Kyrie Irving isn’t playing for the Nets this summer, but he’s staying connected with the team, having called Caris LeVert to talk to his teammate after the end of the seeding games last week.
“I talked to Ky (on Friday) morning, talked about the games and playoffs coming up and giving me encouragement,” LeVert told reporters, including Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “He’s watching all the games. He’s been in this position before, fighting for something.”
LeVert, who was named to the NBA’s All-Seeding Games Second Team over the weekend, has been the Nets’ leading scorer and primary play-maker during the restart. Assuming he’s still on the roster next season, he’ll share those duties with Irving and star forward Kevin Durant.
Here’s more on the Nets and New York’s other NBA team:
- Nets guard Jamal Crawford still isn’t ready to return from his hamstring strain. According to Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link), head coach Jacque Vaughn said today that Crawford will miss the “first few games” of the series vs. Toronto before being re-evaluated.
- Veteran assistant coach Ed Pinckney, who was on Tom Thibodeau‘s staffs in Chicago and Minnesota, isn’t a candidate to join Thibodeau with the Knicks, a source tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link). As we’ve heard throughout the month, Mike Miller and Mike Woodson remain good bets to join the Knicks as assistants.
- The Knicks have hired Kelsey Roberts as a database/basketball analyst, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Roberts previously interned for Indiana and Miami.
- In case you missed it, we previewed the Knicks‘ 2020 offseason earlier this afternoon.