Southwest Notes: Harrison, Doncic, Pelicans, Green, Kidd
Newly-hired Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison hopes to make Dallas a compelling free-agent destination, Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News writes. The goal, Harrison said, is to instill a culture that players want to be a part of.
“My approach is really simple,” he explained. “It’s going to be about servant leadership that kind of empowers the team and the staff to be at their best.”
Harrison understands that leadership must start at the top of an organization. Dallas lost longtime president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson and head coach Rick Carlisle this offseason, replacing them with Harrison and new coach Jason Kidd.
The team finished with a 42-30 record this season and has an All-NBA superstar in Luka Doncic, a 22-year-old wunderkind that could aid in Harrison’s mission to entice players and build a culture.
There’s more from the Southwest Division tonight:
- Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News examined the Mavericks‘ plan for Doncic next season. “It’s tough to nitpick an All-NBA player,” Harrison said. “The best thing you can do is surround him by a Hall of Fame coach (Kidd) who played his position and let those two vibe off each other. I think that’s going to help him tremendously.” Doncic averaged 27.7 points, eight rebounds and 8.6 assists per game this season.
- Christian Clark, Rod Walker and Scott Kushner of The Times-Picayune grade the Pelicans‘ hire of Willie Green as head coach. Green, a former NBA player, will finish the season as an assistant coach with the Suns before reporting for New Orleans.
- Jason Kidd has been in discussions with former Mavericks players Jason Terry, Tyson Chandler and J.J. Barea about joining his coaching staff, according to Mavs.com. All three players hold several years of playing experience and were on the team’s 2011 championship roster with Kidd.
And-Ones: McCullough, Hayes, Auguste, Udoh, Lofton
Former Nets forward Chris McCullough, the 29th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft, is eyeing a return to the NBA this year, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News writes. McCullough is currently training for The Basketball Tournament with Boeheim’s Army.
“I’m still athletic and stuff like that. But I do way more than dunk now,” said McCullough, who played 40 games with Brooklyn from 2015-17 and 21 games with Washington from 2017-18. “I can block shots. I can handle the ball. I have range. I can create my own shot now. So it will be very different.”
McCullough’s TBT team is set to start playing on Saturday. The 26-year-old has received interest for the Las Vegas Summer League next month, sources said. He also told the Daily News that he has upcoming workouts scheduled with multiple NBA teams.
Here are some other odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- EuroLeague players Nigel Hayes and Zach Auguste will work out for the Celtics this week, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando (Twitter link). Hayes, a 6’8″ power forward, holds nine games of NBA experience and last played in Lithuania. As for Auguste, a 6’10” big man, he’s spent most of his career overseas and most recently played in Greece.
- Free agent center Ekpe Udoh has signed a two-year contract with Virtus Bologna in Italy, the team announced. Udoh, the No. 6 pick in 2010, has appeared in 384 NBA games with four teams. He most recently played in China.
- Former Pistons two-way player Zach Lofton has signed in Kuwait with Kazma Sport Club, Nicola Lupo of Sportando tweets. Lofton is a 28-year-old guard who went undrafted in 2018.
Eastern Notes: Magic, Tibbetts, Bucks, Heat, Lillard
The Magic are expected to hire Nate Tibbetts as an assistant on Jamahl Mosley‘s staff, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). Tibbetts and Mosley worked together on the Cavs’ coaching staff during the 2011/12 and ’12/13 seasons.
Tibbetts also interviewed for a position with the Kings, Fischer reports. He last served as associate head coach with the Blazers, working for several years as an assistant coach under Terry Stotts.
The Magic, who hired Mosley earlier this month, finished the 2020/21 campaign with just a 21-51 record. That mark was the second-worst in the East and third-worst in the league, mostly caused by key injuries and a midseason decision to start rebuilding.
Here are some other notes from the Eastern Conference tonight:
- The Bucks suddenly find themselves one win from an NBA title after winning Game 5 on Saturday, as Jonathan Abrams of The New York Times details. The victory was sealed with a steal and alley-oop from Jrue Holiday and Giannis Antetokounmpo at the end of the contest.
- The Heat have released their preseason home schedule for 2021/22, per an announcement on the team’s website. Miami’s first home game will be against Atlanta on Monday, October 4, just 78 days away. The league’s offseason will once again be shortened this year due to the altered schedule caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- In his latest “Ask Ira” mailbag, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel examines whether Bam Adebayo should serve as a roadblock in the Damian Lillard-Heat trade speculation. Portland likely wouldn’t entertain any offer for Lillard that doesn’t include Jimmy Butler or Adebayo, and to this point, neither Lillard nor the Blazers have indicated that a separation is being considered.
Atlantic Notes: J. Johnson, Duarte, Fournier, Sixers
The Knicks will have a great opportunity to add some immediate help in the 2021 draft, stocked with two first-round and two-second round picks. David Vertsberger of Yahoo Sports examines the pros and cons of intriguing Duke small forward Jalen Johnson in a new piece.
The 19-year-old Johnson appears to have a high upside, per Vertsberger. He has exhibited flashes of being a solid playmaker and dangerous transition option at the next level. Defensive-oriented Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau might enjoy working with Johnson, who should be a valuable contributor on that end of the floor thanks to his athleticism and size (6’9″ with a 6’11” wingspan).
Vertsberger cautions that Johnson’s long-range jump shooting is the biggest question mark in his game, as he took just 1.4 three-point attempts a night during his lone season at Duke (though he did convert 44.4% of them). He also made just 63% of his free-throw attempts, a low number for a ball-handler. Johnson is currently listed as a late-lottery prospect on ESPN’s big board. The Knicks possess the No. 19, No. 21, No. 32 and No. 58 picks this year, so if they want Johnson, they may need to move up.
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- 6’6″ three-and-D Oregon wing Chris Duarte could be a perfect fix for what ails the Knicks in this year’s 2021 draft, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. “I’m ready to step in,’’ the 24-year-old said during a Zoom interview with reporters Friday. “No doubt in my mind, [Duarte is] good enough for an NBA rotation now,’’ Oregon assistant coach-turned-DePaul head coach Tony Stubblefield raved. “And he’s ready to impact winning in an NBA franchise. He’s still got more upside to his game.’’ This season, Duarte won the Jerry West Award, given to the country’s top shooting guard, and was honored as the Pac-12 Player of the Year by The Associated Press. Duarte averaged 17.1 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 2.7 APG and 1.9 SPG. His shooting percentages are encouraging too: he averaged .532/.424/.810. ESPN projects Duarte to be available within the range of where New York will be selecting, as a mid-to-late first-rounder.
- Now that Nuggets shooting guard Will Barton will opt out of the final season of his contract this summer, the free agent market for swingmen has gotten that much more competitive. Brian Robb of MassLive suggests that this could help the Celtics retain free agent wing Evan Fournier. Robb notes that no more than five-to-10 clubs will have the salary cap space to add players for more than the full $9.7MM mid-level exception, and thus Barton’s availability could mean one fewer team is in the mix to lure Fournier away with a big-money offer.
- Wells Fargo Center, home court to the Sixers, is soon set to resume its $300MM renovation, which had been paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic. New club level seating tweaks will be added this fall, and further improvements will be built next summer. Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer wonders if the club will opt to remain at Wells Fargo long-term or will continue pursuing the rumored construction of their own arena. The team’s lease with Wells Fargo expires in 2031. Sielski notes that the improvements to Wells Fargo could entice Sixers ownership to stay. “I don’t want to get into speculation about how the Sixers think about this,” Valerie Camillo, Wells Fargo’s president of business operations, said. “The Sixers know we want them to stay.”
Pacific Notes: Booker, Ayton, Lakers, Draft
After falling 123-119 to the Bucks, the Suns find themselves on the brink of losing the 2021 NBA Finals. They have their sights squarely set on a must-win Game 6 on Tuesday. Mark Medina of USA Today opines that the club may be relying too much on the production of 24-year-old All-Star shooting guard Devin Booker.
“We know what Book can do with the ball, but the one thing we talked about was getting to the paint, finding guys on the back side,” Suns head coach Monty Williams said of the ball sticking with Booker. “We feel like that’s a formula.”
Medina contends that the Suns suffered due to their dependence on Booker to bail out possessions with isolation scoring.
There’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- Suns center Deandre Ayton – who has thrived during a breakout postseason, his first playoff appearance – welcomes the challenge of a must-win Game 6, writes Mark Medina of USA Today. “I like it. It’s fun; the tables are turned now,” Ayton said. “Now we’re the desperate team. We had our chances of being up and trying to finish the job, now we’re in the same position that they were in. They’re up, and now we got to go get it. That’s why it’s a little bit more fun.” The top pick in the 2018 draft, Ayton is eligible for a contract extension during the 2021 offseason. His recent play should earn him a maximum-salary offer or something close to it.
- The Lakers, who own the No. 22 pick in the upcoming 2021 draft, hosted 6’5″ Illinois guard Ayo Dosunmu and 6’4″ Tennessee guard Jaden Springer during their latest pre-draft workouts Saturday, per Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. Both guards are good shooters who could help space the floor for L.A.
- The Lakers need to land a win-now type of player in the 2021 draft with their No. 22 selection, opines Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register. Goon notes that the Lakers front office, under the stewardship of Rob Pelinka, last retained a first-round pick through the draft in 2018, when the club selected center Moritz Wagner out of Michigan — however, Wagner did not last long in L.A., having been sent to Washington in the Anthony Davis blockbuster. The team appears determined to add shooting this offseason — Los Angeles has examined versatile guard prospects and stretch forwards thus far.
Omri Casspi Announces Retirement
1:54pm: Casspi announced his retirement decision in a press conference today, writes Ennio Terrasi Borghesan of Sportando.
1:31pm: Ten-year NBA veteran forward Omri Casspi will retire from professional basketball, tweets James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Casspi, now 33, was selected with the No. 23 pick in the 2009 NBA draft by the Kings. The first Israeli NBA player to be drafted in the first round, Casspi logged two tours of duty in Sacramento, playing with the Kings from 2009-11 and again from 2014-2017.
Casspi also had NBA stops with the Cavaliers, Rockets, Timberwolves, Pelicans, Warriors and Grizzlies. He most recent NBA season was 2018/19, Casspi’s lone year with Memphis.
A 6’9″ tweener who saw time at both forward positions, Casspi boasts NBA career averages of 7.9 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 1.1 APG. He will retire with an NBA shooting line of .454/.368/.678.
More recently, Casspi played the prior two professional seasons in Israel, where he also had started his pro career in 2005. He primarily played for Maccabi Tel Aviv during his two Israeli League tenures (2005-2009 and 2019-21), but was loaned to Hapoel Galil Elyon during the ’06/07 season.
Southeast Notes: Unseld Jr., Wizards, Hawks, K. Jones
Wes Unseld Jr. put in plenty of time before earning his first chance to be a head coach, writes Fred Katz of The Athletic. Unseld, who was formally hired by the Wizards on Saturday after weeks of speculation, was also a finalist for the head coaching vacancy in Orlando.
He comes to Washington from Denver, where he served as associate head coach under Michael Malone. Unseld was in charge of the Nuggets’ defensive schemes and is known for working closely with players, often customizing the approach to make them more comfortable, Katz notes. He has been an NBA assistant for 16 years and spent eight years as an advance scout with the Wizards, where he worked with general manager Tommy Sheppard.
“Becoming a head coach in the NBA is a goal that I have pursued my entire adult life and to have that dream realized by coming full circle back to Washington is truly special,” Unseld said in a press release announcing his hiring. “I look forward to representing the DMV (Washington, D.C., metropolitan area), connecting with our fans and establishing a new standard for Wizards basketball.”
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Unseld will face some unique challenges in his new post, observes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Management wasn’t satisfied with this year’s first-round playoff exit, and there’s urgency to improve right away with Russell Westbrook about to turn 33 and Bradley Beal facing an opt-out decision next summer. If the Wizards don’t get off to a strong start in Unseld’s first season, the team will have to consider moving Beal before the trade deadline, Hughes adds.
- The drafting record of general manager Travis Schlenk has put the Hawks in position to be contenders for a long time, states Mark Bradley of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Schlenk didn’t have a lottery pick in his first draft, but was able to get John Collins at No. 18. Since then, he has added Trae Young, Kevin Huerter, De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish and Onyeka Okongwu. Even if Collins leaves in free agency, Hunter is poised to take his place, Bradley adds.
- The Hornets will bring in Kai Jones for a private workout today, the team announced on Twitter. The Texas forward is ranked 20th on ESPN’s big board, and Charlotte holds a lottery pick at No. 11.
Warriors Notes: Wiseman, Mitchell, Kuminga, Olympics
Watching the NBA Finals has given Warriors coach Steve Kerr hope that James Wiseman can develop like Suns center Deandre Ayton has, writes Drew Shiller of NBC Sports Bay Area. In a radio interview this week, Kerr compared his rookie big man to Ayton, who is one of the cornerstones on a title contender in his third year in the league.
“I’m just so inspired by what Ayton has been able to do. And I think there’s no reason why James can’t follow that same path,” Kerr said. “(The Suns) really streamlined his game. You think back a couple years ago and he was kind of all over the map. You could tell how gifted he was, but you weren’t exactly sure what he was. They’ve figured it out. I’m watching Ayton quite a bit and I’m thinking a lot about how we can use James and simplify the game and make him really effective for us next year.”
Wiseman was the second player taken in last year’s draft, but his adjustment to the NBA didn’t go smoothly. He averaged 11.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per night, but only played 39 games because of injuries before undergoing season-ending meniscus surgery in April. Kerr believes patience is the key to Wiseman’s ultimate success.
“I know everybody is impatient (and) wants him to be great now. It just doesn’t work that way,” he said. “But if we continue to develop him and we’re having a great season — that’s the whole plan, that’s the whole idea. Over the long haul, we’re gonna develop James and we feel like he’s gonna be our starting center at some point for a long, long time.”
There’s more on the Warriors:
- Golden State hosted several top prospects this week, but the team still prefers to trade the Nos. 7 and 14 picks for a veteran who can contribute right away, sources tell Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle. The Warriors brought in Davion Mitchell for a private workout on Thursday, and Letourneau hears that the front office is split on the Baylor guard, with some believing he can provide immediate help and others concerned that he’s too old at nearly 23 to justify a top-10 selection.
- There’s speculation that Jonathan Kuminga could fall to No. 7, which James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area calls “a dream come true” for the Warriors in his latest mock draft. Although the 18-year-old is a raw talent, he could be groomed as a replacement for free agent forward Kelly Oubre or he may be an attractive target for teams that want to trade up.
- NBA.com tracks the Warriors’ connections to the Olympic tournament, which will start next weekend. Draymond Green of Team USA and Nico Mannion of Italy will both be playing, while Kerr is an assistant for the U.S. and Mike Brown is the head coach of Nigeria.
Bucks Notes: Holiday, Giannis, Thanasis, Team Building
The Bucks paid a high price to get Jrue Holiday last November, but he has silenced any doubts about whether he was worth it, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Holiday delivered 27 points and 13 assists Saturday night and had a game-changing steal in the final minute as Milwaukee closed in on its first NBA title in 50 years.
Holiday said he was “in the right place at the right time” as he took the ball away from Devin Booker on a play where Phoenix had a chance to take the lead. Holiday pushed the ball up court and delivered an alley-oop pass to Giannis Antetokounmpo that virtually sealed the victory.
“I saw it in Portland, when he was in New Orleans and we got swept in the first round,” Pat Connaughton said. “Just the way he defends on a nightly basis and the way that he’s able to do it in different ways. He’s physical, he’s quick, he’s strong. He’s got a lot of things to him. And he’s got quick hands. First-team All-Defense play. It was a Defensive Player of the Year (play). It just kind of shows we’re built on defense.”
There’s more on the Bucks:
- Antetokounmpo was dehydrated after the game and had to be treated for cramping before he could conduct his post-game interviews, according to Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press. Giannis played more than 40 minutes and posted 32 points, nine rebounds, and six assists.
- Antetokounmpo said it was hard for him to play without his brother, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, who missed Saturday’s game after being placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, per Marc Berman of The New York Post. “It was extremely difficult for him not to be here to cheer for the team,’’ Giannis said. “He gives the team a lot of energy and the team feels it. As much as it hurts, we still got to do our job and I Facetimed him after the game.’’ Berman pointed out that Giannis hugged his brother for about 15 seconds before the start of Game 4, but his COVID-19 tests have presumably been fine.
- The Bucks’ success is erasing the “super-team” narrative that has surrounded most of the NBA champions of the last decade, notes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Rather than relying on free agency, Milwaukee slowly built a contender around Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, who have been with the franchise since 2013.
Olympics Notes: K. Johnson, Lillard, Tatum, Exhibition Game
Keldon Johnson isn’t on Twitter, so he was one of the last people at Team USA’s training camp in Las Vegas to find out that the has been added to the Olympic team, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Johnson and JaVale McGee were announced as replacements Friday after Bradley Beal was sidelined by health and safety protocols and Kevin Love withdrew over concerns about his injured calf.
“(Team USA managing director) Jerry (Colangelo) came up to me and he kind of broke the news to me,” Johnson said. “I mean, I was lost for words. I didn’t really know what to say but thank you for the opportunity and trust in me to go over there and take care of business with the other guys.”
Johnson came to Las Vegas as a member of the U.S. Select Team, which scrimmages against the Olympians in training camp. He got a chance to play during exhibition games because team members Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton are all taking part in the NBA Finals.
Johnson originally signed up for a four-day commitment as part of the select team, but now his Olympic experience will last until the Games conclude on August 8. He said the best part so far was breaking the news to his family, many of whom have military experience.
“My mom cried, my dad was choking up a little bit, everybody was like, because you know you pray for moments like this,” Johnson said. “… It was a special moment.”
There’s more on the Olympics:
- As rumors swirl around Damian Lillard‘s future in Portland, the loss of Beal means he will have to take on a greater responsibility for scoring, Vardon adds in a separate story. Lillard and Kevin Durant will be the focus of the offense as the team heads to Tokyo next week. “I wouldn’t say carry the team, but obviously we’ll have significant roles on the team,” Lillard said. “I think myself and KD will have to go over there and play a significant role, and we’ll have to do what we do, but I don’t look at it like we have to carry the team. It’s a team of the best players across our league.”
- Preparing for his first Olympics, Jayson Tatum is still adjusting to the international rules, per Darren Hartwell of NBC Sports. Tatum said players have been reminding each other of the differences during this week’s exhibition games.
- Team USA is still slated to close its exhibition schedule Sunday night against Spain. Friday’s game against Australia was canceled due to “an abundance of caution” relating to COVID-19.