2014 April | Hoops Rumors

Knicks Want To Hire Steve Kerr After First Round

April 29th, 2014 at 12:24pm CST by Chuck Myron

12:24pm: Kerr’s timetable is different from that of the Knicks, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, who hears from a source who says Kerr and Jackson still have “lots to explore organizationally” (Twitter links). That echoes Kerr’s comments about a desire for more discussions with the Zen Master.

10:43am: The Knicks are attempting to complete a deal that would make Steve Kerr the coach of the team after the first round of the playoffs, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. In team president Phil Jackson‘s plan, Kerr would leave his job as a TNT broadcaster after the first round is complete, thus making it easier for the network, but it remains to be seen whether Kerr is willing to go along at this point.

Kerr has been the front-runner for the job for at least a month, and while Kerr has been “inching closer” to the Knicks job, according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, a source told Isola that a decision was not imminent. An earlier report indicated Kerr would have interest in talking to the Warriors if they wind up with a vacancy, but in spite of Golden State’s apparent interest in Kerr, the Knicks remain the favorite to land him, Stein writes, given his connection to Jackson. The former Suns GM counters widespread skepticism about Jackson’s chances for success in charge of the Knicks front office, believing that the Zen Master will succeed in New York, according to Stein.

Kerr reportedly has concerns about the Knicks’ inability to capitalize on their resources over the years, prompting a measured approach as he considers whether to join the team, even as he’s said that he would be “crazy not to look into” coaching the Knicks. Still, he told reporters this weekend that he and Jackson still had much to discuss, as Isola points out. Kerr and Jackson have both indicated that their conversations this weekend were the first they’d had about the job, which conflicts with a report from early last week that they were deep into discussions.

Bobcats Rumors: Afflalo, Nelson, McRoberts

April 29th, 2014 at 11:56am CST by Chuck Myron

The Bobcats have been eliminated from the playoffs, and soon the name “Bobcats” won’t exist around the NBA at all, with Charlotte set to announce the official changeover to the “Hornets” nickname. The team’s focus is squarely on its first season in teal-and-purple now that the significant step forward that 2013/14 represented for the club is done. Here’s the latest:

Arron Afflalo and Jameer Nelson of the Magic will likely be among Charlotte’s trade targets, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, pointing to their ties to Bobcats coach Steve Clifford, who worked with them when he was an assistant coach in Orlando.
Josh McRoberts remains undecided about his nearly $2.8MM player option and says he wants to remain in Charlotte long-term, notes Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter links), though Stein writes that he’s “widely expected” to decline it. Charlotte would “naturally” want to re-sign him in that case, Stein adds. Clifford expressed his support for McRoberts after Monday’s game, as Bonnell observes (on Twitter).
Charlotte will probably target a dependable small forward in free agency or via trade, Stein writes.

Warriors Rumors: Jackson, Erman, Scalabrine

April 29th, 2014 at 10:27am CST by Chuck Myron

The consensus around the league is that it’s “very unlikely” that Mark Jackson will remain as coach of the Warriors next season unless he leads the team on a long playoff run, Grantland’s Zach Lowe tweets. That’s consistent with the widely held belief that Jackson’s future with the team depends on the postseason. Still, a source tells Chris Broussard of ESPN.com that Jackson’s relationship with co-owner Joe Lacob and GM Bob Myers is fine. Here’s more from Golden State:

The Warriors aren’t holding Jackson responsible for what Erman and Scalabrine did, tweets Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group.

Earlier reports:

Former Warriors assistant Darren Erman has landed a job as director of NBA scouting for the Celtics, as Danny Ainge tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Clippers, among other teams, had been interested in him after his ouster from Golden State earlier this month.
Lowe lauds Boston’s hiring of a keen basketball mind in Erman (via Twitter), but the timing of the news is odd, considering the revelations about Erman’s departure from Golden State in Broussard’s piece. Erman was secretly recording conversations between Warriors coaches and players, sources tell Broussard. It’s unclear what he did with the recordings, and Broussard’s sources aren’t sure whether he shared them with Warriors management and owners.
Sources tell Broussard that Brian Scalabrine, who was reassigned in March from assistant coach to a job with the Warriors D-League team, exhibited a “consistent pattern of disrespect” for Jackson and the other coaches. At one point, Scalabrine went five weeks without speaking to Jackson, Broussard hears.

Wojnarowski’s Latest: Sterling, Rivers, Johnson

April 29th, 2014 at 8:12am CST by Chuck Myron

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports has news on the Donald Sterling fiasco, with the league and the player’s union set to address the issue this afternoon. Let’s dive in:

Sources tell Wojnarowski that Doc Rivers won’t return to the team next year if Sterling remains, suggesting that it would set off a player revolt that might end up with the team’s stars demanding trades.
Several league officials, including owners and members of the Board of Governors, tell Wojnarowski that they believe the commissioner has been contemplating calling for a vote among owners to strip the franchise from Sterling and take the team under league control until it can be sold.
A former Clippers official tells Wojnarowski that Sterling is enjoying the spotlight of the scandal, glad that the focus is off Rivers and the players and back on him. Sterling is likely to fight the NBA until the very end, the source tells Wojnarowski.
Though Magic Johnson took to Twitter to deny Wojnarowski’s earlier report that he’s interested in buying the team, Johnson wants to be in a position to purchase the club if it becomes available, Wojnarowski asserts. Johnson and potential investors spent time on Monday investigating the possibility of buying the team, sources tell Wojnarowski.
Sterling’s estranged wife, Rochelle, who often goes by Shelly, believes she can wind up with the Clippers, but Silver and the rest of the league owners aren’t amenable to that solution, sensing that the team must leave the family’s hands, Wojnarowski writes.
When Sterling nearly blocked the J.J. Redick sign-and-trade last summer, people close to the owner believe that it was in part because Sterling worried that Redick’s four-year, $27.755MM deal was too much for a white player, Wojnarowski hears. Sterling believes that black players possess superior athleticism, strength, and talent, according to Wojnarowski.

Lakers To Keep Mike D’Antoni?

April 28th, 2014 at 10:55pm CST by Cray Allred

MONDAY 10:55pm: D’Antoni is still pushing to get his option for 2015/16 exercised but the Lakers are still resisting, a source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).

SATURDAY, 12:23am: The team doesn’t plan on exercising D’Antoni’s 2015/16 option, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick, who suggests that the coach might walk away from the team if it doesn’t alter that stance, though it’s not clear if he would do so, Amick writes.

12:14am: The Lakers insist they’ve yet to make a decision about D’Antoni, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. Still, the coach is pushing the team to make its choice, and he’s asked the Lakers to pick up his team option for 2015/16, Shelburne also reports (Twitter link). D’Antoni has been adamant in talking with his bosses that he needs more job security to succeed, Shelburne adds (on Twitter).

FRIDAY, 10:22pm: Lakers management has reached internal agreement to keep coach Mike D’Antoni for next season, a source tells Mark Heisler of The Orange County Register. D’Antoni hasn’t been informed of the decision yet, which comes a week after his exit interview for the season.

D’Antoni has been on shaky ground with the Lakers heading into the third and final year of his $12MM contract with Los Angeles. D’Antoni was chosen over Laker legend Phil Jackson to replace Mike Brown early in the 2012/13 season, and has gone just 67-87 in two years at the helm for one of the most storied franchises in all of sports.

Some Lakers players have voiced displeasure with how they’ve been utilized within D’Antoni’s system, including former All-Star Pau Gasol. While Gasol and Kobe Bryant have expressed their wishes that the Lakers make significant changes to return to championship form, the GM Mitch Kupchak has been adamant that basketball decisions won’t be made in reaction to player frustration.

D’Antoni’s first two seasons were both times of transition, with a single year of Dwight Howard last year and a landslide of injuries affecting the team this year. Next year could be just as tumultuous, with potential for significant roster turnover and the implementation of the franchise’s first lottery pick since their 2005 selection of Andrew Bynum.

And-Ones: McGary, Daniels, Rockets, Raptors

April 28th, 2014 at 8:54pm CST by Zachary Links

There were a lot of no-brainer decisions when it came to early entry players in the 2014 Draft, but it was questionable for others. Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req’d) looks at who made the right call and who didn’t. Michigan’s Mitch McGary, Syracuse’s Tyler Ennis, and UCLA’s Kyle Anderson get the thumbs up. JaKarr Sampson of St. John’s, Alex Kirk of New Mexico, and New Mexico State’s Sim Bhullar are among the players who Goodman thinks should have stayed in school. More from around the Association..

Rockets owner Leslie Alexander has an idea for ridding the NBA of Clippers owner Donald Sterling: letting all of his players become free agents. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle has the goods.
The Hawks, Bulls, Cavs, Bucks and Magic all had interest in Troy Daniels this February before the Rockets inked the sudden playoff hero shortly after the trade deadline, according to Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling. Daniels was close to taking an offer from Australia for $70K last fall, Zwerling tweets. His agent advised him to instead dominate in the D-League to get an NBA offer and his gameplan worked.
Toney Douglas tells Zwerling for the same piece that the Heat had interest in him ever since he came out of college. Miami acquired Douglas via trade in January.
It’s in Kyle Lowry‘s best interests to re-sign with the Raptors, writes Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun. Lowry has never been happier, never played better, and never meant more to any of his teams at any time. The veteran guard hasn’t said much about his future, but Simmons thinks it would be best for him to stay put in Toronto.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Latest On Donald Sterling, Clippers

April 28th, 2014 at 6:55pm CST by Zachary Links

ESPN.com legal analyst Lester Munson is one of the few who’s been given access to the NBA’s constitution, and he interprets the document to give commissioner Adam Silver the power to force Donald Sterling out with the consent of three-fourths of the other owners. Munson appears to suggest that it would require the termination of the Clippers franchise, noting that it would be a drastic step. Still, Munson asserts that Sterling would have no effective legal recourse to appeal the NBA’s decision, so the NBA has leverage if the league wants him out at all costs, Munson believes. More out of L.A..

Team player reps will have a conference call tonight to discuss Sterling, tweets Dwain Price of the Star-Telegram.
Two-thirds of the league’s owners would be required to start the process to remove Sterling as an owner and 15 owners have already gone on the record blasting him, notes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
It’s time for the NBA to bounce Sterling, opines David Aldridge of NBA.com. The handling of this situation will shape Silver’s legacy, even though he’s only a couple of months into his tenure. Aldridge goes on to tell the story of his first interaction with the Clippers owner and while it’s unsettling, it’s consistent with what we heard from the leaked audio.
Where does the league go from here? Ken Berger of CBSSports.com has a question and answer session to explain how things might play out.
Head coach Doc Rivers released a statement this evening that was published on the Clippers’ website. Several team execs and owners followed suit and released statements of their own before the tip of tonight’s game between the Clippers and Warriors.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Prospect Profile: Dante Exum

April 28th, 2014 at 5:05pm CST by Zachary Links

Last year, Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart was widely viewed as the top player eligible for the 2013 draft. This time around, he’s not being seen by most as the best player at his position. By and large, Australia’s Dante Exum is being looked at as the best point guard in the 2014 draft.

At 6’6″, Exum has tremendous size for the one guard position with a frame reminiscent of Shaun Livingston. On top of that, the 18-year-old (19 in July) has a wingspan that is slightly larger at 6’9″. That size helps to make Exum a legitimate threat to score in the low post and gives him the ability to see the rim in a lot of positions that your typical point guard couldn’t. From close range, your average-sized one guard is likely to get burned. Exum can force a lot of switches, opening things up for the entire offense.

Exum also boasts a lightning-quick first step and overseas opponents have been struggling to stay in front of him at every level. He’s also a very adept ball handler who can change direction in no time, allowing him to seemingly penetrate at will. No guard in this year’s class can slash to the basket better than Exum which is why he is expected to be the first backcourt player off the board.

The Australian is more than a scorer, of course, as he’s proven himself to be a very solid floor general, both in transition and in the halfcourt set. A quick scan through YouTube shows Exum dishing crisp passes to open teammates, putting them in prime position to score. He’ll also trigger a fast break in no time, whether the rest of his squad is ready to get out and run or not. Often times, you’ll see Exum take the ball wire-to-wire and finish on the other end with nine guys left in the dust.

As we’ve established, Exum is quick, athletic, and very capable of scoring at the rim, but his shooting definitely leaves something to be desired. The book on Exum over the past few years has been that his shot is somewhat flat and doesn’t have enough of an arc to regularly find a home in the basket. He’s made strides with it as of late, but he’s no Stephen Curry. His off-the-dribble shot leaves much to be desired and he’ll have to improve that if he wants to be a true triple threat at the next level.

Exum’s shot selection has also been questionable in the past. For a so-so outside shooter, he has fallen in love with his downtown shot at times, like when he hoisted up 7.7 three-pointers per 40 minutes at the FIBA Under-19 Championships in 2013 and knocked down just 33.3%. He’s also been known to force up low-probability shots closer to the rim when he’s smothered by the defense, rather than kicking out. While these aren’t irreparable problems, they are adjustments that will have to be made.

Opinions on many of this year’s top prospects have shifted over the course of the last year, but Exum’s standing as one of the very best players in the 2014 class seems to have held up. DraftExpress has Exum ranked as the No. 5 prospect out of this group and ESPN’s Chad Ford (Insider sub. req’d) rates him as the fourth-best, but he could go in the top three depending on how the ping-pong balls fall. The Bucks (owners of the league’s worst record), Magic (third-worst), Jazz (fourth-worst), and Lakers (sixth-worst) are all reportedly high on the guard and there’s no reason why one of those teams couldn’t tap him before Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid, Jabari Parker, or Julius Randle.

Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript

April 28th, 2014 at 5:02pm CST by Chuck Myron

Click below to read this week’s chat transcript:

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Hoops Rumors Chats

Kings Intend To Retain Rudy Gay

April 28th, 2014 at 2:41pm CST by Chuck Myron

Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro says he didn’t trade for Rudy Gay just to have him around for this year, and he’ll continue to talk to the forward who’s undecided on a player option worth more than $19.3MM for 2014/15, as D’Alessandro tells Katie Cracchiolo of Kings.com. Gay has a chance to become a sought-after free agent this summer, but D’Alessandro apparently wants to ensure that he’s back one way or another.

The Octagon Sports client expressed profound indecisiveness nearly a month ago about his option, which would likely give him a greater salary for next season than he could receive on a new contract. Still, a fresh deal would no doubt allow Gay to lock in a greater amount over the long term, and it would give him freedom to pursue interest from rumored suitors like the Suns and other teams that could give him a better chance to win sooner than Sacramento can.

D’Alessandro says that he’s optimistic that Gay has enjoyed the Sacramento community, and Gay said in January that he was comfortable with his new home following the December trade that brought him from Toronto. The 27-year-old also expressed excitement about the on-court freedom coach Michael Malone has given him, and D’Alessandro is similarly high on what Gay has done for the team.

“We did our analysis of Rudy before we did our deal. Rudy is exactly what I expected, which has been nothing short of great,” D’Alessandro said. “We see him as a very consistent, top-level player.”

The Kings have about $47MM in commitments for next season, but that doesn’t include Gay or Isaiah Thomas, who’s set for restricted free agency. D’Alessandro said he and the team “just think the world of” Thomas, and that he’ll be talking to his reps at ASM Sports, too. New contracts for both would likely eat up most, if not all, of Sacramento’s cap flexibility, but if Gay opts out and the Kings re-sign him at a lower salary for next season, it’ll give the club more breathing room beneath the tax line. I took a look at Gay’s free agent stock last week.

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