Brandon Rahbar: Donovan: “If Andre is available to play, we are gonna play him.”
Injuries Rumors
Josh Robbins: For those of you asking, Jonathan Isaac did not practice today as a precaution, and Steve Clifford said J.I. has not done any contact work so far in the bubble. J.I. has done individual drills with assistant coaches Mike Batiste and Rick Higgins that have had some physicality.
Michael Grange: We were hoping to speak with Marc Gasol today, but now (maybe) tomorrow. Or the next day. More relevant, Nick Nurse says Gasol’s hamstring issues are behind him: “He’s fully healed, and as you know he looks great. His skills look fantastic as well … I don’t see any issues.”
Jovan Buha: Doc Rivers says he doesn’t know the plan with Kawhi Leonard’s minutes and work load yet. He says everyone is fully healthy now. “I think it’ll be different now because of that,” Rivers said.
Kellan Olson: Monty Williams said Kelly Oubre Jr. has been doing a “little bit” of on-the-court work but most of his work is on the side rehabbing. Described him as looking great.
Erik Horne: Chris Paul on Andre Roberson being back in practice: “It’s the best thing ever. When I talk about a guy being consummate teammate, for a guy to go through all the things he’s been through, I’m so happy for him. He’s had some of the toughest times people wouldn’t even know.”
Brandon Rahbar: Billy Donovan on the first Thunder media call in Orlando: “Andre did practice today. Went through everything. He looked really good. We’ll see how he develops.” Sounds promising. But there’s still doubt. Seems like a real 50-50.
Andrew Greif: Paul George said he felt “insecurities” throughout the season because his repaired shoulders didn’t feel quite right. He says he now feels “great again.” “Feeling back to myself again.”
Andrew Greif: Paul George: “I think our aspirations, this time off has given us what we needed. We had some guys that were banged up, nagging injuries. The more time gave us more time to aid those injuries and to get back to 100.”
Austin Kent: Dewan Hernandez is with the Raptors and expecting to play when the league resumes later this month. The rookie center suffered a severe right ankle sprain in December and missed the team’s final 37 games before the shutdown.
Brandon Rahbar: Visual confirmation Andre Roberson is in Orlando with the Thunder from the best source possible: Dre’s long time girlfriend Rachel DeMita. pic.twitter.com/031Qh3t26s
Joe Mussatto: Thunder forward Isaiah Roby will miss the rest of the season after undergoing a minor procedure on his right plantar fascia, per a team spokesman. Roby will not travel to Orlando. oklahoman.com/article/566633…
Weltman made it crystal clear that Isaac is highly unlikely to play in either the eight regular-season games or during the postseason. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: We’re planning on life without Jonathan,” Weltman said, referring to the remainder of 2019-20, not future seasons. “Jonathan is with the team because it benefits him to be with the team and he wants to be with the team. Obviously, the same could be said of Farouq, but Jonathan’s at a different stage of his rehab, and most of the work that he needs to get done would benefit him more to be around our performance staff than it would to be in the (practice) facility at this stage. So, obviously, he’s at the stage where he can do a little light court stuff, but that’s about it.”
How quickly will players knock off rust? To what degree will players be more susceptible to injuries? And will the long hiatus even the playing field between playoff teams? “I don’t think anyone in the NBA has ever been through anything like this,” Weltman said. “These guys have never been through this long a period of not playing basketball. And so that’s where the attachment (between players and their teams), the communication, the organization … will matter. The conditioning and the work that players have put in individually will matter. But this is completely unpredictable.”
Jonathan Isaac not expected to play in Disney World
Roy Parry: Magic forward Jonathan Isaac, who is recovering from a knee injury sustained Jan. 1 in Washington, entered the NBA bubble with the team but is not expected to play. He will continue his rehab work while supporting his teammates when the season resumes.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – we’re planning on life without Jonathan,’’ Jeff Weltman said. “Jonathan is with the team because it benefits him to be with the team and he wants to be with the team. The same could be said with (Aminu), but Jonathan is at a different stage of his rehab and most of the work that he needs to get done it would benefit him to be around our performance staff. Obviously, he’s at the stage where he can do a little light court stuff. Beyond that, we want to keep him attached to the team and he wants to support his teammates, but I wouldn’t read anything into that.’’
Tim Reynolds: Magic updates: Al-Farouq Aminu did not accompany the Magic into the bubble today for rehab-related reasons. Another Magic player has tested positive and he – name not disclosed – is not at Disney yet. Markelle Fultz has a personal matter that he has been excused to address.
David Aldridge: Sheppard says that surgery for Beal is not an option. “He was managing it during the season. With the time off, he wasn’t able to stay as active…the necessity of the day to day rehab had to take a back seat.”
Bradley Beal to sit out NBA restart due to injury
Shams Charania: Wizards star Bradley Beal will not play in restarted NBA season due to shoulder injury.
“Bradley did everything possible to be ready to play, but after closely monitoring his individual workouts we came to the conclusion that it was best for him to sit out the upcoming games in Orlando and avoid the risk of further injury,” said Wizards General Manager Tommy Sheppard. “Although he was able to play through the majority of the season with the injury, the layoff from March until now did not leave any of us feeling comfortable that he would have enough time to be ready to perform at the extremely high level we are all accustomed to seeing and agreed that not participating in the games in Orlando was the right decision.”
Beal experienced discomfort with his shoulder early in the season and worked with the team’s medical and performance staff to manage the injury. The symptoms worsened over the course of the hiatus and he began to rehabilitate the injury with the intent of returning to play. He will not travel with the team to Orlando and will continue his rehabilitation process over the summer. “This was a difficult decision and one that I did not take lightly as the leader of this team,” said Beal. “I wanted to help my teammates compete for a playoff spot in Orlando, but also understand that this will be best for all of us in the long term. I appreciate the support of my teammates, the fans and the entire organization and look forward to returning next season to continue the progress we have made.”
Nick DePaula: In a video to fans in China, Klay Thompson says, “My mind and body are 100% ready to get back on the court.” His new Anta KT5 sneaker launch is inspired by his trip last summer to a 400 year-old Chinese medical center in Shanghai and the treatment he received there.
Darius Miller out for the rest of the season
The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that forward Darius Miller, who is recovering from right Achilles surgery, will not accompany the team to Orlando for the 2019-20 NBA restart. Miller will remain in New Orleans to continue his rehabilitation process.
“We are extremely encouraged with the progress Darius has made in his recovery process,” Pelicans Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin said. “The work he has put in both prior to and during these limited mandatory workouts has been remarkable. We look forward to seeing him back at full strength heading into the 2020-21 campaign.” The Pelicans will not be granted an additional roster spot pursuant to the rules the NBA has set forth for signing replacement players for the remainder of the 2019-20 season.
The expectation is that the Pelicans will have most or all of their key rotation players on the trip. Darius Miller, who has been sidelined for the entire season with a ruptured Achilles tendon, will not travel to Florida, a source said. So far, no other Pelicans have been ruled out.
Kelly Oubre back in Orlando?
Phoenix Suns General Manager James Jones isn’t ruling out starting wing Kelly Oubre Jr. returning to action in Orlando. Oubre had knee surgery March 3 and reportedly looked to opt out of playing in the 2019-20 NBA season resumption, but Jones, during a media call Monday, sounded hopeful the team’s third-leading scorer will play at some point.
“Kelly’s been here, he’s been rehabbing and so my expectations for him are the same as every other player, come in every day, practice with the team, work and compete and get yourself in a position to play and hopefully that’s before Orlando ends,” Jones said about Oubre, who is averaging a career-high 18.7 points a game this season.
Eric Walden: Quin Snyder also slammed the door firmly shut on the possibility of Bojan Bogdanovic returning this season, even in a deep playoff run: “Bojan’s not gonna pull a Willis Reed and run onto the court and be able to play.”
Perhaps the most difficult injury to return and recover from is a ruptured achilles, but not only has Rodney Hood put in the work off the court, he is also putting a tremendous amount of work on the court. The Portland Trail Blazers tweeted a video of the former Duke basketball player rising up to the rim, albeit in a controlled and cautious way as he works his way back to the court.
Recovering from an Achilles rupture is a long, difficult process that only a handful of NBA players truly understand. In August, Pelicans reserve forward Darius Miller ruptured his right Achilles tendon during a three-on-three game. Miller, who has been in contact with Cousins throughout the recovery process, said the pandemic has made it difficult to gauge how close he is to returning.
“Like I said, right now I’m just taking it day-by-day, trying to add something new into my workouts and see how my body reacts,” Miller said. “Like I said, it’s unfortunate I can’t play five-on-five or at least three-on-three just to get a gauge, but we’re doing the most that we can right now to see about when I’ll be able to play.”
Miller said players who have suffered Achilles injuries gave him more advice about staying positive mentally than they have about the physical aspects of recovering. “Everyone I talked to pretty much had the same message: It was going to be a long road. It was going to be tough,” Miller said. “That was one of the reasons I tried to stay around the team as much as possible, just to stay involved and keep my mind off of things, stay in the team atmosphere. I feel like the team did a great job of helping me get through it. It was just little things like that, staying positive and attacking every day as if it’s a game.”
Davis was then asked if he was 100 percent. “I feel 100 percent healthy,” he said. “But I don’t feel — I am. …I’m ready.”
Will Guillory: Darius Miller says he’s unsure if he’ll be ready to play in Orlando. Hasn’t been able to play any 3-on-3 or 5-on-5 bc of COVID-19. I doubt we’ll see him playing if he can’t ramp up his activity really quickly.
Davis was then asked if he was 100 percent. “I feel 100 percent healthy,” he said. “But I don’t feel — I am. …I’m ready.”
Will Guillory: Darius Miller says he’s unsure if he’ll be ready to play in Orlando. Hasn’t been able to play any 3-on-3 or 5-on-5 bc of COVID-19. I doubt we’ll see him playing if he can’t ramp up his activity really quickly.
A. Sherrod Blakely: Gordon Hayward said his left foot still gets sore sometimes, adding that he thinks it’s associated with the gruesome foot injury he suffered at the start of the 2017 season, his first in Boston.
It remains to be seen if the second bubble will actually take place, but even if it does, it sure seems like you won’t be seeing Steph Curry play in it. ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan reported he wouldn’t have played in Orlando had the Warriors qualified, and it begs the question as to why Chicago would be any different. “I was told unequivocally by people at Golden State,” MacMullan said Thursday on the “Hoop Collective” podcast, “if Golden State came back (to play in Orlando) they weren’t gonna let Steph Curry step foot on the floor.” “The reason they were worried about Steph Curry,” MacMullan added, “was because they didn’t feel that he had played enough to come back.”
