French point guard Theo Maledon has declared for the 2020 NBA Draft, he told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.
Maledon averaged 7.1 points and 2.3 assists per game for ASVEL in the EuroLeague and French Jeep Elite.
Fonte: ESPN.
Chicago Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen was unhappy with the organization and his role, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
“Make no mistake about it, third-year big man Lauri Markkanen was one unhappy camper before the coronavirus put the NBA on hiatus,” Cowley wrote. “Unhappy enough that if the direction of the organization was going to stay unchanged, he’d rather be elsewhere.”
Fonte: Chicago Sun-Times.
Indiana Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan declined an opportunity to interview with the Chicago Bulls, sources told Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The Bulls’ original list of four candidates for their top executive job is down to Toronto’s Bobby Webster, Miami’s Adam Simon, and Denver’s Arturas Karnisovas.
Fonte: Shams Charania.
The Bulls are planning to seek permission to interview also Indiana Pacers’ Chad Buchanan and Miami Heats’s Adam Simon for lead basketball operations position, sources tell The Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry.
Chicago will not pursue OKC’s Sam Presti or Toronto’s Masai Ujiri, according to sources, and does not plan to go player agent route.
The NBA is exploring the feasibility of holding its entire playoffs in Las Vegas, according to sources who spoke with Sports Illustrated. The league has held its Summer League in Las Vegas since 2004, which has led the NBA to have relationships with hotels and arenas in the city.
With quarantining the players and staff in one location being the only current viable solution for playing games, Las Vegas is the only city the NBA is currently seriously considering. “We all want to play. But we all know we can’t play until things are dramatically different,” said one high ranking executive from a playoff team.
Fonte: Sports Illustrated.
Tom Thibodeau is expected to be a candidate for both the head coaching vacancies of the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
“Thibodeau, I believe, is going to be a candidate for the Knicks’ job as well,” said Windhorst on his podcast. “He’s got a really good working relationship with Leon Rose and Wes Wesley. I know Wes hasn’t been named anything official with the Knicks, but trust me, he will be involved. That connection will matter.”
Fonte: Brian Windhorst.
NBA executives still hope they can arrange a one-site 16-team playoff with a five-to-seven-game regular season as a warmup, all conducted without fans in attendance, according to New York Post’s Marc Berman.
“They’re very determined to have a champion,” one industry source said. The playoffs could be reduced to best-of-three series for the duration of the playoffs, while a single-elimination format has been all but ruled out and would only be considered as a last resort.
Las Vegas, Orlando, Atlantic City, Hawaii and Louisville have been mentioned as possible place to host the playoffs. The NBA hasn’t ruled out the possibility of canceling the season altogether.
Fonte: Marc Berman.
Georgetown sophomore guard Mac McClung announced he’s entering the 2020 NBA draft.
McClung told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony that he has signed with an NBA/NCAA certified agent which gives him an opportunity to go through the pre-draft process while also maintaining his college eligibility.
Fonte: ESPN.
The 2020 NBA draft could be pushed to August or September in the event the season resumes in the summer, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
“Any scenario where the draft happens, it’s very likely going to be still be at the back end of the playoffs, and you would still have a time when you would have the draft and free agency,” Wojnarowski said. “So potentially if the season is resumed at some point and the league is playing in July and August and maybe even into September, it’s possible you don’t have a draft and free agency until those finals are over.”
Fonte: Forbes.
DePaul junior forward Paul Reed has declared for the NBA draft.
Reed is the No. 51 prospect in ESPN’s Top 100.
Fonte: Shams Charania.
The NBA could look at resuming games at venues in a centralized location, perhaps in non-NBA cities, as reported by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. Teams could sleep, train, eat and play in the same location to minimize the possibility of COVID-19 infection.
Hypothesis have floated around a sprawling casino property in Las Vegas where everything could be held under one roof; playing in the Bahamas where a ballroom could be converted into a playing court specifically for broadcast; taking over a college campus in the Midwest where reported cases of COVID-19 are lower.
Fonte: Brian Windhorst.
Arizona freshman big man Zeke Nnaji will declare for the 2020 NBA draft, according to Jon Rothstein.
Nnaji, a 7-foot + 19-year-old power forward, is the No. 34 prospect in ESPN’s Top 100.
Fonte: Jon Rothstein.
According to beat writer Ronald Tillery, Memphis Grizzlies owner Robert Pera inquired about the possibility of relocating the franchise last summer.
Pera purchased the Grizzlies in 2012 and primarily lives in Northern California.
Fonte: Ronald Tillery.
The NBA is still talking to teams about clearing arena dates in the summer for resumed games, sources tell John Hollinger of The Athletic.
The widespread expectation is that the NBA will return without fans in attendance at least initially.
Fonte: John Hollinger.
Killian Hayes announced that he is entering the 2020 NBA Draft.
Hayes, 2001, has played with Ratiopharm Ulm this season averaging 11.6 points and 5.2 assists in Bundesliga and 12.8 points and 6.2 assists in EuroCup.
Fonte: Ratiopharm Ulm.
Dayton star Obi Toppin announced in a video that he’s signing with an agent and declaring for the 2020 NBA Draft.
The sophomore forward led the Flyers to a 29-2 record with 20 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.2 assist, shooting 63% from the field, 39% from long range and 70% from the foul line.
?Once again Thank You Flyer Nation ✈️
✍?
Love you always ❤️
Obi Toppin pic.twitter.com/NOa3pMtGDM— obadiah (@otoppin1) March 25, 2020
New Orleans Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball has decided to part ways with CAA, a source told Sportando.
Ball has been with Creative Arts Agency where he was represented by Steven Heumann and Aaron Mintz .
CAA was Ball’s second agency in the NBA after being represented by Harrison Gaines of SPLASH Sports & Entertainment at the beginning of his pro career.
Sports Illustrated’s Melissa Rohlin first reported that Ball was set to leave CAA.
In an interview with the New York Post, Stan Van Gundy has stated his disinterest in becoming head coach of the New York Knicks, suggesting his brother Jeff Van Gundy would be a better candidate for that specific job.
“I’m not interested in the New York Knicks. No,” Van Gundy said. “First of all, there’s a family history there. If anyone would be interested in that, and I’m not sure he is either, it would be my brother.”
Van Gundy, however, would be interested in the Brooklyn Nets’ job: “Of the two the Nets are the better job. There’s no question about that right now,” he said. “The organization has been more stable. They’ve won more games. They have more talent.”
Fonte: New York Post.
Devin Vassell has announced on his Instagram account that he will enter the 2020 NBA Draft.
“It is with a heart full of gratitude that I am entering my name in the 2020 NBA draft. I’ll never forget the amazing ride of these last two years, and I’m excited to see what the future holds.” the Florida State player said.
Vassell as a sophomore, averaged 12.7 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 1.4 SPG, and 1.0 BPG with a .490/.415/.738 shooting line in 30 games (28.8 MPG) and he should be selected with in the first round of the draft.
Fonte: Hoopsrumors.
Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Deni Avdija is on the Cleveland Cavaliers’ radar, according to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, who reported that the Cavs have done extensive work scouting the Israeli guard/forward.
Avdija is a projected top-10 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, probably even top-5.
Fonte: Cleveland.com.
Seton Hall junior forward Sandro Mamukelashvili will declare for the NBA Draft without hiring an agent, he told Adam Zagoria of NJ Advance Media.
Mamukelashvili has the chance to withdraw from the draft and go back to college for his senior year.
Fonte: NJ Advance Media.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski revealed to Evan Daniels that he expects Tre Jones to declare for the 2020 NBA Draft.
The sophomore pointguard ended this season with 16.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 6.4 assist and 1.8 steals per game, shooting 42% from the field, 36% from long range and 77% from the foul line.
He’s at No.33 in the ESPN Top 100.
Anthony Edwards is declaring for the 2020 NBA Draft, and has signed with agent Omar Wilkes of Octagon, Evan Daniels of 247Sports has reported.
Edwards is a candidate to go first overall; he has averaged 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game in his freshman season at Georgia. “I think I should go number one, no doubt,” Edwards told 247Sports. “That’s the only place I think I should go.”
Fonte: Evan Daniels.
The NBA has informed teams that players are allowed to travel out of market, but preference remains that players stay in cities they play, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Teams facilities will close down to players and staff starting tomorrow.
Fonte: Adrian Wojnarowski.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski suggested that if the NBA is able to resume the 19-20 season at all, it will likely do so without fans in attendance: “The league, more than gate receipts ultimately, it’s getting the games on television,” said Wojnarowski. “Whether it’s the regional networks and then the national deals that Turner, ESPN… Getting games in the postseason on TV and to that end, knowing that it is ‘likely’, ‘possible’, ‘certain’, wherever you want to fall on it, that if the games resume, they will probably do so without fans in the arena, at least initially. The league is open to not having these games in arenas, whether it’s a Staples Center or Barclays in Brooklyn or Oklahoma City. Wherever traditional arenas their teams play in. They’re looking at the practice facilities or the G League facilities where you wouldn’t have the backdrop of a cavernous empty arena on television. And it would be an environment where the TV sight-lines might be better. They can do some creative things in that way.”.
Fonte: Adrian Wojnarowski.
The production of ESPN six-part documentary The Last Dance, about Michael Jordan’s final season with the Chicago Bulls, has not been completed, as stated by ESPN’s EVP of Programming Burke Magnus.
“I know some have asked about ‘The Last Dance,’ and the reality is that the production of that film has not yet been completed, so we are limited there at the moment,” Magnus stated in response to the idea that the broadcasting could be anticipated due to the suspension of the NBA season caused by the Coronavirus outbreak.
Fonte: Def Pen.
According to Adam Zagoria, Dayton forward Obi Toppin is expected to declare for the 2020 NBA Draft.
The sophomore ended the year with 107 dunks, No.1 in Division One.
He led the Flyers to a 29-2 record with 20 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.2 assist, shooting 63% from the field, 39% from long range and 70% from the foul line.
Fonte: Forbes.
Toronto’s Serge Ibaka has tested negative for coronavirus, sources tell The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Ibaka defended Rudy Gobert throughout Jazz-Raptors game Monday, leading to testing of Toronto players on Wednesday night.
Fonte: Shams Charania.
As reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski the National Basketball Players Association, in a correspondence to players addressing the uncertainty surrounding the NBA’s indefinite suspension of play, spelled out terms of a doomsday provision included in the collective bargaining agreement that could free owners from paying players a percentage of their salaries should the rest of the season be lost to the coronavirus pandemic.
The CBA includes a clause called the force majeure event clause that includes multiple dramatic scenarios, including epidemics, that the league could trigger in the event of a worst-case scenario. Other instances that could trigger the clause include natural disasters and war. The next scheduled paycheck for players comes on Sunday, and those will be fulfilled.
Fonte: Adrian Wojnarowski.
NBA owners are encouraging of commissioner Adam Silver to re-evaluate the league’s suspension in 30 days, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The league is expected to make a formal announcement on an initial timetable soon.
Fonte: Adrian Wojnarowski.