Latest On Joel Embiid
Joel Embiid had been the prohibitive favorite to be the first-overall pick in this year’s draft, but his foot injury and subsequent need for surgery has placed his likelihood of being a top-3 pick in serious doubt, as executives worry that he could be the next in a long line of talented big men to have their careers cut short by injury, Here’s the latest on Embiid…
- Initial concerns about Embiid centered on a stress fracture in his back — an injury that caused him to miss the final several weeks of the college season, including the NCAA tournament, but the foot injury is an even worse concern now, writes Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. A Western Conference executive said, “The back thing wouldn’t have bothered me as much, to be quite honest. But big men and bad feet are a bad combination. And big men with two injury concerns (back and foot) are a worse combination. No way (the Cavs) take him. It costs people money and jobs.“
- In the same article, a Western Conference coach had a different opinion, telling Amico, “Embiid is a top-three overall talent. He’s the best big in the draft. I wouldn’t rule him out.”
- Another executive weighed in on the talents of Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker, telling Amico, “How do you draft Embiid and his bad foot when you have two guys like (Parker and Wiggins) sitting there? If you take an injury-prone big man to pass on a healthy and talented wing … you could really set the franchise back. The Cavs want to start winning. Draft the healthy guy.” That same executive then said he wouldn’t risk taking Embiid prior to the sixth pick.
- J.A. Adande of ESPN.com thinks that Embiid fits what the Lakers need. Adande opines that with Kobe Bryant under contract for two more seasons, the team doesn’t need to think long-term right now. Rather, they need to maximize what’s left of Kobe’s career, which makes the possibility of Embiid having his career cut short by injury not as big a risk as it would be for many of the other teams drafting in the top-10.
- Embiid might fall to the Celtics who own the sixth pick, and GM Danny Ainge has a history of taking players with injuries in their backgrounds, writes Mike Petraglia of WEEI 93.7 FM. The article cites Ainge’s selections of Jared Sullinger and Avery Bradley as examples.
Draft Notes: Embiid, Celtics, Trades
Joel Embiid‘s foot injury has shaken up the draft, with split opinions around the league regarding the seven-footer’s prospects for the draft and beyond. One league source tells Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe that Embiid’s health concerns place him in legitimate danger of plummeting out of the lottery, while others are confident he will still be selected in the top 10. More draft rumblings:
- Tyler Ennis will have his second audition for the Magic on Monday, tweets Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (H/T Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic).
- The international teams for Jusuf Nurkic, Nikola Jokic, Nemanja Dangubic, and Vasilije Micic will not put any barriers in place to keep the players from joining the NBA if drafted, per tweets from Yugobasket and Misko Raznatovic (H/T Emiliano Carchia of Sportando).
- Marcus Smart, Noah Vonleh, and Aaron Gordon are the Celtics preferred group of draftees at No. 6, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.
- Boston’s “most likely” scenario for the draft is to keep both of their picks, GM Danny Ainge tells Washburn (Twitter link).
Earlier updates:
- The Cavs are making efforts to trade down from the top spot to the No. 3-5 range in the draft, where they think Embiid would still be available, tweets Brett Poirier of Sheridan Hoops. The Magic, sitting at No. 4, have not been contacted by Cleveland, a source tells Poirier (Twitter link). The Sixers and Jazz own the third and fifth pick, respectively.
- The Lakers would consider taking Embiid at No. 7 if he fell that far, a source familiar with their thinking tells Mark Medina of Los Angeles Daily News. Unsurprisingly, LA’s choice would hinge on their confidence in the big man’s recovery.
- The Lakers are more likely to hang on to that seventh pick than deal it, despite their ongoing efforts to explore what they could net for it, writes Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. The pick was linked to Klay Thompson as part of the Kevin Love discussions earlier today.
- The Suns are willing to trade away the 27th pick for a future first-rounder, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
- Jakarr Sampson, Niels Giffey, Glenn Robinson III, and Chane Behanan will work out for the Celtics today, tweets Holmes.
- As previously reported, the Warriors, Blazers, Pelicans, and Knicks are all looking to acquire first round draft picks, but the price tag is extremely high due to the deep draft pool, reports Alex Kennedy (via Twitter). Kennedy says that teams are asking for future picks that are unprotected or barely protected in return for first-rounders this year.
- The NBA has invited 21 prospects to the green room for the draft broadcast, Chad Ford of ESPN.com reveals in two tweets. The invite is a sign of consensus around these players as first round selections. The players invited were Andrew Wiggins Jabari Parker, Joel Embiid, Dante Exum, Noah Vonleh, Aaron Gordon, Marcus Smart, Julius Randle, Doug McDermott, Dario Saric, Gary Harris, Elfrid Payton, Nik Stauskas, James Young, Zach LaVine, Jusuf Nurkic, Adreian Payne, T.J. Warren, Tyler Ennis, Rodney Hood, and Shabazz Napier.
Cavs Hire David Blatt As Coach
The Cavs have named David Blatt head coach, the team announced. The 55-year-old Massachusetts native makes an unprecented jump from Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv straight into an NBA head coaching position despite a lack of NBA experience as a player, coach or executive.
Cleveland and the Mike Tannenbaum client were deep into discussions on a deal Thursday night and had resumed talks Friday morning following reports that the Cavs had offered him the job. It’s a four-year contract worth $3.33MM in base salary each season, with incentive clauses that would bump the annual salaries as high as $5MM. The fourth year is a team option.
Blatt beats out Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue, who briefly was the lone competition in a two-man race Thursday. Fellow Clippers assistant Alvin Gentry, whom like Lue received a second interview with the team, instead accepted a position Thursday night as an assistant for the Warriors. Blatt was on Cleveland’s radar from the start of its search, but he emerged as a strong candidate late in the process, and his announcement last week that he was leaving Maccabi Tel Aviv to pursue an NBA job appeared to accelerate the process. He said at that time that he’d spoken with GM David Griffin by phone, and this week he had a formal interview with the club.
Blatt has drawn raves for his work overseas, and as the head man for the Russian national team, he worked with Sergey Karasev, whom the Cavs picked 19th in last year’s draft. Still, multiple reports indicate that the hiring all but removes Cleveland from the race to land LeBron James this summer. Still, the Cavs aren’t concerned with adding either a coach or players to bend to the four-time MVP’s wishes, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio.
The Warriors were pushing Blatt to become an assistant coach for them, and people close to him were apparently advising him to pursue the Golden State job rather than become the first European coach to take an NBA head coaching position. The Timberwolves and Hawks were also reportedly eyeing him for assistant coaching positions, and in Minnesota’s case, he appeared to be Flip Saunders‘ top choice to become a coach-in-waiting of sorts who’d eventually take over as head coach for Saunders.
The Cavs reportedly also interviewed Mark Price, Alvin Gentry, Adrian Griffin, Tyronn Lue, Vinny Del Negro and Lionel Hollins for their head coaching job. Nate McMillan and Mark Jackson also drew mention as candidates. The Cavs also appeared to make a strong run at hiring marquee college coaches John Calipari, Kevin Ollie, Billy Donovan and Tom Izzo.
Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images. Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer first reported that the sides had reached an agreement, along with additional detail. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported that it was a four year deal, later following with the annual numbers (Twitter links). Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com noted that the final year is a team option (on Twitter) and Sam Amick of USA Today confirmed the full value of the contract, including incentives (Twitter link). Sam Amico noted that the Cavs aren’t trying to impress LeBron James with the hiring or with the addition of any certain players this summer.
Western Notes: LeBron, Gentry, Honeycutt
If LeBron James opts out of his contract with the Heat, the Rockets will have as an enticing a situation to offer him as any team in the league, writes Howard Beck of Bleacher Report. Beck lays out what options Houston has to fit James’ salary in, plus notes the team views Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh as secondary options if they fail to land James, provided Bosh and Anthony also exercise their ETO’s.
More from the wild west:
- Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman hands out the grades for Andre Roberson’s 2013/14 season with the Thunder.
- Alvin Gentry will make more than $800K as a Warriors assistant this season, reports Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). That’s a raise on his salary from the Clippers this season but not nearly as much as he would have made if he’d become head coach for the Cavs or Lakers, two jobs for which he was a leading candidate.
- Free agent small forward Tyler Honeycutt will be auditioning for the Rockets and Warriors, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Honeycutt last saw NBA action with the Kings during the 2012/13 season when he averaged 0.9 PPG and 1.1 RPG in nine appearances.
- The Lakers will bring in Shabazz Napier on Sunday for a workout, reports Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News (Twitter link).
- The Grizzlies have a workout scheduled on Saturday for Walter Tavares, reports Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops (Twitter link).
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Magic Eye Top-Two Pick Amid Embiid Concern
3:53pm: Embiid is expected to recover in four to six months, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
12:25pm: The Magic placed calls to the Cavs and Bucks about moving up to acquire their selections after news surfaced of Joel Embiid‘s broken foot, and the Jazz and Sixers made the same inquiries, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com in his latest Insider-only piece. Ford hears from teams who believe Embiid’s recovery timetable is anywhere from four months to a year. Reports have indicated that Utah and Philadelphia have made previous attempts at moving up, but it looks like Embiid’s injury prompted Orlando to pursue trade options it hadn’t been considering. Cleveland and Milwaukee hold the first and second picks, respectively, in Thursday’s draft.
Ford believes the Magic, who pick fourth, had narrowed their choices to Dante Exum and Noah Vonleh before Embiid’s injury, but Thursday’s bombshell apparently prompted desire on the Cavs’ part to bring Exum in for a workout. The Australian guard is the most likely candidate to break into the top three picks if Embiid falls to No. 4 or below, so it would seem Orlando wants to ensure it has a chance to take Exum.
The chances that Embiid goes first or second in the draft are “slim to none,” Ford writes, adding that there’s only a slight chance the Sixers take him at No. 3. The Magic would be 50-50 to take him presuming they stay at No. 4, according to Ford, who says that it’s doubtful the Jazz would draft him fifth. It sounds like Embiid’s floor is No. 6, as Ford hears Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge wouldn’t pass on him at that position as long as the big man’s surgery today goes as planned.
Eastern Notes: Embiid, Sanders, Fredette, Hawks
Sources in Cleveland tell Chad Ford of ESPN.com that it’s highly unlikely that the Cavs forge ahead and take Joel Embiid first overall now that he has a broken foot, as Ford writes in his latest Insider-only mock draft. It’s unclear just how far he’ll fall. Ford has him dropping to the Magic at No. 4, while our Alex Lee has him going to the Celtics at No. 6 in the most recent version of the Hoops Rumors Mock Draft. Embiid’s injury will have reverberations across the league, but especially in the Eastern Conference, as Eastern teams hold five of the top six picks. Here’s more from the East:
- The trade market for Larry Sanders is “virtually non-existent,” according to Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times, running counter to reports that the Kings and Mavs have interest in the Bucks center.
- Panathinaikos of Greece is targeting Jimmer Fredette after Nick Calathes didn’t respond to the club’s apparent three-year $6.5MM offer, as Sport24 reports (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). The Bulls guard hits free agency next month, while Calathes remains on a non-guaranteed contract with the Grizzlies that Memphis isn’t planning to waive.
- The Hawks are set to work out draft prospect Walter Tavares today, tweets Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops. That’s in spite of yesterday’s news that the 7’3″ 22-year-old has signed a three-year extension with a Spanish team.
And-Ones: Cavs, LeBron, Monroe
Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert is open to hiring a “big-name team president” who would have authority over GM David Griffin, but the team has not been considering David Blatt for that role, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Cleveland will also explore trading Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson this summer, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio. Neither are on the trading block, but Amico adds that the Cavs are listening and evaluating their options.
Here’s are some more miscellaneous news and notes to pass along tonight:
- One NBA team president said that Pat Riley appeared nervous when talking about keeping LeBron James during his media presser today, adding that more teams will now be in pursuit of the superstar forward (Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports via Twitter).
- ESPN’s Chris Broussard says that the Cavs should have met with LeBron in free agency first before making a coaching hire, implying that David Blatt’s lack of NBA coaching experience doesn’t help their case of luring the Akron native back home (Twitter link).
- According to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press, Pistons coach/president Stan Van Gundy has been in consistent contact with restricted free agent forward Greg Monroe and Monroe’s agent, David Falk.
- The Hawks, Pelicans, and Wizards are expected to be potential suitors for Monroe this summer, writes Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News. While Stan Van Gundy maintains that keeping Monroe is a “high priority,” he also appears prepared for other scenarios. “We have ideas on who might offer (Monroe) what…You weigh what’s out there because once you give him a qualifying offer, he can sign it or get an offer sheet. What level of an offer would we match? We’re prepared for that and doing due diligence for people who want to sign-and-trade for him.”
- Tom Moore of Calkins Media (via Twitter) hears that a Southeast Division team offered the 76ers more in a trade package than the Pacers did for Evan Turner; that team didn’t hear back from Philadelphia GM Sam Hinkie before the trade deadline ended and Turner was eventually dealt to Indiana.
- Le Mans of the Ligue Nationale de Basket has signed former NBA guard Rodrigue Beaubois, reports Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The 6’2″ guard’s deal reportedly includes an opt-out clause that will allow him to sign with an NBA team before July 25.
Cavs Offer Head Coaching Job To Blatt
10:56pm: The Cavs want to add Tyronn Lue as an assistant to Blatt’s coaching staff, but there’s a slim chance of Lue leaving Doc Rivers’ staff in Los Angeles at this point, tweets Wojnarowski.
10:19pm: According to ESPN’s Chris Broussard and the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn, the Cavaliers will virtually eliminate any chance of bringing LeBron James back to Cleveland if they finalize a deal with Blatt (Twitter links).
10:11pm: A source tells Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio that an announcement of a deal could come as early as tomorrow morning.
8:39pm: The two sides have “a long way to go” in these contract talks, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link).
8:06pm: An NBA source tells Jodie Valade of The Plain Dealer that the Cavs and Blatt are currently in negotiations.
6:52pm: A Cavs source insists that the team has not yet offered the job to Blatt, tweets Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal.
6:38pm: Per league sources, the Cavaliers have offered Blatt their head coaching job, reports Wojnarowski. The two sides are reportedly in the process of negotiating terms of a deal, but no agreement has been reached.
6:10pm: Eurobasket.com’s David Pick hears from Blatt himself that “a decision is coming soon” (Twitter link).
3:54pm: The Cavs have not made a formal offer to Blatt, but resolution could come as early as tonight, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
3:35pm: The Cavs have identified Blatt as their choice and are expected to begin discussions about a deal soon, Wojnarowski reports. Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio hears that approval from owner Dan Gilbert is the final remaining obstacle (Twitter link).
2:59pm: Blatt is the strong favorite for the Cavs job, and an offer is imminent, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links).
1:37pm: The Cavs are believed to be deciding between Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue and former Maccabi Tel Aviv coach David Blatt for their head coaching vacancy, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link). That means that fellow Clippers assistant Alvin Gentry, who like Lue received a second interview, is apparently out of the running.
Blatt received his first face-to-face interview with the Cavs this week after having earlier spoken with GM David Griffin via telephone about the job. He’s also a candidate for an assistant coaching gig in Golden State, and people close to him have advised him to take the Warriors gig rather than go straight into head coaching for his first-ever NBA job, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com. Cleveland is still trying to gather information about the Massachusetts native who played under Pete Carril at Princeton, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
The Cavs apparently are high on Lue because of his ability to connect with young players, Windhorst notes in his full story, and that would be a commodity on an already youthful roster that’s poised to add the No. 1 overall pick in this month’s draft. A report earlier this week indicated the team was quietly continuing to pursue marquee college coaches, and Nate McMillan‘s name surfaced last week as a latecomer to the race, but it sounds at this point like the team’s focus is narrowing.
Embiid Injury Fallout
Here’s the latest surrounding Joel Embiid following today’s announcement about his foot injury:
- Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix points out that 76ers GM Sam Hinkie was part of the Rockets staff when Yao Ming’s playing career was derailed by a similar foot injury; naturally, one would be inclined to wonder if that will have an impact on Philadelphia’s thought process during the draft if Embiid is available (Twitter link).
Earlier updates:
- After polling NBA teams, ESPN Insider Chad Ford says that Embiid is currently projected to go in the 3-6 range. That could all change once teams get a hold of his medical reports, Ford adds (Twitter link).
- A source tells Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio that the Cavaliers won’t make a firm decision on their number one pick until they get Embiid’s results following his surgery.
- The Cavs’ doctors shared the results of Embiid’s physical with the Bucks’ medical staff, who in return exchanged their results of Jabari Parker’s physical, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
- Celtics director of player personnel Austin Ainge told Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston that Embiid’s injury wouldn’t discourage the team from selecting him if he became available at their number six spot on draft night. “We try to think long term that, if a guy has to miss a couple months, that shouldn’t deter us from taking him if he’s going to be the best player long term.”
- CSNNE.com’s A. Sherrod Blakely hears that the Celtics will give serious thought to possibly trading up in the draft to secure Embiid.
- One NBA general manager told Sean Deveney of Sporting News that while Embiid is still a top 10 pick, his injury risks outweigh the possible benefits of selecting him in the top five. “I think there is a point at which you use a pick on him, where you’re hoping maybe these are just fluke things that are not going to be recurring…But that point is not in the Top 5 or so. You can’t use a Top 5 pick. I think there are too many other good options there to think about using the pick on one who has these injury problems.”
Draft Notes: Embiid, Exum, McDermott, Stauskas
Joel Embiid has suffered a right foot injury, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, and there’s fear that it’s broken, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Cavs discovered the injury during his physical exam with the team, it’s prompted Cleveland to want to work out Dante Exum, Wojnarowski says (Twitter link). Agent Arn Tellem tells fellow ESPN scribe Chad Ford that Embiid probably won’t be doing any more workouts before the draft (Twitter link). He was to have auditioned for the Bucks later this week, Goodman notes on Twitter, though the Bucks haven’t heard from Embiid’s camp about whether the workout is canceled or not, according to TNT’s David Aldridge (on Twitter). Tellem told Andy Katz of ESPN.com that he’ll know more about the injury on Friday, as Goodman notes in his piece, so while the top of the draft hinges on tomorrow’s news on Embiid’s foot, here’s more on the wider field of prospects:
- Representatives from the Kings, Nuggets, Wolves and Warriors observed Doug McDermott and Nik Stauskas work out Wednesday in Chicago, Ford tweets.
- C.J. Fair will audition Monday for the Mavericks, reports Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link).
- The Magic are bringing Kendrick Perry in for a second workout, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Perry will also audition Saturday for the Wolves, along with Roscoe Smith, Joe Jackson and Taylor Braun, tweets Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops.
- Isaiah Austin, Aaron Craft, T.J. Bray, Eric Moreland and Daniel Miller are the previously unreported prospects who are showing off for the Raptors today, the team announced via press release. Austin is fresh off an audition on Wednesday for the Clippers, according to Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Twitter link).
- Jabari Brown, Markel Brown, Devin Oliver, Khyle Marshall and Xavier Munford are among those working out for the Celtics today, notes Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Oliver reportedly auditioned for the Celtics last week, too.
- The Kings will audition Michael Dixon on Monday, Scotto tweets.