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Pelicans-Jazz Begins NBA Restart On July 30

June 26th, 2020 at 6:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pelicans and rookie star Zion Williamson will face the Jazz on July 30 at 6:30 p.m. ET in the first game of the NBA’s restart, the league announced on Friday.

There will be 88 “seeding” games from July 30 to August 14 prior to the postseason.

The Clippers will square off against the Lakers in the second game on July 30 at 9 p.m. ET. The first two games will be broadcast by TNT.

It will get very busy the next day with six games scheduled, highlighted by Celtics vs. Bucks and Rockets vs. Mavericks. There will be a maximum of seven games per day, with start times ranging from 12-9 p.m.

At the conclusion of the seeding games, the seven teams in each conference with the highest combined winning percentages across regular-season games and seeding games will be the first through seventh seeds for the conference playoffs.  If the team with the eighth-best combined winning percentage (regular-season games and seeding games) in a conference is more than four games ahead of the team with the ninth-best combined winning percentage in the same conference, then the team with the eighth-best winning percentage would be the No. 8 seed.

If the team with the eighth-best combined winning percentage in a conference is four games or fewer ahead of the team with the ninth-best combined winning percentage in the same conference, then those two teams would compete in a play-in tournament to determine the No. 8 playoff seed in the conference.  The play-in tournament will be double elimination for the eighth-place team and single elimination for the ninth-place team.

Much of the intrigue regarding the seeding games concerns the final Western Conference spot. The Grizzlies, currently eighth, hold a 3 1/2-game lead over the Trail Blazers, Pelicans and Kings, a four-game lead over the Spurs and a six-game advantage on the Suns.

Memphis will face the Blazers, Spurs, Pelicans, Jazz, Thunder, Raptors, Celtics and Bucks during the seeding round. Among the Grizzlies’ pursuers, the Pelicans appear to have the weakest schedule. After opening against the Jazz, they’ll face the Clippers, Grizzlies, Kings (twice), Wizards, Spurs and Magic.

The Nets and Magic need only to hold off the Wizards in the East to claim the final two spots in their conference. Washington trails Brooklyn by six games and Orlando by 5 1/2 games.

The breakdown of each team’s seeding schedule can be found here. The day-by-day schedule and national TV schedule can be found here.

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Batum, DeRozan Among Players With Earlier Option Decision Deadlines

June 26th, 2020 at 3:37pm CST by Luke Adams

Most veterans who have player options in their contracts for the 2020/21 season will have an October 17 deadline to either exercise or decline that option. That Saturday represents the second-last day of the 2019/20 league year under the NBA’s new calendar, meaning it would coincide in a normal year with June 29, the usual player option decision deadline.

However, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, some of the players who have to make option decisions for 2020/21 have slightly earlier deadlines. For instance, if the Spurs don’t make the postseason, DeMar DeRozan will be required to make his decision within seven days of the team’s last game, per Marks.

The full list of player options for ’20/21 can be found on our free agents page, but here are the options which must be exercised or declined before October 17, according to Marks:

The rest of this season’s player option decisions must be made by October 17, a deadline that applies to nearly every team option for 2020/21 as well. The only team options with earlier decision dates are minimum-salary ones for Deonte Burton (Thunder) and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (Pistons), which are due by October 15, per Marks.

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Layoffs, Salary Reductions Within Blazers' Organization

June 25th, 2020 at 1:50pm CST by Luke Adams
  • The coronavirus pandemic is having an impact on the Trail Blazers‘ operations, according to Joe Freeman of The Oregonian, who reports that the team laid off about 40 employees – 15% of its workforce – and reduced salaries for anyone in a director role. The cuts affected multiple departments and also impacted the team’s arena management company, Rip City Management, per Freeman.
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How Blazers May Handle Ariza's Absence

June 24th, 2020 at 10:09am CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers, who already had one open spot on their 15-man roster, will now have the opportunity to sign two players if they want to, since Trevor Ariza‘s decision to opt out of the summer restart makes him eligible to be replaced by a substitute player.

Despite their roster flexibility, it’s not a lock that the Trail Blazers will add a rotation player before heading to Orlando, writes Jason Quick of The Athletic. As Quick explains, Gary Trent Jr. appears to be the most likely candidate to replace Ariza in the starting lineup, and rookies Nassir Little and Jaylen Hoard could be wild cards.

Quick also speculates that Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts could get creative with his lineups to cover for the fact that the team will be without its top two small forwards (Ariza and Rodney Hood). Quick suggests we could see three-guard lineups featuring Anfernee Simons alongside Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, or bigger five-man units that utilize Zach Collins at the four and Carmelo Anthony at the three.

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Blazers’ Trevor Ariza Opting Out Of NBA Restart

June 22nd, 2020 at 4:46pm CST by Luke Adams

Trail Blazers forward Trevor Ariza will voluntarily opt out of participating in the NBA’s restart this summer, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

As Wojnarowski explains, Ariza has been involved in a custody case over his 12-year-old son, and the mother has granted a court-ordered one-month visitation period that overlaps with the NBA’s time in Orlando.

The NBA isn’t permitting family members to join players in the Disney bubble until after the first round of the postseason, forcing Ariza to make a choice. He has decided to spend that month with his son rather than joining the Blazers.

Ariza had established himself as a key part of the Blazers’ lineup since being acquired in a midseason trade. He had started 21 games for Portland, averaging 11.0 PPG and 4.8 RPG on .491/.400/.872 shooting in 33.4 minutes per contest.

The Blazers will miss Ariza’s three-and-D ability on the wing as they attempt to push for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Currently, Portland is 3.5 games back of the Grizzlies for the No. 8 seed — the team would force a play-in tournament if it finishes within four games of Memphis and hangs onto the No. 9 seed.

With Ariza no longer in the mix and Rodney Hood out for the season, the Blazers will have to rely on the likes of Carmelo Anthony, Mario Hezonja, Nassir Little, and Gary Trent on the wing.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), the Blazers have an open roster spot and will also be eligible to add a substitute player in Ariza’s place. With their star guards healthy and Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins due back from injuries to fortify the frontcourt, Portland can afford to focus on the wing as it considers potential roster additions.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Details On Rodney Hood's Achilles Recovery

June 18th, 2020 at 8:47pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

After tearing his left Achilles on December 6, Trail Blazers wing Rodney Hood began pondering his life after the league and joined a small support group of fellow NBA players currently on or recently off the rehab trail from the injury, according to ESPN’s Eric Woodyard.

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Zach Collins Cleared To Resume Full Basketball Activities

June 18th, 2020 at 3:53pm CST by Luke Adams

Trail Blazers big man Zach Collins, who missed most of the 2019/20 season after undergoing shoulder surgery in November, was given a “final clean bill of health” last week and has been cleared to resume full basketball activities, writes Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. That means he’ll be able to participate in group workouts and scrimmages when teams get the green light to conduct them.

Having initially aimed to return before the end of March, Collins has long been considered a good bet to get back on the court when Portland’s season resumes in July. However, he acknowledged that officially being cleared after months of rehab represented a major step, as Freeman details.

“When my doc came in and said my shoulder feels like a normal shoulder, that I was good to go, it was like a weight was lifted,” Collins said. “I tell people all the time that he whole rehab process isn’t difficult. It’s just very long and boring. The worst part is not being on the road with the team, not being around them every day, feeling disconnected. It’s weird. Odd. So, mentally, it’s a big struggle. I’m just super excited to be back and know that I can do everything again.”

The Blazers aren’t assured of playing more than eight games when the season resumes in Orlando. Currently 3.5 games back of Memphis for the No. 8 seed in the West, Portland is in position to force a play-in tournament with the Grizzlies for that final playoff spot. But in order to do so, the club will have to hold off the Kings, Pelicans, Spurs, and Suns while keeping pace with Memphis.

Still, with Collins and Jusuf Nurkic expected to be back next month, the Blazers will be close to full strength for the first time in months, increasing the club’s confidence in its ability to make some noise in Orlando.

“We’re healthy,” Collins said, per Freeman. “Well, we’re not fully healthy — we don’t have Rodney (Hood) — but we have Nurk and me and a lot of guys that had to step up and play more minutes than expected during the season. Put all that together, combined with guys coming back and the time off and everybody’s body being ready and recovered, and I think we have as good a shot as anyone.”

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Restart Notes: Howard, Lillard, Ranadive, Korver

June 18th, 2020 at 12:15pm CST by Luke Adams

In a statement sent to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Lakers center Dwight Howard said that the players’ coalition expressing concerns with the NBA’s Orlando restart plan isn’t looking to derail the resumption of the season.

“Our main objective is to raise awareness and gain transparency on the things that concern us collectively,” Howard said. “Many of our fellow players are afraid to voice their concerns and are continuing to follow along with what they believe they have to.

“… In a time like this where we are fighting for equal rights, it would be contradictory if we told our own players to not play and do as we say,” Howard continued. “We are not here to dictate, nor do we have the power to do so. We want to make sure communication is taking place openly without fear. … If any one of us chooses to sit, it has nothing to do with another player’s right to play. Not once has any of us told one of our fellow brethren not to go to the Orlando Bubble Experiment and we stressed that in our meetings.”

A report earlier this week indicated that Kyrie Irving, who has been one of the leaders of the coalition voicing concerns about the NBA’s restart, has encouraged his Nets teammates not to go to Orlando. Howard’s statement suggests that’s not the case. The veteran big man added that he and other members of the players’ coalition are “in full support of our brothers whether we decide to enter or not enter the Orlando bubble.”

Here’s more on the NBA’s resumption:

  • Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard said earlier this week that Irving and Howard “have a point” and that he doesn’t feel “100 percent comfortable” about resuming the season this summer, but that he’s willing to take the risk because of the impact that players’ salvaged salaries can have on their communities. “I can only speak for myself — but I think it goes for other guys as well — we are the financial support for our families and for a lot of our community,” Lillard said, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “We bring a lot of that financial responsibility to support black businesses in black communities. So it makes a lot of sense for us (to return), from that standpoint.”
  • Even as the positive test rate and total number of COVID-19 cases in Florida continue to increase, Kings owner Vivek Ranadive said this week during a CNBC appearance that he’s confident in the NBA’s return-to-play plan, as Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee writes. “Statistically, it’s actually going to be safer to be in a bubble in Orlando than to stay home and go to a grocery store, so this has been very well thought through and I feel very confident that we will be in Orlando in a few weeks,” Ranadive said.
  • Bucks forward Kyle Korver said this week during a conversation with Richard Jefferson (video link) that he’d be willing to sit out the restart if his black teammates and friends felt it was the best way to bring about change, as Joe Coles of The Deseret News details.
  • The NBPA issued a press release on Wednesday that discussed a series of social-justice issues and initiatives and noted that the union is considering ideas for how players “can effectively continue their advocacy on the national stage occasioned by the games” in Orlando this summer.
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Trail Blazers Notes: Glickman, Lillard, Carmelo

June 11th, 2020 at 3:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Trail Blazers founder and president emeritus Harry Glickman passed away on Wednesday at the age of 96, according to a press release from the team. When the NBA granted Portland an expansion franchise back in 1970, Glickman put together the group of investors who would cover the expansion fee and become the club’s initial owners.

Gilckman headed up the Blazers’ business and basketball operations departments for more than a decade after the team joined the NBA, helping lead Portland to its first and only championship in 1977. He was one of the shareholders that sold the franchise to Paul Allen in 1988 and maintained an active role with the team until his retirement in 1994.

“The Trail Blazers have long been the beneficiary of Harry’s vision, generosity, and inspiration,” current Blazers owner Jody Allen said in a statement. “As the team’s founder and first General Manager, his leadership was instrumental in igniting our city’s pride and passion for sports. I am grateful for Harry’s many contributions to the franchise over the years. He will be missed by many.”

Here’s more on the Blazers:

  • In a conversation with Lisa Robinson of Vanity Fair, Blazers star Damian Lillard said he thought he might be sent to the Knicks a few years back, admitting that he had “heard trade rumors.” Lillard also said he has some concerns about the NBA’s restart plans, but trusts that the league is taking the necessary precautions to “keep us safe.”
  • Speaking to Robinson, Lillard expressed plenty of confidence about the Blazers’ chances in Orlando this summer. Asked about the possibility of moving up to No. 8 in the West and potentially playing the Lakers in the first round of the postseason, Lillard replied, “I think we could beat them.”
  • Trail Blazers forward Carmelo Anthony wants to learn more about the NBA’s safety protocols before getting fully on board with the summer restart, as he told Turner Sports during an #NBATogether stream on Wednesday. “As far as actually playing and going back down into Orlando, I’m still up in the air a little bit because we don’t have all the details.” Anthony said, per Scott Gleeson of USA Today. “We don’t know a lot of information, so until we have that, it’s hard to just commit to that 100 percent.”
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Restart Notes: Player Concerns, Reporters, Announcers

June 11th, 2020 at 9:41am CST by Luke Adams

After reporting on Wednesday that several dozen players have expressed reservations about the NBA’s plan to resume its season in Orlando this summer, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski provided a few more details in a full story and in subsequent tweets.

According to Wojnarowski, approximately 40 to 50 players were “on and off” a conference call in a 24-hour stretch from Tuesday to Wednesday to discuss their concerns. However, there has been no formal petition to the NBPA from any group asking not to be included in the restart, sources tell ESPN.

The “restrictive and isolated” nature of the proposed Orlando bubble is a major issue being discussed ny those concerned players, per Wojnarowski. Players who leave the bubble are expected to be subjected a 10-day quarantine, and family members won’t be permitted to join players at Disney until after the first round of the playoffs — players will have been in Orlando for nearly two months by that point.

It remains to be seen how many players will seriously consider skipping the restart altogether. However, sources tell ESPN that if a player does decide not to participate, his team will likely be permitted to replace him with a substitution player. A player who is supplanted by a replacement player wouldn’t be eligible to participate in the remainder of the season, Woj notes. In other words, a player who stays home and gets replaced wouldn’t be able to change his mind and report to Orlando if his team makes a deep postseason run.

According to Wojnarowski, if a player has a medical issue that may increase his risk of suffering more serious COVID-19 symptoms, he’ll be permitted to seek an independent medical evaluation. Even if he’s deemed fit to participate in the resumed season, the player could stay home without consequence (beyond not being paid for the games they miss).

Here’s more on the NBA’s restart:

  • According to a Professional Basketball Writers Association memo obtained by Robert Silverman of The Daily Beast, there’s a chance that a select group of reporters could be permitted to cover the resumed season and interact with players and coaches in Orlando. However, those reporters wouldn’t be permitted to re-enter the bubble if they leave, and their employers would have to pay for their housing during their three months at Disney, the cost of which may be prohibitive for many outlets.
  • ABC and ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Breen isn’t sure what the plans are for his role this summer, but hopes he’ll get the opportunity to call games in person in Orlando, as he tells Richard Deitsch of The Athletic. “We could possibly be doing games from a remote location, from a studio, or we could possibly be down in Orlando and doing the games there in a booth that socially distanced away from the players,” Breen said. “Everything is going to be determined over the next couple of weeks. But I would like to be in the arena to call the games.”
  • A panel of ESPN writers takes a closer look at the nine competitors for the final three playoff spots, evaluating the cases for and against the Grizzlies, Trail Blazers, Pelicans, Kings, Spurs, Suns, Nets, Magic, and Wizards earning a postseason berth.
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