Mike Bibby

And-Ones: Buford, Wiseman, Okafor, Bibby

Wisconsin Herd coach Chase Buford has been suspended two games without pay for a direct and extended public attack on the integrity and credibility of the game officials, according to a league press release. Among other comments, Buford called one of the officials a “clown” after his team, the Bucks’ G League affiliate, got outscored 48-20 in the fourth quarter and lost 126-117 to the Grand Rapids Drive on Sunday. Buford subsequently apologized for his tirade.

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • Projected lottery pick James Wiseman felt he was treated unfairly by the NCAA before he decided to leave Memphis during his freshman season, as he told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. He left the Tigers during a 12-game suspension for rules violations. His family accepted $11,500 in moving expenses in 2017 from Penny Hardaway, who became the team’s coach a year later. “I was really in the middle of a hurricane,” Wiseman said. “That’s like the worst place you could possibly be.” Wiseman is currently rated No. 3 on ESPN’s Best Available list.
  • Pelicans center Jahlil Okafor has agreed to play for Nigeria in this year’s Tokyo Olympics, Marc Spears of The Undefeated tweets. The team will be coached by Warriors assistant Mike BrownOkafor’s grandfather Chicko was born in Nigeria.
  • Mike Bibby will coach the Aliens in the BIG3 this season, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets. The former Kings guard was the Ghost Ballers’ team captain last season.

And-Ones: Jersey Ads, Bibby, C. Bell, Delfino

The NBA’s jersey patch experiment has been a success for the league, generating more than $150MM in new revenue, per a report from Terry Lefton and John Lombardo of SportsBusiness Journal (hat tip to RealGM). According to Lefton and Lombardo, uniform sponsorship deals to date have ranged in value from about $5-20MM per year, but executives expect that number to increase in value when it’s time to renew agreements.

“Like most teams, we’re heading towards renewal thinking these are worth substantially more, because the impression numbers have been so good,” Bucks president Peter Feigin said.

While the NBA will look to extend the program, there’s no demand to increase the size of the patches beyond their current dimensions (2.5-by-2.5 inches), league and team officials tell Lefton and Lombardo.

Currently, 29 of the league’s 30 teams have sponsored patches on their jerseys, with the Thunder representing the lone holdout so far. The full list of sponsors by team can be found right here.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • NBA coaching hopeful – and longtime guard – Mike Bibby is under investigation after being accused of sexual abuse and harassment by a teacher at Shadow Mountain High School, according to Lily Altavena of The Arizona Republic. Bibby recently coached the school’s basketball team to its fourth consecutive state title, but has been removed from his position following these allegations, Altavena writes in a separate story.
  • The BIG3 has added another former NBA starter to its player pool, announcing this week (via Twitter) that Charlie Bell will participate in the 3-on-3 league this season. A one-time Michigan State standout, Bell appeared in 376 total regular season NBA games between 2001-11, primarily as a member of the Bucks.
  • Another former NBA player, Carlos Delfino, has a new team in Italy, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, who passes along word that the veteran forward has officially signed with Fortitudo Bologna. Delfino had a contentious exit from his former team, Fiat Torino, earlier in the season.
  • In an entertaining Insider-only article for ESPN.com, Chris Herring, Bobby Marks, and Kevin Pelton ranked the NBA’s top 25 players under the age of 25. Giannis Antetokounmpo tops the list, followed by Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, Karl-Anthony Towns, Ben Simmons, and Luka Doncic.

And-Ones: Super-Max, Team USA, Evans, Bibby

As ESPN’s Zach Lowe writes in his latest column, the “super-max” extension, also known as the Designated Veteran Extension, was included in the NBA’s latest Collective Bargaining Agreement in part as a reaction to Kevin Durant signing with the Warriors in 2016. The thinking was that giving a team the opportunity to give its star player a larger contract (35% of the cap instead of 30%) earlier in his career would help clubs keep their very best players.

However, as Lowe writes, while offering the super-max to a top-five player is a no-brainer, it becomes a dicier proposition for a top-10, top-15, or top-20 player.

The Bulls decided to trade Jimmy Butler rather than having to decide on a super-max offer, and according to Lowe, some members of the Pacers‘ front office had “qualms” about making such an offer to Paul George. John Wall and Russell Westbrook both received super-max extensions, but those deals will run through 2023 and could very well become albatrosses before they expire.

While there’s no indication that the league is considering any changes to the Designated Veteran Extension at this point, Lowe offers up some potential tweaks to the rule, along with thoughts from NBA executives. One idea, for example, would see super-max contracts become exempt from luxury-tax penalties — that proposal wouldn’t do much besides save owners money though, and would complicate potential trades. For more of Lowe’s ideas, be sure to check out his piece in full.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

And-Ones: Bibby, Kawhi, Offseason, Lawson

Longtime NBA point guard Mike Bibby, who retired as a player after appearing in more than 1,000 regular season games with six total teams, has spent the last few years as the head coach at Shadow Mountain High School in Arizona. Now, as he tells Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype, Bibby has his sets sight on a higher level of competition.

“I want to go to the college ranks or NBA ranks soon,” Bibby said. “I’d be dealing with guys who are a bit older, but I know what it takes. I feel I’m ready for that. My biggest goal right now is to move up to the next level and hopefully that happens this summer.

“I think I can turn a (college) program around by bringing in talented kids and getting my guys to play hard. I think Penny (Hardaway) getting hired in Memphis will open the door for a lot of high school coaches who want to go to that next level. I definitely want to go that route, so hopefully his hiring does create some opportunities for someone like me.”

Bibby, of course, is unlikely to receive head coaching consideration at the NBA level this offseason, but he could make an interesting hire as an assistant. Given his reference to Hardaway and Memphis though, it sounds like Bibby may be prioritizing finding a head coaching job at the college level.

As we wait to see if the former second overall pick – and current BIG3 player – has any luck finding a new coaching job, let’s round up a few more odds and ends from across the NBA…

  • With a big offseason ahead for Kawhi Leonard and the Spurs, Frank Isola of The New York Daily News writes that the Knicks should have interest in the star forward if he becomes available via trade, even though San Antonio would likely ask for Kristaps Porzingis. Isola mentions a few other clubs he thinks could be potential trade partners for the Spurs, including the Nets (due to Sean Marks‘ relationship with Leonard’s uncle). Using that note as a jumping-off point, NetsDaily explores whether Brooklyn would – or should – be interested in Leonard.
  • In his latest piece for Basketball Insiders, Steve Kyler previews some of the top stories to watch during what should be an eventful 2018 offseason. Leonard, LeBron James, Paul George, and Hassan Whiteside are among the players to keep an eye on this summer, as Kyler outlines.
  • Ty Lawson, who signed with the Wizards on the last day of the NBA regular season right after the end of his playoff run in China, is the most extreme example of a late-season addition helping a club in the first round of the postseason, but he’s not the only example. Howard Fendrich of The Associated Press identifies several second-half signings that are paying dividends for playoff teams.

And-Ones: Cavs, Bogut, Barnes, Holiday

The Cavs won’t make a decision on Larry Sanders until after the trade deadline, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com passes along (ESPN Now link). Cleveland is also keeping an eye on the Andrew Bogut situation. The Cavs would like to bring the center aboard and they’re expected to be in the mix for him.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Several teams have expressed interest in Matt Barnes, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com tweets. Sources tell Shelburne that he’s waiting until after the trade deadline to make a decision.
  • Jarrett Jack will audition for the Pelicans, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. New Orleans is pursuing backcourt help after trading away several players in the DeMarcus Cousins deal.
  • Point guard and pending free agent Jrue Holiday said the Pelicans “see me as a part of [the future],” the team tweets. The organization is calling Holiday, DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis their version of a Big Three.
  • Mike Bibby and Ricky Davis will be the co-captains of the Ghost Ballers, the fourth official team in the new 3-on-3 league, according to a press release on BIG3.com.
  • Thunder center Enes Kanter returned to practice on Wednesday for the first time since undergoing arm surgery, Royce Young of ESPN.com reports. It’s uncertain whether Kanter, who suffered a broken arm punching a chair on the bench on January 26th, will return to action on Friday against the Lakers.
  • Former Rockets center Yao Ming, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last year, has been appointed as president of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to an ESPN.com report. He gave up ownership of the league’s Shanghai Sharks in order to take over his new role.

Chris Crouse contributed to this post

Pacific Notes: Bibby, World Peace, Russell, Suns

Kings coaching candidate Henry Bibby believes he can reach DeMarcus Cousins, comparing the star center’s volatile temperament to that of Zach Randolph, another once-mercurial big man who shed his label as a malcontent while playing under a Grizzlies coaching staff that included Bibby, as Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee details. Bibby, who is scheduled to interview for the job Monday, said he’d hire son Mike Bibby for his staff, telling Jones that they’d long ago repaired what had been a troubled relationship. Henry Bibby added that he’d run an offense reminiscent of the one his son directed as the point guard for the Kings in the early 2000s. “What I’m trying to get back is what Vlade [Divac] used to have up there, the old Sacramento Kings,” Bibby told Jones. “I want to get that back again, that excitement. They played as a team. They ran that corner offense, and that’s what I’d run. I’d put DeMarcus where Vlade was [on offense], and you play basketball with [Rajon] Rondo, [Ben] McLemore and guys like that.”

See more from the Pacific Division:
  • The video incident involving D’Angelo Russell and Nick Young reportedly drove a wedge between Russell and his teammates, but Metta World Peace said on ESPN’s “The Jump” this week that team chemistry wasn’t as fractured as reports made it seem. Andrew Joseph of For The Win has the transcription. “It wasn’t like that,” World Peace said. “It wasn’t that bad. … I can’t say exactly like what it was. … We gave [Russell] a little talk, because nowadays, it’s like the young players that’s coming into sports, they’re so immature these days. They make a lot of mistakes. So, you have to always be there to pick them up.”
  • The Suns have decided not to re-sign assistant coaches Bob Hill and Corey Gaines, as well as player development assistant Irving Roland, reports Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. It’s somewhat surprising to see the team decline to keep Hill, the former Knicks, Spurs, Pacers and SuperSonics head coach who joined the staff in February at the behest of Earl Watson. Phoenix removed Watson’s interim tag last month, formally making him the head coach.
  • Former Indiana University point guard Yogi Ferrell have predraft workouts for the Clippers and Lakers, among other teams, a source tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link).
  • I examined the offseason ahead for the Clippers earlier today.

Odds & Ends: Bibby, Graham, Kuester

According to Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report, Mike Bibby – who is reportedly well-liked by Spurs coach Gregg Popovich - was invited to San Antonio's training camp and had a good chance of making the team. However, the veteran guard now won't be able to attend because of a foot/heel injury (Twitter link). It's been a bit of a Jazz fest as far as news goes this evening, but here are some other noteworthy links we've gathered up from around the Association:

  • Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.com ranks the league's top ten frontcourts (Insiders only). 
  • Stephen Graham could possibly have an invitation to participate in Bucks camp this fall (Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times via Twitter). There hasn't been any further mention of an official invitation, but we'll look to relay any updates as they surface. 
  • 76ers rookie head coach Brett Brown doesn't feel inclined to bring along a former head coach as an assistant, notes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer“I don’t feel with this team that it’s mandatory that I have to surround myself with perspective or wisdom or, you know, an Owl that’s been there, done that…I feel that this year’s team is about development. And I feel like it’s about … teaching, relationships and energy more than NBA wisdom."
  • Former Pistons head coach and Lakers assistant John Kuester, however, has been rumored to be a potential candidate for Brown's coaching staff in Philadelphia.
  • The Score's Mark Deeks discusses Paul George's max contract extension as well as a potential one for Kings center DeMarcus Cousins. While Deeks understands the logic behind securing George for the long term, he feels that offering the same type of deal to Cousins would be an enormous gamble. 

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Mike Bibby, Mickael Pietrus Working Out For Spurs

Veteran NBA point guard Mike Bibby is participating in a Spurs mini-camp this week, auditioning for a chance at a contract or camp invite, according to Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com. Zwerling adds that Mickael Pietrus will also be among the players working out for the Spurs (Twitter links).

It seems the Spurs have yet to start extending camp invites to roster hopefuls. As our page of roster counts shows, the club currently has 14 players under contract, all on guaranteed deals. Teams can carry up to 20 players up until opening night, so I'd expect San Antonio to add a few more players before camp opens.

Whether Bibby or Pietrus will earn one of those spots on the preseason roster remains to be seen. Bibby, 35, didn't appear in an NBA game last season, having last played for the Knicks in 2011/12. Pietrus signed a minimum-salary contract with the Raptors last season, but injury woes and a lack of production limited him to 19 games.

According to Zwerling, Pietrus may have more workouts lined up, but the Spurs appear to be Bibby's only potential suitor at this point.

Odds & Ends: Olympics, Bibby, Cooley, Saunders

The movement to prevent a 23-and-under age restriction for Olympic basketball may have taken a hit. The International Olympic Committee has rejected a proposal to increase the number of teams from 12 to 16 and shorten the length of the competition, USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt reports. Many NBA and pro basketball executives around the world believe the Olympics place too much of a strain on their stars, and some of them thought the proposal would have been an acceptable compromise. While we wait to see if the 2016 games are the last to feature rosters reminiscent of the Dream Team, here's the latest from around the NBA:

  • Mike Bibby didn't play in the NBA this past season, but the 35-year-old is still trying to get back in the league, as he tells Alex Kramers of Kings.com. Whenever Bibby decides to stop playing, he says he'd like to get into coaching.
  • Undrafted center Jack Cooley reportedly drew training camp invitations from more than 10 NBA teams after a strong showing in summer league, but he's decided to sign with Trabzonspor of Turkey, a source tells Sportando's Emiliano Carchia. It's a "substantial" deal, according to Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (Twitter link).
  • Using the specter of a D-League assignment as a way to threaten first-round pick Shabazz Muhammad into proper behavior demonstrates how Wolves executive Flip Saunders holds an unsophisticated view of the D-League, opines Matt Moore of CBSSports.com.
  • Jeff Caplan of NBA.com examines how the Lakers can be better in 2013/14 than they were last season, even after losing Dwight Howard

Suns Not Pursuing Free Agents

Despite a recent report suggesting that a "major shakeup" could be on the way in Phoenix, the Suns don't currently have any free agents on their radar, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). That includes Mike Bibby, who worked out for the Grizzlies today, and reportedly has workouts lined up with a handful of other clubs.

The Suns have 15 players on their roster, so if they were considering adding a free agent, someone would need to be released to make room. In that case, Diante Garrett or Luke Zeller could be candidates to be cut, since they're on non-guaranteed contracts. However, it seems the team is uninterested in the free agent market, and has no plans to make any coaching changes.

If a "shakeup" is indeed on the way, it could come in the form of a trade, since many players signed this past offseason, including Michael Beasley, become trade-eligible as of this weekend. For now though, it seems as if the Suns are moving forward with the current roster and hoping for a turnaround on the court.