Coaching Rumors: Rivers, Joerger, Clifford, Magic
With the 2017/18 season now in the books for the Clippers, Doc Rivers has one year remaining on his contract with the team and sounded uncertain before Wednesday’s finale about what exactly his future holds.
“I love what I do, but that doesn’t mean that you keep doing it every year, do you know what I mean?” Rivers said, per Elliott Teaford of The Daily Breeze. “I can’t even answer the question. I love where we’re at as a franchise. I will say that. I would honestly say that a year ago I don’t know if I would have had that same feeling. So, we’ll see.”
Despite Rivers’ uncertainty, he’s expected to return to his job next season, league sources tell David Aldridge of TNT (Twitter link). We’re not even 12 hours into the 2018 offseason, so it’s possible the outlook for Rivers and the Clippers could change once the two sides formally meet, but based on Aldridge’s report, it doesn’t sound like the franchise is eager to move on from the veteran head coach.
According to Aldridge, Dave Joerger is also expected to return to his position as the Kings‘ head coach next season.
Here are a few more coaching notes and rumors from around the NBA:
- Hornets head coach Steve Clifford will meet with new president and GM Mitch Kupchak on Friday in Charlotte, tweets Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports. According to Mannix, Clifford figures to push for a decision on his status, since he’s highly regarded in coaching circles and could draw interest for other openings around the NBA if Charlotte lets him go.
- Mannix also weighs in on the newly-opened Magic job, tweeting that Jazz assistant Igor Kokoskov could be a dark horse candidate to replace Frank Vogel. Current Orlando GM John Hammond helped bring Kokoskov to the NBA, Mannix notes.
- Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders relays what he has heard on head coaching situations around the NBA. Besides examining the five teams without a permanent coach in place, Kyler also takes a look at the Hawks, Hornets, Pistons, and Clippers.
Knicks Plan To Reach Out To Jay Wright
As part of their search for a new head coach, the Knicks intend to reach out to Villanova’s Jay Wright, a source close to the team tell Frank Isola of The New York Daily News. According to that source, members of the Knicks’ management group view Wright as an ideal candidate to lead the club’s rebuild. However, it will be difficult to pry him away from a great situation in Villanova, where he has won two national championships in the last three years.
“He told me years ago that he wanted to make Villanova into the Duke of the Northeast,” a person close to Wright told Isola. “It would take a lot for him to leave.”
Wright himself told Dana O’Neil of The Athletic just this week that he’s intrigued by the NBA, but can’t himself leaving Villanova, so any team interested in hiring him would likely need to make him its top target and blow him away with an offer.
Reports in the wake of Jeff Hornacek‘s dismissal late last night indicated that the Knicks also plan to contact Jerry Stackhouse, Mark Jackson, David Blatt, and David Fizdale about their newly-created job opening.
Here’s a little more on the Knicks’ coaching situation:
- There’s no shortage of ideas from media members for the next Knicks head coach — Ian Begley of ESPN, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News, Marc Berman of The New York Post, and Al Iannazzone of Newsday all share lists of potential targets for the club.
- According to Begley (Twitter link), multiple current Knicks players would be in favor of the team hiring Jeff Van Gundy. Begley adds that one coach with ties to Van Gundy believes the ABC analyst would have interest in the job if approached by the team.
- As Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News details, Knicks forward Michael Beasley felt that constant speculation about Hornacek’s job security put the head coach in a bad spot. “You get into a position where you’re doing things not to mess up,” Beasley said. “You’re thinking not to mess up, but at the end of the day you’re still thinking messing up. It’s tough but he played the hand he was dealt.”
Wizards Sign Ty Lawson
The Wizards have signed Ty Lawson to the fill the final open spot on their roster, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. Per the NBA’s transactions log, the move was made official on Wednesday, the final day teams could sign players to their roster.
Lawson, 30, spent the 2017/18 season in China playing for the Shandong Golden Stars. In 46 Chinese League contests, the NBA veteran averaged 25.5 PPG, 6.5 APG, and 2.2 SPG, shooting 40.1% on three-point attempts.
The Wizards were linked to Lawson two months ago when John Wall was sidelined with his knee injury, but the team signed Ramon Sessions to help provide point guard depth. Even with Wall back in the lineup and Sessions still on the roster, Washington has circled back to Lawson, who received his letter of clearance once his playoff run in China on Wednesday, per Charania.
Because he wasn’t waived by an NBA team after March 1, Lawson will be eligible to play in the postseason for the Wizards, though he seems unlikely to see much – if any – action.
The Wizards had been one of two teams with an open spot on the 15-man roster, so they didn’t have to make a corresponding move to create space for the point guard. Charlotte will finish the 2017/18 season as the only club with fewer than 15 players on its standard NBA roster.
Mavs Notes: Offseason, Matthews, Team Salary
During his end-of-season remarks to the media on Wednesday, Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle acknowledged that it’s hard to put a positive spin on the season the team had. “You can’t put lipstick on a pig,” Carlisle said, per Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. “A 24-win season is a 24-win season.”
Still, Dennis Smith Jr. tried to take an optimistic view, telling reporters that he believes it was “a pretty successful year in terms of building for the future.” Smith is also looking forward to the Mavericks adding some reinforcements with their lottery pick and potentially via free agency or trade, observing that the team’s top decision-makers have “shown that they know talent.” For their part, those decision-makers are making it a top priority to add more weapons to Dallas’ lineup.
“Getting Rick ammunition is our No. 1 priority in the offseason,” president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said. “And we’ve got a great opportunity in the draft. And in free agency, we’ll be extremely active. In our opinion, it was an extremely difficult year for the head coach.”
Here’s more on the Mavs:
- Asked on Wednesday about his contract option for 2018/19, Wesley Matthews deflected the question, telling reporters that he hasn’t thought about the decision yet (video link via Sefko). However, he did conclude his comments by stating that he has “no plans on going anywhere.” Matthews is considered very likely to opt into his $18.62MM salary.
- The Mavericks are believed to have finished about $3.3MM short of the NBA’s minimum salary floor, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). That money will be split among the players on the club’s roster.
- Dirk Nowitzki, who announced earlier this week that he’ll return in 2018/19 for his 21st season with the Mavericks, said he didn’t want to “run from” the workplace misconduct scandal involving the club’s business offices, as Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News relays. “The investigation is going on and I’m here to help obviously in any way I can, but that did not factor into my decision at all,” Nowitzki said. “I just want to try to help as much as I can.”
Magic Fire Frank Vogel
The Magic are making a change at head coach, announcing today in a press release that they’ve parted ways with Frank Vogel. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski was the first to report that Vogel has been fired.
“We would like to thank Frank for his contributions to the Orlando Magic,” president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said in a statement. “We appreciate the sacrifices he made as head coach and certainly wish him and his family well going forward.”
In addition to Vogel, lead assistant coach Chad Forcier and assistants Corliss Williamson and Jay Hernandez have also been let go by the Magic, per Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel.
Like Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek, who was also fired once the 2017/18 regular season came to an end, Vogel was hired just two years ago but found himself on the hot seat after his team overhauled its front office during the 2017 offseason. Having been brought aboard by former head of basketball operations Rob Hennigan, Vogel will be replaced by Weltman and new GM John Hammond, who will hire their own candidate in the near future.
After compiling a 250-181 record (.580) with five playoff appearances during six years as the head coach of the Pacers, Vogel was unable to replicate that success in Orlando. His team failed to reach 30 wins in either of his two seasons — overall, the Magic had a 54-110 mark (.329) during Vogel’s tenure.
The Magic will begin a search for a new head coach immediately. Previous reports have linked the franchise to various candidates with Toronto connections — Raptors assistants Nick Nurse and Rex Kalamian have been identified as possible targets for Orlando, and Raptors 905 head coach Jerry Stackhouse has been cited multiple times as a viable candidate. Weltman was the general manager in Toronto before arriving in Orlando.
The Magic are the fifth NBA team known to be seeking a permanent head coach this offseason, joining the Suns, Grizzlies, Bucks, and Knicks.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Knicks Fire Jeff Hornacek
The Knicks have dismissed head coach Jeff Hornacek, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. According to Wojnarowski, team management informed Hornacek of its decision upon returning to New York late Wednesday night following the Knicks’ win in Cleveland. The club has since confirmed the move.
Hornacek, who previously coached the Suns, was hired by the Knicks in 2016. He took the reins from interim head coach Kurt Rambis., who stayed on as an assistant until he was also relieved of his duties today, per Marc Berman of The New York Post (Twitter link). In two seasons with the franchise, Hornacek led the Knicks to a 60-104 record (.366), missing the playoffs in consecutive years.
Having been hired by former Knicks president Phil Jackson, Hornacek was considered to be on the hot seat for much of the 2017/18 season. Expectations for the Knicks weren’t high entering the year, particularly after the trade that sent Carmelo Anthony to Oklahoma City in September, so the team’s 29-win showing wasn’t necessarily a major disappointment. Still, there was a belief that the new regime – led by president Steve Mills and GM Scott Perry – would want to bring in its own head coach to lead the next stage of New York’s rebuild.
It’s not yet clear if there’s a frontrunner to replace Hornacek on the Knicks’ bench, but a few potential candidates – including Mark Jackson, David Blatt, and David Fizdale – have been mentioned multiple times over the past couple months. The Knicks plan to contact those three veteran coaches, league sources tell Wojnarowski.
In a piece for The New York Daily News on Wednesday, Frank Isola identified Doc Rivers, Jeff Van Gundy, and Jerry Stackhouse as other possible options to replace Hornacek. Wojnarowski confirms (via Twitter) that Stackhouse is on the Knicks’ list of candidates to contact.
Isola also cited a source who named current Knicks VP of player development Craig Robinson as a “long-shot candidate” to move to the head coach position. While that scenario seems unlikely, Robinson was formerly a college head coach at Brown and Oregon State.
Hornacek is the fourth head coach fired by an NBA team during the 2017/18 league year, joining Earl Watson (Suns), Fizdale (Grizzlies), and Jason Kidd (Bucks). Phoenix, Memphis, and Milwaukee have hired interim coaches for now, but figure to conduct full-fledged searches soon, so the Knicks may have to compete with those clubs as they look to schedule interviews.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Details On Traded Picks, Upcoming Draft Tiebreakers
With the 2017/18 NBA regular season in the books, the postseason matchups are set in both the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference.
More importantly for fans of most non-playoff teams, the end of the regular season means that the 2018 NBA draft picture is clearer than ever. The 2018 draft order is close to being set and – with a small handful of exceptions – most of this year’s traded draft picks with protections on them have now officially changed hands or officially stayed put.
However, there are still some major question marks surrounding the draft order, since several clubs finished the regular season with identical records, and draft tiebreakers don’t work like playoff tiebreakers do. In order to break these ties, the NBA will conduct random drawings this Friday, as Jonathan Givony of ESPN notes (via Twitter).
[RELATED: 2017/18 NBA Reverse Standings]
For lottery teams, such as the 24-58 Mavericks and Hawks, who finished tied for third in the lottery standings, the implications of those drawings are huge. Whichever team wins that tiebreaker will have ever-so-slightly better odds at the first overall pick (13.8% to 13.7%), and will be in position to claim the higher first-round pick if neither team lands in the top three.
For instance, if the Suns and Grizzlies remain at No. 1 and No. 2 in the lottery and another team leapfrogs the Mavs and Hawks, the winner of the tiebreaker between Dallas and Atlanta would claim the No. 4 overall pick — the loser would get No. 5. For the second round, the loser of the tiebreaker would receive the higher selection.
Here are the draft tiebreakers that will be conducted on Friday:
- Mavericks vs. Hawks for Nos. 3, 4.
- Kings vs. Bulls for Nos. 6, 7.
- Bucks vs. Heat for Nos. 16, 17.
- Spurs vs. Timberwolves for Nos. 18, 19.
- Pacers vs. Pelicans vs. Thunder vs. Jazz for Nos. 20-23.
Several of those tiebreakers will also affect this year’s traded picks. Most notably, the Bucks/Heat drawing has massive implications for Milwaukee and Phoenix — the Bucks’ first-round pick will head to the Suns if it lands at No. 16, but Milwaukee would keep it if it ends up at No. 17. In other words, each team has a 50/50 shot at the pick. If the Bucks keep it, they’d owe their 2019 first-round selection to Phoenix, albeit with somewhat similar protections.
Here’s a breakdown of the traded first-round picks for 2018. A check mark indicates the pick will definitely be sent to the indicated team:
- Nets pick to Cavaliers (✔️): Eighth in lottery standings
- Lakers pick to Sixers (97.1%) or Celtics (2.9%): 10th in lottery standings
- Note: Celtics will receive pick if it lands at No. 2 or No. 3 via the lottery.
- Pistons pick to Clippers (97.5%): 12th in lottery standings
- Note: Pistons will keep pick if it lands in top three via the lottery.
- Heat pick to Suns (✔️): No. 16 or 17 (tie)
- Bucks pick to Suns (50%): No. 16 or 17 (tie)
- Note: Bucks will keep pick if it lands at No. 17 via a random drawing.
- Timberwolves pick to Hawks (✔️): No. 18 or 19 (tie)
- Thunder pick to Timberwolves (✔️): No. 20, 21, 22, or 23 (four-way tie)
- Pelicans pick to Bulls (✔️): No. 20, 21, 22, or 23 (four-way tie)
- Cavaliers pick to Lakers (✔️): No. 25
- Raptors pick to Nets (✔️): No. 29
- Rockets pick to Hawks (✔️): No. 30
Here’s a breakdown of the traded second-round picks that will change hands in 2018:
- Bulls pick to Knicks (✔️): No. 36 or 37 (tie)
- Nets pick to Sixers (✔️): No. 38
- Knicks pick to Sixers (✔️): No. 39
- Lakers pick to Nets (✔️): No. 40
- Hornets pick to Magic (✔️): No. 41
- Clippers pick to Nuggets (✔️): No. 43
- Bucks pick to Nets (✔️): No. 45 or 46 (tie)
- Heat pick to Rockets (✔️): No. 45 or 46 (tie)
- Nuggets pick to Lakers (✔️): No. 47
- Trail Blazers pick to Mavericks (✔️): No. 54
- Cavaliers pick to Hornets (✔️): No. 55
- Celtics pick to Thunder (✔️): No. 57
- Warriors pick to Nuggets (✔️): No. 58
- Raptors pick to Suns (✔️): No. 59
- Rockets pick to Sixers (✔️): No. 60
Western Conference Playoff Seeding
11:54pm: The Trail Blazers have defeated the Jazz in their regular season finale and clinched the No. 3 seed with the win. Here are the first-round matchups in the Western Conference:
- Rockets (No. 1) vs. Timberwolves (No. 8)
- Warriors (No. 2) vs. Spurs (No. 7)
- Trail Blazers (No. 3) vs. Pelicans (No. 6)
- Thunder (No. 4) vs. Jazz (No. 5)
9:47pm: The Timberwolves have beaten the Nuggets and clinched the final spot in the 2018 NBA Playoffs. We now know the following.
- The Nuggets will miss the playoffs
- The Timberwolves are the No. 8 seed.
- The Spurs are the No. 7 seed.
- If the Trail Blazers beat the Jazz:
- Pelicans are No. 6
- Jazz are No. 5
- Thunder are No. 4
- Blazers are No. 3
- If the Jazz beat the Trail Blazers:
- Thunder are No. 6
- Pelicans are No. 5
- Blazers are No. 4
- Jazz are No. 3
8:54pm: The Thunder lead the Grizzlies by 12 with less than nine minutes remaining, while the Pelicans lead the Spurs by 18 with less than 10 minutes remaining. Barring a surprise comeback by Memphis or San Antonio, here is how the playoff picture looks after wins by Oklahoma City and New Orleans.
Jazz: 3 or 5
Trail Blazers: 3 or 4
Thunder: 4 or 6
Pelicans: 5 or 6
Spurs: 7 or 8
Timberwolves: 8 or 9
Nuggets: 7 or 9
4:37pm: As we indicated earlier today, the Nuggets and Timberwolves will face-off tonight with the final spot of the 2018 NBA Playoffs on the line.
And while that game will be the only winner-gets-in, loser-gets-eliminated contest tonight, there are numerous other games with playoff seeding implications on the line. In the Western Conference, only the Rockets and the Warriors know their playoff seeding. Seeds three through eight are all still up for grabs, as follows:
Jazz: 3, 4, or 5
Trail Blazers: 3, 4, or 5
Pelicans: 5, 6, 7, or 8
Spurs: 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8
Thunder: 4, 6, or 8
Timberwolves: 6, 7, 8, or 9
Nuggets: 6, 7, or 9
We will be updating the Western Conference playoff seeding scenarios – in real time – as games finish this evening, so stay tuned to Hoops Rumors for all relevant up-to-the-minute developments. For now, here are some initial notes that are not conditional upon other game results:
- The Jazz and Trail Blazers winner gets the No. 3 seed.
- The Thunder will be the No. 8 seed with a loss to the Grizzlies.
- As noted above, the loser of the Nuggets and Wolves will finish ninth in the Western Conference standings.
Eastern Conference Playoff Seeding
9:38pm: The Heat have beaten the Raptors, meaning we know the playoff pairings and seeds for the Eastern Conference.
- Raptors (No. 1) vs. Wizards (No. 8)
- Celtics (No. 2) vs. Bucks (No. 7)
- Sixers (No. 3) vs. Heat (No. 6)
- Cavaliers (No. 4) vs. Pacers (No. 5)
9:32pm: The Magic have beaten the Wizards. We now know the following.
- The Wizards are the No. 8 seed, which means the only seeds still up for grabs are the 6 and 7 seeds.
- If MIA wins, they are the No. 6 seed and MIL is No. 7.
- If TOR wins, MIL is the No. 6 seed and MIA is No. 7.
9:05pm: Philadelphia now leads Milwaukee by 34 points with less than eight minutes remaining. Safe to say, the Sixers aren’t losing this game. As such, we now know the following.
- The Sixers are the No. 3 seed.
- The Cavaliers are the No. 4 seed.
- The Heat will be the No. 6 seed with a win over the Raptors.
8:18pm: At halftime of both games, the Knicks lead the Cavs by 20 and the Sixers lead the Bucks by an all-but insurmountable 36 points. Barring an epic turnaround, the Sixers will be the No. 3 seed and the Cavs will be the No. 4 seed.
6:07pm: While not as undecided as the Western Conference, the Eastern Conference still has some seeding implications in tonight’s games as well. Like the top two seeds in the West, both the Raptors and Celtics are locked in to the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the East, respectively.
Likewise, the Pacers will be the No. 5 seed regardless of tonight’s results. However, seeds three, four, and six through eight are still up in the air, as follows:
Sixers: 3 or 4
Cavaliers: 3 or 4
Bucks: 6, 7, or 8
Heat: 6, 7, or 8
Wizards: 6, 7, or 8
As we did for the Western Conference, here are some initial notes that are not conditional upon other game results:
- The Sixers will be the No. 3 seed with a win over the Bucks.
- The Cavs will be the No. 4 seed with a loss to the Knicks.
- The Bucks will be the No. 6 seed with a win over the Sixers.
- The Wizards will be the No. 8 seed with a loss to the Magic.
We will be updating the Eastern Conference playoff seeding scenarios as the night goes on, so stay with us throughout the evening. The playoff seeding should be set by the time we sign off.
Rockets Sign Aaron Jackson, Cut Tim Quarterman
8:34pm: The moves are official, per Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston.
7:18pm: The Rockets plan to sign guard Aaron Jackson for the remainder of the season, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. Jackson just recently finished his season as a member of the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Jackson, 31, graduated from Duquesne in 2009, leaving as the school’s all-time leader in games played, third all-time in assists, and sixth all-time in steals. He was a member of CSKA Moscow in Russia from 2012 to 2017, winning a EuroLeague title in 2016.
Because Houston already has a full 15-man roster, the team plans to release recently signed guard Tim Quarterman in order to make room for Jackson, Charania adds.
Quarterman was signed on March 30 to a two-year deal, but next season’s contract was reportedly non-guaranteed. Quarterman should earn a little over $96K for his brief stint in Houston.