News, notes and observations as the Toronto Raptors kick him in Florida …
· As expected, several NBA players have retired from the shooting season and, as expected, the reasons have varied. Whether it’s a contractual situation (Davis Bertans), a family problem (Trevor Ariza) or a family health problem (Avery Bradley), players are making decisions based on their circumstances. I have heard that there are at least many more players evaluating whether to play or not. The NBA has set a deadline for players to withdraw on Wednesday, but this has always been considered soft. Players will make decisions until they officially report.
Bertans’ decision raised some eyebrows among league officials. But he is absolutely doing the right thing. Wizards are 5 and a half games back from Orlando. In the best case, they finish within four games, win a game game and are pitted by Milwaukee in the opening round. Bertans, 27, will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. He is coming from a career season and will be queuing for an eight-digit payday per year. Why risk it? Wizards signed the contract, largely because Washington hopes to renew Bertan’s signature this summer (Wizards have been offered more first-round choices for Bertan before the commercial deadline) and add Bertans shooting a backcourt Bradley Beal / John Wall.
· You have to ask yourself: with Bertans bowing, will there be a domino effect in DC? With wizards playing the string, will Beal decide to pack it? The rotation of the Mages could appear as a list of the summer leagues. Is Gheorghe Muresan available?
Still no indication that the NBA is reconsidering Orlando, even though coronavirus cases reach the first pandemic levels. Cases in Florida rose 205% from two weeks ago, with Orange County proving to be a particularly dangerous hotspot. Disney World is under pressure to reject its reopening. I have had several conversations with team and league leaders in the past few days, and the feeling I get at this point is that the NBA is seen as too big to fail. The league believes in its bubble and will do everything possible to protect it. Don’t be surprised to see league officials revisit guidelines that some Disney employees won’t even be tested in the bubble. The guidelines listed in that 113-page memo are not etched in stone. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is arguably the only person who can stop the resumption of an NBA season, and has not shown any indication that he is considering it.
Here is a question many have: If a coronavirus outbreak occurs in the bubble, does the NBA have a breaking point? If a team is decimated by an outbreak, for example, in the conference semifinals, what will the NBA do? If LeBron James or Giannis Antetokounmpo tested positive, would the league pause whatever series they are playing until the virus clears their system? What if it happens in the final? Would the NBA shelve a series until one of its alpha is able to return? Would a broadcast partner like ESPN, who is heavily invested in post-season rankings, encourage them to do so? You can go down to a rabbit hole with all these hypotheses, but the possibility of losing players, key players, is real.
The NBA got good news on Friday: only 16 of the 302 players tested for COVID-19 this week have been positive. League and team officials were preparing for a much higher positive rate, and the hope is that early detection coupled with rigorous quarantine protocols will allow the NBA to at least start the recovery season with healthy wages.
· Avery Bradley is a huge loss for the Lakers. Bradley has scored an average of 25 minutes per game this season and was in the middle of his best month when the pandemic ended the league. Bradley’s absence will mean more time for Alex Caruso, who has had excellent chemistry with James this season. It could also mean a LeBron meeting for JR Smith, who worked for the Lakers earlier in the year and is presumably one of the main candidates to take Bradley’s place on the roster.
Happy Trails Vince Carter, who officially retired this week, ending a 22-year future Hall of Fame career. I spoke at length with Vince immediately after the pandemic hit, and while he is disappointed he won’t be able to finish his last season, he has no regrets.
· With Carter officially missing, the oldest NBA player: Udonis Haslem, who at 40 years old adapts to the heat in the playoffs. I don’t know where JJ Reddick is on this list, but Redick turned 36 this week in a season where he is earning 45% of his three. Such players will have a place on an NBA list until they are 46 years old.
Social media can be a bad place, which is why it’s been nice to see jazz coach Quin Snyder praise Donovan Mitchell for his activism in the past few weeks, activism that came with a backlash on social media.
“I am extremely proud of Donovan,” Snyder said in a conference call with reporters. “Obviously, this is a form of expression, something that he considers important personally and important for our society, and generally speaking in general. There have been many positive comments regarding Donovan’s post. Having said that, there were also some comments that were abominable and things that we should never tolerate. So to the extent that you can rationalize some of those negative comments by saying there were positive comments, I think it’s a mistake that we all have to be so diligent. Because as long as there are those comments, there is work to be done. ”
Snyder continued, “One of the things that has been talked about a lot is that it’s okay to be uncomfortable,” said Snyder. “Donovan was definitely uncomfortable at some level. It takes courage to defend what you believe in, and to the extent that it has made other people and some of us uncomfortable, I think it’s a good thing.”
· Ten years have passed since LeBron James officially brought his talents to South Beach, and ESPN will commemorate him with the origin story of “The Decision”, the LeBron James special that announces his intention to sign with Miami. Don Van Natta at the helm backstory will dive into the decision-making process of “The Decision” and its chain effects. ‘The Decision’ remains at the pinnacle of James’ mistakes, which says more about James than having spent two decades under the narrowest microscope a silly television special that raised more than $ 3 million for charity is considered one of his biggest mistakes.
Paul George mixed the pot this week when he told former NBA players Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson in a podcast that the reason he wanted to get out of Indiana in 2017 was because of the Pacers’ refusal to acquire “the best power forward in the game. “
“I had the best forward power at the time that said he wanted to come to Indy and team up with me,” said George. “I’m like, ‘we’re a mid-major, we’re a small market, like, we can’t do it, we’re a small market, we can’t afford it.” I’m as if the best striker could come and play here, like, not everyone can make it work? They didn’t want to do it. “
J. Michael, who covers the Pacers for the Indianapolis star, believes that George refers to Anthony Davis, the then pelican striker. Michael insists that it was not the cost of paying Davis, but of acquiring him (if New Orleans had even traded him in 2017) without any guarantee that he would like to stay there in the long run. However, in ’17 he had Davis three years are left for his contract. It’s a life in the NBA and more than enough time for Indy to form a team around them. Again, I am skeptical that the pelicans would have moved Davis. If they did, the teams would line up with offers that would likely outperform any non-George offer that Indiana could put together. But it was a very interesting revelation.
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