Donald Sterling OKs Wife To Sell Clippers
12:49pm: The NBA issued a response to the news via press release, suggesting that the league is unmoved by the proposal to have Shelly Sterling conduct the sale of the team.
“We continue to follow the process set forth in the NBA Constitution regarding termination of the current ownership interests in the Los Angeles Clippers and are proceeding toward a hearing on this matter on June 3,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in the statement.
11:11am: Shelly Sterling has agreed to sell the team only if she gets to keep a minority stake, as USA Today’s Brent Schrotenboer, Jeff Zillgitt and Sam Amick report. Since the league insists she would have to relinquish her ownership in entirety as part of any sale, as Shelburne noted, this appears to be a stumbling block.
10:36am: Several in ownership circles expect the Clippers to sell for more than $1 billion, and one source tells Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com that there’s a decent chance the selling price ends up closer to $2 billion than $1 billion, echoing a report from Grantland’s Bill Simmons (Twitter links).
9:49am: Donald Sterling has agreed to let wife Shelly Sterling negotiate the sale of the Clippers, a source tells Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. The NBA hasn’t approved the arrangement yet, Shelburne adds (on Twitter). The league won’t consider the Sterlings’ proposal unless they divest themselves of 100% of their ownership of the club, according to Shelburne. TMZ first reported that Donald Sterling was putting the future of the Clippers in his wife’s hands.
The news is a startling turn, given the widespread assumption that Donald Sterling would put up a strong legal fight to retain the team as the NBA looked to strip it from him. The TMZ report suggests that Shelly Sterling still intends to sue if the league attempts to conduct the sale itself rather than allow her to run it, but it nonetheless is the first indication that the Sterlings are resigned to losing the team.
Commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling for life late last month after determining that he made several racially charged comments on an audio recording. The Board of Governors is set to vote June 3rd to terminate his ownership, and the league maintains that would apply to Shelly Sterling as well. The Sterlings own the Clippers jointly as part of a family trust.
Shelly Sterling and her attorney have vehemently fought the assertion that the NBA’s punishment of her husband should apply to her. She claimed that she was a part of the league’s efforts to find an interim CEO for the team, though a report suggested her hope has been to control a 50% stake in the team and act as a hands-off owner. Dick Parsons, whom the league named interim CEO of the franchise two weeks ago, dismissed the notion that Shelly Sterling had any existing role with the team or that she would have one in the future.
Magic Johnson and the Guggenheim Partners are willing to jointly pay in excess of $1 billion to purchase the Clippers, and a slew of other prospective buyers have lined up. Still, it’s unclear if Johnson, one of the subjects of Donald Sterling’s racist remarks, would want to negotiate with Shelly Sterling, or if Sterling would want to do so with him. Donald Sterling reportedly fears that the league has been trying to engineer the sale of the team to Johnson. Sources told Claire Atkinson of the New York Post that billionaire Antony Ressler is preparing to try to buy the team, and Atkinson hears Ressler is a longtime friend of Donald Sterling. It’s possible, given the close proximity of the timing of Atkinson’s report and the news of Donald Sterling’s willingness to let go of the team, that the Sterlings have Ressler atop their list of preferred buyers, but that’s just my speculation.
Offseason Outlook: Washington Wizards
Guaranteed Contracts
- John Wall ($13,701,250)
- Nene ($13,000,000)
- Martell Webster ($5,381,750)
- Bradley Beal ($4,505,280)
- Otto Porter ($4,470,480)
Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Contracts
- Andre Miller ($4,625,000; guaranteed for $2,000,000)*
- Glen Rice Jr. ($816,482; guaranteed for $400,000)
Free Agents / Cap Holds
- Trevor Ariza ($11,590,920)
- Marcin Gortat ($11,590,920)
- Kevin Seraphin ($6,902,785)
- Trevor Booker ($5,877,050)
- Chris Singleton ($2,489,530)**
- Drew Gooden ($915,243)
- Al Harrington ($915,243)
- Garrett Temple ($915,243)
Draft Picks
- 2nd Round (46th overall)
Cap Outlook
- Guaranteed Salary: $43,458,760
- Options: $0
- Non-Guaranteed Salary: $3,041,482
- Cap Holds: $41,196,934
- Total: $87,697,176
The Wizards entered this season without having won a single game in the second round of the playoffs since 1982, so to come away with two such victories is quite a leap for Washington. Still, the accomplishment comes amid a historic ebb in the strength of the Eastern Conference, in which only two teams finished with more than 48 wins in the regular season. Making it to the second round is but a step along a journey to the ultimate goal of a championship, and navigating the rest of that path might prove just as challenging for a franchise that faces critical decisions this summer.
The first move will seemingly involve a new deal for coach Randy Wittman, who coached this past season on an expiring contract. It seemed his job was safe as he piloted the Wizards to their first playoff appearance in six years, but Marc Stein of ESPN.com revealed that there seemed a decent chance as the playoffs began that the Wizards would part ways with him if they didn’t get past the first round. It’s been a week since the Pacers put Washington out in the second round and there’s still no news of a contract for Wittman, but owner Ted Leonsis has expressed a desire to take some time before making any decisions. Ostensibly, there remains a chance that either the Wizards, Wittman or both decide to end their relationship, but it seems slim at best even as time passes and other teams looking for coaches intensify their searches.
The fluidity of Washington’s coaching situation pales in comparison to the roster, which features only a handful of guaranteed contracts. Re-signing Marcin Gortat appears to be job No. 1 for Washington, a task that will likely require salaries of around $10MM a year. The 30-year-old seems to like playing for the Wizards, but capable starting centers always come at a premium. The Mavs are interested in snatching him away, and others will no doubt pursue the 6’11” center. There’s probably a strong chance that his $10MM price tag goes up, particularly in a free agent market that’s heavy on restricted free agents and players who can opt in for next season.
Any escalation in what Gortat can command will have a direct effect on Trevor Ariza, Washington’s other starter set to hit free agency. Executives around the NBA told Grantland’s Zach Lowe that they expect Ariza and Gortat to run up a combined annual cost of $15-20MM on their next deals. That means Washington’s cap flexibility will likely vanish if the team signs them both. There’s reason for the Wizards to have trepidation about paying too much for Ariza, whose 14.4 points per game this past season approached a career high and who has only twice scored more than 11.0 points per contest in his 10 years in the league.
The free agent pool doesn’t offer much long-range shooting, which could drive up the price for Ariza, who made 40.7% of his three-point attempts this season. The Hawks appear to have him on their list of potential targets, and the Cavs, who can clear plenty of cap room, reportedly engaged in trade discussions about him with the Wizards at the deadline. The lack of shooters on the market could also make it difficult for the Wizards to sign a replacement if he winds up elsewhere. The club is nonetheless confident in Martell Webster, who signed with the team for the full value of the mid-level last summer and whose 39.2% three-point shooting this season was nearly on par with Ariza’s accuracy, even though Webster slumped in the playoffs.
Gortat would be the team’s choice if it can’t re-sign both of them, reportedly in part because of the presence of Webster. There’s also Otto Porter, whom the Wizards no doubt hope will become the long-term solution at small forward. The No. 3 overall pick never earned consistent minutes after an injury sidelined him for the early part of the season, but better health in 2014/15 would seem to offer promise of marked improvement ahead for the former Georgetown Hoya. Locking up Ariza on a long-term deal with Webster’s salary already guaranteed through 2015/16 would signal that the Wizards have quickly lost faith in Porter, and it seems too early to give up on him.
Porter apparently isn’t the only player from Georgetown on the minds of GM Ernie Grunfeld and company. A January report indicated that the team was interested in Greg Monroe, and that news came just days before word of the team’s desire to re-sign Gortat. Inking both Monroe and Gortat wouldn’t make sense for the Wizards, who already have Nene on a long-term contract that would be difficult to trade, so perhaps the team views Monroe as a fallback option to Gortat. Agent David Falk has designs on a max contract for Monroe, who’s still a couple of weeks shy of his 24th birthday and seems likely to command higher salaries than Gortat will. Landing Monroe, who’d make around $14MM on a max deal next season, would probably mean both Gortat and Ariza are goners, but Washington’s full Bird Rights on both of its free agents wouldn’t necessarily preclude the return of Ariza, at least.
Regardless of what happens with Gortat, Ariza and any potential replacements, the Wizards have an opportunity to reshape their bench. Washington is leaning toward keeping Andre Miller, which would require the team to fully guarantee more than $4.6MM to a 38-year-old backup point guard. Grunfeld’s final decision on Miller may hinge on the team’s plans for the rest of the roster. There’s a decent chance it comes to down to a choice between committing to the $2.6MM non-guaranteed portion of Miller’s salary and having the ability to squeeze another full mid-level signing under the tax line. Miller’s salary becomes fully guaranteed before free agency begins in July, complicating the decision. If reports between now and then indicate that Gortat and Ariza are drawing interest from several other clubs, suggesting the price to retain them is going up, I wouldn’t be surprised if the team cuts Miller loose.
The Wizards also face decisions regarding qualifying offers for Trevor Booker and Kevin Seraphin. Booker triggered the starter criteria and is thus in line for a qualifying offer worth $4,677,708, as I explained in March. Seraphin’s qualifying offer would be $3,898,692, somewhat less expensive but nonetheless less likely to be tendered. Seraphin proved unready to take over as the team’s starting center in the absence of the injured Emeka Okafor in the preseason, helping motivate Grunfeld to trade for Gortat. Seraphin wound up falling out of the rotation entirely, and he seems destined for the minimum salary on his next NBA deal.
Booker will probably command more than that, but an offer that’s close to mid-level money seems mighty costly for a player who lost minutes in the playoffs to amnesty refugee Drew Gooden. The team went 23-22 when he started this season, not much worse than its 21-16 record with Nene as its starter, but even if the Wizards wind up re-signing him at a salary close to what his qualifying offer would be, Washington needn’t tether itself to that price. The Wizards would still have Booker’s Bird Rights if they declined to make the qualifying offer, so they’d still have a weapon to ward off interest from other teams even without the right of first refusal.
Grunfeld won’t have the biannual exception at his disposal, having used it last summer on Eric Maynor, who flopped as the backup point guard. Still, the GM was able to swing the deal that brought in Miller, jettisoned Maynor and sent away 2011 No. 6 overall pick Jan Vesely, a high-profile draft bust on Grunfeld’s record. The 2013/14 season was a season of redemption for past failures up and down the Wizards organization, one in which so many of the team’s gambles, including last summer’s max extension for John Wall, were validated. We’ll see this summer whether Grunfeld is willing to go down the familiar path, spend the team’s money on its existing cast, and bank on continued improvement, or if he’ll risk significant changes to the most accomplished Wizards team in decades.
Cap footnotes
* — Miller’s contract becomes fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before June 28th.
** — The cap hold for Singleton is equivalent to the greatest amount Washington can offer him for next season. Because the Wizards declined their fourth-year team option on Singleton before the season, they aren’t allowed to re-sign him for a 2014/15 salary that’s more than he would have earned on that option.
ShamSports and Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ were used in the creation of this post.
Teammates Doubt LeBron James Will Leave Heat
LeBron James‘ Heat teammates have been just as reticent to speak on the record about the four-time MVP’s plans for free agency as James has, but they’ve privately dismissed the idea that he would sign elsewhere this summer, according to Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick. James has an early termination option on his contract that he can exercise to hit free agency this summer, but it would take a “dream scenario” for him to sign elsewhere even if he decides to opt out, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com put it earlier this week. The most likely scenarios involve James either opting in or becoming a free agent and re-signing with the Heat on a new long-term deal, Skolnick writes.
James has dropped few hints about his future even as the Cavs and surely others prepare to bid for the Rich Paul client. Chris Bosh, who like James can opt out this summer, answered affirmatively when asked in March whether he and James would return to the Heat for next season. Heat owner Micky Arison recently pegged the team’s chances of keeping James, Bosh and Dwyane Wade for next season at 100%, but he suggested in the same interview that it could be a challenge to do so.
Bringing back the trio of stars at maximum salaries for next season would require a combined amount close to the projected salary cap, leaving little flexibility to assemble the rest of the roster. Norris Cole is the only Heat player with fully guaranteed salary for next season, which would put pressure on team president Pat Riley and his staff to use Bird rights to re-sign most of the club’s existing talent if James, Wade and Bosh return. Doing so would almost certainly require the Heat to pay the luxury tax for a third straight season, which would trigger repeat-offender penalties.
Bobby Brown Signs Three-Year Chinese Deal
NBA prospect Bobby Brown has signed a three-year deal to remain with the Dongguan Leopards of China, but the contract includes NBA escape clauses, and he’ll play for the Blazers summer league team this year, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter links). The Chinese website Sohu.com originally reported the sides were close to an agreement. The Clippers appeared to show interest in Brown at multiple points this year, but though he seemed destined to return to the league this past season after a 74-point outburst for the Leopards in December, he didn’t wind up with an NBA deal.
Brown was the Chinese Basketball Association’s second leading scorer this past season with 30.7 points per game, and he also dished out 5.7 assists and grabbed 4.0 rebounds in 39.1 minutes per contest. He’s played in Italy and Germany, too, since last appearing in an NBA game in 2009/10. Still, he remained on the radar of NBA teams, playing in summer league for the Raptors in 2010 and 2012 and drawing interest from the Knicks this past summer. The 29-year-old played regular season games for four NBA teams in two seasons after going undrafted out of Cal State Fullerton in 2007.
It’s not clear how much the buyout attached to his new Chinese deal would run if he were to find NBA work. His summer league arrangement with Portland seems to indicate it’s less than $600K, which would allow an NBA team to pay the buyout without the money counting against the cap, but that’s just my speculation.
Amico’s Latest: Cavs, Deng, Waiters, Thompson
There might be more storylines surrounding the Cavs than any other team in the NBA. A third No. 1 overall pick in four years, a coaching search, tons of cap flexibility and the lingering specter of a LeBron James return figure to fill up our Cavs rumors page all summer long. We passed along some news about the Cleveland’s plans for the top draft pick from Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio last night, and he has plenty more on the team in his latest dispatch. We’ll run down the highlights here:
- The Cavs will likely explore sign-and-trade possibilities for Luol Deng, Amico writes. Deng has given indications that he doesn’t want to re-sign with Cleveland, and the Cavs can still execute a sign-and-trade even if they renounce his Bird rights to clear cap space.
- Teams around the league have interest in Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson, Amico writes. It’s nonetheless unclear how willing the team is to trade either of them.
- The Cavs don’t appear to be ruling out a trade of Anderson Varejao, Amico suggests.
- GM David Griffin has reportedly been planning a strong push to retain Spencer Hawes, but Amico hears the team is having second thoughts about the center.
- The coaching search remains “in the very early stages,” Amico writes, but Tom Izzo isn’t a possibility, in spite of Cleveland’s reported pursuit, and John Calipari is highly unlikely to end up in the job, according to the Fox Sports Ohio scribe.
- Bulls assistant coach Adrian Griffin remains a legitimate candidate for the Cavs head coaching position, but Clippers assistant Alvin Gentry, whom the Cavs want to interview, would have to dazzle owner Dan Gilbert to be hired, sources tell Amico.
And-Ones: Garnett, Williams, Longabardi
Here’s what else we’ve heard from around the Association tonight:
- Despite his drop in production, all indications still point to Kevin Garnett returning to the Nets in 2014/15 for his 20th NBA season, writes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post.
- With Deron Williams scheduled to undergo dual ankle surgery soon, it obviously complicates Brooklyn’s chances of moving him this summer, says Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
- It’s difficult to understand why Suns assistant Mike Longabardi hasn’t been on the radar of any NBA teams with head coaching openings right now, opines Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. Longabardi, who previously served as an assistant coach to both Doc Rivers and Tom Thibodeau, is credited for improving Phoenix’s defense last season (Twitter link).
- Mannix suggests (via Twitter) that the Grizzlies should consider surrendering a first round draft pick in exchange for Thibodeau.
- The Knicks were not one of the teams that contacted Florida coach Billy Donovan about their coaching vacancy, a source tells Marc Berman of the New York Post.
Draft Links: Cavs, Jazz, Stauskas
Sources tell Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio that the Cavaliers are apprehensive about Joel Embiid’s potential long-term back issues, which appears to have consequently put the Kansas star out of the running for their number one selection. This probably won’t prevent the team from doing their due diligence on Embiid, though Amico intimates that the team will do their own extensive health evaluation rather than rely on independent testing. As for their other draft options, Cleveland is still reportedly unsure about who they’d choose between Jabari Parker or Andrew Wiggins (All Twitter links).
Here are more draft-related links worth passing along tonight:
- The Jazz currently have the fifth, 23rd, and 35th selections in this year’s draft, and GM Dennis Lindsey tells Jody Genessy of the Deseret News that he’ll be actively exploring his options on draft night. “We think those are terrific assets and we feel really good about them. We’ll see if we can aggregate them and move up. We’ll see if we want to move out via trade…there are several good options and I think we’ll have a ton of interesting conversations. I think we’ll have a dilemma — and I say that in a good way — because we’re going to have several good options. Our job is to pick the best option.”
- Nik Stauskas tested well enough athletically at last week’s combine to give some encouraging signs about his defensive potential, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Known more for his shooting ability in college, Stauskas has faced some concerns about his ability to defend at the NBA level.
- At last week’s NBA pre-draft camp, more than half of 31 draft-eligible players said that they would select Parker with the first overall pick, says Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times.
- The individual pros and cons of Wiggins, Parker, and Embiid, along with what executives should consider when picking in the mid-lottery, are just two of several hot topics that Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and SB Nation’s Paul Flannery tackle on the latest Drive & Kick podcast.
Latest On Grizzlies, Wolves, Dave Joerger
10:41pm: Mitchell has indeed interviewed for the T’Wolves head coaching job, notes Wojnarowski, though Joerger is still on track to sit down with Taylor this weekend in what could be a precursor to his hiring.
6:08pm: Sam Mitchell will be in the mix to join Joerger’s coaching staff if the latter becomes Minnesota’s next head coach, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN, who also points out that Joerger and Mitchell are both represented by Warren Legarie (Twitter links).
5:30pm: Joerger’s meeting with Taylor could ultimately clear the way for him to become Minnesota’s next head coach, and the Grizzlies are likely to ask for a second-round pick in exchange for letting Joerger out of his contract, reports Wojnarowski.
3:22pm: Joerger met with Saunders today and will see Taylor this weekend, sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
3:09pm: The Grizzlies have made no formal contact with any potential replacement for Joerger, reports Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal in a subscription-only piece. Tillery seconds Vernon’s report about the team’s interest in Karl, Van Gundy and Gentry, and writes that while the team hasn’t completely ruled out a reunion with Hollins, it’s still unlikely. A report this week indicated that the team would pursue Tom Thibodeau, but that’s off-base, according to Tillery.
2:50pm: Taylor likes Mitchell, but the Wolves owner won’t stand in the way if Saunders decides to hire Joerger, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, who hears that a formal announcement about Minnesota’s coaching vacancy isn’t likely to come today.
2:16pm: The Wolves are prepared to wait and see if the Grizzlies fire Joerger rather than give up too much in compensation while he’s still under contract with Memphis, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter).
11:23am: The Grizzlies haven’t spoken with Hollins about a return to Memphis, USA Today’s Sam Amick tweets.
11:07am: Spears clarifies that Hollins and Mitchell remain in the mix for the Minnesota job, but it appears the Wolves don’t necessarily have interviews scheduled for them, as they reportedly do with Joerger (Twitter link).
10:59am: The Wolves are likely to interview Mitchell and Lionel Hollins in addition to Joerger, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
10:47am: The Wolves have made “significant progress” toward hiring Joerger, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
THURSDAY, 8:36am: It is believed the Timberwolves will offer their head coaching job to Joerger, according to Tillery, even though The Commercial Appeal scribe notes Taylor’s reported preference for Mitchell (subscription-only link).
WEDNESDAY, 3:32pm: The Grizzlies would consider George Karl, Jeff Van Gundy and Alvin Gentry if they part ways with Joerger, reports Chris Vernon of 92.9 FM ESPN in Memphis, who seconds an earlier report that the team will not pursue Eric Musselman (Twitter links).
3:21pm: The Wolves are set to interview Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger for their coaching vacancy Thursday, but Minnesota owner Glen Taylor prefers Sam Mitchell to Joerger, according to Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal, who writes in a subscription-only piece. Joerger, a Minnesota native, is close with Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders, who wants to hire a young coach, Tillery says.
The Grizzlies will allow Joerger to continue as their coach if he fails to land the Wolves job provided he can repair his relationships with the Memphis players, Tillery adds. Grizzlies brass views Joerger as a “Jason Levien guy,” as Tillery puts it, referring to the ousted Memphis CEO. Levien denied Minnesota’s request to interview Joerger last week, but Grizzlies owner Robert Pera gave the Wolves the OK to meet with the coach after firing Levien on Monday.
Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace remarked to Tillery that the matter of Joerger’s interview with Minnesota is a “very unique situation” that’s in a “preliminary stage.” Still, a source suggests to Tillery that where the coach ends up will ultimately hinge on how much Memphis demands from the Wolves in compensation for letting Joerger out of his contract, which still has two seasons left on it. Earlier reports indicated that the compensation wouldn’t be a stumbling block and that the Grizzlies are prepared to facilitate a deal, but it sounds like Memphis won’t let the Wolves off too easy if they decide on Joerger instead of Mitchell.
Nuggets President: Shaw Won’t Coach Knicks
Nuggets president Josh Kroenke tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports that Brian Shaw will remain with the Nuggets and that he doesn’t foresee the 48-year-old head coach leaving anytime soon. This morning, we relayed that Knicks president Phil Jackson was still hopeful about finding a way to lure Shaw away from Denver; however, New York was reportedly in doubt about how they’d be able to compensate the Nuggets in return. Wojnarowski reports that the Knicks haven’t reached out for permission to speak with Shaw. Earlier tonight, a source told Marc Berman of the New York Post that Shaw would have been willing to listen to Jackson’s pitch only if the Nuggets gave their blessing.
Nonetheless, Kroenke made it clear that the Nuggets and Shaw are mutually committed to each other. “Brian has said publicly – and privately to us – that his desire is to be here, and we feel strongly about him as our coach…I don’t foresee a scenario or circumstance where he’s going to be anywhere but with the Nuggets next season.”
With Shaw now out of the fold, Derek Fisher stands as the frontrunner to land the Knicks’ head coaching vacancy. The 39-year-old guard is also considered a candidate for the Lakers’ opening, although sources tell Wojnarowski that L.A. is leaning toward hiring a candidate with head coaching experience. Fisher has a strong interest in becoming a head coach next season, Wojnarowski hears, adding that Jackson wants to hire a coach whom he can mold and who’s willing to run the triangle. So, it appears that New York will be Fisher’s likeliest landing spot next season if he wants the job.
Poll: Steve Kerr’s 2014/15 Expectations?
It will presumably be baptism by fire for rookie head coach Steve Kerr next season, as he looks to lead a team coming off of 51 wins and an ultra-competitive seven-game series against the Clippers in the first round of the playoffs. Although Kerr’s strong relationship with Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob and team GM Bob Myers has been highly publicized, it’s interesting to note that not many of the players have publicly commented much on Kerr’s hiring, reportedly out of support for Mark Jackson. Thus, in addition to the challenge of winning the players over, Kerr understands that the team’s expectations will be high.
“I know I have big shoes to fill…Mark was very successful there and has done a great job with the players. They all appreciated him…But I look at that as a positive because I’m inheriting a good team. I’d rather inherit a good team with expectations than a bad team with a low bar. It’s not even close. So I’m aware there are going to be expectations. That comes with the territory. I would challenge anybody to find a job in the NBA that isn’t rife with challenges. They’re all just a little different,” Kerr recently told Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area.
When Jackson was hired by Golden State in 2011, he boldly predicted that the team would make the playoffs in his first year. Soon after the 2011/12 season began, he predicted that then-rookie Klay Thompson would win the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award. Kerr refrained from making his own bold predictions, choosing instead to focus on continuing the franchise’s improvement over the last two seasons.
“My view is not ‘we have to win 52 games next year’ or we have to get to the second round…My view is ‘What are we going to do the next decade?’ ‘What are we going to do the next five years?’ My goal is to continue this upward trend the organization is on.”
Though Kerr wouldn’t admit a specific goal for next season, it’s still an interesting topic worth discussing. With that in mind, what will signify that upward trend in his first season as a rookie head coach in Golden State?