Ettore Messina To Coach Spurs In Game 4
Assistant coach Ettore Messina will reprise his role from Wednesday and serve as the head coach for the Spurs for Game 4 of San Antonio’s first-round series against the Warriors tomorrow, tweets Jabari Young of the San Antonio Express-News.
Messina is filling in for Gregg Popovich, who is away from the team mourning the death of his wife Erin. With San Antonio down 3-0 to Golden State, it’s possible that tomorrow is the Spurs’ final game of the season. If the series resumes, it’s unclear if Popovich will take his regular seat for the remainder of the series.
Messina is reportedly a top candidate for a head coaching job this offseason and has received interest from the Hornets, who are on the lookout for Steve Clifford‘s replacement. San Antonio granted Charlotte permission to interview Messina, which will likely take place after the Spurs’ season is complete. For now, Messina’s focus will be to stave off elimination.
Luka Doncic To Enter 2018 NBA Draft
Luka Doncic of Real Madrid, a potential lottery pick, has submitted paperwork to enter the 2018 NBA Draft, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).
Donic, 19, enjoyed his best season as part of Liga ACB, averaging 15.0 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 4.7 APG for Real Madrid. The Slovenian is currently playing in the EuroLeague postseason. That means Doncic’s season could potentially drift into May or June.
The early entry deadline for the 2018 NBA Draft is Sunday.
The 6’7″ guard has long intrigued NBA teams due to his versatile ability to shoot and be a playmaker. There is a real possibility that Doncic is among the top three picks in the draft, if not the first overall selection.
Atlantic Notes: Embiid, DeRozan/Lowry, Tsai, Mitchell
Joel Embiid made his on-court return for the Sixers’ Game 3 first-round series matchup against the Heat. It was Embiid’s first game since March 28, when he suffered an orbital fracture in his left eye and a concussion. To prevent further injury, Embiid sported a league-approved protective mask, which involved a lot of effort to construct, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne details.
A battery of tests was conducted at the University of Pennsylvania to make sure the mask would protect Embiid’s injured face. Shelburne writes that a “group of independent doctors from the league spent the past 10 days agonizing” about the mask and its safety. Embiid’s agent even reached out to retired NBA champion Richard Hamilton, who was famous for wearing a mask during his career.
“They [the Sixers] did everything possible,” Embiid said. “They were like throwing stuff at it to make sure it could withstand it.”
Check out more notes from the Atlantic Division:
- By their own admission, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan have gone from not speaking to being the closest of the friends. As the Raptors hold a 2-1 series lead over the Wizards, the only goal their goal is to bring a championship to Canada, the duo said to ESPN’s Rachel Nichols in an in-depth interview.
- The Knicks have received some heat for passing on Donovan Mitchell in last year’s draft. Former Knick David Lee recalled Mitchell attending his annual camp in Chappaqua, New York, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes.
- Joe Tsai agreed to buy a 49% stake in the Nets and while he has yet to publicly comment since the purchase, the expectation is he will try to take the organization global, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. “Mikhail [Prokhorov] and Joe are both committed owners and they’ll be hands-on to a certain extent,” general manager Sean Marks said. “The fact that Joe saw something that he liked in Brooklyn, saw something that he liked with the Nets organization, I think there’ll be a great partnership between the two.”
Suns Interview Igor Kokoskov For Head Coach Job
The Suns have interviewed Jazz assistant Igor Kokoskov for their vacant head coach job, league sources tell Tony Jones of The Salt Lake City Tribune (Twitter link). We noted yesterday that Phoenix planned to interview Kokoskov as they continue their search.
Kokoskov has served an assistant for Utah since 2015 as part of Quin Snyder‘s staff. Before joining the Jazz, Kokoskov was an assistant coach for several teams, including the Clippers, Pistons, Suns, Cavaliers, and Magic. While Kokoskov has never been a head coach in the NBA, he does have experience coaching the Georgian and Serbian national teams.
Phoenix’s pool of candidates shrunk this week when Mike Budenholzer reportedly withdrew from consideration on Thursday. However, the Suns are still considering several names for the job. John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM (via Twitter) confirmed yesterday that Spurs assistant James Borrego and former Rockets head coach Kevin McHale are in consideration.
Several former NBA coaches are also reportedly in the mix, including David Fizdale, Steve Clifford, Frank Vogel, and David Blatt. Interim coach Jay Triano, who took over after the firing of Earl Watson this season, will also interview for the job.
Latest On Knicks’ Head Coaching Search
9:00pm: The Knicks will meet with Mike Budenholzer on Sunday, Ian Begley of ESPN tweets.
7:48pm: Add James Borrego to the list of candidates scheduled to interview with the Knicks regarding their coaching vacancy. Ian Begley and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN report that the current Spurs assistant has been granted permission to interview for the position.
Borrego was previously linked as a potential Suns candidate although it wasn’t known at the time whether he had been granted permission to interview there.
Worth noting is that Borrego worked with Knicks general manager Scott Perry in Orlando between 2012 and 2015, serving as an assistant and eventually interim head coach prior to joining San Antonio.
Here’s more on the search for a new Knicks’ coach:
- Representatives from the franchise will travel abroad to interview David Blatt this week. Wojnarowski and Begley write that Blatt has a strong relationship with Knicks president Steve Mills but doesn’t have a relationship with Perry.
- For what it’s worth, the ESPN scribes say that Jerry Stackhouse and David Fizdale both made strong cases for themselves in their previously conducted interviews.
- And finally, Kenny Smith‘s interview with the franchise is now in the books, although the ESPN piece gives no indication of how it went. Smith is a native of New York but has no coaching experience.
Central Notes: Cavaliers, Thompson, Pistons
The Cavaliers didn’t get much out of their supporting cast through the first two games of their first-round playoff matchup. That couldn’t come at a worse time, Brian Windhorst of ESPN writes, given that LeBron James could leave for greener pastures via free agency this summer.
In those first two contests, which the Cavaliers split, James accounted for 62% of the team’s baskets either directly of via assist. That’s the highest total of his playoff career by a considerable margin. Notably, the next highest on that list came back in the 2009 postseason months prior to his infamous Decision to leave Cleveland.
Another concern that could linger for the Cavaliers if not rectified in Game 3 (underway as of publishing) is on the defensive end of the ball. While James carrying the offense could be justifiable if the team was a vaunted defensive force as they were back during his first stint with the franchise, this rendition ranked 29th in the NBA in defensive efficiency.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- After seeing just two minutes of action in the first two games of the Cavaliers‘ first-round matchup, Tristan Thompson is expected to see more action, Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com writes.
- The Pistons don’t have financial flexibility heading into the offseason but head coach Stan Van Gundy doesn’t view that as an impediment to improving the roster. Van Gundy tells Keith Langlois of the team’s official site that there are benefits to returning so many key rotation players and that they’ll always have options in terms of trades when the time comes.
- The Bucks haven’t made it out of the first round in 17 seasons. Down in their 2018 first-round tilt with Boston, they have plenty of work to do, but Genaro C. Armas of The Associate Press writes it would do wonders for business as the franchise prepares to move into a new arena.
Pelicans Notes: Defense, Cousins, Mirotic
The Pelicans have the Trail Blazers against the ropes in their first-round playoff series thanks largely in part to their mid-season growth as a defensive force. The Pels have locked in on that side of the ball out of necessecity, William Guillory of The Times-Picayune writes.
Prior to the season-ending injury that sidelined DeMarcus Cousins, the Pelicans were an offense first team. Without the imposing superstar frontcourt, however, the team has had to find new ways to win.
The Pelicans have had the fourth best defensive rating in the NBA since February 1, not long after Cousins went down. Before that point, however, they ranked 23rd.
There’s more out of New Orleans:
- Injured big man DeMarcus Cousins sat on the sidelines when the Pelicans beat the Trail Blazers in Game 3 of their first-round series yesterday. As Mike Triplett of ESPN writes, the center received a predictable standing ovation.
- After coming over to the Pelicans in a mid-season trade, Nikola Mirotic is raising his game. “He’s just been locked in, our guys really have a lot of confidence in him,” head coach Alvin Gentry told William Guillory of The Times-Picayune. “I think he’s in a good place now. He’s well aware of where he fits in with this team and what he’s capable of doing. It’s not just him shooting the ball, he’s made a lot of really good plays and some nice cuts.“
- In three playoff games this spring, 32-year-old Rajon Rondo is averaging 12.7 points and 12.3 assists per game. This isn’t the first time the crafty point guard has thrived in the postseason, something that ESPN’s NBA Twitter account was happy to point out.
Atlantic Notes: Sixers Culture, Rozier, Wright
Love or hate The Process, it produced a Sixers team that is every bit an Eastern Conference contender. Beyond the roster loaded with talent, however, is a strong culture, one that ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz points out is far more developed and nuanced than we all assumed while they were losing historically.
“All of that was a time of learning, a time of progression, a time of really seeing the type of person you can become when you endure hard time,” said Sixers forward Robert Covington. “That journey made us who we are. The 18-win season, the 10-win season. All that, it built us up for this moment.”
A mainstay for the team during those lean years is a tradition of having players give presentations about topics that resonate with them on a monthly basis. The result? A series of PowerPoint speeches over which Sixers staffers and stars have been connecting.
Arnovitz breaks down the motivation behind the Sixers’ discussions, which range from Covington’s lecture on snakes to Dario Saric‘s lesson on the Balkan conflict that shaped his childhood. If you dive into one #LongRead today, make it this one.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Consider David Lee a supporter of the notion that the Knicks should hire Mark Jackson. Lee played in New York and later for Jackson in Golden State. “Mark understands the difference in New York basketball. He’s from there,” Lee told Marc Berman of The New York Post. “He understands the politics, the fans, things involved unique to the Knicks. That’s an advantage he has.“
- A pair of Atlantic Division point guards have developed slowly over time. Now, Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer wonders if Delon Wright and Terry Rozier could eventually leave the Raptors and Celtics for a chance to play a bigger role on another squad. Both players will be eligible for extensions this offseason, and Toronto and Boston may not have the cap flexibility to invest in them for the long term.
- The Nets have seen a trend of development in players that they’ve had for two or more seasons. Tom Dowd of the team’s official website writes that all eyes will be on D’Angelo Russell, Allen Crabbe and Jarrett Allen to see if they’ll show similar improvements when they reach their second year under the tutelage of head coach Kenny Atkinson.
Draft Updates: Matthews, Shine, Huerter, Vital
Junior guard Charles Matthews, a key contributor during Michigan’s Final Four run in this year’s NCAA tournament, announced today (via Twitter) that he’ll test the draft waters, entering his name in the pool without hiring an agent.
Although he’s not viewed as a first-round prospect, Matthews enjoyed a successful March Madness run for the Wolverines, averaging 16.6 PPG and 6.8 RPG with a .532 FG% in Michigan’s five wins. He posted just six points and three boards in the championship game before fouling out.
We have a few more draft updates to pass along, so let’s dive in…
- Oklahoma State guard Tavarius Shine, who is forgoing his final year of NCAA eligibility and going pro, has signed with JCK Sports Group for representation, the agency announced today (via Twitter). Shine is one of two redshirt juniors leaving Oklahoma State a year early, joining teammate Yankuba Sima, as Nathan Ruiz of The Oklahoman detailed last month.
- Maryland sophomore Kevin Huerter will enter the draft without hiring an agent, the school announced today in a press release. The 6’7″ shooting guard had a nice year for the Terrapins in 2017/18, averaging 14.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 3.4 APG with an efficient .503/.417/.758 shooting line.
- UConn sophomore guard Christian Vital is testing the NBA draft waters, as Jon Rothstein of FanRag Sports tweets. Vital is considered unlikely to be drafted, so he could withdraw his name before the May 30 deadline and return to school for his junior year.
- According to Rothstein (via Twitter), invitations for this year’s NBA draft combine will be sent out next Friday, April 27. The event is scheduled to take place from May 16-20 in Chicago, right after the league conducts the draft lottery on May 15.
Knicks Plan To Talk To Mike Budenholzer
The Knicks continue to cast a wide net in their search for a new head coach, with Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporting (via Twitter) that the club intends to talk to current Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer.
Budenholzer, who has two years and more than $13MM remaining on his contract with the Hawks, has already met with the Suns about their head coaching vacancy. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Thursday night that Budenholzer withdrew from consideration for that Phoenix job, but it appears he’s not yet a lock to return to the Hawks.
If the Knicks want to hire Budenholzer, they’d almost certainly have to send the Hawks some sort of compensation to let him out of his current deal. The most notable example in recent years was the Celtics acquiring a first-round pick from the Clippers when Boston let Doc Rivers out of a contract with three years left on it in 2013.
As our head coaching search tracker shows, the Knicks have put together an extensive list of potential candidates to become Jeff Hornacek‘s replacement. Jerry Stackhouse, Mark Jackson, and Mike Woodson have reportedly interviewed with the team, and Kenny Smith was set to do so today. New York is also expected to meet with David Fizdale and David Blatt.