Jared Jeffries

Nuggets To Make Several Scouting Hires

Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth is adding a number of professional and college scouts, Mike Singer of the Denver Post reports.

Jared Jeffries, who previously spent time in the Nuggets’ front office as director of player personnel, is returning to the organization as a college scout.

Drew Nicholas, who previously worked for the Sixers and Celtics, will be the director of scouting and oversee the department. Former Lakers assistant Mike Penberthy will be hired as a pro scout and shooting coach. Jarrett Stephens will depart the college coaching ranks to become a pro scout along with former Hornets assistant Chad Iske.

Todd Checovich, the former GM of the NBA G League’s Iowa Wolves, will be hired as a college scout and capologist.

The Timberwolves hired away Nuggets director of pro personnel Joe Connelly last week to head their scouting department.

Odds & Ends: Union, Turner, DiLeo, Nowitzki

The NBPA has retained Reilly Partners Inc. to help conduct a search for a new executive director to replace Billy Hunter, the union announced today (link via The Associated Press). Steve Mills was reportedly the leading candidate for the position before he accepted the Knicks' GM job this week. According to Brain Mahoney of the Associated Press (via Twitter), the union may want to build a list of about 10 candidates before making a decision. That's far from the only position up for grabs around the league as training camps open. Here's the latest:

  • Evan Turner told reporters at Sixers media day today that he "was ready" to be traded at one point and was just hoping it would be to someplace warm, tweets Tom Moore of Calkins Media (Twitter link). It appears as though Turner was bracing for the possibility, rather than hoping for it.
  • Former Sixers GM Tony DiLeo is set to become a scout for the Wizards, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
  • Dallas GM Gersson Rosas indicated today that Dirk Nowitzki could play another four or five years in a Mavericks uniform, as Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets. "The vision for us is we want to maximize Dirk's career here,'' Rosas said.
  • Rosas, who has experience as the GM of the Rockets D-League affiliate, also wants to make the D-League a key component of his strategy with the Mavs, Price notes.
  • Jared Jeffries tells Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld that multiple NBA teams offered him the chance to continue his playing career, but the former lottery pick decided to take a scouting job with the Nuggets that puts him "on the fast track" to becoming a GM. 
  • Three NBA clubs have shown interest in guard Tre Kelley, agent Giovanni Funiciello tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Kelley is without official NBA experience, but he went to camp with the Thunder in 2009 and the Grizzlies in 2010.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

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Jared Jeffries To Join Nuggets’ Front Office

After 11 seasons in the NBA, Jared Jeffries is transitioning from his playing career into an executive role, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who reports that Jeffries has accepted a front office job with the Nuggets. The 31-year-old will begin in a scouting role, a source tells Wojnarowski.

Last summer, Jeffries was part of the sign-and-trade deal that sent Raymond Felton from the Blazers to the Knicks. While sign-and-trade rules dictated that he had to sign for at least three years, only the first year of his contract was guaranteed, so Portland released him at season's end. Since then, we haven't heard any rumors connecting him to NBA teams, so it makes some sense that he would pursue an off-court position, even at age 31.

As Wojnarowski notes, Jeffries has a strong history with new Nuggets GM Tim Connelly. Jeffries played for the Wizards for the first four seasons of his career, from 2002 to 2006, when Connelly was in Washington's front office.

While the Yahoo! report doesn't technically mention retirement, it appears unlikely that the versatile veteran will return to the court for an NBA team. Assuming Jeffries has played his last game, he'll finish with averages of 4.8 PPG and 4.1 RPG in 629 career contests for the Wizards, Knicks, Rockets, and Blazers. According to Basketball-Reference, he earned a little over $40MM over the course of his NBA career.

Olshey On Jeffries, Aldridge, Offseason, Maynor

Blazers GM Neil Olshey addressed the media to wrap up the 2012/13 season, and we've got the highlights below, courtesy of Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge..

What went into the decision behind waiving Jared Jeffries?

"Jared was well aware that we were always going to have to waive him. He was part of a sign-and-trade where we had to do three years. His second year would have been guaranteed within five days after the end of the season. We felt it was appropriate to handle while he was here. He was a player that we we were going to have to renounce anyway to create the maximum amount of cap room. As we told Jared, we'll look into it again at the end of the summer. If we have a need and he doesn't have a job, it's something that we can discuss. Right now, where this organization is going, we need every ounce of cap room we can get to create the best roster possible."

What improvements do you need to make this summer?

"It's obvious. We had a tough time protecting the rim, we had a tough time giving up points in the paint. That's not an indictment of J.J. Hickson, we asked a 6-foot-9 power forward to play center every night in a league against the Marc Gasols, Roy Hibberts, Dwight Howards, etc. Even last night against Andrew Bogut. J.J. performed admirably but that's a hole we need to shore up. We've got to get our interior defense better. That's my job, whether it's by draft, trade or free agency, to make sure that's not a hole that Terry walks into next training camp having to address."

Does players recruiting other players actually work or is money the overriding factor in free agency decisions?

"Max money to max players is always a good idea. [Recruiting] is big, guys want to play with guys who are about the same stuff and who are trying to win. The best voice for your organization is your players. How they're treated, the resources they have, how they're coached, how they prepare for games, how aggressive the front office is, how invested the owner is.

All of those things, LaMarcus Aldridge has a larger sample size of anyone in the organization, he's been here the longest, and I think he knows that Paul is going to drive anyone who works for him to build this as quickly as possible. If LaMarcus can embrace and endorse what we're doing, there's more credibility there sometimes than a general manager who is recruiting or a coach or his agent who is negotiating the deal on a player to player level. I think that the bigger, stronger advocates of guys like Damian, LaMarcus and Nic can be for us, the easier free agent recruitment will be for us."

Will you tender a qualifying offer to Eric Maynor?

"It's more strategic than complex. Eric has a very significant cap hold. We really like Eric. We made the moves because we want him to be a part of our future but there are realities to how strategically we can maximize the amount of room we have, the mini-mid level that we have and the draft pick. Who knows? Our roster may look far different come July 1 which can affect what we do as well. Eric, Andy Miller, everybody knows we are going to maximize every tool that we have knowing that we are taking into consideration that we want Eric back with us."

Trail Blazers Waive Jared Jeffries

The Trail Blazers have officially released Jared Jeffries, the team announced today (Twitter link). While the timing of the move may seem unusual, considering the Blazers' season is over, Jeffries' contract for next season would have become guaranteed had the team not cut him within the next five days.

Jeffries, 31, was acquired by the Blazers last July as part of the sign-and-trade deal that sent Raymond Felton to the Knicks. Jeffries also had to be signed-and-traded as part of the transaction, which meant he had to be signed to at least a three-year contract, although the Blazers only had to guarantee the first year.

Earlier this week, Jeffries told Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com that he didn't expect to be retained by Portland, and would likely seek another team that would have more playing time for him. With the Blazers this season, Jeffries appeared in less than half the team's games and set career-lows in many statistical categories, including PPG (1.2) and MPG (9.2).

Odds & Ends: Jeffries, Coaches, Kahn, Raptors

Blazers owner Paul Allen spoke to reporters this evening about the offseason for his team, which begins tomorrow, and it seems one decision will have to be made fairly quickly. Jared Jeffries is under contract for the next two seasons, but neither is guaranteed. Next season would become guaranteed if he's not waived by the fifth day following Portland's final game this season, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports. Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com believes it's likely that Jeffries won't be back, judging by the 31-year-old's lack of playing time this season, so it appears the Blazers could be cutting him loose soon. Jeffries wants to remain in the NBA next season, however, and tells Haynes that he'll be looking for more playing time wherever he winds up.

As we wait to learn the fate of Jeffries and others as the offseason begins for nearly half the league, there's plenty more NBA news:

  • Sam Amick of USA Today examines which coaches are most likely to be out of work soon, placing Mike Dunlap among those in the greatest danger of losing their jobs, along with Keith Smart, Byron Scott and Lawrence Frank. He also suggests that if Rick Adelman returns to the Wolves, GM David Kahn will as well, but if the coach isn't back, Kahn may be on the outs, too.
  • Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo insists to Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun that he never tried to fire coach Dwane Casey this season, as Simmons had previously reported.
  • Wizards owner Ted Leonsis, speaking with the team's broadcasters during tonight's game, said retaining unrestricted free agent Martell Webster will be key, confirming a pair of recent reportsCSNWashington.com has the video, in which Leonsis also expresses a desire to keep John Wall long-term.
  • Executives around the league who spoke to Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game are widely split on how much O.J. Mayo could command if he turns down his $4.2MM option for next season. Some figure he can't expect much of a raise, and others believe he could easily make $10MM-$12MM (Sulia link).
  • Point guard Josiah Turner, who played professionally in Canada this year after leaving the University of Arizona, will enter the draft, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Neither DraftExpress nor ESPN.com rate Turner as a top 100 prospect.

Northwest Links: Rubio, Iguodala, Burks, Jeffries

Here are the latest updates from around the Northwest Division:

Blazers Notes: Barton, Jeffries, Center, Cuts

The latest updates out of Portland from Trail Blazers training camp on Friday evening:

  • Rookie guard Will Barton tells CSNNW.com's Chris Haynes that he will continue to sit out team practices until his sore hamstring is completely healed.
  • Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge reports that Jared Jeffries underwent the cutting-edge orthokine treatment popularized by Kobe Bryant and baseball star Alex Rodriguez.
  • Head coach Terry Stotts tells The Oregonian's Joe Freeman that he will not name a starting center in the immediate future, preferring to create competition in training camp between Meyers Leonard, J.J. Hickson, and Joel Freeland.
  • Freeman also reports that Stotts will not begin making cuts to the training-camp roster for another couple of weeks.

Knicks Acquire Raymond Felton From Blazers

THURSDAY, 1:42pm: Mark Deeks of ShamSports clarifies that Felton's deal with the Knicks is for four years and about $14.86MM, with a fourth-year player option.

MONDAY, 4:13pm: The trade is official, according to a Blazers press release. The Knicks receive Felton and Thomas, while the Blazers get Jeffries, Gadzuric, Papanikolaou, Printezis, cash, and a 2016 second-round pick. As ESPN.com's John Hollinger points out (via Twitter), the Knicks can't be sending more than $1MM to Portland, since they already sent $2MM to Houston in the Marcus Camby deal.

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Jeremy Lin Rumors: Sunday

The return of Jeremy Lin to the Knicks seemed to be more of a sure thing than Michael Jordan smoking a cigar on the golf course merely 24 hours ago. With the Knicks set to add Raymond Felton to their backcourt through a sign-and-trade with Portland, Lin's future in New York remains unclear. The Knicks have until 11:59pm (EST) on Tuesday to make up their mind and will reportedly take the entire time allotted before announcing a decision. We'll keep track of all the latest rumors and news surrounding the offseason version of Linsanity with the latest news on top. 

  • The New York Times' Howard Beck writes that a person with knowledge of the Knicks' situation said while it is "more likely than not" that they don't match the Rockets' offer, it is also "not definitive."
  • Carmelo Anthony is the latest to chime in on the offseason Linsanity.  Anthony called the Rockets-Lin offer sheet "ridiculous" during an interview with reporters today, according to Yahoo's Marc Spears.  Anthony also insisted that should the Knicks not match, it is not his doing.  "It's up to ownership to match, not me," he said. "I'm tired of people trying to blame me for the fact that the Knicks might not match. I want everybody to get paid if they have the opportunity."
  • Ian O'Connor from ESPN New York gives his take on why the Knicks must match the Rockets' offer for Lin, saying that his stint of success last year, while brief, showed too much promise for the Knicks to not retain him.

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