Western Notes: Hollins, Mavs, Rockets
After all of the excitement in the first round, the Blazers return to their home floor with hopes of making their series with the Spurs competitive. Portland has been significantly outmatched in a second round that has been somewhat of a letdown to this point. Here’s more from out West:
- A source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that the Warriors will interview Lionel Hollins for their head coaching vacancy at next week’s pre-draft camp in Chicago (Twitter link). Many names have surfaced in connection with the job, but Hollins is the first reported candidate to reach the interview stage.
- Michael Finley tells EJ Holland of The Dallas Morning News he thinks that Dirk Nowitzki will continue to play great basketball for the Mavs over the next few years, and sees the future Hall of Fame forward as a draw for free agents Dallas will be pursuing this summer. “We have money to spend. Hopefully, some of those key free agents will want to come to Dallas,” said Finley, who works in the Dallas front office. “If we can get some of those key guys to come in, that would be great, but I’m happy with the team that finished this year.”
- Bill Ingram of Basketball Insiders looks ahead to the summer for the Rockets, noting what he thinks Houston needs to change in order to reach the next level.
Eastern Notes: Kerr, Brand, Cavs
The Nets hope to avoid falling in a 0-3 hole to the Heat tonight in Brooklyn. So far, the champs have faced little resistance on their quest to represent the Eastern Conference in the Finals for the fourth straight year. Here’s more from the East:
- Marc Berman of The New York Post says that the Knicks are comfortable waiting for Steve Kerr to join the team, if hired, until after the playoffs (Twitter links). Kerr would have three weeks with the team before the draft, and the Knicks front office is already handling draft preparation in the event they are able to acquire any picks, since they have none at the moment.
- Elton Brand tells Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Consititution that if he returns for another season, he would like it to be with the Hawks. “Absolutely,” said Brand. “It was a great year for me and for the team and everything this organization is building and stands for.” Brand is planning on deciding whether to retire over the next couple months.
- The Cavs offered the No. 1 2013 pick, Dion Waiters, and Tristan Thompson to the Wolves for Kevin Love in a failed attempt to acquire the All-Star power forward last summer, Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer reports. The revelation came in a mailbag response where Boyer dismissed Cleveland’s chances at trading for Love in the future.
Central Notes: Bulls, Antetokounmpo, Bucks
The Pacers took a 2-1 series lead over the Wizards last night, and are one step closer to representing the Central Division in the Eastern Conference Finals. That accomplishment seemed like an inevitability during the season, but Indiana has had to desperately claw their way this far after a late season swoon and continued struggles in the postseason. Here’s more out of the Central:
- Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times looks at the Bulls’ options to back up star center Joakim Noah next season. Aside from the possible return of free agent Nazr Mohammed, Cowley speculates that Jason Collins or Greg Oden could be a good fit. Cowley doesn’t see any potential matches at center where Chicago will be selecting in the draft.
- The Bucks plan to put second-year players Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nate Wolters on their summer league roster, along with their incoming draft picks, vice president of player personnel Dave Babcock tells Charles F. Gardner of The Journal Sentinel.
- Babcock doesn’t expect the Bucks to work out as many players this year due to the position of their draft picks. “It’s going to limit us to maybe five or six guys [in the first round], and then we have 31, 36 and 48,” he tells Gardner. “So a lot of those players in between are saying, ‘We’re not coming in there, because we don’t think we’ll be at 31.’ You know how that goes.”
Pacific Notes: Sterlings, Kings, Young
The Kings finalized a 35-year lease agreement to build a new arena in Sacramento, according to a report from Dale Kasler, Tony Bizjak and Ryan Lillis of The Sacramento Bee. The agreement still has to be voted on by city council, but there are no signs at this point that the measure would fail. Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- The NBA is not worried about Shelly Sterling’s long term involvement with the Clippers, sources with knowledge of the league’s legal strategy tell Michael McCann of SI.com. There is no danger of Shelly becoming a controlling owner of the team by default, and the only way she could be named a controlling owner would be with league approval.
- McCann has also learned that Sterling is likely to lose her share along with Donald Sterling if the league is successful in their push to oust him. California property law views the team as a single property shared by the Sterlings, not two distinct 50/50 pieces that the league could strip in part.
- League officials are not worried about a “slippery slope” precedent being set with the ouster, per McCann. Private comments made by other owners in the past or future will not be subject to these measures, except for egregious cases that create exceptional outrage like Sterling’s comments did.
- In anticipating the likelihood of a Sterling lawsuit, the SI.com scribe shares that the league is more concerned with the legal process becoming dragged out and embarrassing than it is with the strength of its case, which it expects to hold up in court.
- Mike Trudell of Lakers.com takes a look at Nick Young‘s season with the Lakers, asking the pending free agent about his future with the team. “Hopefully I could be back but we’ll see what [the Lakers] plans are after the draft and settle in to what they want to do,” said Young. “I appreciate everything they said to me and being able to do what I do here.” The Lakers are rumored to be interested in bringing the shooting guard back next year.
And-Ones: Kerr, Shengelia, Coaches
Tornike Shengelia is in talks to sign with a Spanish league team, per Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Shengalia has played in 45 games over the last two seasons for the Nets and Bulls, who waived the small forward in April. Here’s more from around the NBA:
- Steve Kerr‘s agent tells Diamond Leung of Bay Area News Group that there is “nothing new” for his client this evening (Twitter link). The Knicks were expected to extend a written contract offer to Kerr by the end of the day.
- Sources tell Marc Berman of The New York Post that a decision from Kerr won’t happen until next week, due in part to formal details that need to be worked out on a contract.
- In the same piece, Kerr tells Berman that he decided to finish out the playoffs as a commentator for TNT because he is under contract and it’s “the right thing to do.” Berman reports that the Knicks aren’t bothered by Kerr’s choice.
- Tim Bontemps of The New York Post ranks the six head coaching vacancies in the NBA, and offers some under-the-radar candidates for each.
Clippers Notes: Sterling, Rivers, Magic
Doc Rivers says the Clippers’ situation is still “murky” following the hire of interim CEO Dick Parsons, and he wishes he could have a “do-over” on his initial conversation with Shelly Sterling, tweets Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Presumably, Rivers was as unaware of Sterling’s drive to maintain her entire stake in the team at the time. Here’s more from L.A.:
- Shelly Sterling’s lawyer made an appearance on CNN, vowing to fight any attempt to strip the team from her “to the death” (quote via Rachel Nichols of ESPN.com).
- Magic Johnson told reporters including Eric Prisbell of USA Today that Clippers players wouldn’t play for the team if Sterling retains her 50% share in the team, as she intends to do. “Those guys are not going to play for anybody [named] Sterling,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be hard for them to sell that to the fans and definitely to the players.”
- Johnson won’t say how interested he is in purchasing the team, telling Prisbell that he is hesitant to comment on what will likely be a long process leading up to a sale. “Donald Sterling is going to fight it. You know that. It is going to be a long time,” said Johnson. “I have other things to do before I just say my level of interest. The team has to be up for sale. And I think that is going to be eight months to a year. Once it’s official, that it’s really up for sale, we’ll take a look at it.”
Draft Rumors: Blazers, Bucks, International
The Blazers won’t hold pre-draft workouts, tweets Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. Portland doesn’t own any 2014 draft picks, and will opt to travel to observe workouts instead. Here are more of tonight’s draft rumors:
- The Bucks have begun working out deep draft prospects, vice president of player personnel Dave Babcock tells Jim Hoehn of The Associated Press. “With four draft picks, and we’ve [already] got some young guys that are going to play for us that are already on our team…we’ll have to see how that goes,” said Babcock.
- Hoehn adds that the Bucks have worked out Ben Brust, Jake Thomas, Tyler Braun, and Mike Moser, all of whom are projected as second rounders at best.
- Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders profiles some of the top international prospects from the 2014 draft class.
Eastern Rumors: Thibodeau, Kerr, Celtics
The Pacers and Wizards are both trying to turn their conference semi-finals series in their own favor tonight, with the teams tied at 1-1. Here’s a rundown of some of tonight’s Eastern rumors:
- Sam Smith of Bulls.com says he hasn’t heard that any team has requested permission to speak with Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau. The Lakers and Warriors are rumored to be interested in pursuing Thibodeau while he is still under contract with Chicago.
- Amar’e Stoudemire voiced his support for Steve Kerr as the next potential Knicks coach on ESPN Radio (transcription via Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com). “I like Steve Kerr. For one, when he was a GM [in Phoenix, when Stoudemire was with the Suns] he was always preaching about winning and winning a title and that’s something that I adored about him,” Stoudemire said. “And then also, secondly, he has a formula to win; he’s been a winner in this league before.”
- Michael Zarren, Celtics assistant GM & team counsel, shared Boston’s official draft lottery combinations on Celtics.com.
Latest On Dick Parsons
We found out earlier today that Dick Parsons will be running the Clippers as their interim CEO as the league moves forward with its effort to strip banned owner Donald Sterling of the team. More details on the nature of his role are streaming in, mostly from the man himself. Here’s a roundup of the latest:
- Parsons told Shelburne that he hopes his tenure is completed within months. “It’s interim and my hope would be that it’s months. How many, I can’t say,” said Parsons. “Because the longer this thing stays unresolved… this is not a pleasant story. We’ve got to get this behind us. But I can’t say anymore than anybody else can say how long it’s going to take.
- While still pledging to cede control to Doc Rivers for basketball matters including the draft, Parsons again told Shelburne that he is the ultimate authority in L.A. For example, Parsons said that he would give the final yes or no for free agent signings.
- Rivers told reporters including Medina that he is on board with the installation of Parsons (Twitter link). “I trust the league in this so well,” said Rivers. “They’re smarter than me.”
- Rivers called Parsons a “very good hire” for the Clippers, tweets Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
Earlier updates:
- Magic Johnson offered warm praise of Parsons, taking to Twitter to call the interim CEO an “idol” of his. Johnson has interest in purchasing the Clippers.
- Parsons told Aldridge that Adam Silver first approached him about the position on Monday.
- While Parsons left Rivers in charge of basketball decisions, he maintains that he will still be the ultimate decision maker. “Every organization needs an ultimate leader. That doesn’t mean the ultimate leader has to make all the calls,” Parsons told Aldridge. “What I’ve said to [Rivers] is in my early background in law, I love and embrace the partnership approach to management. But at the end of the day, the CEO has to sign off on all the decisions.”
- That lines up with his description of himself to Shelburne (Twitter link) as “proxy owner” for all team matters other than the “sale or alienation of the team.”
- Parsons tells Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today that he has no plans to stay with the team beyond this time of transition, and characterized his job as a temporary, emergency fix for a “headless” organization. “It’s hurting the players, it’s hurting the team, it’s hurting the game, it’s hurting the fans, it’s hurting advertising and it’s hurting, frankly, the league. It’s blown up beyond that,” said Parsons. “It’s an issue that’s more important than the Clippers and even the NBA. … How we handle it in this country is going to be noted not just by people who live here but by people around the world. I’m happy to try and help.”
- Parsons told Zillgitt that he will step down from his position on the board of governors for Madison Square Garden, which controls the Knicks, but he will not move to Los Angeles.
- Parsons reiterated to Zillgitt that Doc Rivers will still be very much in charge of basketball decisions in L.A. “I told [Rivers], ‘You run the basketball side. I’ll run the business side and we’ll get this done together.'”
- Parsons revealed to Mark Medina of Los Angeles Daily News that his role will fill those of both banned owner Donald Sterling and inactive team president Andy Roeser. “My job is to build those two roles and provide leadership and stability to the team and to be the voice of ownership on [matters] that come before the NBA other than the sale of the team,” Parsons said.
- Parsons told Medina that he doesn’t see Shelly Sterling having any managing say for the Clippers moving forward. “She is a beneficial owner of the team and has an ownership interest,” Parsons said. “But she doesn’t have a current role with the team and I don’t believe that will change.”
- Parsons would not speculate to Medina on whether or not Shelly Sterling will be forced to give up her share in the team. “In terms of sale and who owns what and who’s going to own what as we go forward, that’s still in the court of the NBA,” said Parsons.
- Parsons tells the Los Angeles Daily News scribe that it’s “very hard to tell” how long this transition will take to resolve. “The league is hopeful that we can get through this transition period before the beginning of the next season,” Parsons said. “I hope they are right. But we will have to wait and see.
- The 66-year-old Parsons told David Aldridge of NBA.com he is not interested in owning the Clippers (Twitter link). “I’m an old guy now. I’d rather be with my grandkids.”
- Parsons told Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times he won’t be involved in any resolution between Shelly Sterling and the league. “That is really between the Sterlings and the NBA,” said Parsons. “My job is to really be a conservator of the assets, to manage the assets so it runs properly, we keep the momentum, we build the value while that question of ownership is being bought out in another arena, an arena in which I’m not standing.”
- Sterling repeated her assertion that she consulted with the NBA on its search for a Clippers CEO, and says she approves of the league’s choice of Parsons, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter links).
- Parsons told Shelburne that he will be reaching out to Sterling soon, because she is a stakeholder and she, unlike her husband, has not been banned (Twitter links).
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Pacific Rumors: Kings, Thompson, Lakers
The Kings are canvassing their fans for input on this year’s draft, and GM Pete D’Alessandro will meet with those who submit the best ideas for player evaluation and invite a few of them into the team’s war room on draft night, as he explained in a Reddit chat today. Whether he’ll actually listen or if it’s just a publicity stunt remains to be seen, but it’s another example of the experimental approach the new Kings brass has been taking. Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- The Kings will favor the best player available over positional needs in the draft, D’Alessandro also said on Reddit.
- Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group suggests that Klay Thompson will wind up with $12MM annual salaries in an extension from the Warriors this summer (Twitter link). Co-owner Joe Lacob has vowed to strike a deal with the shooting guard.
- Kobe Bryant, in an appearance Thursday on Jimmy Kimmel Live, said he wants the Lakers to consult him on their next coach and claimed they didn’t do so when they hired Mike Brown and Mike D’Antoni, but that’s revisionist history, writes Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding. Bryant is on record as having said he spoke with co-owner Jim Buss about D’Antoni during the team’s 2012 coaching search, Ding points out.
- Bryant also said on Kimmel’s show that he “didn’t care” whether the Lakers retained D’Antoni, who resigned last week. Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com rounds up more from Bryant’s turn on late-night TV.