Was an unexpected comeback ever in the works for injured Houston Rockets point guard Patrick Beverley in the Western Conference Finals?
It depends who you believe. Rockets’ officials, including head coach Kevin McHale and general manager Daryl Morey, consistently stuck with the company line that he’s out for the entire playoffs, which the Rockets first said on March 30 after Beverley opted for surgery to repair torn ligaments in his left, non-shooting wrist.
But Beverley himself has had other ideas. In April, he told Mark Berman of Fox 26 television in Houston that his return during the playoffs was a “very strong possibility”, adding that his return simply hinged on getting the cast off and whether the Rockets would still be playing when that happened.
“I don’t care about the pain. I can play through pain. I’ve been playing through all type of stuff the whole year, so I can play with the pain. I just have to get this cast off. When the cast comes off May 18, May 20th, wrap it up with tape and (I’ll) be good to go. I don’t care how weak it is. I don’t care how strong it is. I don’t care about that.
“As soon as this cast is off I’m back to business.”
According to Shams Charania of RealGM, Beverley was chomping at the bit to return to the Houston lineup after getting the cast off this week. Charania’s report from Monday:
Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley had the cast removed on his surgically-repaired left wrist Monday and will examine smaller braces to test his capacity to play in the Western Conference Finals, league sources told RealGM.
Beverley has a strong desire to return to the Rockets’ lineup against the Golden State Warriors, and will test his left wrist in ball handling drills on Monday night, a step toward determining his status, a source said.
If Beverley returns, he would need to find a brace capable of protecting his wrist and allowing him to use his pain tolerance.
There was no immediate word on how those tests went. But one key factor to remember is that the Rockets had no incentive to change their story unless they were 100-percent certain he could play.
Considering they already ruled Beverley out for the season, even a statement of “maybe, we don’t know yet” on the record from any Rockets’ official becomes a story. It would alert the team’s opponent to the increased probability of a Beverley return — and perhaps more importantly, it would subject the Houston locker room to a period of “will he/won’t he” drama, when McHale would obviously prefer the team’s undivided attention to be on Golden State.
As a result, expecting the Rockets to acknowledge the possibility days in advance doesn’t make sense. If Beverley were to return, it would quietly be announced the day of the game for purposes of minimizing the opponent’s chance to make adjustments. That’s the same rationale used when the Rockets didn’t alert the media to their lineup swap of Josh Smith for Terrence Jones until just minutes before Game 5 of their second-round series.
Beverley is a free agent this summer, and some have argued that his contract situation makes an early return from injury too risky. However, there’s another side to that equation. What happens if Beverley returns and plays relatively well on the NBA’s biggest stage, all while receiving the “hero” narrative treatment from the national media? Would that not bolster his market come July? And if Beverley were to return and not play well, he’d have a built-in and completely valid reason for teams to excuse it.
From a basketball standpoint, that means minimal risk and ample reward. From a medical standpoint? That’s what the Rockets’ staff will have to weigh before ultimately making the final decision.
The odds are still against Beverley returning this season. However, there’s also more to the story than the public denials by McHale and Morey, and it’s worth noting that while they expressed pessimism, it wasn’t explicitly ruled out. The Rockets know they could certainly use Beverley’s defense at point guard, particularly given that their other alternatives — Jason Terry and Pablo Prigioni — are 37 and 38 years old, respectively. And Beverley clearly wants to play, personally.
UPDATE: Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported Tuesday afternoon that Monday night’s trial session didn’t go well, and Beverley has finally abandoned hope on playing in this series.
After trying a second time on the eve of Game 1, Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley couldn’t find the strength and mobility in his left wrist to believe there exists a chance that he can return in the Western Conference finals, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
“It’s a no-go for the series,” a league source told Yahoo Sports on Tuesday. “He’s done trying.”
Beverley worked out twice Monday in the Bay Area, but a second trip to the gym Monday night convinced him to abandon hope for this series, which begins Tuesday night.
Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale has been adamant that Beverley won’t return against the Golden State Warriors, but his guard’s determination kept Beverley searching for a way until late Monday night, sources said.
Beverley still has a pin in his hand from surgery to repair a torn ligament, and the reaction times necessary to catch, pass and dribble are nowhere near the level needed for him to return in the near future, sources said.
McHale said on Monday that the pin would come out around June 4, which could make an NBA Finals return possible if the Rockets unexpectedly topple the top-seeded Warriors.
ORLANDO COACHING VACANCY IS THIBODEAU’S FOR THE TAKING
The Orlando Magic could pay current Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau from $7 million to $9 million annually to become their next coach and allot him input on basketball decisions, reports Gery Wolefel of the Racine Journal-Times.
In the last couple of weeks, there have been whispers that the vacant Orlando job is Thibodeau’s for the taking. In the last couple of days, there has been chatter that the Magic will make Thibodeau an extremely lucrative offer, one that could make him perhaps the highest-paid coach in the game.
Two NBA officials said they heard the Magic will be willing to pay Thibodeau anywhere from $7 million to $9 million annually. What’s more, they said Thibodeau will be accorded extensive input on basketball-oriented decisions.
Thibodeau’s current salary with the Bulls is about $4 million per year, which means the rumored Orlando offer could approximately double it. For comparison’s sake, that figure would be substantially higher than even the $5 million per season that Steve Kerr and Derek Fisher got a year ago from Golden State and New York, and Orlando is a much smaller market than those two. That said, Stan Van Gundy makes about $7 million each year in Detroit, so it’s not an unheard of figure.
The chance to have input in personnel decisions could also be attractive to Thibodeau, given his extremely contentious relationship with the Chicago front office.
Of course, even if the Orlando opening is Thibodeau’s for the taking, he still has to wrangle his way out of Chicago. That process could reportedly take a while.
OTHER NEWS FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE
Outside of the Orlando vacancy, the New Orleans opening in the wake of firing Monty Williams would seem to be one of the league’s most attractive.
That’s largely due to the presence of Anthony Davis, of course — a former Kentucky star under John Calipari. To that end, John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported Tuesday that Calipari had made it known to Pelicans’ officials that he’d be interested in reuniting with Davis and discussing the opening.
However, Calipari took to his own Twitter account to deny that report.
Even though Anthony and Tyreke are in NOLA, I have no interest in the Pelicans or any other job. I have a great job and I’m happy at UK.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) May 19, 2015
The truth could be somewhere in between. Reid reports that there were exploratory conversations between Calipari and the Pelicans, but it doesn’t appear that New Orleans is willing to meet his financial demands. Calipari makes about $8 million per year at the University of Kentucky, and the Pelicans are only willing to pay around $4 million to $5 million for their job, according to Reid.
Reid says the $3 million gap in annual compensation is a “major sticking report” for Calipari, who would also want input on the New Orleans roster.
If those talks are over, it makes sense for Calipari to aggressively deny the rumor, thus making him appear more solid at Kentucky and giving recruits less reason to doubt his commitment to the program.
If Calipari is out of play, Alvin Gentry — lead assistant in Golden State and former Phoenix coach — could be the most realistic option. The Warriors granted permission to the Pelicans on Monday to interview Gentry, who could fit in the team’s salary range much more easily than Calipari or Thibodeau.
Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving says he’s playing in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday night, reports Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com.
Irving dealt with left knee tendinitis and a right foot strain throughout the Cavaliers’ second-round series against the Bulls, aggravating the knee injury in the closing Game 6. He exited the game prematurely in the second quarter and did not return, playing just 12 minutes.
Irving consulted with team doctors Friday and sat out Cleveland’s practice on Saturday to rest. But the star point guard told Cleveland reporters that he’s seen marked improvement since the end of the Chicago series.
“I would say just my spirits and mental confidence, just being able to actually feel both my feet underneath me, especially when I’m shooting, it feels amazing,” Irving said. “You know, just a confidence of getting extra work in and just preparing with my teammates. I think that’s the biggest thing I get out of it. I don’t want to be on the sideline at all, especially preparing for a big stage like this. I want to be as close to 100 percent before Wednesday as I can be, so just doing the necessary things in order to do that.”
Cavs coach David Blatt said he was “encouraged” by Irving’s improvement, noting that he was not yet 100 percent but certainly making progress.
Cleveland tips off the Eastern Conference Finals in Atlanta against the Hawks on Wednesday evening.
Ben DuBose is a veteran sports reporter who has followed the Houston Rockets and the NBA since Hakeem Olajuwon was Akeem Olajuwon. He writes for both SheridanHoops and ClutchFans, an independent Rockets blog. You can follow him on Twitter.