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Kelly Oubre not excluded; not all suns head to bubbles in time

Phoenix Suns managing director James Jones speaks to the media about the dismissal of Suns head coach Igor Kokoskov on Wednesday, April 24, 2019, in Phoenix. (Photo AP / Matt York)


Phoenix Suns general manager James Jones said the team’s travel team headed for the NBA bubble in Orlando on Tuesday is not yet determined and will not be complete.

The day before the team headed to Orlando to begin a month-long stay at Disney World for an eight-game resume of the 2019-20 season, Jones suggested Monday that party members could join the Sun later.

“We are still trying to figure out our schedule,” he said in a Zoom call Monday. “We will have players who will travel later at some point. Who those players are, we haven’t decided yet. “

Jones would not say whether Kelly Oubre Jr., who is about to undergo meniscus surgery in early March, will be part of the group headed for Orlando in any capacity. A June 17 report from The Athletic’s Shams Charania states that Oubre had been excluded from action for the Disney World games but that Oubre would travel with the team.

Earlier during the break, Jones said Oubre and Frank Kaminsky were “stuck” without a structure to properly rehabilitate their knee injuries. Jones said only on Monday that Oubre has resumed rehabilitation since the Arizona Veterans Coliseum opened for use by individual players.

“You can’t come to the gym, you can’t go to therapy clinics, you can’t go out on the field,” Jones said of Oubre’s slowing down after the coronavirus ended the season on March 11th.

The GM left the door open for Oubre to continue playing for the suns, insinuating that the forward could travel to Florida at some point.

“Kelly has been here … he has redesigned and therefore my expectations for him are the same as for all the other players,” said Jones. “Come every day, practice with the team, work and compete and get in the position to play – and hopefully it’s before Orlando ends.”

The Suns appear to be able to detain players in Phoenix because they are isolated after testing positive for coronavirus or continuing rehabilitation.

The Republic of Arizona reported on June 23 that two players have tested positive for coronavirus, leading to a temporary halt to training.

Players and staff who test positive for coronavirus can rejoin their team later if they pass the protocols established by the NBA.

Phoenix’s training camp at Disney World is expected to be unleashed next Monday after further tests on their arrival. After the training camp which includes three exhibition games against the Celtics, the Raptors and Jazz from 23 to 28 July, the eight final games of the regular season of the Suns do not begin until July 31 against the Washington Wizards.

Jones is confident in the bubble and protocols created between the NBA, Commissioner Adam Silver and the NBPA.

“The GMs I’ve talked to … we all believe the safest place to be is in the bubble,” Jones said.

“Here in Arizona, you see the skyrocketing cases. Across the United States, cases are in vogue and our players are a younger generation, a social generation. I mean the more constraints you can put in place, the better. The Orlando facility will be beneficial for us, so our anxiety is coming to the healthy bubble. “

Follow @kzimmermanaz

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