Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Raptors, Knicks
Sixers fans may want to hope that the team doesn’t land the top pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Daily News opines. Cooney’s reasoning is that if Philly nabs the No. 1 overall pick the team will either select another big man, or quite possibly trade the selection for more future assets, which could further delay the team’s rebuilding process. Conversely, if the Sixers fall to third or fourth the team will be more likely to select D’Angelo Russell or Emmanuel Mudiay, and thus land its point guard of the future, Cooney adds.
Here’s more from the NBA’s Atlantic Division:
- The Raptors have six free agents whom they need to decide the futures of, and Holly MacKenzie of NBA.com examines the situation for each. These players include Amir Johnson, Landry Fields, and Lou Williams.
- Knicks team president Phil Jackson met with Russell at the draft combine today, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv reports (Twitter links). Also meeting with the Knicks, though the Zen Master wasn’t present, was Kansas big man Cliff Alexander, Zagoria adds
- The Knicks also met with Duke’s Justise Winslow and Jerian Grant of Notre Dame, Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal relays in a series of tweets. Kentucky big man Willie Cauley-Stein said that he is scheduled to work out for the team in New York this Sunday, Herring adds.
- Cauley-Stein also sat down with members of the Sixers’ front office, and he came away with the impression that the team was genuinely interested in him, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer tweets.
- Arkansas power forward Bobby Portis has a workout scheduled with the Celtics, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com reports (Twitter link).
- The Sixers have scheduled workouts on Tuesday for Keifer Sykes and Terry Rozier, both of whom are guards, Pompey tweets.
Central Notes: Hoiberg, Pacers, Draft
The frontrunner to replace Tom Thibodeau if he is let go by the Bulls as expected, is reportedly Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg. This interest in Hoiberg isn’t a recent development, since according to league sources the team had already spoken with Hoiberg about his potential interest in coming to Chicago earlier this season, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relays. It’s unclear if Hoiberg’s health concerns would prevent him from accepting the position if offered, but he certainly hopes to join the pro coaching ranks at some point. “He has always said from day one that his lifelong goal has been to coach in the NBA,” Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard said of Holberg. “It’s for him to decide when that part of his life he wants to activate. Now it’s just strictly a decision for him and their family personally, not what he wants to do because he’s made that clear. [The NBA is] what he wants to do. It’s a matter of when he wants to do it.”
Here’s what else is happening around the Central Division:
- The Pacers interviewed a number of former Kentucky players at the draft combine, Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star tweets. Indiana sat down with Willie Cauley-Stein, Dakari Johnson, Trey Lyles, and Devin Booker, Buckner notes.
- Cauley-Stein said that Pacers president Larry Bird told him, “I think you’re a $100MM player,” Buckner relays (Twitter links). Booker wasn’t given a dollar value by the team, but did note that there was a “great vibe” during his interview, Buckner adds.
- The Pacers will hold their first pre-draft workout this Monday, and in attendance will be Cameron Payne, Olivier Hanlan, Jerian Grant, Rakeem Christmas, Richaun Holmes, and Joseph Young, Buckner tweets.
- Lastly from Buckner (via Twitter), the Pacers will be one of the teams attending a private workout in Los Angeles next Friday for forward Kevon Looney and guard Norman Powell.
- Looney met with the Pistons while at the draft combine, Keith Langlois of NBA.com reports (Twitter links). Also meeting with Detroit was Booker, who believes his outside shooting would be the perfect complement to Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson, who is set to become a restricted free agent this offseason, Langlois adds.
2014/15 D-League Usage Report: Suns
The relationship between the NBA and the D-League continues to grow, and 17 NBA franchises currently have one-to-one D-League affiliates amongst the 18 D-League teams. The remaining 13 NBA teams shared the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season. We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping each team’s use of the D-League this season, looking at assignments and recalls as well as the players signed out of the D-League. We’ll continue onward with a look back at how the Suns utilized the D-League during the 2014/15 campaign…
D-League Team: Bakersfield Jam
Affiliation Type: One-to-one
D-League Team Record: 34-16
Number of NBA Players Assigned To D-League: 4
Total D-League Assignments: 14
Player Stats While On Assignment:
- Reggie Bullock: 2 assignments, 4 games, 23.8 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 2.8 APG. .507/.462/.812.
- Tyler Ennis: 4 assignments, 9 games, 18.4 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 5.3 APG. .479/.333/.810.
- Archie Goodwin: 4 assignments, 10 games, 22.6 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.0 APG. .436/.271/.655.
- T.J. Warren: 4 assignments, 9 games, 26.8 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 1.6 APG. .544/.286/.729.
D-League Signings
- Earl Barron (Bakersfield Jam-Suns affiliate): Signed 1st 10-day deal on February 21st. Inked 2nd 10-day pact on March 3rd. Signed for the remainder of the season on March 13th.
- Seth Curry (Erie BayHawks-Magic affiliate): Signed 10-day contract on March 11th.
- Jerel McNeal (Bakersfield Jam-Suns affiliate): Signed 10-day deal on April 1st. Inked multiyear arrangement on April 11th.
Assignment/Recall Log
- November 13th: Assigned Tyler Ennis (Recalled November 17th)
- November 13th: Assigned T.J. Warren (Recalled November 17th)
- December 25th: Assigned Tyler Ennis (Recalled December 31st)
- December 25th: Assigned T.J. Warren (Recalled December 31st)
- December 25th: Assigned Archie Goodwin (Recalled December 31st)
- January 14th: Assigned Archie Goodwin (Recalled January 20th)
- January 22nd: Assigned Tyler Ennis (Recalled January 25th)
- January 22nd: Assigned T.J. Warren (Recalled January 25th)
- January 29th: Assigned Archie Goodwin (Recalled February 1st)
- January 29th: Assigned Reggie Bullock (Recalled February 1st)
- February 4th: Assigned Tyler Ennis (Recalled February 7th)
- February 4th: Assigned T.J. Warren (Recalled February 7th)
- February 7th: Assigned Archie Goodwin (Recalled February 11th)
- February 7th: Assigned Reggie Bullock (Recalled February 11th)
Draft Notes: Combine, Tokoto, Christmas
With the 2015 NBA Draft combine in full swing, two players whose performances in the five-on-five events have elevated their draft stock are Syracuse’s Rakeem Christmas and North Carolina’s J.P. Tokoto, Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) relays. When discussing Christmas’ potential one NBA GM told Ford, “He had an advantage [over his combine competition] as a four-year senior. But that wasn’t what set him apart. I felt he showed that he could disrupt shots, attack the rim and play bigger than I felt he did at Syracuse. There aren’t many centers in this draft after the lottery, and I think he’ll draw a lot of interest for teams in the late first and early second.”
Here’s the latest news regarding the 2015 NBA Draft:
- Another player who may have improved his draft stock according Ford was Kentucky guard Andrew Harrison. “I haven’t been a big fan of his all year,” one GM told Ford. “But if you take all of that away, he was one of the two or three best players here. He played under control, made some great passes, got to the line relentlessly [7-for-8] and just played with confidence. It was a very good showing.“
- There were some scouts who questioned if Tokoto was ready to make the jump from college to the pros, but for his part the player has no regrets about his decision, Charles F. Gardner of The Journal Sentinel writes. “I’m past that,” Tokoto said of worrying about his choice. “All that really matters is if my family and I are comfortable with my decision. I know I made the right decision. With the teams I’m interviewing with, the question about my jump shot comes up. To go out and have a game like this…I told them, ‘I’ve been working on it and I’m going to shoot jump shots.’“
- Oregon guard Joseph Young worked out for the Pacers on Thursday, and he has upcoming workouts scheduled with the Blazers and Spurs, Jabari Young of CSNNW.com tweets.
- Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (via Twitter) also lauded the performances of Harrison and Christmas, while also adding Louisville’s Terry Rozier and Bowling Green’s Richaun Holmes to the list of players who stood out at the combine.
MSG’s Isiah Thomas Hire Irks Phil Jackson
James Dolan’s decision to bring Isiah Thomas back into the fold as team president and a minority owner of the New York Liberty, a WNBA franchise, hasn’t sat well with Knicks president Phil Jackson, Frank Isola of The New York Daily News writes. Jackson, according to a team source, has expressed concern over Thomas’ presence at Madison Square Garden, Isola notes.
This latest event further fuels speculation that the Zen Master won’t finish out his five year contract, and Thomas could eventually replace Jackson as team president, the Daily News scribe adds. “He’s not happy about it but what can he do about it,” one MSG official told Isola. “This is just the start of it.”
The WNBA Board of Governors still needs to approve Thomas as an owner, and a person familiar with the process believes he will be rejected, Isola relays. Even if Thomas is voted down by the WNBA, he would likely still remain on as the Liberty’s team president, which has already caused a backlash from WNBA coaches, the team’s fans, as well as multiple women’s advocate groups.
The crux of the issue with the hiring of Thomas is his high-profile sexual harassment case back in 2007. “This is a decision, at least to me, comes out of left field,” said Connecticut Sun coach Anne Donovan, a former Liberty assistant. “Bring him back to MSG? OK. But how do you pin [Thomas] to the women’s pro team?”
For his part, Thomas has said that he will not have a role with the Knicks, but league executives are convinced that Thomas accepted the job with the Liberty as an entry level position to eventually return to the Knicks, Isola relays. With Jackson expressly signing on with the assurance that he would be free to run the team without interference from Dolan, the potential presence of Thomas in the decision making process for the team would certainly be a troubling development, though that is merely my speculation.
Magic Notes: Draft, Harris, Marble
An offseason of uncertainty for the Magic should become somewhat clearer soon, with the lottery set for Tuesday and the season over in Chicago, where apparent No. 1 coaching choice Tom Thibodeau seems on the verge of a divorce with the Bulls. Many other questions will remain even after the team’s draft position and coaching situation are settled, and here’s more on a few key topics in the Magic Kingdom:
- The Magic met with Frank Kaminsky, Anthony Brown, Chris McCullough and Jordan Mickey at the combine earlier this week, with Rashad Vaughn and Kevon Looney on today’s docket, reports Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (See all six Twitter links here).
- Ken Hornack of Fox Sports Florida suggests there’s a strong possibility that soon-to-be restricted free agent Tobias Harris will end up signing his qualifying offer this summer to hit unrestricted free agency when the cap surges in the summer of 2016. Harris has said he and his representatives haven’t discussed the idea, but GM Rob Hennigan has said he intends to re-sign the forward no matter the cost, a signal that he would match any offer Harris might fetch from another team. The former 19th overall pick triggered the starter criteria to boost the value of his qualifying offer by more than $1MM, as I explained.
- Former Magic coach Jacque Vaughn inserted Devyn Marble into the starting lineup ahead of Harris in January, but aside from those seven straights starts, last year’s 56th overall pick only played in nine games the rest of the year, Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel points out. That, combined with the injuries that helped cut his season short, leaves plenty of questions as Marble faces a non-guaranteed minimum salary for next season, as Schmitz examines.
Thunder Notes: Anderson, Payne, Abrines
Virginia small forward Justin Anderson and Murray State sophomore Cameron Payne are among the players interviewing with the Thunder at this week’s combine, The Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry reports (Twitter link). Payne, who spoke with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors, and Anderson project as mid-to-late first-rounders, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. The Thunder will pick 14th unless they have astounding lottery luck, as the odds show, though after losing Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and others for significant time this season, Oklahoma City might be due for a change in fortunes. Here’s more on the Thunder:
- Thunder draft-and-stash prospect Alex Abrines has signed a deal with Barcelona of Spain that runs until 2019, reports Jose Ignacio Huguet of Mundo Deportivo (translations via Jon Hamm of The Oklahoman and Enea Trapani of Sportando). Hamm suggests the deal includes a high-dollar NBA buyout clause. The shooting guard who was the 32nd overall pick from 2013 had been under contract only through 2016, as Mark Porcaro notes in our Draft Rights Held Players Database. The Jazz have shown interest, and he’s drawn raves for his play overseas.
- What Enes Kanter gives the Thunder offensively is often negated on the defensive end, though he was a major force on the boards, as The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater examines. Regardless, the Thunder and their midseason trade acquisition have mutual interest in a new deal as the center hits restricted free agency this summer.
- Steve Pierce of Daily Thunder stumps for the Thunder to hire ousted Pelicans coach Monty Williams as an assistant in large measure because of the similarities between Williams and former Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks. Williams could help ease the transition in the locker room, Pierce argues, though it appears the Thunder would have competition for Williams from the Raptors and that Williams is more likely to wait for the next head coaching job to open, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported.
Bulls Notes: Butler, Noah, Anderson
Jimmy Butler is a “lock” to get the max this summer, Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes, while sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com that the Knicks and Lakers are the teams that draw most frequent mention as potential suitors. It jibes with earlier reports from David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune, who wrote in January that the Bulls planned to quickly entice Butler to commit to a max deal, and from Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops and Shams Charania of RealGM, who identified the Knicks and Lakers, respectively, as likely suitors. In any case, it seems like Butler will be back with Chicago, with the question centering on just how long of a contract he’ll sign, as Lowe examines.
We’re keeping up with all the Tom Thibodeau rumors here, but we’ll round up more from Chicago in this post, with a little opinion on Thibs sprinkled in, as the Bulls lick their wounds from Thursday’s playoff ouster:
- Lowe, in the same piece, speculates that Taj Gibson is the most likely trade candidate on the Bulls and relays that executives around the league are curious about whether Joakim Noah, whose contract is up after next season, is indeed too banged up to ever return to peak form.
- The Bulls have a workout scheduled with Virginia small forward Justin Anderson soon after this week’s draft combine, MassLive’s Jay King tweets. Anderson is also working out with the Celtics, as we passed along earlier.
- Tom Thibodeau’s sub-.500 playoff record and resistance to hiring an offensive-minded assistant are among the reasons why the Bulls would be justified in letting him go, Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune opines.
- Defense has defined Thibodeau’s teams, but Chicago’s most pressing need in the offseason is to find a way to force more turnovers next season, as Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com opines in an Insider-only piece.
Pistons Notes: Cap, Dekker, Harvey
This year’s lottery isn’t quite the make-or-break affair it was last year, when the Pistons had to hang on to the eighth position in the lottery to keep their first-round pick from going to Charlotte. Detroit slid back to ninth, losing the pick to the Hornets, who drafted Noah Vonleh. The Pistons are again in the eighth position in the lottery this year, and while they’ll keep their pick regardless, Detroit will surely hope that the roughly 1-in-10 chance that it moves up into the top three comes through. Here’s more from the Motor City:
- Coach/executive Stan Van Gundy made it clear to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press that the Pistons won’t feel obligated to use up all of their cap flexibility if the market doesn’t bear what they want. Detroit has about $28MM in guaranteed salary for next season against a projected $67.1MM cap, not including a player option of nearly $1.271MM for Cartier Martin.
- Keith Langlois of Pistons.com adds Wisconsin small forward Sam Dekker to the list of prospects the Pistons have interviewed at this week’s draft combine. Langlois’ piece focuses on GM Jeff Bower‘s desire for prospects who are especially skilled in one facet rather than versatile players who are proficient in many areas but don’t perform at an elite level in any of them.
- Eastern Washington shooting guard Tyler Harvey is interviewing with the Pistons today, he tells Langlois (Twitter link).
Bulls Interested In Alvin Gentry
12:17am: Some are skeptical the Bulls will land Hoiberg, Beck tweets, which jibes with what Kyler reported earlier.
WEDNESDAY, 11:54am: Hoiberg is Chicago’s top choice, Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck writes, though he hears from one source who considers Gentry the favorite to end up in the Bulls job (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 10:02am: Warriors assistant coach Alvin Gentry would be among the front-runners for the Bulls head coaching job if the team were to part ways with Tom Thibodeau after the season, sources tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who writes in his NBA AM piece. Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg has appeared to be Chicago’s top Thibodeau alternative, as multiple reports have indicated, but Kyler hears that Hoiberg may not be willing to jump to the NBA, given the condition of his heart. The 42-year-old underwent open heart surgery last month to replace his aortic valve, the school announced then.
Gentry is a contender for the Nuggets vacancy, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported last month, not long after a pair of reports identified him as a likely candidate. The Magic are considering Gentry, too, Kyler reported earlier. The former Heat, Pistons, Clippers and Suns bench boss is still working with the Warriors in the playoffs and has expressed affection for his place in Golden State even as he’s said he’d like to be a head coach again. He’s 335-370 over parts of 12 seasons as an NBA head coach, but he went 158-144 with Phoenix, his last stop.
Grantland’s Zach Lowe heard from people close to Tom Thibodeau who were convinced the Bulls would fire their coach at season’s end, as Lowe reported last month, but that scenario would be somewhat unrealistic given the two years left on the coach’s contract, Kyler writes. The sides could part ways as part of a de facto trade in which another team that wants to hire Thibodeau gives the Bulls compensation for letting him out of his contract, and the Magic would be willing to give up assets to Chicago in such an arrangement, sources tell Kyler. Indeed, the Magic job would be Thibodeau’s to turn down if he becomes available, as Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times reported earlier. Orlando would likely be willing to surrender a second-round pick or two, according to Kyler. Kyler had earlier questioned the Magic’s willingness to surrender too much for the chance to bring Thibs aboard. Thibodeau is expected to command an annual salary of $7-8MM, and the Magic would be willing to pay that, sources also tell Kyler.
It’s believed Thibodeau is the front-runner for the Nuggets job, too, according to Kyler, though there has been doubt about whether he’s a fit for Denver’s plan to return to a high-tempo approach. The Pelicans also regard Thibodeau highly as the future of Monty Williams remains unresolved, Kyler writes.
Jimmy Butler likes Thibodeau, but his decision in restricted free agency this summer wouldn’t be tied to the team’s coach, sources close to Butler tell Kyler. However, Derrick Rose is among a number of Bulls who would have a “significant problem” if the team pushed out Thibodeau, Kyler writes, echoing Wojnarowski’s recent report. Rose’s backing of Thibodeau wouldn’t prevent the coach’s departure, Wojnarowski wrote, and Rose is under contract through 2016/17.