NETS’ DINWIDDIE, PRINCE OUT FOR RESTART WITH VIRUS
Tuesday. “I will be supporting the guys every step of the way.”
Dinwiddie tweeted that on his 10th day of contracting the coronavirus, the sinus headaches he regularly experienced when he woke up began to subside.
“But I was a lil too bullish on the bike,” he tweeted. “Got dizzy and felt weak. But if I can get a negative test tomorrow, then they’re gonna get me back on the court on Tuesday.”
Dinwiddie then called the Nets front organization “a class act,” insinuating in a subsequent tweet they were saving him from himself.
The news is a crushing blow to a Nets team already short their star point guard in Kyrie Irving, who is out for the season after undergoing surgery on his right shoulder. Dinwiddie was largely responsible for the Nets staying afloat when both Irving and Caris LeVert went down with injuries that cost both more than 20 games starting in November.
This season was a careeryear for the Nets guard, who averaged about 21 points and seven assists per game this season. His final moment of this season is a memorable one: Dinwiddie hit the game-winner in Los Angeles to give the Nets a 104-102 win over the Lakers in the last game they played before the season was suspended due to the coronavirus.
The Nets will miss his production — not so much his arguing with officials — as they travel to Orlando.
The list of players out for the Nets in Orlando could sweep the players making the trip in a seven-game series: Irving, Dinwiddie, Kevin Durant (Achilles rehab), DeAndre Jordan (coronavirus positive), Wilson Chandler (opted out) and Nic Claxton (shoulder surgery) will all stay home while the rest of the team makes the trip.
The NBA’s transaction window to sign free agents has closed, but the Nets are allowed to sign replacement players for
The Nets took another blow to their roster on Tuesday as forward Taurean Prince tested positive for the coronavirus and will not travel with the team for the NBA’s season restart in Orlando, according to ESPN.
He is the seventh Nets player who will not travel with the team, joining Kyrie Irving (shoulder), Kevin Durant (Achilles), Spencer Dinwiddie (coronavirus), DeAndre Jordan (coronavirus), Wilson Chandler (opted out) and rookie those who opt-out of the Orlando bubble through the end of August. The eight-game regular season kicks off on July 31 with the Nets scheduled to kickoff the season re-opener against the Orlando Magic.
Dinwiddie’s absence means LeVert will see the brunt of his minutes at point guard. It also means there’s an abundance of opportunity for other guards on the roster like Chris Chiozza, Tyler Johnson and Dzanan Musa on the roster to earn
Nic Claxton (shoulder surgery).
Prince did not opt out of the Orlando bubble, as every player — healthy or not — retains as an option. He would have had to pass consecutive negative tests in Brooklyn, travel to Orlando separately, then quarantine again, which ESPN says would not have given him enough time to get into playing shape and join his team.
The NBA is set to begin its eight-game resumption of the regular season at Walt Disney World on July 31. more playing time. The Nets signed Johnson as a free agent after waiving reserve guard Theo Pinson in late June.
The shorthanded Nets have their work cut out for them as they attempt to hold onto their standing as a playoff contender in the NBA’s restart at Walt Disney World Resorts. The Nets currently sit seventh in the Eastern Conference with a 3034 record, but they are only a half-game ahead of the eighthplace Magic.
Prince started the majority of the season at power forward, where he averaged 12 points and six rebounds on 34 percent shooting from three and 37 percent shooting from the field. He was ultimately relegated to the bench in favor of Wilson Chandler, whose concerns about spreading the coronavirus to his family were his reasoning for opting out of the Orlando bubble.
The Nets currently have four open roster slots, though ESPN reports they are expected to sign forward Justin Anderson.
The NBA has instituted a play-in tournament for ninthplace teams that are within four games of the eighth seed after playing all eight regular-season games. The Washington Wizards are currently six games behind the Nets. Luckily for both Brooklyn and Orlando, Wizards star Bradley Beal has opted out of the Orlando bubble due to an injury to the rotator cuff in his right shoulder that the Wizards say he played through the majority of the season.
Beal most notably posted back-to-back 50-point games before scoring 30 in a win over the Nets this season.
“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,” Wizards GM Tommy Sheppard said. “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’s absence doesn’t give the Nets a clear path to the playoffs. The Wizards may be short Beal and Davis Bertans — who opted out of the Orlando bubble due to injury concerns in a contract year — but they have the easiest schedule out of the three teams fighting for Eastern Conference playoff position.
The Nets are a combined 0-4 against the Magic and Wizards this season. They have to play the Magic twice, the Wizards once and each the Bucks, Celtics, Kings, Clippers and Trail Blazers before qualifying for the Orlando bubble playoffs.
The Nets are also adjusting to a new head coach, having parted ways with Kenny Atkinson just three games before the coronavirus hiatus. Jacque Vaughn is 2-0 as interim coach, guiding the Nets to a home win against the Chicago Bulls then an impressive road win against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Nets general manager Sean Marks says Vaughn will not be judged on wins and losses in the Orlando bubble, though wins can only help his case to retain the Nets job.