- Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan is prepared to buy into the team’s current situation, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News writes. DeRozan, 31, is set to enter his third season with San Antonio, a team that has a mixture of young players and veterans, after picking up a $27.7MM player option to return to the club last month. “That was one of my main reasons for coming back,” DeRozan said, “The faith and the confidence I had in those young guys and wanting to be a part of what we started in the bubble.”
As the beginning of the 2020/21 NBA season approaches, the Magic and Spurs have emerged as the latest teams with plans to host fans inside their arenas.
Orlando and San Antonio join the Jazz as teams to have announced they will allow spectators during the 2020/21 season. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic – and no longer playing in a campus setting – the league has stressed safety and health precautions.
The Spurs announced that the organization plans to welcome fans starting on January 1, 2021, for a matchup against the Lakers. Seating at the games will be “limited capacity, pending the status of public health data and guidelines.”
“We’ve been planning for this moment for months and are confident in the health and safety protocols we have in place,” said Spurs Sports & Entertainment CEO R.C. Buford. “Waiting until Jan. 1 will allow us to run through real in-game scenarios to ensure that we are doing everything possible to responsibly celebrate the start of a new season with our Spurs Family.”
As for the Magic, their press release states that plans are being made to host fans in a “socially distanced, limited capacity at the Amway Center.” First priority will be given to season ticket holders based on tenure and then fans who made a season ticket deposit. The team will also release tickets to the general public on a game-by-game basis.
“As we have said, the health and safety of everyone connected to our game will be top priority,” said Magic CEO Alex Martins. “Our goal is to make everyone feel comfortable that extensive safety precautions have been taken for the return to Amway Center. We continue to work through protocols as outlined by the NBA, CDC and local health officials and will use the preseason as a trial to assess and evaluate safety measures.”
The 2020/21 NBA season is scheduled to tip off on December 22.
- Derrick White (recovering from toe surgery), Quinndary Weatherspoon (knee surgery), and Keldon Johnson (foot ailment) won’t be available when the Spurs begin practicing in the coming days, head coach Gregg Popovich said this week (link via Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News). “I’m not sure exactly when they are coming back, but they won’t be there in the beginning,” Popovich said.
- The Clippers, Lakers, Spurs, Sixers, and Bucks were among the teams that had interest in JaMychal Green in free agency, per Mike Singer of The Denver Post, but the veteran forward ultimately chose the Nuggets. Green cited the Nuggets’ unselfish play, young talent, and tenacity in explaining his decision. “Blowing a 3-1 lead, they just fought,” Green said, referring to Denver’s Western Conference Semifinals win over his Clippers. “It just showed you the type of heart they had.”
The Rockets still expect to begin the season with former MVPs James Harden and Russell Westbrook on their roster, despite a handful of November trade rumors, Shams Charania of The Athletic said during an appearance on Complex’s Load Management podcast.
Although there’s no momentum toward a trade involving either player, Charania dropped a couple interesting tidbits during his podcast discussion about the Rockets stars, mentioning that the Warriors “made a call” about Harden and that the Cavaliers talked to Houston about Westbrook. Based on Charania’s comments, it doesn’t sound like any traction was gained in either case.
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- The Grizzlies are currently carrying 17 players on guaranteed contracts, meaning a couple of those players will have to be traded or released before the start of the regular season. Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian suggests that Mario Hezonja and Marko Guduric appear to be the most likely odd men out.
- Confirming a previous report, Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle reiterated today that Kristaps Porzingis (knee) won’t play until at least January, per Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Carlisle did say that Porzingis’ rehab is going well and that the big man is doing “light court work.”
- Mavericks rookie guard Tyrell Terry will receive $4.6MM in guaranteed money on his four-year contract, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. While we don’t know the exact terms of Terry’s deal, it sounds like his first three seasons will be guaranteed.
- The three-year, minimum-salary contract that second-rounder Tre Jones signed with the Spurs is fully guaranteed for the first two years, as Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports details (via Twitter).
The Spurs have signed lottery pick Devin Vassell, according to a team press release.
Assuming that Vassell received the usual 120% above the rookie scale for his draft slot, the swingman out of Florida State will make $4,033,440 during the upcoming season and a total of $18,593,499 over the next four seasons.
The 6’7” Vassell was chosen with the 11th overall pick, becoming the first Spurs lottery selection since 1997.
As a sophomore last season, Vassell averaged 12.7 PPG, 5.1 RPG and 1.6 APG in 28.7 MPG while shooting 41.5% from 3-point range.
6:05pm: The Spurs have officially announced the signing in a press release.
3:18pm: The Spurs have signed former Duke guard Tre Jones to a three-year contract, agent Kevin Bradbury tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Terms of the deal aren’t known, but Jones figures to get at least one fully guaranteed season, if not more.
[RELATED: 2020 NBA Draft Pick Signings]
As a sophomore in 2019/20, Jones averaged 16.2 PPG, 6.4 APG and 1.8 SPG in 29 games for the Blue Devils. He was named ACC Player of the Year and declared for the 2020 draft in the spring. San Antonio used the No. 41 pick last Wednesday to select him.
With Jones under contract, San Antonio now have 15 players on traditional contracts, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). While the Spurs are over the tax line, they can slip below if they waive Tyler Zeller‘s non-guaranteed contract, Marks adds.
The Spurs will use a small portion of their mid-level exception to sign Jones.
NOVEMBER 29, 1:20pm: The Spurs have officially announced the signing of Bates-Diop to a two-way contract.
NOVEMBER 23, 8:20am: The Nuggets officially waived Bates-Diop on Sunday, per the NBA’s transactions log. Assuming he clears waivers on Tuesday, he’ll be free to sign with San Antonio at that point.
NOVEMBER 22, 9:54pm: The Spurs and forward Keita Bates-Diop have agreed to a two-way deal, according to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
Bates-Diop is technically still a member of the Nuggets. However, Mike Singer of The Denver Post has reported that the club intends to waive the 24-year-old before his salary for 2020/21 becomes fully guaranteed this week in order to clear a spot on the 15-man roster for Bol Bol.
Denver likely gave Bates-Diop and his reps a chance to seek out a new opportunity before that move becomes official. He’ll still have to clear waivers, but I don’t expect any team will make a surprise claim.
The 48th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Bates-Diop began his career with the Timberwolves before being tradd to Denver at last season’s deadline. In 74 career games as a pro, he has averaged 5.9 PPG and 2.8 RPG on .426/.303/.699 shooting.
Quinndary Weatherspoon is expected to fill San Antonio’s other two-way contract slot.
NOVEMBER 24: The Spurs have officially announced Weatherspoon’s two-way deal, issuing a press release to confirm the signing.
NOVEMBER 22: The Spurs will sign second-year shooting guard Quinndary Weatherspoon to another two-way contract with the team, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.
The 6’3″ guard, an All-SEC honoree for his last three years with Mississippi State, was drafted by the Spurs with the 49th pick last season, who signed him to his initial two-way contract at the time. He received a qualifying offer earlier this week to run things back. As a two-way player, such a deal typically signifies that Weatherspoon will net at least $50K from San Antonio.
The 24-year-old appeared in 11 games with San Antonio during his rookie season, averaging 1.1 PPG and 1.0 APG in 7.1 minutes per contest. Weatherspoon averaged 14.8 PPG, 5.2 APG, and 3.8 RPG across 36 games (including 35 starts) for the Spurs’ G League affiliate, the Austin Spurs, during 2019/20.
NOVEMBER 29: The Spurs have officially signed Reynolds, according to RealGM’s transactions log.
NOVEMBER 21: The Spurs will sign shooting guard Cameron Reynolds to an Exhibit 10 contract, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
Reynolds, 25, played 19 games for the Timberwolves during the 2018/19 season. He signed a two-way contract with the Bucks in July of 2019, but didn’t appear in any NBA games for Milwaukee. He averaged 14.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game for the G League’s Wisconsin Herd.
Reynolds will be in training camp with San Antonio and can receive a guarantee of up to $50K if he’s waived and joins the organization’s G League affiliate.