Western Notes: Draft, Clippers, Warriors
With the 2014 NBA Draft approaching, college coaches and player agents are relieved that Clippers owner Donald Sterling received a lifetime ban, writes Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. A number of coaches Zagoria spoke to said there wouldn’t be an issue for any players the Clippers draft now that Sterling is gone.
More from the west:
- The Jazz announced that they will hold pre-draft workouts tomorrow for Joe Jackson, Justin Cobbs, Fuquan Edwin, Cameron Clark, Travis Bader, and Josh Huestis (Twitter links).
- Bryce Cotton is going to work out for the Jazz and the Kings this week, per a tweet from PL Sports Management. The point guard is currently ranked 62nd on Chad Ford of ESPN.com‘s Big Board.
- The Warriors are intrigued by both Lionel Hollins and Mike D’Antoni for their vacant head coaching position, reports Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link).
- Golden State hasn’t reached out to either Steve Kerr or Jeff Van Gundy yet for their coaching position, reports Zagoria (Twitter link).
- On the possibility of re-signing with the Grizzlies, Mike Miller said, “as long as everything is done fairly, I’m definitely going to be back here,” tweets Rob Fischer of Sports 56 WHBQ. Miller is an unrestricted free agent.
Sefko On Mavs: LeBron, Chandler, Draft
Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News addressed a number of topics regarding the Mavericks in his weekly chat earlier today. Here are some of the highlights:
- If LeBron James opts out of his contract with the Heat this summer, Sefko believes the Mavs will get a chance to make their best pitch thanks to the presence of owner Mark Cuban.
- Sefko believes it’s a long shot that the team swings a deal for the Knicks Tyson Chandler. He believes that other teams, such as the Thunder, would have more to offer New York if they put Chandler on the trading block.
- He doesn’t believe the Mavs will make a trade to move into the first round of the draft. Sefko says the current indications from the front office are that the talent available in the 20 to 40 range are very similar. The Mavericks have a high second-round pick which they received from the Celtics in the Kelly Olynyk trade and they believe they can find value there, according to the article.
- The four most likely free agent targets for the Mavs this summer, opines Sefko, are Luol Deng, Spencer Hawes, Marcin Gortat, and Trevor Ariza.
- Sefko doesn’t think that Jason Terry is a likely target for a return to the team.
Eastern Notes: Bucks, Hawks, Brand, Mack
The Bucks‘ Brandon Knight doesn’t have a preference to who the team chooses if it lands the first overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, writes Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Knight said, “That’s for our team to decide. I just want a guy, whoever he is, to come in and work hard and understand the type of year we had last year. He [the draft pick] wasn’t a part of it, but understand we can’t repeat that type of season and that none of the guys here will be in a mood where that will be repeated. Our mind-set is going to be totally different. We’re going to approach the game differently. We’re going to remember how this year went for us and use it as motivation.”
More from the east:
- Elton Brand will take a couple of months before deciding if he will return for a 16th NBA season, writes Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Brand will be an unrestricted free agent after playing out his one-year $4MM contract with the Hawks. In 73 games this season, Brand averaged 5.7 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 1.0 APG in 19.4 minutes per game.
- Vivlamore also notes that Shelvin Mack, who is a restricted free agent, would like to return to the Hawks. Mack said, “I would like to be back. I’ll continue to work and improve my game and let my agent and everyone else deal with that. Of course (I want to return). I feel like it’s a great situation for me.” In 73 games this season, he averaged 7.5 PPG, 2.2 RPG, and 3.7 APG in 20.4 minutes per contest.
- The Hawks have a de-facto team option on Pero Antic, whose $1.25MM non-guaranteed salary for next season becomes fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before July 15th. Team intends to keep him past that date, according to Vivlamore (Twitter link). Antic appeared in 50 games and averaged 7.0 PPG, 4.2 RPG, and 1.2 APG in 18.5 minutes played.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Nuggets And Faried To Discuss Extension
The Nuggets plan to make Kenneth Faried a part of their long-term plans by opening contract extension talks with the power forward and his agent, Thad Foucher, this summer, reports Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Nuggets GM Tim Connelly said, “We’ll talk to his representation. I think Kenneth is happy here. I think he’s really embraced what (Coach) Brian (Shaw) is trying to instill. Those are the type of guys that deserve to get paid.”
Connelly also said, “Kenneth was great this year. I think there was an adjustment period with Kenneth and Brian. And for the last couple of months he was playing at as high a level as anybody. He’s the heart and soul of our team. His consistent energy and toughness, I was really happy to see. I think he grew this year. I think he really improved on both ends, not just the offensive end. He’s a guy that’s going to play a huge role in our success moving forward.”
Faried is coming off his best season as a pro, during which he averaged a career-high 13.7 PPG and 8.6 RPG while shooting 54.5 percent from the field, which was eighth best in the NBA. Dempsey opines that it was Faried’s post-All Star break performance that helped solidify him as a key cog in the team’s future. After the All-Star game he averaged a team-high 18.8 PPG and 10.1 RPG. The Nuggets were 17-10 in games in which he recorded a double-double, notes Dempsey.
Coach Brian Shaw was adamant after the season that he wanted Faried back on the team, reports Dempsey. “I definitely want to have him back and expect to have him back,” Shaw said. Faried was the subject of a number of trade rumors during the course of the season.
Faried is entering the final year of his rookie-scale contract, which will pay him $2.2MM during the 2014/15 season. The extension cannot be signed until the July moratorium ends, and would have to be completed by October 31st. Dempsey believes that Faried will seek a deal in at least the $10MM-$11MM per season range.
Coaching Rumors: Jackson, Kerr, Karl, Izzo
Mark Jackson addressed the circumstances regarding his former Warriors assistant coaches Brian Scalabrine and Darren Erman in an interview with the NBA’s Sirius XM radio station earlier today (hat tip to Ben Golliver of SI.com). Of Scalabrine, Jackson said, “The one that was demoted [Scalabrine], I would have had handled it six weeks, a month, two months earlier. The things that took place from his side, I would have nipped it in the bud initially. That’s my fault for allowing it to go on. I’m pretty much a guy, just like ministry, I try to show you a different way of handling it. Hope that seeing me handle your disrespect, you’ll come around and realize this isn’t the way to handle it. Fortunately for me, it works for a lot of folks, there are some folks that just won’t get it and you have to handle them differently. I would do that differently.”
In regards to Erman, Jackson said, “As far as assistants, you have to pick people who are loyal and dedicated. It’s inexcusable what the second assistant [Erman] did. That cannot be tolerated. For folks to say, two situations, it’s obviously documented that they both were 100 percent wrong. The only fault I got is hiring those guys. I would use wisdom in who is around me.”
More from around the league:
- Steve Kerr is only focusing on the Knicks and Warriors and isn’t thinking about the Jazz, who reportedly have interest, or other openings, according to Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck, who also reiterates his earlier report that Kerr prefers to stay close to his home on the West Coast.
- George Karl said he felt bad about what happened to Jackson with the Warriors, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. Karl said he’s interested in any other team with an opening, and mentioned the Pistons and Knicks specifically, according to Amico’s tweet.
- Karl was roommates with Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak in college, and though he hasn’t heard from the team yet, he expects to, reports Amico (Twitter link).
- The Timberwolves first choice to become their next head coach is Tom Izzo, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. The team is waiting for a definitive no from Izzo before looking at other candidates, reports Wolfson.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Lakers, Chris Bosh Have Mutual Interest
The Lakers and Chris Bosh have interest in each other as Bosh nears potential free agency this summer, reports Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. The Mavs are apparently unwilling to shell out a premium for the Heat big man, as we noted earlier today, and while Amico suggests money may be a stumbling block for the purple-and-gold, it appears the two sides can see a path to a deal. Amico first wrote of L.A’s interest in February.
Bosh has hinted that he and LeBron James are most likely to stick in Miami for at least one more year. Both have early termination options on their contracts worth $20.59MM, and both would be in line for a starting salary worth close to that amount if they were to hit the market. They’re not necessarily a package deal, Amico writes, noting that while Bosh and James have a fully functioning professional relationship, they aren’t close friends.
The Lakers only have about $34.1MM in commitments for next season, so finding the cap room necessary to fit a max deal for Bosh wouldn’t be a problem as long as the Lakers want to shell out that much for the 30-year-old, who’ll probably command a four-year contract. The acquisition of the Henry Thomas client would accelerate the Lakers’ rebuilding project and likely please Kobe Bryant, who’s ever-anxious to win, but it would make it more difficult for the club to pursue Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge, Rajon Rondo or other marquee talents set to hit free agency in 2015.
Bosh may also elect to put himself in that 2015 class of free agents if he opts in, and perhaps the Lakers consider a pursuit of the former No. 4 overall pick more likely then. Regardless of when he hits the market, he’ll draw plenty of eyes around the league. Bosh is No. 3 in the latest Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings, and our Charlie Adams examined his free agent stock in March.
Pacific Rumors: Sterling, Jackson, Kings
Shelly Sterling, wife of banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling, caught the NBA by surprise Tuesday, issuing a statement through a law firm, as Mike Bresnahan, Broderick Turner and David Wharton of the Los Angeles Times detail. The statement asserts that she’s working with the league in its search for a new Clippers CEO and refers to Shelly Sterling as co-owner of the Clippers. Sources have told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com that she’s informed the league that she wants to keep the team, as fellow ESPN.com scribe Darren Rovell writes. For now, Doc Rivers and other team department heads are jointly in charge of the team, while the NBA’s Advisory/Finance Committee continues to search for a Clippers CEO and work toward Donald Sterling’s ouster, the league announced. Here’s more from a tumultuous Pacific Division:
- Former Warriors coach Mark Jackson made the media rounds today, appearing on SiriusXM NBA Radio, 95.7 The Game in the Bay Area, and The Dan Patrick Show. Jackson said co-owner Joe Lacob’s expectation of a top-four finish in the Western Conference was unrealistic, notes Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group, and the coach is upset about media reports that he believes the team leaked during their meeting on Tuesday (Twitter links).
- Jackson also rejected the notion that his religion was an issue, suggesting the Warriors used the idea to gin up positive PR for the team, as Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com observes. “I think it’s unfortunate because if it was true, you don’t encourage media to come do a piece on my church, on my ministry, the work on my faith,” Jackson said. “Don’t do it when it’s convenient and you’re searching for something. I never went around beating people in the head with a Bible.”
- Jackson also said that living in Southern California instead of the Bay Area didn’t get in the way of his job and denied that he had a falling out with assistant GM Kirk Lacob, Strauss notes in the same piece.
- Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro Identified shooting and playmaking as offseason needs and expressed openness to the idea of moving DeMarcus Cousins to power forward. D’Alessandro made his comments in a Reddit AMA chat with fans Tuesday, and Kings.com provides a partial transcription.
Lakers Eye Jackson; Warriors Targets Emerge
2:24pm: The Warriors haven’t reached out to Stan Van Gundy yet, Wojnarowski tweets. Van Gundy has support in “several corners” of the Warriors organization, Wojnarowski notes, but the lack of contact with him suggests the team views Kerr as its top priority for now, having already spoken with him, as we passed along below.
12:47pm: Sources tell Kawakami that Kerr isn’t necessarily the team’s top choice, though that could change, given the compressed time frame as Kerr reportedly nears a decision on where he’d like to coach (Twitter links).
WEDNESDAY, 12:05pm: Kerr appears to be the team’s No. 1 option, according to Kawakami, who believes Pacers assistant Nate McMillan is also on the Warriors short list of candidates that they’d consider if Kerr chooses to coach elsewhere.
TUESDAY, 5:39pm: The Warriors have already contacted Kerr about the job, tweets Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.
4:36pm: ESPN’s Chris Broussard suggests the Thunder as a possible destination for Jackson if Oklahoma City lets go of coach Scott Brooks (video link).
4:02pm: Kerr is indeed interested in the Warriors job, as Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group hears (Twitter link).
3:58pm: The Warriors likely have interest in University of Connecticut head coach Kevin Ollie and Clippers assistant Alvin Gentry, according to Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group, who hears the Warriors aren’t in a rush to pick their next coach.
3:34pm: Mike D’Antoni and Mike Dunleavy Sr. are interested in the Warriors job, USA Today’s Sam Amick reports.
3:21pm: The Warriors have Steve Kerr and Stan Van Gundy at the top of their list to replace the fired Mark Jackson, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who also names Fred Hoiberg as a candidate. The team will consider asking the Bulls for permission to speak with Tom Thibodeau, Wojnarowski adds. Jackson, meanwhile, is a candidate for the Lakers coaching vacancy, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
Kerr, who’s zeroing in on the Knicks job, is tight with Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob and his son, assistant GM Kirk Lacob, but whether Golden State truly considers him a candidate is unclear, tweets Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group. Kerr prefers to move along toward the Knicks job, but he will give the Warriors some thought, according to Wojnarowski.
The Warriors are likely to reach out to former Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins, too, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (on Twitter).
Q&A With NBA Draft Prospect Rodney Hood
Duke’s 2013/14 season ended with a shocking first round upset to Mercer, but on an individual level it was an all-around success for standout Rodney Hood. The 6’8″ small forward impressed with his offensive game throughout the year and averaged 16.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 2.1 APG in 32.9 minutes per contest. Hood, widely regarded as one of the best at his position in the 2014 draft, took some time out of his busy schedule earlier this week to chat with Hoops Rumors about his journey thus far, his skill set, and when he believes he’ll hear his name called on June 26th.
What can you bring to an NBA team?
“I just think I’m ready to play right away. I’m a versatile player, I can guard most positions, I can handle the ball, and I’ve gotten better this season. I’m not the same player I was the year before. I’m ready to contribute to a team.”
It seems like your draft stock skyrocketed over the course of the year. Did your sizable leap surprise you at all?
“No, not really. I always had the vision in mind to be a top-10 pick and that’s something I always worked towards in my year off [due to transferring from Mississippi State] and this year. I think the difference was me just getting better and gaining confidence in my abilities. That’s the biggest jump I’ve had, and I still think I can go up even more.”
Do you view yourself as the best shooter in this draft?
“I feel like I am and I feel like I’m different than everybody else in the draft in terms of being able to shoot the ball and being one of the most athletic guys out there. I think that sets me apart, plus I’m taller than most guys at my position.”
What are the main parts of your game that you want to work on?
“I just want to get stronger and I’m down here at IMG working on all parts of my game. I’m getting better with my shot and doing stuff off the dribble.”
Are you working out individually or with other draft prospects?
“There are others here [at IMG] but I’m training by myself, mainly working out with [coaches] Dan Barto and Kenny Natt.”
How do you respond to concerns over your defense?
“I think it’s way overblown. Obviously, I need to make some improvement, but every game I was guarding the best player, whether they play the 2 or the 3. I won Duke’s Defensive Player of the Year award this year, [coach Mike Krzyzewski] always put me on the best player, so I think Coach K knows what I’m doing out there. I’m not saying I’m the best player on D but I don’t think that’s a big weakness or anything to worry about.”
Do you have an read on where you might get drafted?
“I’m not sure yet. Based on what some people have said and what a couple of teams have told me, I can go from pick No. 6-12 or anywhere in the top 15. That’s what I’ve been hearing. Not from any mock drafts or anything, but just from people I talk to.”
Did you have any hesitation over entering the draft early?
“It was always a goal of mine just to play one year at Duke and then leave for the NBA. It was hard leaving Duke because it’s such a great place to be and being with Coach K was great. I wish I had another year to be under his leadership, but I just felt like it was my time to go. Being at Duke prepared me for this transition.”
The first round loss to Mercer was obviously heartbreaking, but did you feel like you learned from that experience?
“I definitely learned from it. It was tough just being in that situation but I’m a pro now. It’s … it’s just hard to leave on that note but I talked to Coach K and he told me not to base my decision off of one game. I had a really good season and it was just one bad game out of 30-something. I’ll always remember that game though.”
From an emotional standpoint, in the immediate aftermath of that game, did you think about changing course and staying for one more year?
“I think in every kid’s mind, as soon as you get off of a loss, you get emotional and you say you want to come back. But, at the end of day, I had to do what was best for me. For all you know, the same thing could happen next year, so I couldn’t come back for that reason or because I thought I owed something. It was about being ready [for the NBA] and I’m ready to go chase my dream.”
Who did you talk with before making the decision to enter the draft?
“Pretty much everybody. I spoke with my family; I had a lot of conversations with Coach K and Wojo (former Duke Associate Head Coach Steve Wojciechowski). Even though he got the head coaching job at Marquette, I was in constant contact with him. I also talked with Mason Plumlee and a lot of different people, but, mainly, Coach K and my family, and I was praying that I made the right decision.”
If you had to give a scouting report on Jabari Parker for an NBA team, what would you tell them?
“I’d just say he’s a great kid who works hard all the time and is just a great guy to be around. Obviously you can see his talent and that’s the most important thing you see from him, that he just loves the game of basketball.”
What made you choose Travis King and the folks at Relativity to represent you?
“After talking with Travis and Dan Fegan, I felt like it was the best decision for me. They really know my game and they really believe in me as a player. I didn’t want to be just another player, I wanted to be one of the top guys represented by my agent, and I felt like they were the right team for me.”
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Bulls Considering Fred Hoiberg?
Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg is a potential candidate for the Bulls should they part ways with Tom Thibodeau, writes Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group. The Bulls and Thibodeau have consistently downplayed rumors that they’d part ways this season, but other teams appear willing to test their relationship, as reports have indicated the Lakers and Warriors will ask the Bulls for permission to interview Thibodeau for their vacancies.
Hoiberg has been linked to the Warriors and Wolves, though it appears unlikely he’d take the Wolves job. Hoiberg is in the midst of a long-term deal with Iowa State, and the school recently raised his annual salary to $2.6MM. Thibodeau has multiple seasons remaining on his contract with Chicago.
The Warriors appear to have Steve Kerr atop their list, but Hoiberg’s name isn’t far behind, according to Kawakami. Golden State would have keen interest in Thibodeau if he were available, Kawakami writes, though that would probably be true of any number of teams across the league, given Thibodeau’s reputation as an elite bench boss.