The Whiteboard: The players who might benefit most from NBA’s hiatus

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Okay, so maybe “benefitting” isn’t the ideal word choice. Simply put, no one in the NBA is benefitting from the league’s suspended season, from a hiatus that could last until June, July or beyond, or from the current state of quarantine most of the world currently finds itself under.

With that being said, and because we’re not giving in to the idea that the season might be canceled altogether, there will undoubtedly be a few players benefitting from a few months off before the 2019-20 campaign resumes. While staying in shape under these self-isolating conditions will be difficult, the vast majority will have ample time to let their bodies heal before the restart of the NBA season — whenever that is.

That obviously applies to the league’s biggest stars who will be gearing up for longer playoff runs, as well as anybody who was dealing with nagging (or even more serious) injuries. The question is, which players will benefit the most from this additional recovery time, especially in terms of the playoff picture in each conference? We narrowed it down to five(ish) such selections.

Honorable Mentions: Jusuf Nurkic, Nikola Jokic, Karl-Anthony Towns, Brandon Clarke, Kelly Oubre Jr., Clint Capela, Dwight Powell, Rodney Hood, Zach Collins, Justise Winslow

LeBron James

We begin with the King, the most obvious beneficiary of this extensive break. Last year, LeBron James missed the playoffs in his first season with the Los Angeles Lakers, giving him April, May and June off for the first time since 2006.

The effects of that extended rest were immediately on display this season, as a 35-year-old James was putting together one of his finest seasons in recent memory, averaging 25.7 points, a league-leading 10.6 assists and 7.9 rebounds per game.

Giving a guy with his playoff pedigree this much time off, right before the playoffs would presumably start whenever the season returns, is almost unfair. LeBron’s notorious for keeping his body in excellent shape, so the quarantine should affect him less than most other players. This hiatus steals precious time away from what’s left of the King’s prime, but since his “twilight years” don’t look much different from his peak, we won’t worry about that too much for now.

Jaren Jackson Jr.

At the bottom of the Western Conference playoff field, the Memphis Grizzlies clung to that 8-seed despite injuries to Jaren Jackson Jr. and Brandon Clarke. Holding a 3.5-game lead over the Portland Trail Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings with 17 regular-season games remaining, they already had a good chance of fighting off the trio of teams nipping at their heels.

The hiatus takes the winds out of those pursuers’ sails, not only because they were slowly gaining ground and will have lost all that momentum by summertime, but because the Grizz will have Jackson — their second-leading scorer and leading shot-blocker — back from a knee injury and completely healthy by then. He was expected to be back soon when the league went into lockdown anyway, but the hiatus ensures Memphis will have him, Clarke and Justise Winslow available. And hey, if the NBA skips what’s left of the regular season or shortens it, even better.

Rudy Gobert/Donovan Mitchell

This isn’t just because, ya know, they have the coronavirus.

There’s a lot that NBA teammates should never share, but three things at the top of the list are probably toothbrushes on road trips, significant others, and germs during a pandemic. Suffice it to say the Utah Jazz are hoping the next few months serve as a buffer for their two All-Stars to bury the hatchet after Rudy Gobert became the league’s unofficial “patient zero.”

Gobert’s carelessness, and Donovan Mitchell‘s subsequent frustration over that carelessness, has been well documented to this point. From his first Instagram message to his fans to his interview on Good Morning America, it’s pretty clear he needed time and space to cool off. Even though there’s no way to know for sure which one of them contracted COVID-19 first, we definitely know who helped it spread in the Jazz locker room. Hopefully some time apart allows Utah’s two most important players to put this all behind them by the time NBA action resumes.

Ben Simmons

The Milwaukee Bucks might be unassailable atop the East, and before the NBA season was put on hold, it felt like the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics were their biggest in-conference threats. However, one cannot exclude the Philadelphia 76ers from that conversation, based solely upon the fact that, in the instances when this fully healthy outfit showed up to play, it looked capable of beating anybody.

Issues with Al Horford and road woes notwithstanding, the Sixers have the two-way skill, length, and talent to compete with anyone in a seven-game series. The key to that, however, is Ben Simmons being fully healthy after dealing with a back impingement that was due for re-evaluation one week from now. Without him, Philly has no chance of making noise in the postseason. But if he’s able to avoid surgery and get healthy by the summer, he could be a major piece that swings the Eastern Conference playoff landscape.

James Harden/P.J. Tucker

The early dividends were promising when the Houston Rockets took their small-ball experiment to its next logical, drastic step. They ripped off a 7-2 stretch once Robert Covington came aboard and gave Mike D’Antoni‘s squad a complete starting lineup 6-foot-8 and under.

However, whether it was fatigue, teams catching on, James Harden‘s 2020 cold streak (.400/.310/.862 shooting splits since January) or all of the above, the Rox dropped four of their next five games, including three losses to sub.-500 teams.

Russell Westbrook was on a tear to pick up the slack, but Harden has to get right before the playoffs, and P.J. Tucker needed a break to catch his breath after guarding centers night in and night out. He can do so, and the Rockets could really make some noise if they get hot at the right time, but it’ll take strength, stout defense and 3-point efficiency. A few months off will help on all three fronts.

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