The team announced that Davis, who didn’t practice Saturday, would sit Sunday after banging knees with Blazers guard C.J. McCollum in Friday’s game, but Gentry — with his team 25-43 and long out of the playoff hunt — is thinking in the long-term, and, thus, wouldn’t rule out shutting down Davis.
MORE: 5 reasons the Spurs beat the Warriors | NBA reviewing Dwight Howard’s Stickum use
“I wouldn’t say no to that. I wouldn’t say no to that,” Gentry told reporters (via ESPN.com). “I think we’ve gotta be smart collectively, along with him. And like I said, I think we’ll know a lot more after they talk to the doctors (Saturday). And then I think there can be some decisions made. I think that’s something that he would definitely have to consider.”
Davis also is hampered by a shoulder injury, Gentry said.
Still, as CBS Sports noted, this is no normal situation with 14 games to play because Davis stands to earn a “Rose Rule” bonus — an estimated $24 million on the maximum extension he signed last offseason — if he makes one of the three All-NBA teams.
Given that he plays for a bad team, it’s no sure thing he’ll make All-NBA, but if his season is over, then it makes it even tougher, despite his averaging a double-double (24.3 points, 10.3 rebounds) this season.
