Knicks Notes: Thibodeau, Perry, Atkinson, Anthony
Tom Thibodeau should have plenty of opportunities to return to the NBA next season, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Thibodeau, who was fired by the Timberwolves in the middle of the 2018/19 season, is frequently mentioned among the candidates to take over the Knicks. However, the Nets and Rockets are two other teams that might be interested, Bondy notes, while the Pelicans, Bulls and Hawks may also be in the market for a new coach, along with the Spurs if Gregg Popovich retires.
Sources tell Bondy that Thibodeau is confident he will be a head coach somewhere next season and has been getting advice around the league on the best opportunity. Bondy argues that Thibodeau doesn’t deserve all the blame for all that went wrong in Minnesota, suggesting that he had a good relationship with Andrew Wiggins, but couldn’t find a way to motivate Karl-Anthony Towns.
Bondy adds that interim coach Mike Miller remains a candidate to get the job on a full-time basis as new team president Leon Rose is impressed with his performance since taking over, while Kentucky coach John Calipari shouldn’t be counted out because of his close ties to Rose.
There’s more Knicks news to pass along:
- The NBA shutdown has increased the chances that general manager Scott Perry will remain with the team, Bondy adds in the same column. The Knicks aren’t making personnel moves during the hiatus and are preparing for the draft with the current front office, which includes Gerald Madkins, Michael Arcieri and Harold Ellis, who all came to New York with Perry in 2017.
- Kenny Atkinson isn’t the best choice for the Knicks despite his previous ties to the organization, contends Marc Berman of The New York Post. The former Nets coach hails from Long Island and served as an assistant with the Knicks under Mike D’Antoni, but a source tells Berman that Atkinson’s management late in games is considered questionable and he wasn’t able to win the respect of Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn. Berman expects Rose to seek a more experienced coach with a better track record.
- Zach Braziller of The New York Post examines the divided opinions on North Carolina’s Cole Anthony, whom the Knicks may consider drafting, given their need for a point guard.
Southwest Notes: Brunson, Rivero, Poeltl, Pelicans
Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson tells Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News that the NBA’s hiatus convinced him to have surgery to fix a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Brunson underwent the operation March 13, two days after the league shut down over coronavirus concerns. He was hoping to wait until after the season to address the shoulder, but the break gave him a reason to get it done right away.
“I truly was trying to get back and trying to finish the season out,” Brunson said. “But also in the back of my mind, I wasn’t putting surgery off and saying it wasn’t a possibility. The morning of the day the NBA shut down, we were talking about when I could get it done if I wanted to get it done — just hypothetically — and then that night is when everything started happening, so we said ‘Hey, let’s get it done ASAP.’ We didn’t know how long this was going to be, how long it was going to take.”
Brunson was averaging 8.2 PPG in his second NBA season before the injury sidelined him in late February. He’s rehabbing at home, but doesn’t expect to return this season no matter what happens when the league resumes play.
“As of right now, I think it’s ruled out,” Brunson said. “I think we’re just planning on next year’s training camp. That’s if everything is going along schedule. But as of right now, I’m just focusing on rehab and getting back to full strength.”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- The Mavericks are keeping an eye on Cuban prospect Jasiel Rivero, relays Dario Skerletic of Sportando from an original report by Chema de Lucas. The 27-year-old forward is averaging more than 9 points and 5 rebounds per game in the Champions League.
- Spurs center Jakob Poeltl believes he has fully recovered from a right MCL strain that sidelined him for five days before the shutdown began, according to News4SanAntonio. Poeltl talked about his condition in an interview with Austria’s Die Presse, saying he believes he’ll be able to return whenever games resume. “Although I have no experience with knee injuries, I expect that I will have no problems if the season continues,” Poeltl said.
- Executive VP of basketball operations David Griffin thinks the culture change he wanted to bring in his first season with the Pelicans has been successful, writes Jim Eichenhofer of NBA.com. “It’s fairly clear we’ve got really, really good, high-character humans here,” Griffin said. “The culture has changed a great deal for the better. I think players love being a part of what we’re building.”
- The Pelicans have expressed interest in guard Elijah Bryant of Maccabi Tel Aviv, tweets Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Bryant, who turns 25 next week, played in Summer League the past two years with the Bucks and Sixers.
Kosta Koufos Expected To Leave CSKA Moscow
Former NBA center Kosta Koufos will likely leave CSKA Moscow, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Koufos’ departure was hastened by the addition of Nikola Milutinov, whose rights are owned by the Spurs.
Koufos became the highest-paid American player in Europe when he signed with the Russian team last summer, making $6MM over two years. The contract included an escape clause in case he wanted to return to the NBA next season.
However, injuries have limited Koufos’ productivity. He averaged just 3.7 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in the EuroLeague and 8.4 PPG and 5.2 RPG in the VTB League.
Koufos, 31, played for five teams over 11 NBA seasons and spent the last four years with the Kings before leaving for Europe. He averaged 3.7 PPG and 4.2 RPG in 42 games as a reserve during the 2018/19 season.
Community Shootaround: NBA’s Best H-O-R-S-E Player
The NBA’s H-O-R-S-E competition will begin tomorrow, but not with the field that fans were probably hoping for when the project was first discussed.
The eight-person tournament will include just four current NBA players, Thunder guard Chris Paul, Hawks guard Trae Young, Bulls guard Zach LaVine and Jazz guard Mike Conley. The field will be rounded out by a pair of retired players, Chauncey Billups and Paul Pierce, along with three-time WNBA All-Star Allie Quigley and newly-elected Hall-of-Famer Tamika Catchings.
The talent pool is understandable given the restrictions imposed because of the coronavirus. All the participants will be shooting on their home courts, either indoors or outdoors. Many active players don’t have access to courts with training facilities being shut down, and fears of transmitting the virus make it impossible to bring the competitors together in one location.
Oddsmakers have installed Young and Paul as the favorites, according to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman, who notes that Young has 2/1 odds to win the tournament, while Paul is 5/2. They are trailed by Conley (3/1), Pierce (4/1), LaVine (5/1), Billups (6/1), Quigley (8/1) and Catchings (10/1).
The competition will follow traditional rules of the popular playground game. A coin toss will determine who goes first, and each player must describe the shot before shooting. Dunking won’t be allowed.
The tournament will raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts and will provide the first glimpse of live basketball on television in more than a month. However, it won’t answer the question of who’s really the best H-O-R-S-E player in the NBA.
Once the league gets back to normal, we’d like to see an expanded version, maybe involving a representative from each of the league’s 30 teams. Imagine a tournament with Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Damian Lillard and other stars competing under the same format.
We want to get your input. Who do you think has the best array of shots to win a league-wide H-O-R-S-E tournament? Please leave your answer in the space below.
Suns Notes: Saric, Williams, Draft, Jerome
Dario Saric‘s fate will be among the most important decisions facing the Suns this offseason, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Saric started 50 of the 58 games he played in his first season in Phoenix, but averaged a career-low 10.1 PPG. Rankin notes that the team would like to find a more athletic power forward, but Saric has proven his value by playing hard, moving the ball and being a good locker-room influence.
Saric, who turned 26 this week, is already on his third team in four NBA seasons. The Suns can make him a restricted free agent in the offseason by extending a $5MM qualifying offer.
There’s more today from Phoenix:
- Monty Williams has made a difference in his first year as Suns coach, just as league general managers predicted in a preseason survey, Rankin adds in a separate story. Williams was the choice of 43% of GMs among “new or relocated” head coaches expected to have a positive impact on their new team. Phoenix has more wins than in any of the past four years, even though the season has been put on hold with 17 games remaining and center Deandre Ayton was suspended for 25 games. With Williams at the helm, Devin Booker became an all-star for the first time, Kelly Oubre posted his best season and the team rose from 29th to 19th in defensive rating.
- Point guard could be an emphasis for Phoenix in the draft, writes Kevin Zimmerman of Arizona Sports, who agrees with ESPN’s Jonathan Givony that the team would have interest in Tyrese Haliburton and Killian Hayes. In his latest mock draft, Givony has Haliburton being selected with the ninth pick, one ahead of the Suns, assuming they remain in the 10th slot. Zimmerman believes either would be a productive backup to Ricky Rubio, and at 6’5″ they both have the size to handle either backcourt position. Among point guards already on the roster, Elie Okobo‘s contract isn’t fully guaranteed for next season, while Jevon Carter will be a restricted free agent.
- Ty Jerome talks to Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports about an eventful rookie year that included two trades shortly after the draft, an early-season ankle injury that sidelined him for six weeks and now a coronavirus lockdown.
Wizards Notes: Sheppard, Beal, Hachimura, Bertans
The Wizards may be in position to gamble in this year’s draft, general manager Tommy Sheppard said in a Q&A session on the team’s Twitter account (hat tip to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington). Last year, Washington used its first pick on Rui Hachimura, who was ready to contribute right away, but Sheppard believes the team can now consider long-term prospects.
“I think when you look at our roster and you see eight players 23 or younger, we can probably take a swing at somebody and they’re not going to have to help us immediately next year. If that player is there, certainly we do that,” Sheppard said.
The Wizards will start their draft process Monday by interviewing college seniors and international prospects. Everything will be different this year because of coronavirus restrictions, which means chatting remotely with potential picks and no in-person workouts. However, Sheppard doesn’t put great value on those individual sessions as the team didn’t work out Hachimura before last year’s draft.
“Workouts are important, but these players have played all season,” Sheppard said. “If we’re going to decide whether to take a player based on one workout, we’re in a lot of trouble. We’ve done our homework.”
There’s more from Washington:
- Appearing on The Lowe Post podcast with ESPN’s Zach Lowe, Bradley Beal said he considered a lot of positives and negatives before agreeing to a two-year extension last fall. “Ultimately, I felt staying, the positives outweighed leaving,” Beal explained. “The reason being is because I had more control here. I have an organization who basically gave me the keys. We’re gonna build around you, we’re gonna get guys around. If I go anywhere else, granted, it may be a good team, but I would be a piece. Who knows if my role would be the same? My role here, I love what it is.”
- Beal admits he was among those who laughed on draft night when ESPN’s Chauncey Billups compared Hachimura to Kawhi Leonard, but Beal has become a huge supporter of his rookie teammate. “He’s not Kawhi, but he plays like him,” Beal said. “He has a high ceiling. He’s not really a four. We can really make him into a three. We can make him into a playmaker. He can post up smaller guys. He can guard bigger guys. He’s very versatile in a lot of ways. I love him. He’s a workhorse. I don’t know who he’s really comparable to, because his ceiling’s that high.”
- Fred Katz of The Athletic examines how expected changes to the salary cap will affect Washington’s chances of re-signing Davis Bertans. The Wizards will have to keep Bertans’ $13.3MM cap hold on their books to retain his Bird rights, so they are expected to operate as an over-the-cap team when the offseason arrives.
Northwest Notes: Weaver, McCollum, Daniels, Jazz
Thunder VP of basketball operations Troy Weaver turned down an interview during the second round of Chicago’s search for a new head of basketball operations because he considered it a “token offer,” tweets Marc J. Spears of the Undefeated. Someone in the Bulls organization told Weaver that Arturas Karnisovas was likely to be hired to fill the role, and he didn’t want to go through the process with little chance to get the job, Spears adds.
That contradicts a report from earlier this week suggesting that Oklahoma City declined permission for Chicago to talk to Weaver, who is African American. The Bulls came under criticism this week for seemingly not including any black candidates in their front office search.
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Like many NBA players, Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum is trying to find ways to stay ready for a resumption of the season even though he doesn’t have access to a basketball court, writes Casey Holdahl of NBA.com. “I’m still working out so I’m holding out hope that we’re going to be able to come back at some point. Honestly, I have no idea, I think it’s a coin flip,” McCollum said. “… I’m continuing to put my head down and work as if we’re returning here shortly. I think that’s how you have to approach a situation like this. There’s 24 hours in a day, plenty of time for me to still get some work in, work on other sectors and things I’m interested in.”
- Troy Daniels didn’t get an opportunity to establish himself with the Nuggets before the hiatus began, notes Arash Markazi of The Los Angeles Times. Daniels was waived by the Lakers on March 2 after agreeing to a buyout, then signed with Denver on March 5, which was six days before the season was suspended. He got into one game and played just one minute during his time with the Nuggets. “We were playing when we found out (about the shutdown) so I didn’t know if we were going to stop but we kept going, and as soon as it was over everyone was talking about it in the locker room,” Daniels said. “We were supposed to go to San Antonio that night but we went back to Denver. That’s when I knew it was serious.”
- Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report suggests five potential trades if the Jazz can’t resolve the reported rift between Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. Bailey sees the Knicks, Mavericks and Bulls as possible destinations for Gobert, while the Thunder and Nuggets may be able to swing a deal for Mitchell.
International Notes: Kalaitzakis, Broekhoff, Milutoniv, NBL
Euro guard Georgios Kalaitzakis has submitted paperwork to make himself eligible for the draft, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony reports. Kalaitzakis is ranked as the No. 96 prospect in the ESPN Top 100. The native of Greece averaged 12.2 PPG, 4.3 RPG and 2.3 APG in 29 MPG for Nevezis in Lithuania this season. The 6’7” Kalaitzakis led the U20 European Championship in scoring last summer at 19.7 PPG.
We have more from around the basketball world:
- Former Mavericks swingman Ryan Broekhoff has reportedly received an offer from Greece’s Olympiacos, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando relays. Israeli reporter Roi Cohen broke the news on Broekhoff, who was waived by Dallas in February. The 6’6″, 29-year-old Broekhoff appeared in 59 games during his two seasons with the Mavericks, including one start this season.
- Spurs draft-and-stash prospect Nikola Milutinov is signing a three-year deal with CSKA Moscow, Carchia reports in another tweet. Barcelona also made a multi-year offer for the center, Carchia adds. The 7-footer, the 26th pick in the 2015 draft, averaged 10.3 PPG and 8.2 RPG in 24 games for Olympiacos this season.
- NBL players in Australia have been asked by the league to take a 50% pay cut next season, Carchia reports. The league and team owners have also threatened to pull the players’ health insurance and career-ending injury insurance.
Players Need Month To Prepare For Action?
Providing teams and players with two weeks notice won’t be nearly enough to resume the season, ESPN’s Baxter Holmes reports.
Many team officials believe players will need at least a month to get ready for action after such a long layoff. A shorter period of training, workouts and practice could lead to a host of injuries, according to athletic training staff members and executives interviewed by Holmes.
The time required for player to get their bodies into “basketball shape” is one of the major hurdles the league must clear in order to finish the 2019-20 season.
Training facilities around the league have been closed for several weeks. Teams have provided players with workout programs and equipment but some of them don’t even have access to a basket.
With financial losses piling up during the suspension of play, there could be a greater sense of urgency to get teams back on the court. That could limit the gap between preparations and games.
If the league decides to cancel the remainder of the regular season and go straight to the playoffs, the players’ bodies would need an even longer time to adjust.
“I need these guys pushing their bodies for at least 30 days prior to the first meaningful basketball game,” an unnamed GM told Holmes. “And by meaningful basketball game, I mean a postseason game.”
The league, the Players’ Association and health officials would have to agree on a timeline that serves all parties, Holmes adds.
Atlantic Notes: Randle, Durant, Prince, Walker
New Knicks president Leon Rose is open to dealing Julius Randle despite Randle being a former client when Rose was a player agent, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. Rose would also be willing to shed Randle’s contract after next season, even though Randle has a partial guarantee of $4MM on his $19.8MM salary for the 2021/22 season. Prior to Rose taking over, the Knicks had discussions with Charlotte before February’s trade deadline involving Randle, who reportedly upset some teammates this season with his ball-dominant style.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Members of the Knicks organization last summer expressed confidence that Kevin Durant would have signed with them if he hadn’t suffered a ruptured right Achilles tendon in the NBA Finals, Ian Begley of SNY.TV reports. If that were true, Durant would have convinced Kyrie Irving to sign with New York instead of the Nets or recruited a different star to join him, Begley continues. The Knicks were not prepared last summer to offer Durant a max deal due to concerns from owner James Dolan regarding the injury. However, Durant has said publicly that he didn’t give the Knicks much consideration anyway, Begley notes.
- Forward Taurean Prince took a step back this season and that could lead to a dilemma for the Nets, Zach Lowe of ESPN opines. Brooklyn gave Prince a two-year, $25.25MM rookie scale extension prior to the season that kicks in next season. He could have been a trade chip this summer in a package to bring in another star but it’s unclear what kind of value he has now, Lowe adds.
- Kemba Walker would have remained with Charlotte for less than a super-max deal last summer but he knew that wouldn’t happen after meeting with Hornets owner Michael Jordan, Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe writes. Walker may have stayed put if the Hornets had offered him five years and approximately $180MM. The Celtics emerged as the most likely destination because they were already a playoff team and president of basketball operations Danny Ainge had been enamored with Walker ever since the point guard’s days at the University of Connecticut, Himmelsbach adds.