- Spurs point guard Dejounte Murray hasn’t been the difference maker that coach Gregg Popovich had hoped when he inserted him into the starting lineup in January, writes Frank Urbina of Hoops Hype. San Antonio is 9-12 since the move and is barely clinging to a playoff spot.
- Spurs assistant Becky Hammon has decided to remain with the team after having conversations with Colorado State about becoming the men’s head basketball coach, according to Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Hammon is in her fourth season with the Spurs and is considered a candidate to someday become the NBA’s first female head coach.
Here are Thursday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Spurs assigned guard Derrick White to the Austin Spurs, according to a team press release. White, the team’s first-round pick last June, has played 19 games with Austin, averaging 18.2 PPG, 4.8 RPG and 3.1 APG in 27.0 MPG.
- The Suns assigned forward/center Alan Williams to their G League affiliate, the Northern Arizona Suns, according to a team press release. Williams underwent surgery on his right meniscus in late September and has yet to play in a game this season. He led the Suns with 15 double-doubles last season.
The Kawhi Leonard situation in San Antonio continues to be a baffling one. Asked today if Leonard has increased his three-on-three work or been upgraded to five-on-five play, Spurs point guard Tony Parker replied, “I have no idea. He isn’t practicing with us,” per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. Parker also wondered aloud if Leonard might be nearing a point of no return for this season.
“We have what 14, games left? So it’s getting closer and closer that at some point it makes no sense (to bring him back),” Parker said of his Spurs teammate. “He didn’t play for like two or three months. He didn’t play for eight months, technically.”
The Warriors will hold Stephen Curry out of action for another week while he recovers from a “tweaked” right ankle, the team announced in a tweet. Curry is making progress with his rehab, according to the Warriors, and will be re-evaluated March 20. That means he will miss at least four more games. Curry has been sidelined since Thursday when he hurt the ankle while being fouled on a layup attempt against the Spurs.
- Kawhi Leonard hasn’t received medical clearance to start playing again, relays Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich remains in daily contact with Leonard and says the team is being careful not to bring him back before he’s fully ready. “He’s got to be cleared by his medical staff that he’s seeing. And until he gets cleared, we can’t make a decision on when he’s coming back,” Popovich said. “So once he gets cleared, then he and I can sit down and talk and see what we think about an appropriate time to come back. But that clearance has to be obtained first.” An earlier report indicated that Leonard might play tomorrow, but San Antonio has ruled that out.
MARCH 13, 2:16pm: Leonard is expected to remain on the shelf through Thursday’s game, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports, who tweets that the Spurs and their star forward will continue evaluating his quad injury in hopes of a return.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne adds (via Twitter) that Leonard is feeling “much better” and remains optimistic that he’ll be able to play before the end of the regular season. Shelburne confirms that Kawhi won’t play on Thursday vs. New Orleans.
MARCH 10, 7:55pm: The Spurs could have Kawhi Leonard back in the lineup by Thursday, sources tell Lisa Salters of ESPN.
A lingering quad injury has sidelined Leonard for all but nine games this season. He recently said that he has been working toward a comeback and expects to return to the court “soon.” His workouts have included riding a stationary bike and participating in three-on-three drills at practice. However, those drills have been against staff members rather than players.
Leonard, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, is coming off a season in which he finished third in the MVP voting and scored a career-high 25.5 points per game. His presence will be a welcome boost to a Spurs team that is suddenly fighting for a playoff spot, just a game and a half ahead of the ninth-place Nuggets and Jazz coming into tonight’s action.
While the Eastern Conference’s eight playoff teams are close to becoming locked in, the race for the postseason in the Western Conference has only intensified in recent weeks.
The Rockets and Warriors have a stranglehold on the top two seeds and are in no danger of missing the playoffs. The Trail Blazers, winners of 10 straight games, have been one of the league’s hottest teams and currently have a small cushion for the No. 3 seed. After Portland, the Thunder, Pelicans, and Timberwolves round out the top six.
A game and a half behind Minnesota and New Orleans, four teams are currently tied in the standings, with the Clippers (36-29) holding a slight edge over the Jazz (37-30), Nuggets (37-30), and Spurs (37-30). Based on current tiebreakers, Denver and San Antonio are on the outside of the playoff picture looking in, for now.
The Spurs’ spot in the standings isn’t a huge surprise — the team has been without All-NBA forward Kawhi Leonard for all but nine games, and outside of LaMarcus Aldridge, the rest of the roster isn’t exactly brimming with star power. It makes sense that the club has struggled. Still, the Spurs haven’t missed the playoffs since 1997, so one of the sport’s most impressive streaks is in danger of coming to an end this spring.
The Spurs are coming off a brutal stretch of the schedule which saw them play road games in Golden State, Oklahoma City, and Houston. The team lost all three of those of those contests, and things won’t get much easier down the stretch.
According to Tankathon.com, the Spurs have the NBA’s fifth-hardest schedule for the rest of the season, with games against the Rockets, Warriors, Trail Blazers, Thunder, Timberwolves, Wizards, Jazz, Bucks, and Pelicans (twice) still on tap. For their part, the Spurs veterans know that they’ll have their work cut out for them if they want to extend their streak of postseason experiences.
“Been winning for a lot of years,” Tony Parker said on Monday, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “Since I’ve been in the league, I’ve made eight conference finals, five NBA Finals. We’ve been winning a lot. But this year, there’s been a lot of injuries. We just have to find a way to try to qualify for the playoffs.”
Of those injuries alluded to by Parker, Leonard’s quad issue has been the most devastating, but there’s a chance the Spurs will get him back in their lineup later this week. While a meeting with Gregg Popovich will determine whether Leonard’s return is imminent, he’s aiming to get back on the court on Thursday. (Update: he’ll be out through Thursday).
Having a healthy, productive Leonard available down the stretch would improve San Antonio’s playoff chances significantly, but it remains to be seen how effective the star forward can be in the season’s final weeks.
What do you think? Is this the year the Spurs’ playoff streak comes to an end, or will they find a way to extend it to 21 straight appearances? Vote below in our poll and then jump into the comment section below to weigh in!
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.
Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard will meet with coach Gregg Popovich on Tuesday to discuss his progress rehabbing from a quad injury, Michael C. Wright of ESPN reports. Leonard could return as early as Thursday if both parties feel he’s ready to play again. The team’s franchise player has been sidelined since January 13th with the lingering quad issue that has cost him all but nine games this season.
In other injury updates from around the league:
- Pelicans forward Solomon Hill could make his season debut as early as this weekend, William Guillory of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. Hill has been sidelined by a torn hamstring suffered in late August. “We’re so close to the finish line that we’re definitely not going to rush the situation now,” coach Alvin Gentry told Guillory. “I can see a situation where he might be able to play a few minutes here or there.” Hill is in the second year of a four-year, $48MM contract.
- Suns reserve center Alan Williams could make his season debut on Tuesday, according to Scott Bordow of the Arizona Republic. Williams underwent surgery in September to repair the meniscus in his right knee with a six-month timetable to return. He went through a full practice on Monday. Williams, whose three-year, $17MM contract is only guaranteed through this season, averaged 11.4 PPG and 9.1 RPG after the All-Star break last season.
- Magic swingman Terrence Ross is questionable to return this season, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. Ross has been sidelined since November 29th with a knee injury. A bone bruise has stalled Ross’ return, Robbins adds. “Some days it feels good, and then some days it kind of flares up,” Ross told Robbins. Ross has one season left on a contract that pays him $10.9MM annually.
- Wizards point guard John Wall went through some non-contract drills Monday as he works his way back from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports relays. If medically cleared, Wall could practice in full for the first time on Friday, Hughes adds.
Here are Monday’s G League moves from around the NBA:
- The Spurs recalled guard Derrick White from the Austin Spurs, according to a team press release. White, the team’s first-round pick last June, has played 19 games with Austin, averaging 18.2 PPG, 4.8 RPG and 3.1 APG in 27.0 MPG.
- The Lakers recalled rookie center Thomas Bryant from their South Bay affiliate, the G League team tweets. The second-round pick has appeared in 10 NBA games. In his last two games with South Bay, he averaged 18.5 PPG, 7.5 RPG and 6.0 APG.
- The Celtics recalled forward Guerschon Yabusele from the Maine Red Claws, the team tweets. Yabusele will add depth in the wake of Daniel Theis‘ season-ending injury. A 2016 first-round pick, Yabusele has appeared in 14 games with the Red Claws, averaging 20.3 PPG and 7.9 RPG.
- The Hawks recalled rookie forward Tyler Cavanaugh from a rehab assignment with the Erie Bayhawks, the team announced in a release. Cavanaugh, who hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since January 8th, has been working his way back from an ankle injury.
In an in-depth feature for Vice Sports, Michael Pina profiled reticent Spurs star LaMarcus Aldridge, who suggests that he’s “probably one of the most misunderstood people” in the NBA. As Aldridge explains, he isn’t overly fond of new environments or being around a lot of new people, so he has a “little circle of three or four people that I’m close to” and can come off as standoff-ish to those who don’t know him.
Aldridge’s personality was believed to have played a part in his departure from Portland, and at times during the 2017 offseason, it looked like a departure from San Antonio was in the cards as well. However, a sitdown between Aldridge and head coach Gregg Popovich helped smooth things over, and the Spurs big man is currently enjoying one of the best seasons of his career.
Pina’s piece is worth checking out in full, but we’ve pulled a few of Aldridge’ more notable quotes about his meeting with Popovich, the contract extension he signed with the Spurs, and his history with former Trail Blazers teammate Damian Lillard. Let’s dive in…
On Aldridge’s meeting with Popovich and his reported trade request:
“To have a heart-to-heart with a coach about me not being able to be myself … I felt like I had to have that conversation. It was like, ‘This has to happen.’ It wasn’t about being nervous, it was about going about it the right way, making sure it was professional. Making sure I respected everything about him and the organization. I feel like the way I went about it and how I communicated my feelings, he listened to me. It was about figuring out how to do it in the right way so he doesn’t think I’m some arrogant punk just trying to cause problems.
“I think a lot got lost in translation (in media reports about his trade request). I didn’t go and say ‘Hey, I want out.’ It was like, ‘I can’t be the player you want me to be, so let me help you get that person because I respect you and the organization so much.’ That’s how it really went, but people took it and twisted it.”
On whether he doubted that he’d still be with the Spurs at this point:
“I knew some work had to be done. I wouldn’t say I doubted it, but I knew a lot of things had to be worked on and I took my responsibility and I went home and got healthy and worked hard and made sure I came back with the right mentality. Pop and the organization then did their thing to try and let me be myself. So I wouldn’t say I doubted it, but I knew a lot of things had to be done. I knew it was going to be tough.”
On how he ended up signing a contract extension with the Spurs last fall:
“[Agent Jeff Schwartz] was like, ‘They might think I’m bats**t crazy, but I’m gonna call them.’ I was like, ‘Go ahead.’ He made the call just to see if they were interested, and they were taken aback. But I think they could see in my body language and my demeanor that I was happier. I felt more comfortable. Both sides went back and forth until they got it done.”
On his relationship with Damian Lillard:
“I would say him and I have learned more about each other since I left that would’ve helped us when I was there, so I’ve learned from that and I’m trying to be better and not worry if I come off a certain way, because I feel like when people know who I am as a person, they know I have no ill will. I’m more reserved, so I didn’t want to come off as trying to stifle his shine. I just got back in the corner and let him do his thing … I feel like if him and I communicated as much then as we do now, then things would’ve been totally different.”
The Spurs have made the playoffs every year for the past 20 seasons and won five titles along the way, but as Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer writes, the NBA’s model franchise is in the midst of its worst season since 1996/97 – Tim Duncan‘s senior season at Wake Forest – and is in serious danger of missing the playoffs.
The Spurs have the NBA’s toughest remaining schedule, with two games left against the Rockets, Warriors, Pelicans, Thunder, and Wizards. Add in the fact that the team is 2-8 over its last 10 games and only 2.5 games ahead of the eight, ninth, and tenth place teams in the Western Conference, and one can see why fans in San Antonio may have reason to worry for the first time in two decades.
- In more positive Spurs‘ news, Michael C. Wright of ESPN is citing a highly knowledgeable source who tells him that Kawhi Leonard is working hard and putting himself through some “insane” workouts in an effort to return to action as quickly as possible.