Jason Levien

Western Notes: Morris, Howard, Harden, Wolves

The saga of trade candidate Markieff Morris in Phoenix took another turn Wednesday when Morris threw a towel in coach Jeff Hornacek‘s direction while verbally directing his anger at the coach during the fourth quarter of Phoenix’s loss to Denver, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic details. Hornacek, who’d just taken Morris out of the game, tossed the towel back at Morris as he shared his own angry words with the power forward whom the Suns have reportedly had serious discussions about trading.

“He’s mad about not playing,” Hornacek said after the game, according to Coro. “I look at the stat sheet. He’s a minus-13 in 12 minutes. So there, I took him out. … He thinks he’s better than that. Show me.”

Hornacek said a discussion will take place among team officials about possible discipline for the towel-toss, which evoked memories of Robert Horry throwing a towel in coach Danny Ainge’s face during a game in 1997 when they were with the Suns. See more from the Western Conference:

  • Coach J.B. Bickerstaff met with Dwight Howard and James Harden about their leadership roles and how they can function together, and the two stars have begun to work more closely with each other in practice, observes Jenny Dial Creech of the Houston Chronicle. Howard has on multiple occasions denied a report that he’s upset with playing a secondary role to Harden. “It’s been great,” Howard said of his practice work with Harden. “The thing we are trying to build on the most is chemistry between me and James. We have played together for two years, but the best way to build chemistry is to have those individual workouts together. That’s what we have done the last couple of weeks and we have gotten better at reading each other and the more we do it, the better we will become.”
  • Former Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien is an investor in Steve Kaplan’s bidding group for a 30% stake in the Timberwolves, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). Conflicting reports emerged in November about whether Levien was involved. The Kaplan group is reportedly progressing toward a deal that would see them eventually take over a controlling interest in the team.
  • Losing to the Suns last week prompted the Pelicans to hold a players-only meeting, Anthony Davis said Wednesday, according to John Reid of The Times Picayune. New Orleans has won both of its games since then. The team has gone 8-8 after an 1-11 start under new coach Alvin Gentry, who criticized the effort of the players after the Phoenix loss, as Reid points out.

And-Ones: Timberwolves, Draft, Hornets

Former Grizzlies front office chief Jason Levien isn’t involved in Steve Kaplan’s bid to own a partial share of the Timberwolves, as Zach Harper of CBSSports.com reports, and his name hasn’t come up in discussions with Wolves officials, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (Twitter links). Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reported earlier that Levien was partnering with Kaplan as part of his effort to get into position to eventually assume full control of the Wolves if owner Glen Taylor relinquishes that. Taylor currently has no plans to sell the team, but he’s preparing for that time to come, writes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.

“It just seems to me if I’m a responsible owner of a team, I should go out there, find someone who is really interested, bring them in and see how it works,” Taylor said. “So if I would die or be in a position where I can’t run it, they’d be in a position to take over and make a smooth transition. I just think it’s something I owe the state because I have the ownership.”

The purchase of a minority ownership, whether by Kaplan or another bidder, doesn’t necessarily guarantee they’ll become majority owners at any point, Krawczynski adds (on Twitter), though the idea of Kaplan owning more than 20% of the team has come up in the talks, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. See more from around the NBA:

  • LSU small forward Ben Simmons tops the rankings of draft prospects that Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider link) and Chris Mannix of SI.com compiled for college basketball’s opening day, though disagreement exists beyond that. Ford has Kentucky center Skal Labissiere, Croatian power forward Dragan Bender and Duke small forward Brandon Ingram as his next three, while Mannix’s list goes Ingram-Labissiere-Bender.
  • Simmons isn’t the next LeBron James, but his game is stylistically similar to the four-time MVP’s, as Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com writes in an Insider-only piece that draws comparisons between some of the top prospects and their NBA counterparts. Labissiere is like LaMarcus Aldridge and Ingram resembles Tayshaun Prince, Goodman posits.
  • Nicolas Batum and Marvin Williams, a pair of Hornets poised to become free agents next summer, are off to strong starts, as Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders observes in a story that looks at 15 soon-to-be free agents and how they fared during the season’s first two weeks.

Western Notes: Cousins, Levien, Montero

Kings coach George Karl admits talking hypothetical DeMarcus Cousins trades “behind closed doors,” but Karl tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com that he rejects the notion that he was actively trying to trade the center.  “As a coach, in meetings every year and maybe four or five times a year, you talk about what-ifs,” Karl said. “And 99% of what-ifs never happen. But isn’t it our job to talk about what-ifs? Does this make us better? Does this get us in a better place? That’s our job. There was never a discussion in that area even close to happening, in my opinion. … Never in the whole time of this experience did I ever think that I wasn’t going to coach Cuz.

Here’s what else is happening around the Western Conference:

  • Jason Levien has become an unofficial adviser to Kings owner Vivek Ranadive, Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com tweets. Levien was formerly the CEO of the Grizzlies, as well as a former Sacramento assistant GM, Howard-Cooper notes.
  • The Wolves were able to create a traded player exception worth $5MM as a result of dealing Chase Budinger to the Pacers, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders notes (Twitter link).
  • Danny Green said that LaMarcus Aldridge contacted him during the free agent process to pick his brain about the Spurs, Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express News tweets. Green also noted that the possibility of playing alongside Aldridge factored heavily into his decision to re-sign with the Spurs, McDonald adds.
  • The Trail Blazersdeal with Luis Montero is a three year arrangement with the first season partially guaranteed, according to former Nets executive Bobby Marks (Twitter links).
  • The Thunder have removed forward Steve Novak from the trading block, Chris Mannix of SI.com relays. OKC was reportedly seeking financial relief and was willing to flip Novak in exchange for a future draft pick.
  • Wilson Chandler‘s contract renegotiation and extension with the Nuggets will pay him $10.4MM in 2015/16, $11.2MM for 2016/17, $12.0MM in 2017/18, and $12.8MM during the final season, Pincus notes (Twitter links).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Hank Aaron Part Of Group Interested In Hawks

Atlanta sports legend Hank Aaron has joined the bidding for the Hawks, according to Marc Stein of ESPN. Baseball’s former home run leader is reportedly part of a group that includes Steve Kaplan, minority owner and vice chairman of the Grizzlies, and Jason Levien, former Grizzlies CEO and current managing general partner of DC United in the MLS.

Other prominent members of the group are Erick Thohir and Handy Poernomo Soetedjo, billionaire sports and media figures from Indonesia. Several other Atlanta residents are also involved, according to Stein’s sources. Kaplan and Levien refused comment to Stein.

‎After his playing career ended, Aaron became a baseball executive and built a business portfolio that includes car dealerships and restaurants. He was inspired to join the investors by his fandom for the Hawks and love for Atlanta in general, sources tell Stein. Allen Tanenbaum, Aaron’s business adviser, called the group’s rumored interest “a private process” and said Aaron would like the process to play out, Stein writes. Earlier this week, reports indicated that former NBA players Grant Hill and Junior Bridgeman were also pursuing the team as part of a consortium that includes USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo and his son Bryan, the former GM of the Suns and Raptors.

The team was valued at $425MM by Forbes in 2014, but that was prior to the $2 billion sale of the Clippers last year. The sale of the Hawks, which encompasses the entire franchise, also includes the operating rights to Phillips Arena. The franchise is likely to go for somewhere on the low end of a range between $750MM and $1 billion, Grantland’s Zach Lowe reported earlier this month. Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, the owners of the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream, former players Dominique Wilkins, Dikembe Mutombo and Chris Webber, and attorney Doug Davis are others linked to the sale. A pair of investors are also mounting long-shot bids to buy the team and move it to Seattle.

Jason Levien Seeking To Buy Hawks

Former Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien is looking to form a group of investors to purchase the Hawks, reports Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). He joins former players Dominique Wilkins, Dikembe Mutombo and Chris Webber and attorney Doug Davis among those with apparent interest in owning the franchise. Controlling owner Bruce Levenson is seeking to unload his stake following the discovery of an email with racial overtones that he sent in 2012.

Levien parted ways with the Grizzlies this spring, reportedly after tension had built for months between him and owner Robert Pera. The Grizzlies had entrusted Levien with running their basketball operations when Pera bought the team two years ago, and he’d pushed for an analytics-driven movement that led to a split with then-coach Lionel Hollins. Levien had worked in the Kings front office and was a minority shareholder of the Sixers prior to joining the Grizzlies, and he currently owns the D.C. United of Major League Soccer.

Much is still undetermined surrounding the fate of the Hawks franchise, as the team’s ownership group has yet to decide just how much of the club will go up for sale. Levenson and his partners own 50.1% of it and can force the sale of up to 60%, but the NBA seems to be pressuring all of the Hawks owners to give up their stakes, as Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote last week. A report from Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal this week indicated that the full franchise would sell for between $750MM and $1 billion.

Grizzlies Owner On Wallace, Randolph, Levien

Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace made his first significant moves since returning to control over the team’s basketball operations department in the past 24 hours, agreeing on an extension with Zach Randolph and coming away with Jordan Adams and Jarnell Stokes from the draft. Owner Robert Pera had praise for Wallace Friday morning on 92.9FM ESPN radio in Memphis, but he also shed some light on the future of Wallace’s role as the team interviews candidates for a GM-in-waiting gig. Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal provides a subscription-only transcription of Pera’s hour-long talk. We’ll share three of the owner’s most relevant comments:

On Wallace:

“What he says is the truth. He doesn’t play any games. …We might very well promote Chris Wallace to president of basketball operations. It’s wide open. Either way, Chris Wallace is staying around.”

On the agreement to sign Zach Randolph to an extension:

“We’re excited about that. Our two goals were making sure Zach was happy and focused and our other goal was to surround Zach with the right pieces to win a championship.”

On former CEO Jason Levien:

“Part of what makes me successful in my career is if I have a feeling about something or an instinct I go ahead and do it. Once I get a sense, I’m aggressive and I do it. [Levien and I] became fast friends. Over the course of time, what I learned is he’s very talented but I felt it was my responsibility to make sure the organization and the culture is headed toward a championship. I have my reasons and I stepped in and made a change. …I don’t think it was a bad thing.”

And-Ones: LeBron, Wittman, Levien, Dunleavy Sr.

LeBron James didn’t have much to say about the Cavaliers’ recent NBA Draft lottery coup or the speculation that he could decide to return to Cleveland if he opts out this summer, telling Charlie McCarthy of FOX Sports Florida“I heard about it but I don’t really have thoughts about it. … I’m in the middle of the conference finals, I’m not worried about draft lotteries, draft conversations. That’s the last thing on my mind.

Interestingly enough, LeBron added, “(The Heat aren’t) the most talented team, I don’t think, in the NBA. ... There are other talented teams. We have some very, very high IQ basketball players. I think IQ is more important than talent.”

With that aside, here’s more of this evening’s miscellaneous news and notes:

  • The Wizards haven’t been in a rush to make a decision on Randy Wittman‘s future, and a source tells Michael Lee of the Washington Post that there is no current timetable to get something done. Wittman, who led the team to its first playoff series win since 2004/05, was given strong endorsements from John Wall, Bradley Beal, Andre Miller, and several other team veterans after the season had ended.
  • Although former Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien’s recent resignation sent shockwaves around the league, sources tell Sean Deveney of the Sporting News  that tension between Levien and team owner Robert Pera had actually been building for months.
  • On ESPN Radio’s “The Herd with Colin Cowherd,” Mike Dunleavy Sr. said that he hopes he has a shot at the Knicks head coaching job, adding that he’s very familiar with the triangle offense: “I played in the triangle system down in Houston, it was kind of left over from when Tex Winter coached there. All my teams, I’ve run it as a transition set. … Maybe I’m the outside guy from the other guys that [Phil Jackson will] talk to, former players who played in the system and other guys who coached under him in the system. But at least I do know the system. I have run it” (H/T to Al Iannazzone of Newsday). 
  • Timberwolves star Kevin Love may be the NBA’s most valuable player available for trade since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar requested out of Milwaukee in 1974, explains Kevin Pelton of ESPN (Insiders only).

Latest On Grizzlies Turmoil

Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien and assistant GM Stu Lash parted ways with Memphis earlier today, and the potential exists for the shakeup to extend even further. Here’s the latest:

  • Chris Mannix of SI.com tweets that the turmoil in Memphis is surprising everyone around the league. Levien represented the Grizzlies in GM meetings as recently as a week ago.
  • Grizzlies owner Robert Pera has been operating in an abnormally hands-on manner for an owner of late, a person with knowledge of the situation tells Sam Amick of USA Today. Pera conducted his own end-of-season player interviews independent of the Memphis front office and coaching staff, per Amick.
  • Amick adds that the ouster of Levien and Lash were tied to the increased influence of Grizzlies lead attorney David Mincberg, who has been granted involvement in duties normally reserved for front office personnel.
  • Levien and Pera have been at odds for over a year, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
  • Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com insinuated in a tweet that former Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins could be a candidate to return to the Memphis bench just a season removed from being fired.

Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien Steps Down

2:29pm: The Grizzlies announced via press release that “following discussions with management, the decision was made for” Levien and Lash to “depart the organization.”  GM Chris Wallace, who saw his authority neutralized under Levien’s regime, will “assume interim responsibility” for the team’s basketball operations.

Our franchise has made tremendous strides over the last few seasons and we thank Jason for his hard work and dedication and wish him nothing but success in his future endeavors,” said Grizzlies owner Robert Pera. “Rest assured that we remain as committed as ever to bringing a championship to this great city and we are confident that when the new season begins our fans will be excited about both our roster and the direction of our organization.”

1:40pm: Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien is poised to resign after assistant GM Stu Lash was dismissed, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter).  Meanwhile, the futures of coach Dave Joerger and executive vice president John Hollinger are uncertain after a clash between owner Robert Pera and current management (link).

Levien, a former agent and 76ers minority owner, was named CEO in November 2012.  Levien hired Lash and Hollinger, a former Nets beat writer and ESPN scribe, to high-ranking front office roles shortly after taking the reigns in Memphis.

Tensions are high in Memphis after the Grizzlies won 50 games and pushed the Thunder to a seven-game series but ultimately lost.  There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Grizzlies’ roster this summer as well, as Zach Randolph has a player option worth $16.9MM.  For the star forward, that number would signify a pay cut from the $18.2MM he earned last season.

The Grizzlies figure to have lots of flexibility even if Randolph exercises his option, as Chuck Myron wrote earlier this month.  What isn’t clear is who will be allocating those dollars.

Pera, Levien On Gay, Stats, Hollins, Randolph, Tax

Grizzlies owner Robert Pera and CEO Jason Levien today held their first press conference with local media since November, and after a pair of trades within the last month, there was plenty to catch up on. Marlon W. Morgan of the Memphis Commercial Appeal rounded up comments from the presser, and fellow Commercial Appeal scribe Kyle Veazey followed up with an exclusive interview with the two men in charge of the team. Both pieces are worth a read, but we'll round up the highlights of what Pera and Levien had to say from both stories here:

Pera on Rudy Gay:

"I was actually a big Rudy Gay fan. He was 6'9", over a 7-foot wing span with a 40-inch vertical, really smooth and athletic and on the highlights all the time. He was awesome. But like I said, going back to basketball and how it’s a team sport and all the pieces fit together, the offense we run is really traditional. It’s inside-outside, a grinding type of offense. Rudy’s talent, his potential really couldn’t be maximized in our system. I think it was good for him and I think it was good for the team. I think the pieces we got back were much stronger. I wouldn’t say the players we got back were necessarily better than Rudy. Rudy’s a special talent. But for our team and for our fit, I think the personnel and the team we have constructed now is probably the best Grizzlies team when you’re looking at the total team and chemistry and how it fits our style of play.”

Pera on the team's reliance on advanced metrics:

"Well, we like the movie "Moneyball." They use a lot of advanced statistics for the Oakland A's teams. But the difference between baseball and basketball, is (in) baseball, you have individual players, they each have an on-base percentage and a batting average, defensive capabilities. All these parts added together equals the strength of the team, right? But in basketball it's completely different. A player can be immensely valuable in one system and maybe not as valuable in another system. I think it's the combination of pieces in basketball. Analytics are a great tool but you also have to look at the individual player analytics in the context of the system you're running."

Pera on whether coach Lionel Hollins, in the last year of his deal, will receive a new contract:

“I think all that for now is confidential. The final decision will come down to Jason and I’ll approve whichever direction he wants to go."

Levien on Hollins:

"I don’t think it behooves us to speak publicly about any kind of contract situation. We had a great meeting with Lionel and I’ve certainly enjoyed the interaction he and I have had over the past several months. He has a proven track record that’s very impressive as a coach. We see him as a big asset to the team."

Levien on Zach Randolph:

"There was never a serious discussion or dialogue around trading Zach Randolph. I can say that categorically. We’re really proud of him for going back to the All-Star Game."

Levien on the team's luxury tax strategy:

"We don't have a hard and fast rule about being in the tax or not being in the tax, being up to the line or not. We want to field the most competitive team. Part of it is — yeah, you don't want to throw money away — but part of it is, when you're in the tax, it restricts in the kind of trades you can make, the kind of free agents you can sign, the kinds of decisions you can make to get better. That's what the rules do now. It's not just about the money. So, we've talked about not having a hard and fast line, or where we're going to be, but thinking through what's our end game? Our end game is to be consistently very competitive and try to win a championship. I think some years you're going to see us in the tax, some years you're going to see us well below it, some years you're going to see us just up against it. The money is one of the factors, but the biggest factor is how do we field the best team going forward?"