Alabama To Hire Avery Johnson
Avery Johnson has made a verbal agreement to coach at the University of Alabama, sources tell Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Johnson, a longtime NBA coach, was said to be among the possible candidates for the Nuggets’ head coaching job not long ago and could have been a leading candidate for other vacancies this summer.
Johnson has been out of the NBA since the Nets replaced him with assistant P.J. Carlesimo in the middle of the season. Of course, even though things didn’t work out as planned in New Jersey/Brooklyn, Johnson boasts an impressive resume which includes a Coach of the Year award in 2005/06 while with the Mavericks. That year, he led Dallas to a Western Conference Championship before succumbing to the Heat in 2006.
Johnson, who turned 50 last month, has never coached before at the college level. Across parts of seven seasons as an NBA head coach, Johnson led his teams to a combined 254-186 record. While he never guided the Nets to the postseason, his Mavs teams went to the playoffs in each of his four seasons there. Of course, in their quest for a title, simply making the playoffs was not enough.
Eastern Notes: MCW, Sixers, Draft, Walker
Michael Carter-Williams admits he struggled to adjust after being traded, but the Syracuse product is happy to be in Milwaukee, Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel writes. “It’s good to know I’m going to be here growing with guys and knowing the chemistry,” Carter-Williams said. “I’m a Milwaukee Buck now and I hope I’m here for a while.” The Bucks have gone 7-14 since the point guard made his team debut.
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- The Sixers have several players who have improved over the course of the season and Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News believes coach Brett Brown deserves recognition for the progress. Cooney looks at the development of the team’s young prospects, including Nerlens Noel and Robert Covington.
- Tom Moore of Calkins Media wonders what the Sixers would do if they landed one of the top two picks in the draft. Centers Jahlil Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns are widely expected to be the first two players off the board in some order and Philadelphia already has three young frontcourt players under team control in Joel Embiid, Noel and Dario Saric. The Sixers are currently third place in our Reverse Standings with a record of 18-59.
- Kemba Walker doesn’t believe the Hornets‘ struggles this season are coach Steve Clifford‘s fault, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer writes. “It has nothing to do with him,” Walker said. “He does a great job, he’s a fantastic coach. He always does his best to give us the right game plan, to try and get wins. I’m 100 percent behind him. I believe in him.”
Southwest Notes: Davis, Belinelli, Carter
In just his third season in the league, Anthony Davis has made a case to win the MVP award. The Kentucky product is averaging 24.4 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.0 blocks and 1.5 steals per game, while leading the league with a 30.91 player efficiency rating. If Davis takes home the Maurice Podoloff trophy either this year or next, he could benefit financially if he signs an extension with the Pelicans because he would meet the fifth year 30% max criteria. These criteria, known collectively as the Derrick Rose rule, would allow him to receive roughly 30% of the salary cap as his starting salary in an extension, as opposed to roughly 25%, which is usually reserved for players with 0-6 years of experience. Davis could also meet the criteria if during his first four years in the league, he makes two All-NBA teams or is twice voted as a starter in the All-Star game. Davis was voted as starter for the first time in the 2015 All-Star game and is likely to make his first All-NBA team this season. Davis would meet the criteria if he accomplishes either of those feats again during the 2015/16 season, even if he signs an extension before that happens when he is eligible this offseason.
Here’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Marco Belinelli will be a free agent at the end of season and it’s uncertain whether he will return to San Antonio next season, as he says in an interview with II Corriere dello Sport, which is translated by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. At 29-year-old, Belinelli acknowledges that salary will be an important factor in his decision in free agency.
- Vince Carter has battled injuries this season, but the 38-year-old guard is not looking to retire after the season, Scott Cacciola of The New York Times writes. “I can’t imagine not playing.” said Carter, who signed a three year, $12MM deal with the Grizzlies last offseason. “I can’t accept that yet. I’m not at the point where I wake up and it’s like, I’m tired of this. Being around these young guys makes you feel young, I promise you.”
- Ian Thomsen of NBA.com chronicles Carter’s time in the league starting in 1998 when he was an intriguing young prospect with star potential to this season where he is an elder statesman for a contender in Memphis.
Draft Notes: Cauley-Stein, Towns, Okafor
Center Willie Cauley-Stein hasn’t made it official, but he is leaning toward turning pro, Kyle Tucker of The Courier-Journal writes. “It’s time to take another step,” Cauley-Stein said. “I mean, obviously, I’m not 100 percent on it, but I’m pretty sure I know what I want to do. Gotta talk to a couple more people, but probably was my last game here.” Several scouts believe there isn’t a safer bet in this year’s draft than the 21-year-old, who is the sixth best prospect, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and eighth best prospect according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com.
Here’s more on the draft:
- Karl-Anthony Towns hasn’t made a decision about whether he will enter the draft yet, but he left the door open to returning to Kentucky next year, Tucker writes in the same piece. “I can’t even think about that. I just lost in the Final Four with my brothers,” Towns said about the possibility of staying another season. “We could be really good, but we just need to make it further than we did this time. We gotta get it all the way this time. We need to do better. We could be really good, though.” Towns has a good chance to be the No. 1 pick in the 2015 draft, which makes it unlikely he stays.
- Provided both players opt to enter the draft, it’s likely Towns and Jahlil Okafor will go No. 1 and No. 2 in some order. In a quick poll of seven NBA scouts and personnel people, Towns received four votes for the top spot, while Okafor got three, according to Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated.
- Ben Dowsett of Basketball Insiders looks at how staying in school can damage a prospect’s stock. Dowsett acknowledges that many prospects seem undeveloped and are unproven after just one year of college, but he believes those prospects would benefit more from being around professionals in the NBA than from staying in college and playing against lesser competition.
Western Notes: Crawford, Clarkson, Rubio
Jamal Crawford returned to practice with no restrictions and will likely play in Tuesday’s game against the Lakers, Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com reports. Last month it was reported that the reigning Sixth Man of the Year could possibly miss the rest of the season. The 35-year-old has been out since March 2nd with a calf injury and the Clippers have gone 11-5 without him in the lineup.
Here’s more from the Western Conference.
- With Jordan Clarkson developing into a potential long-term piece, the Lakers have a good point guard situation even if they can’t land Rajon Rondo, Jabari Davis of Basketball Insiders opines. Earlier in the week, it was reported that the team will likely pursue Rondo as well as Goran Dragic.
- Ricky Rubio will miss the remainder of the season because of a sore left ankle that he originally injured on November 7th, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune reports. Minnesota is only two games behind New York for the worst record in the league, as our Reverse Standings show.
- Chip Scoggins of the Star Tribune believes the clock is ticking on Ricky Rubio’s development. The 25-year-old has only played about 65% of the games during his first four seasons because of various injuries and hasn’t shown the consistent improvement that the team expects.
And-Ones: Kentucky, Ballmer, Clarkson, Burke
There should be a mass exodus of Kentucky players to the NBA after Saturday’s loss in the NCAA semi-finals, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. He speculated that the list of departing Wildcats should “minimally” include Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein, Andrew and Aaron Harrison, Trey Lyles, Dakari Johnson and Devin Booker.
There’s more from around the basketball world:
- Steve Ballmer’s bold $2 billion bid to purchase the Clippers last year was an “outlier,” writes Mike Ozanian of Forbes. Ozanian notes that Mikhail Prokhorov has been unsuccessful in his attempts to sell the Nets and the Barclays Center, while the highest current bid for the Hawks is $800MM.
- The “Gilbert Arenas provision” applies to the Lakers‘ Jordan Clarkson after next season, note Eric Pincus and Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times, giving the Lakers an edge in keeping the young point guard long-term. Because Clarkson was a second-round pick, the provision limits the offers other franchises can make to four years and a projected $57MM. With a non-guaranteed contract for 2015/16 at the league minimum for a second-year player ($845,059), Clarkson is almost certain to return to the Lakers next year.
- Jazz point guard Trey Burke is part of the reason the future is bright in Utah, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. The second-year player out of Michigan has been a key part of the team’s second half surge, and he is looking forward to improving this summer. “I know that I have a high ceiling and have more potential to grow,” he said. “Like I said, this summer and this offseason will be very big for me. I look forward to coming back even stronger and even better next season. Being a young player, I know that these offseasons are really important in how much I’ll grow.” Burke is still on his rookie contract, which runs through 2016/17, and he’s under the team’s control through 2017/18.
Central Notes: Smith, Jackson, Monroe
J.R. Smith is a “wild card” to stay with the Cavaliers this summer, according to Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal. Smith, who has been an important part of the Cavaliers’ second-half surge, can opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent. However, he has expressed an enjoyment for playing in Cleveland, so his plans are unpredictable. Lloyd added that he expects restricted free agents Tristan Thompson and Iman Shumpert to both be retained.
There’s more from the Central Division:
- An important decision led Reggie Jackson to change his style of play and may have secured his future with the Pistons, writes Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. After wanting for years to be a starting point guard with his own team to run, the early returns after his mid-season trade to Detroit were disastrous. In mid-March he chose to change his approach. “I decided if I’m going to go out and this isn’t going to work, I’m at least going to go out being myself,” Jackson said. His numbers have improved, the Pistons started winning and he seems likely to stay in Detroit when he hits free agency in June.
- Greg Monroe is a good bet to leave the Pistons this summer, opines David Mayo of MLive. He sees little value in signing the unrestricted free agent unless it’s for a long-term contract that will seem like a bargain once the salary cap expands.
- The Bulls‘ Doug McDermott may be frustrated about his lack of playing time, but Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders reports that he found a sympathetic ear from teammate Jimmy Butler. The Bulls’ break-out star and restricted-free-agent-to-be had a similar experience in his rookie season, appearing in just 42 games and averaging eight minutes of action. “He said he didn’t handle it nearly as well as I did,” McDermott said. “He’s got that attitude where it’s him against the world, and he felt like he should have been playing. He said he didn’t have a great attitude about it, that he didn’t go in a lot, wasn’t working on his game enough, but he told me if he were to go back he would’ve done it the opposite way, because that’s the way it works here.”
Hoops Rumors On Social Media/RSS
The NBA’s regular season is winding down, which means the draft and free agency will soon be the focus for nearly half the league. There are a handful of ways you can follow us to keep tabs on the latest news and rumors as these storylines unfold.
Hoops Rumors has opened a Google Plus account that you can follow for headlines and links to all of our posts. You can also Like us on Facebook and see our content through your account there. Follow us on Twitter to have all our posts and updates sent directly to your Twitter feed. Our RSS feed is located here if you’d like to follow us using your reader of choice.
If you prefer to receive updates only on roster moves such as signings, cuts, and trades, you can follow our transactions-only feeds via RSS and Twitter.
Atlantic Rumors: Anthony, Hardaway, Sixers
Unable to take the court because of knee surgery, the Knicks‘ Carmelo Anthony is doing a little front office work, according to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Anthony is offering his input into free agents he would like to see the team pursue with projected cap space of at least $25MM. “He is very much a part of the process of trying to understand what we’re looking for, how we’re going about it,” New York GM Steve Mills said of Anthony’s role in the process.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Knicks‘ Tim Hardaway Jr. is hoping to salvage what he can from a disappointing season, Begley writes in a separate story. Even though he has a wrist injury that hasn’t fully healed, Hardaway plans to be active for the team’s final six games. He offered a blunt assessment of his performance. “I’m not going to sugarcoat anything,” Hardaway said of his second season in the league. “It wasn’t the year I wanted to have. I know that, and I know the guys on my team know that, as well.” Still on his rookie deal, he is one of just five Knicks with guaranteed money for next season. He has been surrounded by trade speculation, as he is one of the few valuable trade pieces the Knicks have on their roster.
- The Sixers will have a difficult decision if they wind up with the second pick in the draft, writes Tom Moore of Calkins Media. While centers Jahlil Okafor of Duke and Karl-Anthony Towns of Kentucky are considered the top two prospects, Philadelphia seems to be set in the frontcourt with Nerlens Noel, injured rookie Joel Embiid and the rights to Dario Saric, who is expected to join the team in 2016. With a need for backcourt help, the Sixers could opt for Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell or international point guard Emmanuel Mudiay, or they could look to trade the pick.
- Malcolm Thomas, who was waived by the Sixers earlier this season, has signed with Piratas de Quebradillas in Puerto Rico, the team announced via Twitter (translation via Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). Thomas averaged 2.6 points and 3.3 rebounds in 17 games with Philadelphia this season.
Southwest Notes: Capela, Papanikolaou, Powell
Rockets rookie center Clint Capela is getting personalized instruction from Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon, reports Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Capela, the 25th pick in last year’s NBA draft, has spent most of the season in the D-League and has seen little NBA action until recently. But the Rockets think Olajuwon, the NBA’s career leader in blocked shots, can give him a greater presence on the defensive end. “I can be effective on blocked shots on the weak side,” Capela said. “I can be more active. I think he will help me for sure. He is always at the game here. He saw me play the last game. He saw my game, how I play. Today he told me how I can be more helpful for the team. I’m sure it will help.”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- The Rockets‘ Kostas Papanikolaou is getting closer to returning from a sprained ankle, according to Jenny Dial Creech of The Houston Chronicle. Papanikolaou, who has been sidelined since hurting the ankle in warmups prior to a February 23rd game, hopes he can be ready to play next week. He is set to make more than $4.6MM next season, but his contract is non-guaranteed if he is waived before September 28th.
- Tyson Chandler should be the Mavericks‘ top priority in free agency, opines RIck Gosselin of The Dallas Morning News in his weekly chat. Dallas will have eight free agents this summer, but Gosselin says a skilled rebounder is a necessity on a team filled with shooters, and the Mavericks learned how hard it is to replace Chandler the last time they let him go.
- The Mavericks have recalled Dwight Powell from the D-League, tweets Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. Powell has appeared in eight games for the Texas Legends, averaging 28.3 points and 9.4 rebounds.