Hawks Notes: NAW, Johnson, Playoff Loss, Workouts
Nickeil Alexander-Walker was named the league’s Most Improved Player. Following the Hawks‘ loss to the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs, the 27-year-old expressed a desire to improve his game even further.
“I think for me, it allowed me to reshape my focus, to say, ‘You know what, I have a chance at making something special of this situation. I get to respond next year, try to go to the playoffs,’” Alexander-Walker he told Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “And, after losing the way we did, how I approach the game and having a whole season now under my belt and growing into it, and ‘OK, I can be so much better. This is how I improve.’ And then hopefully next year is different.”
Alexander-Walker sees the team continuing to improve, an exciting proposition for a player who signed a four-year contract prior to the season.
“It’s exciting and it’s promising,” he said. “And it shows that there is something there. Anytime you can have success to any degree when you work really hard, it’s reassuring to the process that you’re on. And it gives you that trial and error to say, ‘OK, we are doing the right thing. This is the right thing. Now, where did we go wrong along the way?’ Then you kind of, like, just reshape it and keep going and keep growing.”
Here’s more on the Hawks:
- The Knicks held Jalen Johnson to 19.5 points per game on 43.5 overall shooting and 29 percent from long range in the first round. Johnson vows to be better the next time he gets into a postseason series. “If I’m being honest, it was just bad,” Johnson said, per Williams. “It was a terrible feeling. Unacceptable. Like I said, there’s plenty of room for growth, and we’re going to continue to grow from this. We’re going to learn a lot from this series, and just making sure the non-negotiables never happen again.”
- Getting blown out by 51 points in the decisive Game 6 will serve as a motivator for the entire team, according to Johnson. “Just a lot of fuel going into the next season, a lot of fuel going into the offseason for everybody, and we’re going to make sure this never happens again, we never get this type of feeling again, just a sick feeling to our stomach,” he said.
- Flory Bidunga (Kansas), Ugonna Onyenso (Virginia), Peter Suder (Miami OH) and Milos Uzan (Houston) are some of the prospects the Hawks are bringing in for pre-draft workouts, Williams tweets. Those players are potential second-rounders — Bidunga is ranked highest at No. 46 overall by ESPN. Atlanta possesses two first-round picks via trades, including a lottery selection, and the No. 57 overall pick late in the second round.
Knicks Notes: Offensive Explosion, Bridges, Anunoby, Game 2, Jones
The Knicks are firing on all cylinders. New York made 53 of its 84 shots en route to Monday’s 137-98 blowout win over the Sixers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
“It’s a lot of fun when you have concepts on either end of the floor and guys are trying to embrace those concepts at the highest level,” head coach Mike Brown said, per James Edwards III of The Athletic. “When they do, it doesn’t really matter what you call or (who) initiates the action because guys are trying to play the right way. It can be any team out on the floor. If they’re trying to embrace what you’re throwing out there, sacrificing, all of that other stuff, it can be a lot of fun to watch.”
As Edwards notes, every New York starter besides Josh Hart, who had eight points and six assists, scored 17 points or more and only Jalen Brunson took more than 11 shots.
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- Mikal Bridges had 11 points or fewer in each of the first five games of the first-round series against Atlanta before erupting for 24 points in the Knicks’ 51-point blowout in Game 6. Apparently, it was no fluke. He had 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting along with five assists and a plus-19 rating in 27 minutes during Game 1 against Philadelphia. He also kept Sixers play-maker Tyrese Maxey under control. “It’s very important. He’s a huge factor for us,” Brunson told Zach Braziller of the New York Post. “He’s been playing great.”
- In the last three games, OG Anunoby is 23-for-30 from the field and 8-for-11 from distance, Braziller notes. “I think [it’s] the way he’s been able to create space, the way he’s been attacking,” Brunson said. “Those things have been a key factor for him. Obviously, he’s knocking down shot after shot. He’s just playing real aggressive, really downhill. … He’s creating havoc, and he’s making good decisions.”
- Brunson expects a much tougher game from the Sixers on Wednesday. “I don’t think we’re going to see that team, from Game 1 to Game 2,” Brunson said, per Vincent Goodwill of ESPN. “They’ll be ready to go.”
- The Knicks hosted Florida State’s Lajae Jones for a pre-draft workout on Monday, Ian Begley of SNY tweets. Jones averaged 12.7 points and 5.7 rebounds for the Seminoles, his third college team.
Bulls Notes: Graham, Infrastructure, Sweeney, Lewin
Likening the Bulls‘ hiring of Bryson Graham as their new head of basketball operations to Charlotte bringing in Jeff Peterson or Detroit adding Trajan Langdon, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network (Twitter video link) cautions that there’s no guarantee Graham will be as successful as those execs have been so far, but says it’s a “swing on upside” by Chicago.
According to Johnson (Twitter link) and Shams Charania and Jamal Collier of ESPN, the Bulls are expected to give Graham full autonomy – and the resources necessary – to fill out the rest of the front office as he sees fit. As Johnson points out, Graham has ties to current Bulls executives Brian Hagen and J.J. Polk dating back to his time in New Orleans and worked with Pat Connelly‘s brother (Tim Connelly) in New Orleans as well, though that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll all remain in their current roles.
Jon Greenberg and Nick Friedell of The Athletic say that league observers are curious about whether the Reinsdorfs will be willing to spend as necessary to upgrade the team’s front office structure, suggesting that ownership has been hesitant to do so in the past and that the team’s scouting and analytics departments have lagged as a result.
However, Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times refers to that as a “false narrative,” writing that team ownership never said no when former executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas wanted to add to his front office and that money was never an issue. The problem, according to Cowley, is that the pre-Karnisovas regime of John Paxson and Gar Forman worked mostly as a “two-man operation,” so even though Karnisovas built up the front office during his tenure, it still didn’t catch up to the rest of the league.
That’s expected to change under Graham, with one source telling Cowley, “We’ve been playing checkers and now it’s time to play chess.”
Here’s more on the Bulls and their new lead front office executive:
- Having solicited sources inside and outside the organization for their thoughts on Graham, Johnson (Twitter link) says those sources described him as a “great listener” and “straight shooter” who “brings people together.” One source added that Graham “knows he doesn’t have all answers and is comfortable using depth to help.”
- Graham’s ability to collaborate appealed to the Bulls, per Charania and Collier. Team sources told ESPN that they like the fact that Graham has held so many roles up and down a front office throughout his career, since the club is hopeful he’ll be able to bring together a basketball operations department that became “disjointed” under the previous regime.
- Sources in league coaching circles expect Spurs assistant Sean Sweeney to emerge as one of the Bulls’ head coaching candidates, reports Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link). Sweeney is also reportedly in the running for New Orleans’ job.
- Cowley reported over the weekend that the Bulls would still love to hire Celtics assistant GM Dave Lewin, who was a finalist for the head of basketball operations job. He reiterates that point today, writing for the Sun-Times that if the Bulls aren’t able to bring Lewin aboard under Graham, they’ll want to find someone like him, since they were very impressed from his presentation “from an analytics and strategy standpoint.”
Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Nurse, Ingram, Quickley, Celtics
Sixers center Joel Embiid, who underwent an emergency appendectomy less than a month ago, grimaced after taking a shot to his midsection from Knicks forward Mikal Bridges during Monday’s Game 1 loss (Twitter video link). Asked about it after the game, Embiid stopped short of calling the contact “dirty,” but questioned whether it was necessary within the flow of the play.
“I don’t know if it was dirty or not,” Embiid said, per Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required). “I guess I’ve got to do a better job of protecting, especially that part (of my body). … I just felt like it wasn’t necessary, but we move on. It is whatever. It’s playoff basketball. If that’s the reality of it, I guess we got to go out and be physical, too, and do it too.”
We have more from around the Atlantic:
- Sixers head coach Nick Nurse is currently away from the team in order to mourn his older brother, who unexpectedly passed away last week, per Tony Jones of The Athletic. Nurse attending the funeral service in his hometown of Carroll, Iowa and is expected to rejoin the 76ers in time for Wednesday’s Game 2 in New York, Jones adds.
- After battling heel inflammation near the end of the regular season and in the playoffs, Raptors forward Brandon Ingram is visiting a specialist this week to discuss the treatment plan for the injury, head coach Darko Rajakovic said on Tuesday (Twitter link via Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca). Both Ingram and guard Immanuel Quickley, who missed the entire first round due to a hamstring strain, expect to be back on the court within three or four weeks and shouldn’t have their offseason routines significantly impacted by their health issues.
- Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (subscription required) takes stock of where the Celtics‘ roster stands entering the offseason, writing that all indications point to head coach Joe Mazzulla being back on the sidelines next season. As for center Nikola Vucevic, the only player on the 15-man roster without a guaranteed contract or option for next season, Himmelsbach says Vucevic will have to take a sizable pay cut no matter where he ends up, adding that he won’t be surprised if the big man doesn’t return to Boston.
Bontemps/Windhorst’s Latest: Celtics, Harden, Towns, Duren
Celtics big man Neemias Queta enjoyed a breakout year in an increased role in 2025/26, making 75 starts in the middle and averaging new career highs in points (10.2), rebounds (8.4), assists (1.7), and blocks (1.3) per game while finishing fourth in Most Improved Player voting. Still, center is considered a position Boston will look to upgrade this summer, sources tell Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
“Can Queta get you through 82 (games)?” one Western Conference scout said to ESPN. “Yes, but can he patchwork it through the playoffs? I think he keeps getting better, but there’s a ceiling. They have to get a higher-level center if they want to be considered serious contenders.”
The question is how the Celtics might be able to acquire a starting-caliber center after having moved so many of their larger, most tradable contracts last offseason. While the team should have some form of mid-level exception available, it’s not easy to add an impact free agent with that exception, especially since there’s no guarantee Boston will have access to the full non-taxpayer version of the MLE.
Here are a few more items of interest from Bontemps and Windhorst:
- Given their cap/apron situation, the Cavaliers will be incentivized to negotiate a new multiyear deal with James Harden that lowers his cap hit for 2026/27 rather than simply having him pick up his $42.3MM player option, Bontemps and Windhorst observe. “(That is the) best path to get under the apron without materially salary dumping,” one Eastern Conference executive said. “The Cavs will pay him more than he could get in free agency. They’ll probably work something out.” Sources tell ESPN that Harden and Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson have established a strong working relationship.
- Karl-Anthony Towns technically has two years left on his contract after this season, but 2027/28 is a player option, so the Knicks big man looks like a prime offseason extension candidate. A deal could hinge on how the rest of New York’s playoff run goes, but Towns had another All-Star season in 2025/26 and has been excellent so far in the postseason. “They’re probably in a spot with KAT that they should either extend him or look to trade him,” an Eastern Conference executive told ESPN. “If this playoff run convinces everyone this is a good fit, maybe they can get him to take a little discount off his max like (Jalen) Brunson did and help them keep the core together.”
- Earning an All-NBA spot this spring would make Jalen Duren eligible for a Rose Rule contract worth up to 30% of the salary cap (instead of 25%), but Bontemps and Windhorst suggest the Pistons will probably be reluctant to go that high for the All-Star center. One Western Conference executive who spoke to ESPN speculated that Duren might not even get a standard (25%) max deal, pointing to an average annual salary around $35MM as a figure that might work. “What’s a number that could leave both sides uncomfortable?” that exec said. “That might be what it takes to ultimately get a deal done.”
Magic Notes: Roster, Coaching Search, Mosley, Isaac
The Magic are making a head coaching change this spring, but president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman doesn’t believe significant roster changes are necessary for the team to take the next step toward title contention, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
Although Weltman admitted that losing a first-round series after leading 3-1 – and holding a 24-point lead in Game 6 – was a “gut punch” for his team, he believes that it’s a positive that Orlando was one game from closing out the top-seeded Pistons before Franz Wagner went down with a calf injury.
“When healthy, we were top five (on) defense and top 10 (on) offense,” Weltman said. “… I think we saw some of what we had hoped to see (against Detroit). So I don’t want to tear this thing down and dismantle it because of the way it ended and certainly one half.”
Injuries have been a recurring issue for this version of the Magic. Wagner was limited to 34 regular season appearances this season, largely due to a nagging ankle problem, while Wagner, Paolo Banchero, and Jalen Suggs all had extended health-related absences in 2024/25.
“It’s very frustrating,” Weltman said, per Youngmisuk. “But it’s also very encouraging because whenever they are together, they have been elite. I feel like there are different ways to build a team. We are built on physicality, versatility, good defensive personnel and ultimately guys that can elevate their games in the playoffs. I think what we had hoped to happen in the playoffs happened. But obviously it’s hard to outrun injuries.
“… Had we stayed healthy, I’d like to imagine where we would have gone in this series and beyond. I think when you build a team for the playoffs, you try to construct a roster that has the attributes that we have. It’s not easy to get the positional versatility, guys that can elevate their games when it matters the most. The physicality, a lot of the way that we are built is designed to be successful in the playoffs.
Here’s more on the Magic:
- Not everyone around the league shares Weltman’s rosy view of his roster. One Eastern Conference scout who spoke to Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN said the Magic are “kind of a mess,” adding that Banchero and Wagner overlap as “iffy” shooters who need the ball in their hands to be most effective. “Their ceiling just isn’t very high with Paolo. Their roster construction is just off,” the scout said. “Paolo has to have the ball to make an impact. He reminds me of Julius Randle: great size, great talent, but he’s more of a floor-(raiser) than ceiling-raiser. Having him lead your team is tough to pull off.”
- Weltman spoke at length at his end-of-season presser about the Magic’s impending head coaching search, though he said the team isn’t looking for a “particular trait or a quality,” suggesting that he wants to keep an open mind about potential candidates, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required). Weltman wouldn’t even say whether he prefers someone with or without prior head coaching experience. “I don’t want to kind of come to it with any preconceived non-negotiables,” he explained. “There are some really talented young guys out there that haven’t gotten a chance yet – as (Jamahl Mosley) was. There are also some guys that have proven that they can do the job. What’s the best fit for our team right now? I don’t think you can really know more than speculate until we really like … get in and talk to them and exchange ideas and their thoughts on our team. That’ll hopefully lead us where we need to go; the more preconditions you put on that, maybe you kind of give yourself a worse chance of getting to the right place.”
- Speaking of Mosley, he put out a formal statement on Monday after being let go by the team, referring to his five years on the job as “incredible.” Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link) has the full statement.
- Within his preview of the Magic’s offseason, ESPN’s Bobby Marks says adding more shooting off the bench will be a priority, as will acquiring an athletic, rebounding big man and a play-making reserve guard. Marks also considers whether Orlando will sign Anthony Black to a rookie scale extension and suggests Jonathan Isaac is a potential release candidate, since only $8MM of the $44MM left on his contract is guaranteed and that money could be spread across seven seasons using the stretch provision.
Juke Harris Withdraws From 2026 NBA Draft
After declaring for the 2026 NBA draft as an early entrant last month, Juke Harris is withdrawing his name and will return to school for his junior year.
Harris, who spent his first two college seasons playing at Wake Forest, announced on Monday (via Instagram) that he’ll be transferring to Tennessee for the 2026/27 season. He had entered the transfer portal at the same time he decided to test the NBA draft waters.
Last week, when the NBA announced the 73 prospects invited to this month’s draft combine, Harris’ name was on that list. However, the league confirmed today (via Twitter) that he has since removed his name from the draft pool and won’t be in attendance in Chicago next week.
A 6’7″ guard/forward, Harris had a breakout year for the Demon Deacons as a sophomore in 2025/26, increasing his scoring average from 6.1 points in 19.0 minutes per game as a freshman to 21.4 PPG in 35.1 MPG in his second season. He also bumped his shooting percentages across the board to .444/.332/.783 and chipped in 6.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.3 steals per contest.
Harris’ big year earned him Most Improved Player honors in the ACC and made him a strong candidate to be drafted — he had been listed as the No. 40 prospect on ESPN’s big board. Instead, he’ll look to continue improving his draft stock as a member of the Volunteers next season.
College underclassmen who are testing the draft waters have until the end of the day on May 27 to withdraw if they want to retain their NCAA eligibility. The NBA’s own withdrawal deadline, which generally applies to non-NCAA prospects, is June 13.
Lakers Notes: Doncic, Ayton, Smart, Kennard, LeBron
Although various reporters have provided updates on Luka Doncic‘s status as he recovers from a hamstring strain – including ESPN’s Shams Charania referring to him over the weekend as “week to week” – the Lakers haven’t offered many hints about when they expect the star guard back — or even if they think he’ll return at all before their season is over.
As Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops writes, head coach JJ Redick simply told reporters after Sunday’s practice that there’s “no update” on Doncic. On Monday, the Lakers formally ruled him out for Tuesday’s Game 1, while the Thunder did the same with injured forward Jalen Williams, who is dealing with a left hamstring injury of his own, per Cliff Brunt of The Associated Press.
In a roundtable discussing the series, Justin Martinez, Joe Mussatto, and Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman suggest that Williams – who suffered a Grade 1 strain compared to a Grade 2 strain for Doncic – is probably ahead of Luka in the recovery process. However, The Oklahoman’s trio also suggests that the Thunder don’t necessarily need Williams back to win this series, whereas it’s hard to imagine the Lakers having a legitimate shot if Doncic doesn’t play.
Still, Redick remains confident in his team, noting that its success down the stretch of the regular season and in the first round wasn’t about the contributions of a single player.
“I remember there was a press conference that we did after one of our games during our 16-2 stretch,” Redick said after the Lakers closed out Houston on Friday, per Benjamin Royer of the Southern California News Group. “And you guys were like really hammering home a point about a specific player. … I said, ‘The reason our team is winning is because of our team, because each guy is starring in his role and contributing to winning.’ And that’s the story of this playoff series for us, where each guy had moments that helped us win the game.”
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- If the Lakers are going to have a legitimate chance to upset the Thunder, they’ll need a huge series from former No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton, the player who “changes our ceiling the most,” according to Redick. Ayton said his goal against the defending champions is to play “bigger” and to be “relentless on the glass,” writes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times.
- Marcus Smart is another key contributor for Los Angeles, and he and Ayton have been linked together all season after accepting buyouts and then joining the Lakers on discounted deals that feature second-year player option, notes Dan Woike of The Athletic. “We’re both trying to get our names back into the good graces of the basketball gods and just show what we still can do,” Smart said of himself and Ayton.
- Melissa Rohlin of the California Post identifies Luke Kennard as the Lakers’ X-factor in the second round, arguing that the sharpshooter needs to be less deferential and look to recapture his shooting touch after scoring just 11 points on 4-of-18 shooting in the final three games of the first round. Kennard is on an expiring contract, so a strong performance vs. the Thunder could help earn him a stronger payday in free agency.
- In an interesting story for ESPN.com, Dave McMenamin shares several highlights from an ongoing conversation he maintained with Lakers star LeBron James in eight cities across the entire 2025/26 season. The wide-ranging discussion includes McMenamin doing his best to get James’ thoughts on how he stacks up to Michael Jordan. “I never have compared myself to MJ because our games are totally different,” LeBron said. “I have been a point-forward/forward-point my whole life. I have always looked for the pass. MJ kind of looked for the shot. Not kind of, he did. He looked for the shot. There are a lot of things where I would say my game is a lot different and a little better than his, but s–t, he was f—ing great. We’re both great. We’re both great basketball players.”
Raptors Rumors: Dick, Poeltl, Barrett, Ingram, Mamukelashvili
Former lottery pick Gradey Dick would be amenable to a trade this offseason, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca, who suggests that moving off the 22-year-old is something the Raptors will likely consider as they look to manage a tricky cap situation.
Dick was drafted 13th overall in 2023 and showed some promise during his first two NBA seasons, knocking down 36.5% of his three-pointers as a rookie and then averaging 14.4 points per game as a sophomore. But his playing time (14.0 MPG), scoring average (6.0 PPG), and three-point rate (30.1%) all dropped off in 2025/26, casting doubt on his future in Toronto as he enters the final year of his rookie scale contract.
Dick’s $7.13MM salary for 2026/27 is fully guaranteed. He’ll be eligible for a rookie scale extension beginning in July and would be on track for potential restricted free agent during the 2027 offseason if he doesn’t sign a new deal this year.
We have more on the Raptors:
- Confirming a prior report indicating that the Raptors inquired on Jaren Jackson Jr. at the deadline before the Grizzlies traded him to Utah, Grange says Toronto was actually “working hard” to try to acquire Jackson at that time, but Jakob Poeltl‘s contract was a sticking point, since no team was willing to take it on without being heavily incentivized to do so.
- Poeltl was still dealing with a back injury around the trade deadline, but the big man said his back didn’t bother him after the All-Star break or during the playoffs, per Grange. Still, that doesn’t mean Poeltl will have significantly more trade value this summer, since teams will remain reluctant to take on a deal that still features at least $81MM in guaranteed money.
- The Raptors appeared very willing to move RJ Barrett at the trade deadline, while Brandon Ingram earned an All-Star nod and led the team in scoring, but it was Barrett, not Ingram, who was more valuable in the postseason, Grange writes, wondering if the team might explore moving Ingram this offseason. Barrett will be entering the final year of his current contract, and while he’s an extension candidate, Toronto may be hesitant to lock him up long-term, as Grange and Eric Koreen of The Athletic point out, since he’s the only Raptor who will be on a big expiring deal that could be appealing in a trade. For his part, Barrett said on Monday that he hopes to stick with his hometown team.
- Sandro Mamukelashvili, who holds a minimum-salary player option for 2026/27, said on Monday that he “really wants” to return and that he loved the city and the organization, per Grange. However, if Mamukelashvili declines his option, the Raptors will only hold his Non-Bird rights and may have to use another exception to make a competitive contract offer.
- Exploring what the Raptors learned as a result of this season and their first-round playoff series loss to Cleveland, Koreen writes that Scottie Barnes is a bona fide star and that rookie Collin Murray-Boyles also looks like a long-term cornerstone, while head coach Darko Rajakovic deserves a contract extension. However, Koreen also notes that Barnes may need a co-star that better complements him and adds that the team badly needs more shooting.
Amick’s Latest: Lottery Reform, Jenkins, Pelicans, Thibodeau, Blazers
Although the “3-2-1” proposal is the runaway leader as the NBA looks to implement lottery reform, there are still a few more weeks before the league’s Board of Governors will vote on the plan. In the meantime, Sam Amick of The Athletic writes, there will be more discussions about the concept and some tweaks could be made.
As Amick explains, general managers have sought clarity on how some aspects of the proposal will work, asking the league about specific scenarios that may arise as a result of the changes to the lottery. One crucial question, which I also wondered about when I wrote about the proposed changes on Monday, is whether the rule restricting teams from winning the No. 1 overall pick in back-to-back years or landing top-five picks in three consecutive years would apply to traded first-rounders.
For instance, if a team wins the No. 1 pick with its own first-rounder in 2027 and then lands it via a traded pick in 2028, would that be permitted? According to Amick, for now, the NBA’s stance is that that would be allowed.
Here are a few more items of interest from Amick’s latest rumor round-up:
- While the precise years and dollars that Taylor Jenkins received on his new contract with the Bucks aren’t known, Amick says Milwaukee’s new head coach got a “long-term” deal with an annual salary “well north” of $10MM. Based on what we know about head coaching salaries, that should put Jenkins in the top third of the league.
- Confirming several of the top candidates previously reported by Rod Walker of NOLA.com, Amick also identifies Spurs assistant Sean Sweeney as another finalist the Pelicans are considering for their head coaching vacancy. It’s unclear whether New Orleans will pursue Jamahl Mosley now that he has been let go by Orlando, Amick adds.
- Tom Thibodeau has been out of the NBA for a year and turned 68 in January, but he remains “very” interested in returning to the head coaching ranks, league sources tell The Athletic. According to Amick, Thibodeau is seeking out the right fit to return to coaching and wouldn’t be opposed to a reunion with the Bulls.
- Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon and general manager Joe Cronin, who are leading the team’s head coaching search, have put together a list of candidates that features nearly 20 names, Amick writes, noting that league sources say Portland hasn’t been specific about its timeline for finalizing a hire. It remains unclear how accurate the rumors about Dundon wanting to cap his coach’s salary at $1.5MM are. As Amick observes, the Blazers have pushed back on those reports, and the league’s current lowest salary for a head coach is believed to be $2MM for Doug Christie of the Kings.