewers who wish the game was sped up in the final minutes.

Here are some other notes from the Northwest Division tonight:

Timberwolves guard Andrew Wiggins remains committed to staying aggressive and attacking the basket this season, Chris Hine of the Star Tribune writes. Wiggins has averaged a career-best 24.9 points on 45% shooting through 17 games. He’s seen his numbers slightly regress in the past couple of weeks, but that won’t deter the 24-year-old from continuing to do what he does best. “I feel like that’s how it goes,” Wiggins said. “I just haven’t been hitting. It’s not just shots. It’s layups. It’s stuff around the rim. I’m right there to drop it in, and they’re just going in and out. I’m just going to keep doing the same thing and I know it’s going to drop.”
Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune examines the easier December schedule for the Jazz, pondering whether the franchise will be able to take advantage of their upcoming games. Utah is just 13-10 through 23 games, good for the sixth-best record in the Western Conference.
The Nuggets’ success in recent seasons has hinged on players’ ability to sacrifice, Sean Keeler of the Denver Post writes. Denver has a roster loaded with offensive talent, making it imperative that everyone shares the ball and remains patient when it comes to scoring. “It’s definitely unique,” said Jerami Grant, who’s in his first season with the team. “We’ve definitely got a deep team. We’ve got a lot of players that would play a lot more minutes with other teams. But I think everybody who’s come here is willing to sacrifice to be one of the best teams in the league.”

Northwest Notes: Donovan, Blazers, Jazz, Franklin

June 10th, 2019 at 8:27pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Billy Donovan‘s contract runs out after next season but he’s not sweating over his tenuous status with the Thunder, Erik Horne of The Oklahoman writes. Donovan has no real desire to return to the college ranks and will likely retire or become an NBA assistant if he loses his job with Oklahoma City, Horne continues. It’s possible the Thunder will give Donovan an extension during the season but he’s not lobbying for any assurances, Horne adds. The Thunder have lost three assistants — Mark Bryant, Darko Rajakovic and Bob Beyer — due to the lack of job security in OKC.

We have more from around the Northwest Division:

The Trail Blazers took a look at six guard and wing prospects in their latest pre-draft workout on Monday, according to a team press release. Boston College’s Ky Bowman, Brewster Academy’s Jalen Lecque, Clemson’s Shelton Mitchell, Nebraska’s James Palmer Jr., Oregon State’s Stephen Thompson and Belmont’s Dylan Windler were the participants. Lecque is ranked No. 48 overall by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.
The Jazz, who hold the No. 23 overall pick in the first round, have a better idea of which players will be available at that spot, Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News reports. “I think we do have a better idea of 5-10 guys, I don’t have an exact number right now, but I think we’ve narrowed it down,” VP of player personnel Walt Perrin said. “We were in the theater the other day looking at players and talking about whether or not they should still be in the 23, as we call it, bucket. So, it’s again, 12 days and we’ll know better in another week, but I think the process is starting to narrow itself.”
Former NBA guard Jamaal Franklin participated in a free agent mini-camp with the Trail Blazers, according to Sportando’s Nicola Lupo. Franklin averaging 32.3 points, 9.9 rebounds, eight assists, and 2.4 steals this past season with the Sichuan Blue Whales in China. He last played in the league during the 2014-15 season with Denver. Franklin also recently participated in a Kings mini-camp.

Northwest Notes: Donovan, Rosas, Murray

May 5th, 2019 at 3:31pm CST by Austin Kent

Despite the fact that he’s already spent five seasons at the helm of the Thunder and that his All-Star dynamic duo was just dispatched in five games by the Trail Blazers, head coach Billy Donovan is expected to return to his post in 2019/20.

That patience in an era of scapegoating and quick fixes, Brett Dawson of The Athletic writes, could be attributed to general manager Sam Presti‘s tendency to take a long view on things.

Dawson writes about Donovan’s impact in Oklahoma City over the past few seasons, suggesting that he’s earned the faith of the organization and this is one organization in particular that isn’t afraid to see things through.

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

Timberwolves CEO Ethan Casson has nothing but high praise for recent franchise hire Gersson Rosas, Chris Hine of the Minnesota Star Tribune writes. Rosas impressed the organization with a detailed vision not only for a generic basketball franchise but for the Timberwolves in particular. Beyond the team’s current roster, Rosas had a deep understanding of the team’s history and marketplace.
Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic logged a record-breaking 65 minutes played in Denver’s four-overtime loss to the Trail Blazers Friday night. Nuggets head coach Michael Malone told the media afterward that he apologized for giving his center such a heavy work load. Jokic averaged 31.3 minutes per game for Denver this season.
Despite struggles from the field in his first playoff experience, Nuggets guard Jamal Murray is figuring out the difference between regular and playoff basketball, Sean Keeler of The Denver Post writes.

Thunder Notes: George, Abrines, Matthews, Donovan

April 29th, 2019 at 7:06pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Thunder All-Star forward Paul George will soon have his right shoulder re-evaluated by a specialist, Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman reports. GM Sam Presti told the media during his annual post-season press conference that George will see a specialist outside of Oklahoma City but Thunder staff members will be present.

George saw action in 77 regular-season games but took four games off to rest his aching shoulder. He was effective in the playoffs despite the discomfort, posting averages on 28.0 PPG, 8.2 RPG and 4.1 APG during the Thunder’s 4-1 opening-round series loss to Portland. Presti declared that George “was at no risk of any type of future injury” this season and labelled the possibility of George undergoing surgery as “speculation.”

We have more from Presti’s press conference:

He took the blame for not having enough sharpshooting wings on the roster, Lee notes in a separate story. Presti thought Alex Abrines would have a “breakout year” but the swingman missed 17 games for personal reasons and was ultimately waived. The Thunder pursued Wesley Matthews after the Knicks bought him out and waived him but Matthews chose Indiana. “Once Wes Matthews went to Indiana there really wasn’t a lot of other options out there, and that put some stress on us offensively, and you never want to be in that position,” he said.
Billy Donovan is expected to return as head coach despite the latest postseason flameout. Presti said he has yet to meet with Donovan on the subject because he wanted to give his coach more time to “reflect and decompress,” Brett Dawson of The Athletic tweets. “I do think getting his perspective on things is important because there’s nobody that works harder than him,” Presti said. “If anything, I think he needs to take some time to think through the season himself and have a really good conversation.

Presti Anticipates Donovan Returning As Thunder Coach

April 29th, 2019 at 11:47am CST by Luke Adams

After a disappointing first-round exit in this year’s postseason, there has been some speculation that the Thunder might consider a head coaching change. However, speaking today to reporters – including Brett Dawson of the Athletic (Twitter link) – general manager Sam Presti said that he anticipates bringing back Billy Donovan to coach the club in 2019/20.

Presti’s wording isn’t quite as definitive as if he’d said that Donovan absolutely will be back. However, it sounds like that’s less about any lingering uncertainty, and more about the fact that the two men have yet to sit down for a full-blown post-mortem on the 2019/20 season.

According to Dawson (via Twitter), Presti said today that he plans to take a little time before meeting with Donovan to talk about the season and the future. The head coach’s perspective is important, but Presti doesn’t anticipate any changes regarding his job status, he added today (Twitter link via Dawson).

Donovan, who took over as Oklahoma City’s head coach before the 2015/16 season, has led the team to four straight years of 47+ wins, including a 49-33 mark this season. The Thunder won two playoff series in Donovan’s first year, but haven’t made it out of the first round since Kevin Durant‘s departure in 2016.