Warriors Fire Assistant Coach Darren Erman
4:06pm: Myers didn’t disclose what violation Erman committed, but he made it clear the coach’s removal was not based on a “basketball decision,” Leung revealed. “Something like this needed to be discussed with general counsel, (human resources), as we would with any other employee,” Myers said. “It took a couple days to go through the proper channels.”
Jackson expressed his disappointment of Erman’s firing. “[Erman] made a mistake,” Jackson said. “He owns it. He’s done a lot for me, he’s done a lot for this organization, and I’m pulling for him to make a comeback. I’m pulling for him to move on and become a great coach, and I believe that that can happen.”
It appears for the time being that Erman’s removal from his position is in fact unrelated to Scalabrine’s demotion.
2:23pm: The Warriors have fired assistant coach Darren Erman due to a violation of company policy, the team announced. Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle originally reported the move this afternoon (via Twitter). Golden State GM Bob Myers says the decision to let go of Erman is unrelated to the recent demotion of assistant Brian Scalabrine, relays Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group (on Twitter). The move means the Warriors now employ only three official assistant coaches.
Erman’s removal from the staff is peculiar since it comes only 12 days after Scalabrine was stripped of his position, and it’s unprecedented that a playoff team terminates two assistant coaches just weeks before the postseason. Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group hears the decision to let go of Erman wasn’t made by Mark Jackson, who was the one that made the call to demote Scalabrine (Twitter link). However, Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News doesn’t think the pair of coaching moves are unrelated, and he sees a high level of instability within the organization (three Twitter links).
Erman was hired by the Warriors in 2011 after spending four years as an assistant with the Celtics. The ties he made with Tom Thibodeau during his tenure in Boston could result in a job offer from the Bulls this offseason, suggests K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link). In the meantime, the Warriors will have to make do with their diminished coaching staff as the playoffs approach.
Cavs Rumors: Griffin, Grant
David Griffin took over control in Cleveland when the Cavs fired Chris Grant earlier this year, and his positive interactions with staff and players could result in an offer to stick around beyond this season, a source tells Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Let’s round up a few more rumors surrounding Griffin and Grant:
- Griffin’s solid performance at the helm of Cleveland’s operations still won’t stop the team from hiring a big-name executive if they get the chance, Kyler passes along in the same piece. However, the lack of available heavyweight executives probably means Griffin’s job is safe.
- Grant, on the other hand, might struggle to find a GM gig. Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio passes along that one league executive said the former Cavs boss is considered “a buffoon around the league: Dishonest, incapable and full of (beans).“
- Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer thinks Griffin’s presence has been a huge factor in the Cavs’ turnaround this season and definitely proves he’s capable of GM duties. Pluto hears Griffin felt very strongly that the team should draft Dion Waiters, and Waiters’ success has made Griffin look wise.
Raptors Notes: De Colo, Lowry, Thomas
The Raptors are looking to secure the third seed in the East after missing the last five postseasons. They’re currently tied with the Bulls, but they’ll have the opportunity to gain some ground in their matchup versus the Bucks tonight. Here’s the latest out of Toronto:
- Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun thinks that the Raptors will bring back Nando De Colo next season “for cheap.” De Colo will become a restricted free agent if Toronto extends the $1.8MM qualifying offer.
- Wolstat also relays comments from Raptors coach Dwane Casey, who expressed his wishes for Toronto to re-sign Kyle Lowry this offseason. “That’s the front office. That’s their paycheck. I would if I was general manager of a team. But that’s their decision,” said Casey. “Kyle has done everything we’ve asked him to do. He’s helped put us in this position with this team. He’s grown, he’s matured, and that’s huge as far as we’re concerned.”
- Isiah Thomas ranked as the best drafting GM since 1989 in Tom Haberstroh of ESPN’s latest Insider piece, due in large part to the selections he made during his time with Raptors. Thomas was responsible for picking Damon Stoudamire, Marcus Camby, and Tracy McGrady.
Cray Allred contributed to this this post.
Eastern Notes: Knicks, Ariza, LeBron
Grant Hill says he understands what Kyrie Irving is going through, telling Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that the criticism and speculation surrounding the Cavs former No. 1 pick is par for the course. “In the NBA, that’s the epitome of it, but also what makes it difficult. The sport we are in, you constantly have to meet and surpass expectations, because you are constantly being evaluated by people. If you don’t succeed, you get traded, you get fired, you get criticized. That is what we sign up for,” said Hill. “After 19 years, you realize that’s part of the job, you are going to be evaluated and you are going to be criticized — it is not all glamour.” More from the East:
- President Phil Jackson is looking to add one or more additions to the Knicks front office, and he’s targeting a young salary cap expert to assist him and GM Steve Mills, a source tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The only candidate for such a position within Jackson’s inner circle would be Steve Kerr, who only appears interested in a return to coaching.
- Stein says it’s possible that Kerr could wind up coaching and bringing along a front office executive of his own, with one potential name being David Griffin, the Cavs interim GM at the moment.
- J. Michael of CSNWashington.com thinks the latest defensive performance by Trevor Ariza against Carmelo Anthony is a reminder that the Wizards should do what it takes to retain the small forward when he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer. Ariza is shooting a career best from three this season, and has helped Washington reach the playoffs after a long drought.
- Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel thinks the Heat should pay whatever it takes in tax penalties to keep LeBron James. Since James’ salary is limited by the CBA to a value much below his practical worth for Miami, Winderman says exceeding the tax to provide him with a quality supporting cast is one way they can make up the virtual salary gap to him.
- Cody Taylor at Basketball Insiders looks at what it will take for the Magic to turnaround their franchise as they continue the rebuilding process.
- Ed Rendell of The Philadelphia Daily News thinks that the Sixers rebuilding strategy is brilliant, and sees it paying off with a competitive team next season.
Draft Rumors: Payton, Baker, Walker
Oscar Robertson doesn’t agree with the league’s desire to increase the age limit for draft entry, telling Genaro C. Armas of The Associated Press that “one-and-done” players aren’t hurting the college game. “These colleges are greedy, man. They want to keep a kid … in school if they start to win,” Robertson said. “They want to keep them in school because it helps them — it helps the coach, it helps the winning percentage.” Here’s a roundup of more draft rumors:
- Wichita State’s Ron Baker will return to school for his junior year, sources tell Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. Baker explored his draft potential before making the decision, and multiple NBA executives tell Goodman he would have been a second round pick had he chosen to declare for this year’s draft.
- An NBA executive told Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders that Louisiana-Lafayette’s Elfrid Payton could go as high as the late teens in the draft should he declare. The junior hasn’t yet decided whether to forgo his last year of college to enter the draft.
- Florida freshman Chris Walker says he will make a decision regarding this year’s draft after the Final Four, telling reporters including Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv he’s focused on the tournament for now. “I haven’t really been thinking about it,” Walker said. “I’m just thinking about winning this UConn game and staying in the moment and hopefully winning that and advance to the championship game. And then after the season, me and coach [Billy Donovan] will sit down and talk about everything and all the options.” Walker has been considered by many to be a premier 2015 draft prospect, so it would be interesting to see where he would stack up if he declared for this summer’s draft.
- In a subscription-only piece, ESPN Insiders Chad Ford and Kevin Pelton look at the draft stocks for Shabazz Napier, Frank Kaminsky, and Patric Young, who are all playing for Final Four teams this weekend.
- Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports discussed the draft prospects of Kentucky’s freshmen in a video from yesterday.
- We profiled Doug McDermott earlier today.
Bucks Sign Chris Wright To 10-Day Contract
11:32am: The Bucks PR account officially announced the signing, which is indeed for a 10-day contract (Twitter link).
11:24am: The Bucks will sign Chris Wright, a league source tells Shams Charania of RealGM.com (Twitter link). Wright was considered a candidate to return to the Bucks following the team’s decision not to re-sign D.J. Stephens, whose 10-day contract just expired.
It hasn’t been reported what kind of contract is involved. Milwaukee could sign Wright for the remainder of the season or beyond, but it seems more likely this would be another 10-day deal. Milwaukee has the flexibility to give him another short-term audition, since they declined to ink him to a second 10-day agreement when his first expired two weeks ago.
Wright has spent most of this season with the Maine Red Claws in the D-League. The small forward played 24 games for the Warriors in the 2011/12 season, but didn’t see any NBA action last year. He has career averages of 3.2 points in 8.4 minutes played per game on 51.9% shooting.
Central Notes: Irving, Sanders, Siva
Larry Sanders apologized to Bucks fans for his recently announced drug suspension, but was defensive about his use of marijuana, telling Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he disagrees with its status as a banned substance. “It’s a banned substance in my league. But I believe in marijuana and the medical side of it.” said Sanders. “The stigma is that it’s illegal. I hate that. Once this becomes legal, this all will go away. But I understand for my work it’s a banned substance. I will deal with the consequences and I apologize again to my fans for that.” Here’s more from the Central Division:
- Sanders added that he’s excited to work this summer, and believes he can put this year’s troubles behind him next season, when the first year of his four-year, $44MM extension kicks in. “I’ll be better from this. I’ve learned a lot already from this year. I’m going to continue to learn. I hate that this is a negative impact on my fans and my family or the organization,” Sanders said.
- In a series of tweets, Cavs star Kyrie Irving made it known that he’s upset with with the ongoing rumors about his desire to leave Cleveland (H/T Jodie Valade of The Plain Dealer). Irving says that he’s tired of the negative attention, and denied that any speculation about his thought process attributed to his camp has any merit.
- The Pistons have given increased playing time to rookie Peyton Siva, who tells Vincent Ellis of The Detroit Free Press he’s better adjusted to the speed of the game than he was early in the season. “I feel a lot more comfortable out there. I feel more confident in my skills and within myself to go out there and play,” said Siva. “I’m definitely looking forward to playing more and transitioning from what I’ve been showing in practice to the game. I just want to go out there and prove my worth. Continue to play hard and try to help my team win.”
Prospect Profile: Doug McDermott
Doug McDermott strongly considered entering last year’s draft, but opted to stay in school for one more year. As we detailed in our profile of Marcus Smart, a year can make quite a difference in a player’s draft value. While Smart’s stock has slipped from last year, when he declined to stay at Oklahoma State despite being projected near the very top of the draft, McDermott has seen his stock skyrocket after returning to Creighton for his senior year.
Last year, McDermott was seen as a late first-rounder or second-rounder at best, but he’s projected at No. 10 overall in the latest DraftExpress mock draft, and ranked No. 13 in ESPN Insider Chad Ford’s Top 100 prospects list. Ironically, McDermott didn’t even consider a lottery selection to be a possibility when making his decision to return for his senior year. McDermott sought Creighton alum Kyle Korver‘s advice, telling Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports at the time, “[The 2014 draft] looks stronger at the top 15 to 18 picks, but after that it’s about the same. But that’s probably not going to be my range this year or next year, anyway. That helped me [decide].”
McDermott played power forward in college, and is listed at 6’8″ and 225 lbs. A dynamic scorer, the 22-year-old averaged 21.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per game with a slash line of .550/.458/.831 in his four years at Creighton. He upped his scoring average this year, but was actually a slightly more efficient scorer in his junior year. It’s possible that Creighton’s move from the Missouri Valley Conference to the Big East had a hand in raising his profile, validating his status as one of the nation’s premier scorers. McDermott is already an extremely decorated athlete, holding Creighton’s all-time scoring record with more than 1,000 points more than the next most prolific scoring Bluejay, ranking third in career rebounds at the school, and becoming one of just a dozen players to earn First-Team All American honors three times in the history of the award.
McDermott is probably a bit undersized to establish himself as exclusively a power forward in the NBA, and isn’t quick enough to guard many of the league’s small forwards. The dreaded “tweener” label isn’t always a death knell, especially in a league utilizing more and more small-ball and unconventional lineups. However, some young frontcourt players with positional ambiguity have indeed struggled, for example Anthony Bennett (6’8″, 259 lbs.; designated a small forward) and Derrick Williams (6’8″, 240 lbs.; designated a power forward).
McDermott’s greatest strengths have been shooting and rebounding, two skillsets that tend to translate well from college to pro hoops. However, some scouts have questions about his size and lack of athleticism. Whether McDermott can survive defensively in the NBA is a concern. McDermott’s athletic limitations don’t preclude him from finding ways to effectively spot-up or even create his shot consistently, but it’s a tougher task to overcome the same limitations on defense.
There are plenty of elite shooters and scorers in the NBA who thrive despite being liabilities on the defensive end, although it is easier to hide or even utilize a physically overmatched wing in a team defense scheme than it is to accommodate for a limited frontcourt defender. David Lee of the Warriors is close to McDermott’s size, and his poor defense makes his value as a starter arguably a net loss despite his knack for scoring and rebounding, depending on how you value certain advanced metrics. Still, McDermott would be a huge success as a late lottery pick if his career paralleled that of Lee.
Whichever team selects McDermott will see whether he can continue to find ways to make his game work, taking a chance in the hopes that he will be able to produce somewhere north of 15 points per game in a best-case scenario. McDermott, a coach’s son, will no doubt work to make that team’s gamble worthwhile. Even in the case that he doesn’t pan out as a top-shelf NBA talent, there are greater risks than drafting an established shooter.
Bucks Consider Waiver Claim Of Erik Murphy
The Bucks have interest in claiming former Bulls big man Erik Murphy off waivers, tweets Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times. If they submit a claim before Murphy clears waivers Saturday afternoon, he’ll go to Milwaukee, since the Bucks are the league’s worst team and therefore would have priority over any other club that attempts to claim him. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports wrote Thursday that he’d be surprised if Murphy cleared waivers, so other teams may be hoping the Bucks don’t prevent them from acquiring the 6’10” rookie.
Waiver claims aren’t typical, and Murphy saw just 62 total minutes with the Bulls this season, but teams around the league are apparently intrigued with the upside of the 23-year-old who was the 49th overall pick in the 2013 draft. His minimum-salary deal is non-guaranteed for next season, becoming partially guaranteed for $100K if he remains under contract through August 1st and for $200K if he makes it to November 1st. Any team can claim him, since he’s making the minimum salary, but his cap hit for this season would be more onerous than that of a free agent signee on a prorated contract for the final 11 days of the season.
Milwaukee or any other team that claims him would assume the cap hit for his $490,180 salary, and the money would be wiped from Chicago’s books. That could wind up saving the Bulls from paying the tax this year, as I explained earlier. The Bulls released Murphy on Thursday to make way for a veteran replacement, and a waiver claim would make it easier for Chicago to sign two players, which the team is reportedly considering. Ronnie Brewer and Mike James appear to be Chicago’s targets.
The Bucks wouldn’t have to make a corresponding move to acquire Murphy, since their final roster spot opened this evening when their 10-day contract with D.J. Stephens expired. The team doesn’t plan to re-sign the shooting guard.
Bucks Won’t Re-Sign D.J. Stephens
The Bucks don’t intend to sign guard D.J. Stephens to a second 10-day contract, reports Shams Charania of RealGM.com (Twitter link). According to Charania, Stephens will explore both NBA and overseas options in looking for his next opportunity. He was signed to his initial 10-day deal on March 26th. This will leave the team with 14 players on its roster.
Stephens saw action in two games with the team, and averaged 3.5 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 7.0 minutes per game.
Prior to signing with the Bucks, in 18 games with Greek team Ilysiakos this season, Stephens averaged 9.9 PPG and 8.8 RPG.