Stein’s Latest: Portis, J. Howard, Lakers, Celtics, Hornets
Bucks forward/center Bobby Portis has the ability to become an unrestricted free agent this summer by turning down his $4.56MM player option for 2022/23. However, Marc Stein reports in his latest Substack article that some teams with interest in Portis are extremely pessimistic about their chances of luring the veteran out of Milwaukee.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Portis will exercise his player option. Because he has spent the last two seasons with the Bucks, they now hold his Early Bird rights and would be able to offer him a raise if he opts out. There’s an expectation that Portis will sign a multiyear deal with Milwaukee if he declines his option, according to Stein.
Assuming the Bucks use Portis’ Early Bird rights to re-sign him, they’ll have to offer him a deal covering at least two seasons, since Early Bird contracts can’t be for just one year. They can also offer up to 105% of the league-average salary from the previous season — that should result in a maximum starting salary in the vicinity of $11MM.
Here’s more from Stein:
- Based on the rumors circulating in coaching circles, it sounds as if Juwan Howard was the Lakers‘ preferred candidate in their head coaching search, according to Stein. Los Angeles made such “strong overtures” to Howard that it appeared the team preferred him to other long-shot targets like Quin Snyder and Doc Rivers and was willing to offer him the job if he wanted it, Stein adds. Howard wasn’t interested in leaving the University of Michigan, and L.A. ultimately hired Darvin Ham.
- The Celtics also had strong interest in Howard a year ago after Brad Stevens moved from the sidelines to the front office and before the team hired Ime Udoka, says Stein. The Lakers will be hoping their new hire works out as well as Udoka has in Boston.
- Stein continues to hear that the Hornets are likely to choose between Mike D’Antoni and Kenny Atkinson as they near the end of their head coaching search. D’Antoni and Atkinson were previously identified as finalists for the job, but it wasn’t clear if they were the only candidates still in play.
Lakers Hire Darvin Ham As Head Coach
JUNE 3: The Lakers have officially hired Ham as their head coach, the team announced today in a press release.
“When someone begins his NBA coaching career at the G League level and goes all the way through playing an integral role on the front bench of an NBA Championship team, it really speaks to a certain strength of character,” Lakers head of basketball operations Rob Pelinka said in a statement. “Our players and fans will immediately identify with Darvin’s no-nonsense and hard-working approach, which we feel will bring toughness and a competitive edge to all we do.
“When you add that to Darvin’s sophisticated grasp of in-game strategy and deep knowledge of the game of basketball, we have the ideal coach for this next chapter in Lakers history. We could not be more honored and proud to name Darvin Ham as our new head coach.”
MAY 27: The Lakers are hiring Bucks assistant Darvin Ham to be their new head coach, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
The first-time head coach will receive a four-year contract, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
According to Wojnarowski, Ham interviewed for the vacancy on Thursday and was offered the job on Friday. He impressed the Lakers’ brass with his “commanding presence, history of coaching stars and toughness.” Ham’s coaching staff is likely to include assistants with prior head coaching experience, Woj adds (Twitter links).
Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic reported a week ago that Ham was considered the leading candidate for the position. He’ll replace Frank Vogel, who was fired at the end of the team’s disappointing season.
Ham started his NBA career as a player, appearing in 417 games from 1996-2005 and winning a championship as a bit player for the Pistons in 2004.
The 48-year-old has ties to the Lakers organization, as his first role as an NBA assistant coach came with L.A. from 2011-13. Ham has spent the last nine seasons working under head coach Mike Budenholzer in Atlanta and Milwaukee, winning a title with the Bucks last season.
Ham has received consideration from multiple teams with head coaching openings in recent years and interviewed with the Kings before they hired Mike Brown earlier this month. He was also said to be a “serious candidate” for the Hornets’ vacancy.
Lakers star LeBron James sent out a tweet expressing excitement and congratulating Ham on receiving the job.
Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson and former Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts were the other finalists for L.A.’s vacancy. Both have reportedly interviewed for Charlotte’s lead job as well.
Although the Lakers won a title just two seasons ago, they’ve struggled since, having been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in 2020/21 and finishing with a 33-49 record this past season, which was 11th in the West and outside of the play-in tournament. Injuries to James and Anthony Davis have certainly played a factor in the downturn, but Ham will have his hands full working with a top-heavy roster that includes Russell Westbrook, who struggled mightily in his first season in Los Angeles.
Lance Stephenson Underwent Knee Surgery After Season
Pacers wing Lance Stephenson underwent surgery on his right knee in Chicago sometime after the team’s season ended in April, league sources tell Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. According to Agness, the procedure removed “a few loose particles” from the knee.
Stephenson’s exact recovery timeline is unclear, but he’s already back on the floor taking shots, Agness says, so it sounds like the veteran should be ready to go by the time training camp rolls around in the fall, barring any setbacks.
Following a 10-day stint with Atlanta in December, Stephenson signed a series of 10-day contracts with Indiana in January, then finalized a rest-of-season deal with the club in February. The 31-year-old appeared in a total of 40 games for Indiana, averaging 9.3 PPG, 3.9 APG, and 2.8 RPG on .458/.310/.795 shooting in 18.6 minutes per contest.
Stephenson will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, but he and the Pacers have mutual interest in a new deal, sources tell Agness. The former second-round pick has had three separate stints with the Pacers and has become a fan favorite over the years in Indiana. A report in April suggested he’d like to spend the rest of his career with the team.
Atlantic Notes: White, Smart, Sixers, Anunoby, Raptors
Like longtime Celtics Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart, former Spurs guard Derrick White was a member of the USA Basketball team that played in the 2019 FIBA World Cup. As Joe Vardon of The Athletic writes, the training camp for that World Cup represented the first time that Smart met White, who is now playing a key role for Boston as the team seeks a championship.
“We knew that Derrick understood the game, the way he plays,” Smart said on Thursday, revisiting their first meeting. “Watching him play before we got to USA reminded myself a little bit of me. So, just instantly off the bat, I loved the way he played.”
While Team USA had a disappointing run at the 2019 World Cup, finishing in seventh place, White and Smart are having more success as Celtics teammates. Boston is now just three wins away from a title after White, acquired in a deadline deal in February, played a key role in Thursday’s Game 1 win with 21 points and five three-pointers.
“Every day he’s done something new to make you go, ‘That’s why he’s here,'” Smart said of his fellow guard.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Smart was no longer listed on the Celtics‘ injury report for Game 1 on Thursday, but that doesn’t mean his right ankle sprain has fully healed. “The ankle is a pretty serious injury,” Smart said on Wednesday when asked about it (Twitter link via Jared Weiss of The Athletic). “I’m thankful to let alone play and still be walking. It hurt, but my mama always told me if you’re gonna play, you can’t make no excuses.”
- Now that they know they’ll have the No. 23 pick in this year’s draft rather than sending it to Brooklyn, the Sixers can focus on what to do with that selection. Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice identifies five draft prospects who would make sense as potential targets if Philadelphia hangs onto the pick.
- In a Twitter thread, Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca explains why he believes the Raptors are extremely unlikely to trade OG Anunoby this summer, despite rumors that he could be available.
- Gabe Brown (Michigan State), Marcus Bingham (Michigan State), Trent Frazier (Illinois), and JD Notae (Arkansas) are among the prospects who worked out for the Raptors earlier this week, according to reports from Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com and Brandon Simberg of Busting Brackets (Twitter links).
Wizards Have Interest In Shane Larkin
Veteran point guard Shane Larkin is drawing serious interest from the Wizards, according to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com.
A first-round pick out of Miami in 2013, Larkin spent his first three professional seasons in the NBA with Dallas, New York, and Brooklyn, then played for Baskonia in Spain for a year before returning stateside and joining the Celtics for the 2017/18 season. After playing a minor role in Boston, Larkin headed back overseas and has spent the last several years in Turkey playing for Anadolu Efes.
Although he was primarily a reserve in the NBA, starting 41 of his 256 regular season games, Larkin has emerged as a star in Europe. The 29-year-old made the All-EuroLeague Second Team in 2021 and the All-EuroLeague First Team in 2022 and won consecutive EuroLeague titles. He ranked in the league’s top five this season in points (14.7), assists (5.3), and three-pointers (2.4) per game.
According to Urbonas, Larkin’s current team – Anadolu Efes – is making an effort to retain him and is offering a salary similar to what he has made in each of the last two seasons. Sources tell BasketNews that’s around €3.2MM, which currently converts to about $3.43MM.
Larkin said in 2020 that he wouldn’t return to the NBA to be a team’s third point guard, and spoke more recently about being happy to remain overseas and play a starring role in front of passionate European fans. So if the Wizards are serious about signing him, the salary and the role they offer will have to reflect that.
Washington is in the market for help at point guard after last summer’s acquisition of Spencer Dinwiddie didn’t work out. Ish Smith, who has a non-guaranteed $4.7MM salary for 2022/23, is the only point guard currently under contract with the Wizards.
Larkin’s backcourt partner in Istanbul, Vasilije Micic, is also reportedly considering a move to the NBA.
Central Notes: Sharpe, Christie, Cockburn, Plummer, Kiss
Keegan Murray, Jaden Ivey, Bennedict Mathurin and Shaedon Sharpe are the potential candidates to be chosen by the Pistons with their lottery pick, James L. Edwards III of The Athletic writes. One of those names, most likely Ivey, will be off the board by the time the Pistons are on the clock.
Sharpe is a mystery candidate since he didn’t play college ball despite attending Kentucky last season. The Pistons could get a better read on him soon. Sharpe will be working out in Detroit within the next 10 days, Edwards reports via his sources.
We have more from the Central Division:
- The Pistons not only have the No. 5 pick, they hold the No. 46 overall selection in the second round, thanks to a trade with the Nets last year. Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press looks at potential targets with that pick, including Michigan State’s Max Christie and Colorado State’s David Roddy.
- Illinois big man Kofi Cockburn, considered a second-round prospect, has been busy working out for a variety of teams this week. He’ll visit the Bucks in the near future, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets.
- Another Illinois player, wing Alfonso Plummer, visited the Cavaliers on Thursday, James Boyd of the Indianapolis Star tweets. Bryant College guard Peter Kiss, who led Division I in scoring last season, visited the Cavaliers on Tuesday, Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.com tweets.
Silver Addresses Expansion, Blazers, All-NBA Teams, In-Season Tournament
The NBA isn’t planning to expand in the near future, according to commissioner Adam Silver. During his annual press conference prior to Game 1 of the Finals, he shot down a report that the league is targeting Seattle and Las Vegas for expansion in 2024, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press reports.
“We are not discussing that at this time,” Silver said.
Silver said the league will inevitably expand and called Seattle and Las Vegas “wonderful markets.” However, he cited a lack of top-tier talent as a reason for pumping the brakes on expanding in the next couple of seasons.
“There still are only so many of the truly top-tier super talents to go around,” he said. “That is something on the mind of the other teams as we think about expansion.”
Here are some of the other highlights from Silver’s press conference:
- With many teams moving toward position-less lineups, All-NBA teams may be determined differently in future seasons. “We’re going to discuss that with the players and sit down once again and see if there’s a better way to do it,” Silver said.
- Amid reports that Nike co-founder Phil Knight and Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Alan Smolinisky made an offer to buy the Trail Blazers for more than $2 billion, Silver stated the Blazers will eventually be sold and he hopes they’ll remain in Portland. The Blazers released a statement on Thursday saying the team is not for sale. “At some point, the team will be sold,” Silver said. “I don’t have any sense of the precise timing. … This is a hugely a complex estate, and although it’s been several years, these things take time.”
- An in-season tournament is still a possibility but “we’re not there yet,” Silver said. With so many teams giving key players nights off during various points of the season, Silver wants to ensure the tournament is competitive. “We want to make sure we have a system where our best players are incentivized to be on the floor,” Silver said.
NBA Announces 112 Withdrawals From Early Entrant List
According to the NBA, 112 players have notified the league that they wish to be removed from the list of early entrants eligible for this month’s draft, according to a press release.
The NCAA’s early entry withdrawal deadline passed this Wednesday (June 1) at 11:59 p.m. ET, so players wishing to retain their college eligibility had to remove their names from the draft pool by that point.
The league’s own withdrawal deadline is 5 p.m. ET on June 13, so more names will be added to the withdrawal list in the coming days.
You can check out our updated list of all early entrants who have withdrawn, as well as those who plan to remain in the draft, right here.
Among the players not previously reported as having withdrawn but were included in the NBA’s list include:
- Tez Allen, G, (Southern Oregon), Senior
- Henry Blair Jr., G, (Bob Jones (SC)), Junior
- BJ Fitzgerald, F, Virginia State, Junior
- Joirdon Karl Nicholas, F, Texas Southern, Senior
- Shareef O’Neal, F/C, LSU, Junior
Southeast Draft Notes: Murray, Hawks, Wizards, Hornets
The Magic hold the No. 1 pick and Iowa’s Keegan Murray isn’t expected to go higher than No. 4 in the lottery. That didn’t prevent Orlando from doing its due diligence on the high-scoring wing. Murray came in for a pre-draft workout on Thursday, Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel tweets. The two sides also had a discussion during the draft combine in Chicago, Price adds.
We have more developments from the Southeast Division:
- The Hawks have been busy looking at prospects. They brought in Teddy Allen (New Mexico St), JD Davison (Alabama), Henri Drell (Windy City Bulls), Malik Osborne (Florida St.), Matteo Spagnolo (Vanoli Cremona, Italy) and Davion Warren (Texas Tech) on Thursday, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic tweets. The parade of draft prospects will continue on Friday, as they’ll look at Jimmy Boeheim (Syracuse), Christian Braun (Kansas), Eli Brooks (Michigan), R.J. Cole (UConn), Lester Quinones (Memphis) and Kai Sotto (Adelaide, Australia) on Friday, Kirschner adds in another tweet.
- The Wizards will also be evaluating six prospects on Friday, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington tweets. That group includes Alex Barcello (BYU), Josh Carlton (Houston), Makur Maker (Howard), Jean Montero (Overtime Elite), Charlie Moore (Miami, Fla.) and JD Notae (Arkansas).
- The Hornets hosted six prospects on Wednesday — Ochai Agbaji (Kansas), James Akinjo (Baylor), Luka Brajkovic (Davidson), Kofi Cockburn (Illinois), Trevor Keels (Duke) and Montero – the team’s PR department tweets. They brought in a handful of players on Thursday — Dhieu Deing (UTSA), Phlandrous Fleming Jr. (Florida), Both Gach (Utah), Jalen Johnson (Mercer) and Tommy Kuhse (Saint Mary’s), the team tweets. Villanova guard Collin Gillespie will be coming in soon, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets.
Porter, Iguodala, Payton, Williams Will Suit Up For Game 1
Otto Porter Jr., Andre Iguodala and Gary Payton II will all suit up for Game 1 of the NBA Finals tonight, Warriors coach Steve Kerr told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps (Twitter link) and other media members.
Reports had indicated that Payton was on track to return for the Finals but that statuses of Porter and Iguodala were more uncertain.
Payton has been sidelined since May 3 after suffering a fractured left elbow in Game 2 of the Warriors’ second-round series against Memphis.
Iguodala hasn’t played since Game 4 of Golden State’s first-round matchup with Denver on April 24 due to a left cervical disc injury in his neck. Porter has been nursing a sore left foot since Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals. All three players were listed as questionable after going through contact at practice on Wednesday.
The Celtics will have starting center Robert Williams in the lineup, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe tweets. Also listed as questionable, Williams played only 15 minutes in Boston’s Game 7 win over Miami. He missed Game 3 of the series due to soreness in his surgically-repaired knee.