Second NBA bubble work would likely be productive burn for most notably, three young Cleveland Cavaliers players.
The NBA is considering and is “in deep discussions” involving having a second “bubble” location for non-Orlando NBA teams, per a report from ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan. Among those eight would be the Cleveland Cavaliers, who ended up at 19-46 going into the season’s novel coronavirus-induced hiatus.
Cleveland wrapped up its year clinching the league’s second-worst record. On the plus side, Cleveland was showing signs of improvement leading into the hiatus, as they a more respectable 5-6 post-All-Star.
That was nice to see in the time when J.B. Bickerstaff took over the head coaching reigns. Cleveland was sixth in assist rate and 10th in effective field goal shooting in that stretch as well.
Swinging back, though, to be clear, it seems anything but certain in terms of having a potential second “bubble” in what would be Chicago, due to the impact of COVID-19. That said, per MacMullan, if the league/Players Association can instill the same Orlando-type safety measures, perhaps the second location will play out, in what would be September.
So again, while we definitely cannot say for certain at this point if the second centralized location will happen, in terms of a Cavs’ perspective, if teams do end up playing four games, of the Summer-League-type variety, that could help youngsters.
We’ll see if this will actually occur, though, as MacMullan touched on how the majority of teams are wanting to have their own mini-camps at their set locations instead, and figure out some sort of regional scrimmaging in some capacity before the 2020-21 season. Nonetheless, if this second “bubble” does happen, it could be a growth opportunity for Cavs youngsters, anyhow.
Veterans such as the expiring Matthew Dellavedova and Tristan Thompson, while they could, they would seemingly have a high possibility of not participating. I wouldn’t expect the likes of Kevin Love, or Andre Drummond, who reportedly fully intends to pick up his $28.8 million player option for 2020-21, to take part, either.
They shouldn’t anyway. Furthermore, a Cavs veteran recently hit on they “probably” wouldn’t play if there is a second bubble, per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, and that player noted how they wouldn’t think many veterans would, either.
This could be meaningful for youngsters, though.
Three Cleveland Cavaliers players come to mind that this second “bubble” would likely be a growth opportunity for, especially.
This second bubble location could be meaningful work for a Cavs’ young guard, for one.