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Clippers Notes: Mann, Leonard, Lue, George

June 19th, 2021 at 10:13pm CST by Arthur Hill

In the most important game in Clippers‘ history, the hero was a second-year swingman whose name may be unfamiliar to most NBA fans, writes Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. Terance Mann scored a career-high 39 points in Friday’s close-out win over the Jazz, connecting on 15-of-21 shots from the field and 7-of-10 from three-point range.

Mann, who played a combined 9:10 in the first two games of the series, sparked the L.A. comeback Friday with 20 points in the third quarter as the Clippers advanced to the conference finals for the first time in franchise history. His shooting success enabled coach Tyronn Lue to stick with a smaller lineup that left Utah scrambling to defend the perimeter.

“When you trust your work, you trust in yourself,” Mann said, “you’re not surprised when any of this happens.”

There’s more on the Clippers:

  • There’s still hope that injured forward Kawhi Leonard can rejoin the team sometime during the conference finals, but Lue said he’s preparing to go through the series without him, tweets Mark Medina of USA Today. Leonard, who injured his knee on Monday, didn’t travel with the team to Phoenix and has been ruled out of Sunday’s Game 1. “We can’t have hypotheticals and think he’s coming back one game,” Lue said. “No. We have to prepare like he’s not playing, and just kind of go from there.”
  • Paul George enjoyed his first playoff game with a capacity crowd in his hometown of Los Angeles, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Last year’s postseason took place at the Disney World complex in Orlando, and COVID-19 restrictions prevented the Clippers from filling their arena until Friday night. “This was my first time experiencing a crowd like this,” George said. “It was just a special night. You felt it, the cheers, the excitement. You felt the monkey off of the Clippers’ back in terms of getting out of the second round.”
  • Josh Robbins of The Athletic talks to an anonymous coach, scout, and executive from the Western Conference and gets a split decision in their predictions for the conference finals.
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Kawhi Leonard Won’t Travel To Phoenix For Game 1

June 19th, 2021 at 7:10pm CST by Arthur Hill

7:10pm: The Clippers have officially ruled Leonard out for Game 1, tweets Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times.

5:00pm: The right knee injury that forced Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard to miss the past two games will also keep him out of Sunday’s opener of the Western Conference finals, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

Leonard won’t make the trip to Phoenix, choosing to stay in Los Angeles and get treatment on the knee. There’s no update yet on his status for Game 2 or the rest of the series.

He hasn’t played since hurting the knee midway through the fourth quarter of Game 4 against the Jazz. There are concerns that it might be an ACL injury, but the team is still officially calling it a sprain.

Leonard had been outstanding in the playoffs before being sidelined. He averaged 32.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists in the first round against the Mavericks, then posted a 27.3/7.5/4.0 line in four games against Utah.

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Woj’s Latest: Irving, Harden, Leonard, Paul

June 17th, 2021 at 12:15pm CST by Arthur Hill

There’s “no expectation” that injured point guard Kyrie Irving will return during the Nets‘ series with the Bucks, even if it goes to a seventh game, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said this morning on “Get Up” (video link).

Irving, who is dealing with a a sprained right ankle he suffered Sunday, has already been ruled out for tonight’s Game 6. He didn’t travel to Milwaukee with his teammates, opting to stay in Brooklyn to get treatment on the ankle.

The Nets remain hopeful that Irving will be available for the Eastern Conference finals if they able are to advance, but Woj said they “don’t have a real timetable” on a possible return.

Wojnarowski shared a few more items during the ESPN segment:

  • Nets guard James Harden may not be fully recovered from a hamstring injury, but he will definitely be in the lineup for Game 6. Harden played 46 minutes in Game 5 and should be available for the rest of the series if he doesn’t aggravate the hamstring.
  • The Clippers don’t expect to have Kawhi Leonard back for Game 6 or 7 against Utah, and his return at any time during the playoffs is uncertain. The team will learn more about Leonard’s status in “the next 24 to 48 hours,” Wojnarowski adds, saying the Clippers are hopeful that it’s not a severe injury that will impact Leonard beyond this season.
  • The Suns are optimistic that Chris Paul won’t miss significant time after being placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocols. However, Wojnarowski adds that Phoenix is hoping the Jazz-Clippers series gets extended to a seventh game so the Suns won’t have to play again until Tuesday. He cautions that Paul and the team are “at the mercy of the testing” and have no control over what those results will show.
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Clippers Fear ACL Injury For Kawhi Leonard

June 16th, 2021 at 12:37pm CST by Luke Adams

12:37pm: More imaging will be performed on Leonard’s knee to determine the severity of the injury, but those tests will have to wait until the swelling subsides, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.

11:57am: The Clippers fear that forward Kawhi Leonard has suffered an ACL injury, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Leonard will miss Game 5 of Los Angeles’ series against the Jazz on Wednesday night due to a right knee injury that the Clippers referred to today as a sprain. Neither the team’s announcement nor Charania’s report indicates that Kawhi is undergoing an MRI on his injured knee, but presumably that would be the next step to determine if there’s any damage to the ACL.

A full tear of the ACL would be a worst-case scenario for Leonard and the Clippers, but even a partial tear would almost certainly be a season-ender — that’s the injury that has kept Spencer Dinwiddie on the shelf since December. A low-grade sprain would be the best case, tweets Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes.

The timing couldn’t be much worse for Leonard and the Clippers, who have won two games in a row against Utah and are just two games away from making the Western Conference Finals for the first time in team history. With Kawhi unavailable on Wednesday – and potentially for longer than that – the Clippers have suddenly become major underdogs to get past the Jazz and into the third round.

We’ll provide more updates on Leonard’s status as they’re reported or announced.

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Kawhi Leonard To Miss Game 5 Due To Knee Injury

June 16th, 2021 at 10:05am CST by Luke Adams

10:05am: Leonard has been diagnosed with a right knee sprain and will be out for Game 5, the Clippers announced this morning. There’s no timetable for Kawhi’s return, the team added.

8:13am: The Clippers may be without one of their two All-NBA forwards on Wednesday night, according to Brian Windhorst and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, who report (via Twitter) that Kawhi Leonard is expected to miss Game 5 vs. the Jazz due to a right knee injury.

Leonard suffered that knee injury in the fourth quarter of Game 4, coming down awkwardly after a drive to the basket and grimacing in apparent pain. He told reporters after the game that he would be “good” going forward.

It seems that may not be the case after all, however. Windhorst tweets that Leonard told teammates on Tuesday night to prepare for him to potentially miss Wednesday’s game. According to Windhorst and Shelburne, Kawhi’s status for the rest of the series beyond Game 5 remains up in the air as well.

We shouldn’t assume Leonard is out for tonight’s game until we get official confirmation — after the Nets ruled out James Harden on Monday for Game 5 of their series, he ended up playing 46 minutes on Tuesday. It’s possible that Kawhi, like Harden, will end up receiving medical clearance to give it a try. For the time being though, that doesn’t seem likely.

If Leonard is unavailable, Paul George would shoulder the brunt of the offensive load for the Clippers, who won consecutive games at home to tie up the series. The Jazz, playing without Mike Conley and with a banged-up Donovan Mitchell, appeared to have lost the momentum in Games 3 and 4, but facing a Kawhi-less team in Utah on Wednesday would put them back in the driver’s seat to advance to the Western Finals.

Leonard, who was named to the All-NBA First Team on Tuesday, has been one of the league’s top performers in the postseason as well. After averaging 32.1 PPG on .612/.425/.898 shooting in the Clippers’ first-round win over Dallas, he has put up 27.3 PPG on .506/.333/.846 shooting in four games vs. the Jazz.

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And-Ones: Rule Changes, Tatum, Goodwin, Cavanaugh, Options

June 15th, 2021 at 9:46pm CST by Eli Cohen

The NBA’s competition committee met on Monday to discuss rule changes that would address how fouls are called, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The proposed rule changes would focus primarily on limiting players’ ability to draw fouls by leaning to the side or backwards on shot fakes, a direct response to some of the more unnatural foul-baiting that has become common in recent years, especially with players such as Trae Young, James Harden and Luka Doncic.

The competition committee assembled a collection of clips of the shooting motions deemed to be “unnatural,” according to Wojnarowski. The committee, the NBA, and the league’s GMs will discuss specific recommendations next week as they look to address the growing perception that the rules are slanting too much towards giving advantage to the offensive players, especially superstars. The committee hopes these rule changes can be instituted as early as during this year’s Summer League.

We have more odds and ends from around the NBA.

  • Celtics All-Star forward Jayson Tatum has committed to playing for Team USA in Tokyo, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. Tatum joins Damian Lillard and Draymond Green as the first group of players to commit to USA Basketball’s Olympic squad.
  • Former Suns guard Archie Goodwin has signed with Eberlein Drive of The Basketball Tournament, tweets JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors. Goodwin played four seasons in the NBA, most recently in the 2016/17 season for the Pelicans and Nets. He joins former Jazz forward and NBA Slam Dunk Contest winner Jeremy Evans on the Drive.
  • Former Jazz forward Tyler Cavanaugh has signed with BC Zalgiris, a Lithuanian-based team that is one of the oldest in the EuroLeague. Cavanaugh previously played for Iberostar Tenerife, a Spanish club that made it to the semifinals of the ACB last year before losing to powerhouse Barcelona.
  • The Athletic’s John Hollinger goes through every possible team and player option decision heading into the offseason with predictions as to whether those options will be exercised or declined. Some predictions of note: Hollinger thinks that Suns guard Chris Paul will opt in and sign an extension. He also predicts Kawhi Leonard will opt out, and notes that if Leonard chooses to sign a one-plus-one contract with the Clippers (a two-year deal with a player option in the second year), he would be eligible for a five-year deal worth a projected $246MM in 2022 due to the Clippers having his full Bird rights, as opposed to the four-year, $175MM deal he could sign this summer.
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NBA Announces 2020/2021 All-NBA Teams

June 15th, 2021 at 8:07pm CST by Eli Cohen

The NBA has officially announced the All-NBA First, Second, and Third Teams for the 2020/21 season, with Giannis Antetokounmpo leading the way as the lone unanimous selection for the First Team.

Antetokounmpo and Nuggets‘ MVP Nikola Jokic were the two top vote-getters, combining for 998 out of a possible 1,000 points, with Warriors guard Stephen Curry following shortly behind. Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard and Mavericks guard Luka Doncic rounding out the top five.

The full All-NBA teams are listed below, with their vote totals in parentheses. Players received five points for a First Team vote, three points for a Second Team vote, and one point for a Third Team vote, so Giannis scored a perfect 500 — First Team nods from all 100 voters.

All-NBA First Team

All-NBA Second Team

All-NBA Third Team

Among the players who just missed the cut were Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (69), Wizards guard Russell Westbrook (44), Nets guard James Harden (41), Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (37) and Heat center Bam Adebayo (32). A total of 12 other players received votes. The full results can be found here.

Today’s announcement has major financial implications across the league. Tatum, who received more votes than Kyrie Irving but still fell 20 votes short of a final forward spot, will lose out on a projected $32.6MM on his rookie scale extension, as his next deal will start at 25% of the cap instead of the 30% he would have received if he’d been named to an All-NBA team. Likewise, Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell, Kings guard De’Aaron Fox and Adebayo will all receive starting salaries worth 25% of the cap on their respective extensions as a result of missing out on All-NBA honors.

Doncic, having been named to his second consecutive All-NBA First Team, will be eligible for a 30% extension that would be worth a projected $201MM+ and is almost certain to be offered this summer. Doncic has previously made clear his intentions to sign the extension when offered. It will go into effect for the 2022/23 season.

Embiid is now eligible for a super-max contract extension, which would run for four years, starting in 2023/24, and would be worth a projected $191MM, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. It’s unclear whether the Sixers will immediately put this extension on the table this offseason.

Bradley Beal‘s deal will not change with his first career All-NBA selection, as he is already eligible for a 35% contract extension on his next deal. Jokic, having been named MVP previously this week, also sees no change in his possible future super-max extension, which will be worth approximately $241MM.

Hoops Rumors readers accurately picked 12 of this season’s 15 All-NBA players in our poll. Devin Booker, Adebayo, and Tatum were your picks who didn’t make the official list.

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NBA All-Defensive Teams Announced

June 14th, 2021 at 6:24pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The NBA has officially announced the voting results for its two 2020/21 All-Defensive teams.

Jazz center Rudy Gobert, the Defensive Player of the Year for the third time in four seasons, and Sixers guard Ben Simmons were unanimous selections for the All-Defensive First Team. Both players made the First Team lists of all 100 tallied ballots, for a perfect total of 200 points. Votes are given to 100 media members.

This marks Gobert’s fifth straight appearance on the All-Defensive First Team, and the second consecutive All-Defensive First Team honor for Simmons.

Warriors forward Draymond Green garnered 176 points (including 80 First Team votes). Green was named Defensive Player of the Year in the 2016/17 season. This year’s nod is his fourth First Team honor, and his sixth total All-Defensive team.

Two Bucks players rounded out the All-Defensive First Team this season. Guard Jrue Holiday netted 157 points (65 First Team) and All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, the 2020 Defensive Player of the Year, earned 135 total points (43 First Team). Antetokounmpo has just made his third straight All-Defensive First Team, and his fourth All-Defensive team overall. This is Holiday’s second All-Defensive First Team appearance and his third overall All-Defensive team.

[RELATED: Rudy Gobert Named Defensive Player Of The Year]

Two All-Defensive First-Teamers have unlocked contract bonuses associated with the honor. Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets that Gobert will receive a $500K bonus for the inclusion this season. Marks adds (Twitter link) that Holiday will pocket a cool $100K for making All-Defensive First Team. Holiday has other contract incentives associated with his team’s further postseason advancement.

The All-Defensive Second Team honorees are led by Heat stars Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, who each netted 111 points (37 First Team votes) apiece. Adebayo makes his second All-Defensive Second Team with the nod today. This is Butler’s fifth such honor.

Simmons’s Sixers teammates Joel Embiid and Matisse Thybulle also make the cut. It is the third All-Defensive team nod for Embiid and the first appearance for Thybulle. Clippers All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard, a former two-time Defensive Player of the Year, rounds out the All-Defensive Second Team this season.

Here are the full voting results for the All-Defensive First and Second Teams, with each player’s point total noted in parentheses:

First Team:

Second Team:

Suns guard/forward Mikal Bridges, Hawks center Clint Capela, and Pacers forward/center Myles Turner were among the highest vote-getters who missed the cut for the Second Team. You can find the full voting results right here.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Clippers Notes: All-Star Duo, PG-13, Jackson, Jazz Series

June 13th, 2021 at 2:57pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Clippers All-Star forwards Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are starting to exhibit their full potential as a tandem in these playoffs, writes Mark Medina of USA Today. The two stars made key contributions on both sides of the ball in the Clippers’ victory over the Jazz at the Staples Center yesterday to improve their second-round series record to just 2-1 in favor of Utah.

“They are two of the best in the league,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said last night of Leonard and George. “I don’t go to Mastro’s (an upscale L.A. restaurant) to order a ketchup. I go there to order a steak. And tonight, our guys want steak.”

Medina notes that both players have improved their scoring efficiency and remained healthier than they did last season. A lot is riding on how the Clippers fare in the playoffs this year. Leonard is anticipated to decline his $36MM player option for the 2021/22 season and sign a new long-term deal with the club this summer, while George inked a four-year, $190MM extension with L.A. during the 2020 offseason. Medina wonders if Leonard may reconsider or George may become a trade candidate should the Clippers flame out in the postseason for the second consecutive season.

There’s more out of Los Angeles:

  • George’s terrific three-point shooting in the first half helped spark a crucial 132-106 Clippers victory over the Jazz on Saturday night, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. He connected on four triples in the first half and shot 6-of-10 from deep overall.
  • Clippers starting point guard Reggie Jackson has evolved into a reliable third scoring option during this postseason, writes Royce Young of ESPN. The 31-year-old’s three-point shooting and ball handling have helped open up scoring options for stars George and Leonard. Across 10 playoff games thus far, Jackson is averaging 16.3 PPG (on 48.3% shooting from the floor), 2.8 RPG, and 2.7 APG in 29.3 MPG. Jackson appears to have outplayed the $1.6MM veteran’s minimum contract he inked with the club during the 2020 offseason, when he was slated to be a reserve behind original starting point guard Patrick Beverley, who is scheduled to earn $14.3MM in 2021/22, his age-33 season.
  • With the Clippers securing a pivotal Game 3 win Saturday against the top-seeded Jazz, the team may have found a method for winning the whole series, writes Tony Jones of The Athletic. L.A.’s switch-everything defense and impressively effective offensive shot diet made for one of the club’s best games this postseason, Jones writes.
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Heat Notes: Leonard, Butler, Lowry, Free Agency

May 30th, 2021 at 6:00pm CST by JD Shaw

Jimmy Butler‘s ties to Kawhi Leonard could impact what the two-time NBA champion decides to do if he reaches free agency this summer, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel speculates.

Leonard holds a $36MM player option for the 2021/22 season and could choose to sign elsewhere — especially if the Clippers lose in the first round. Los Angeles is currently trailing Dallas 2-1 in its series.

Miami lost all four games to Milwaukee in its own series, becoming the first team to be eliminated from the playoffs despite reaching the Finals last fall. If Leonard chooses to explore his options, the Heat could offer a compelling role alongside Butler, Bam Adebayo and others — though the team would need to create sufficient salary-cap space for him first.

There’s more out of Miami tonight:

  • The Heat could also pursue Kyle Lowry in free agency, though that situation is more complicated than some may realize, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald explores. The team expressed interest in Lowry prior to the trade deadline, ultimately opting not to make a deal.
  • Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel examines whether a playoff lineup change is a sign of things to come in free agency. Miami opted to start Goran Dragic in place of Kendrick Nunn during the team’s final two games of the series against Milwaukee, though Dragic mostly struggled. Nunn will enter restricted free agency this offseason, while Dragic has a $19.4MM team option for 2021/22.
  • Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald looks back on the Heat’s underwhelming season and what comes next. Miami dealt with a shortened offseason, COVID issues and multiple injuries throughout the campaign, complicating the club’s season from the start.
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