How Coaches Fared After College-To-NBA Move
The Nuggets and Magic are reportedly planning to target University of Florida coach Billy Donovan this coming offseason, and Donovan is apparently as receptive as ever to taking an NBA job. He has a track record of producing successful NBA players be the most decorated college coach to come to the NBA in quite some time, perhaps since Rick Pitino, who coached Donovan in college, made his leap from Kentucky to the Celtics. That didn’t turn out well for Pitino, and he certainly wasn’t alone. No coach who has gone directly from a college job to an NBA head coaching job since the turn of the century has guided his team to the playoffs. Of course, that would change if Brad Stevens makes the postseason with his Celtics this year, and Boston is tied with the Heat for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Here’s a look at each of the coaches who’ve made the college-to-NBA jump since 2000. Note that this doesn’t include former college coaches who were in other jobs, such as NBA assistant coaching gigs, when they became NBA head coaches.
- Brad Stevens, Butler to Celtics, 2013 — 59-98, no playoffs (yet)
- Mike Dunlap, St. John’s (assistant) to Bobcats, 2012 — 21-61, no playoffs, fired after one season
- Reggie Theus, New Mexico State to Kings, 2007 — 44-62, no playoffs, fired midway through 2008/09 season
- Mike Montgomery, Stanford to Warriors, 2004 — 68-96, no playoffs, fired in 2006
- Leonard Hamilton, Miami (Fla.) to Wizards, 2000 — 19-63, no playoffs, resigned in 2001
- Lon Kruger, Illinois to Hawks, 2000 — 69-122, no playoffs, fired midway through 2002/03 season
Knicks Notes: Draft, Chandler, Free Agency
Knicks president Phil Jackson told a gathering of the team’s season ticket holders Thursday that he knows whom he would select with the No. 1 overall pick if New York wins the lottery, notes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. He offered hints that it would be either Karl-Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor, who are locked in a tight race atop most draft projections, and he tipped his hand when he pointed to defense as a key for a team’s big man, since Towns has the better defensive reputation, as Begley observes. Surprisingly, he cited Tyson Chandler, whom the Knicks traded away last summer and who’ll hit free agency in the offseason, as the sort of defender the team needs. We already passed along some more of what Jackson and GM Steve Mills had to say at the event, and we’ll cover the rest of the relevant news here, as Begley, Marc Berman of the New York Post, Peter Botte of the New York Daily News and Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relay:
- Mills and Jackson indicated a willingness to listen to offers for their pick, though Jackson cautioned that part of his job is “shepherding the whole organization so that you don’t get caught in giving away draft picks, you don’t get caught without a future aspect.”
- Jackson said he’d like to sign one or two starting-caliber players in free agency, but he and Mills downplayed the idea of chasing stars. “It’s a different approach than in the past — we won’t go after the biggest name out there, we’ll go after players who fit in system and style,” Mills said. “It may in fact be a big-name player but it’s going to be who fits system-wise.”
- The Knicks fell well short of Jackson’s initial expectation of the playoffs, but the opportunity to rebuild “may be a godsend,” the Zen Master argues. “I commiserate for the people who put a lot of money out there, who have season tickets who sit and watch the game. I empathize with that part of it. To rebuild this team, we knew we were going to have to take the team apart to get where we have to. I can make the argument we had to go through it. [Expletive] happens and this season it did happen to us.”
- Jackson once more defended the Chandler trade, saying he made it because Chandler would be a free agent this summer and because of the risk involved with the now 32-year-old’s age and history of injuries. Still, Chandler has missed only six games for the Mavs this year.
And-Ones: Jianlian, McCullough, Draft
Chris McCullough plans to enter this year’s draft despite tearing his ACL in January, but the player is confident he can sell NBA teams on his commitment to rehabilitating the injury, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports writes. “This is the kind of injury that players come back strong from all the time in basketball now, and the process has gone good so far,” McCullough told Wojnarowski. “I’m working hard at the rehab, trying to eat the right foods. I’ll be back on the court later this year.” In 16 games for Syracuse this season, McCullough averaged 9.3 points and 6.9 rebounds in 28.1 minutes per contest.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Wizards guard Will Bynum thinks that 2007 Bucks lottery pick Yi Jianlian has improved his game and could play in the NBA once again, Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post tweets. Bynum played with the big man in China this season. Jianlian’s last NBA action came during the 2011/12 season when he appeared in 30 games for the Mavs. His career stats are 7.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in 22.2 minutes per night.
- Kentucky could lose as many as seven players to the NBA draft this season, an NBA scout tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. “I think all seven leave,” the scout said to Zagoria. “If they win it all, there’s no doubt in my mind all seven of them leave. No doubt. The only ones who would stay [if they lose] would be a Trey Lyles, maybe a Devin Booker. The rest of them are all going, I don’t care if they win or lose. I think if they lose there’s maybe a moment [of pause] by Lyles or Booker. Those are the only two that I think may pause at all.” The other five players whom the scout believes will declare for the draft are Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein, Dakari Johnson, Andrew Harrison, and Aaron Harrison.
- Knicks GM Steve Mills says that the franchise has already received calls from two opposing teams that are interested in obtaining New York’s first round draft pick, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com tweets. The Ted Stepien Rule prevents the Knicks from trading this year’s pick, but New York could make the selection for another franchise and trade the player’s rights after the draft.
- Team president Phil Jackson says the Knicks won’t solicit offers for their first-rounder, but admitted that they would “sit back and see what comes to them,” Begley adds in another tweet.
2015/16 Salary Commitments: Sixers
With the NBA trade deadline passed, teams are focusing on locking down playoff spots or vying for a better chance in the draft lottery. Outside of the players who are added on 10-day deals, or those lucky enough to turn those auditions into long-term contracts, teams’ rosters are relatively set for the remainder of the season.
We at Hoops Rumors are in the process of taking a look ahead at each franchise’s salary cap situation heading into the summer, and the free agent frenzy that occurs every offseason. While the exact amount of the 2015/16 salary cap won’t be announced until July, the cap is projected to come in somewhere around $67.4MM, with the luxury tax threshold projected at approximately $81MM. This year’s $63.065MM cap represented an increase of 7.7% over 2013/14, which was well above the league’s projected annual increase of 4.5%.
We’ll continue onward by taking a look at the Sixers’ cap outlook for 2015/16…
Here are the players with guaranteed contracts:
- Furkan Aldemir — $2,836,768
- Joel Embiid — $4,626,960
- Jerami Grant — $845,059
- JaVale McGee (Waived) — $12MM
- Nerlens Noel — $3,457,800
- Tony Wroten — $2,179,353
Here are the players with non-guaranteed contracts:
- Isaiah Canaan — $947,276 ($757,820 Guaranteed)
- Robert Covington — $1MM
- JaKarr Sampson — $845,059
- Hollis Thompson — $947,276
Players with options:
- None
The Sixers’ Cap Summary for 2015/16:
- Guaranteed Salary: $26,703,760
- Options/Non-Guaranteed Salary: $2,981,791
- Total: $29,685,551
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Walter Pitchford To Enter NBA Draft
Junior Walter Pitchford, a center for the University of Nebraska, intends to enter the 2015 NBA draft, Brian Rosenthal of The Lincoln Journal Star reports. “I have put my past frustration of this past year aside and will do what is in my best interest in life,” Pitchford wrote in his official statement. “Basketball is my life. Moving forward, I will be pursuing my lifelong goal of playing professional basketball and will be entering into the 2015 NBA Draft.” The center was presumably referring to a difficult junior season that saw his shooting percentages plummet. Pitchford said he’s in the process of finding an agent and will be filing necessary paperwork with the NBA next week, Rosenthal notes.
Pitchford enters an NBA draft loaded with talented big men, which doesn’t bode well for his chances to be selected in June. He is not among the top 100 prospects on Chad Ford of ESPN.com‘s (Insider subscription required) or Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress‘ rankings. The center appears ticketed for the NBA D-League or an overseas deal if he wishes to continue his professional career, though that is merely my speculation.
The 6’10, 22-year-old began his college career at Florida, appearing in 13 games during the 2011/12 season for coach Billy Donovan‘s Gators. He then transferred to Nebraska and appeared in 62 contests for the team after sitting out the 2012/13 season. Pitchford’s career stats are an underwhelming 6.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 0.4 blocks in 21.0 minutes per night. His career shooting numbers are .423/.343/.610.
Western Notes: Pekovic, Saunders, Suns
Wolves big man Nikola Pekovic will undergo surgery next week to remove damage and repair his right Achilles tendon, the team announced via Twitter. Pekovic is out of action indefinitely, and it’s not yet known if the injury is career-threatening, Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune writes. Coach/executive Flip Saunders had all but ruled out Pekovic for the season last week, saying, “We’ve got to do something. We’re not just going to sit there. We tried different ways to let it heal, trying to be as proactive as we can. We have to re-evaluate what we do with him. He’s constantly seeing doctors the last three weeks. We’ll see where it takes us.”
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- Saunders said that he and Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor haven’t addressed whether or not Saunders would coach the team next season, Andy Greder of The Pioneer Press relays. “I’m gonna coach until I tell you I’m not the coach, so you can take it that way,” Saunders said. “I’ve enjoyed what I’ve done this year. It’s been a trying year from the injury standpoint, but our staff, we feel when we look at the progress of what our young players have made, that we’ve done what we set out to do when things changed over the first month of the season.” The coach/executive and Taylor reached a deal that’s open-ended in terms of length last offseason. Saunders also serves as the team’s president of basketball operations.
- The Suns‘ injury issues have led to increased playing time for rookies Archie Goodwin and T.J. Warren, giving the team a chance to see them shine, Matt Petersen of NBA.com writes. Phoenix’s president of basketball operations Lon Babby is especially happy with what he’s seen of Warren. “He’s just an amazingly efficient scorer,” Babby said. “Every game, [he shoots] 6-for-9, 5-for-7, he’s just around the basket and it seems to come easily to him. Both of those draft picks [referring to Goodwin and Warren], along with Alex Len…are all doing well and bode well for the future.”
- Gordon Hayward said Enes Kanter’s critical comments angered the Jazz and that the players took his remarks personally, Doug Robinson of The Deseret News writes. After defeating the Thunder 94-89 last week, the first time Kanter returned to Utah after his remarks, Trevor Booker said, “I definitely wanted to kick his butt. He got his stats and he got his L [loss] as always.“
Montrezl Harrell, Terry Rozier To Enter Draft
THURSDAY, 7:12pm: Rozier has officially signed with Verus Management, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops tweets.
MONDAY, 2:06pm: Louisville junior power forward Montrezl Harrell and sophomore combo guard Terry Rozier are entering this year’s draft, coach Rick Pitino said today during his season-ending press conference, as The Courier-Journal relays. Harrell is 21st on Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and 24th with Chad Ford of ESPN.com. There’s more of a gulf in opinion on Rozier, who’s the 26th-best prospect according to Ford but just 39th-best as Givony has it.
Harrell’s stock slipped during the season, as he was No. 12 with Givony and No. 16 with Ford prior to the season. He stands 6’8″, and he’s neither a natural power forward nor a true small forward, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors writes in our latest Draft Prospect Power Rankings. The 21-year-old averaged 15.7 points and 9.2 rebounds in 35.1 minutes per game this season, all higher numbers than last year, but his per-36-minute figures in scoring and rebounding declined as the Cardinals moved from the American Athletic Conference to the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The difference in projections on the 6’2″ Rozier were even more pronounced during the preseason, when Ford ranked him 11th and Givony had him 50th. Rozier, also 21, had a breakout campaign after failing to see much action as a freshman, putting up 17.1 PPG and 5.6 RPG in 35.0 MPG this season. He also averaged 3.0 assists against 2.2 turnovers per game.
2015/16 Salary Commitments: Magic
With the NBA trade deadline passed, teams are focusing on locking down playoff spots or vying for a better chance in the draft lottery. Outside of the players who are added on 10-day deals, or those lucky enough to turn those auditions into long-term contracts, teams’ rosters are relatively set for the remainder of the season.
We at Hoops Rumors are in the process of taking a look ahead at each franchise’s salary cap situation heading into the summer, and the free agent frenzy that occurs every offseason. While the exact amount of the 2015/16 salary cap won’t be announced until July, the cap is projected to come in somewhere around $67.4MM, with the luxury tax threshold projected at approximately $81MM. This year’s $63.065MM cap represented an increase of 7.7% over 2013/14, which was well above the league’s projected annual increase of 4.5%.
We’ll continue onward by taking a look at the Magic’s cap outlook for 2015/16…
Here are the players with guaranteed contracts:
- Evan Fournier — $2,288,205
- Channing Frye — $8,193,029
- Aaron Gordon — $4,171,680
- Maurice Harkless — $2,894,059
- Andrew Nicholson — $2,380,593
- Victor Oladipo — $5,192,520
- Elfrid Payton — $2,505,720
- Nikola Vucevic — $11,250,000
Here are the players with non-guaranteed contracts:
- Dewayne Dedmon — $947,276
- Ben Gordon — $4.5MM
- Devyn Marble — $845,059
- Luke Ridnour — $2,750,000
Players with options:
- None
The Magic’s Cap Summary for 2015/16:
- Guaranteed Salary: $38,875,806
- Options/Non-Guaranteed Salary: $9,042,335
- Total: $47,918,141
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Eastern Notes: Knicks, Brown, Pistons
The Knicks have thought about trading their first-round pick, but they haven’t given it much consideration, as Sean Deveney of The Sporting News hears. New York has canvassed other teams about their feelings on the strength of this year’s draft, as most front offices do, but that’s the extent of it, according to Deveney, who adds that teams rarely give much thought to trading lottery picks until the lottery takes place.
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Knicks president Phil Jackson is expected to prioritize young free agents this summer, as Deveney writes in the same piece, figuring the Knicks will make Brandon Knight among their targets.
- Nets rookie Markel Brown‘s improved play has gained him coach Lionel Hollins‘ confidence, as well as cut into the playing time of teammate Bojan Bogdanovic, Tim Bontemps of The New York Post writes. “When you start leaving Markel out there, the minutes have to be skewed for somebody,” Hollins said. “It’s nothing more than that. I have to kind of manage the game as I see it in that moment. It’s all a part of utilizing the group we have. It’s nothing personal. It doesn’t have to do with anybody playing poorly. It’s the way I see it. It’s part of my job, and I have to be the final decision on it.” Brown, the No. 44 overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, is averaging 4.7 points and 2.2 rebounds in 15.5 minutes per contest.
- The Pistons are pleased with how their relationship has gone this first year with the Grand Rapids Drive, their new D-League affiliate, Peter J. Wallner of MLive.com writes. “Every year will be different,” said Detroit GM Jeff Bower. “The makeup of your Pistons roster will dictate how much crossover we’ll have. The younger the team, the more the need for minutes with the Drive. Having gone through it the first year now, we have a baseline sense of it and it is only going help us with our planning in the future. I thought that was a strength going into the year, and it’s a strength as we wrap up. Our comfort level with knowing what, for example, Quincy Miller would find when he got here [Grand Rapids] was very high.“
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Lakers Notes: Rondo, Dragic, Hill, Brown
It’s a “safe bet” that the Lakers will pursue Rajon Rondo and Goran Dragic, with Rondo the first priority, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. The team’s interest in the two is no secret, as reports have indicated for months that the Lakers have been targeting the pair of point guards who changed places via trade this season. Neither is a lock to re-sign with their respective clubs, as reports have also indicated, so it seems the Lakers have at least a decent chance to land an upper-tier free agent, which they haven’t done the past two summers. Here’s more on the purple-and-gold:
- The Lakers are leaning toward picking up their $9MM team option on Jordan Hill, unless they become confident that a star free agent big man will sign with them, executives tell Deveney for the same piece. The team wants to be active in free agency, Deveney writes, but opting in with Hill would give them more than $44MM in commitments, not counting Jordan Clarkson‘s non-guaranteed salary, their own first-round pick and the first-rounder they’re receiving from the Rockets.
- Jabari Brown feels as though a 22-point outing in his final game on the last of his 10-day contracts with the Lakers helped his case to secure his new deal. as Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times relays. Coach Byron Scott continues to be impressed, as Bresnahan also notes. “Every game it seems like he shows you a little bit something else,” Scott said. “He seems a little bit more confident, a little bit more comfortable every game.”
- The Lakers haven’t made progress in the win-loss column this season, as they’re just one defeat away from tying last year’s 55 losses, but Scott points to the departures of Pau Gasol, Steve Blake and Jodie Meeks as reason why that’s not a shock, tweets Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.