- Bryan Bailey, Antonio Lang, Mike Brey and Sanjay Lumpkin will be announced as members of Quin Snyder‘s coaching staff with the Hawks, tweets Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Jeff Watkinson and Steven Klei will be retained from the current staff, sources tell Carchia.
Former Raptors head coach Nick Nurse is considering his options after reportedly taking his name out of the Bucks’ coaching search, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Nurse had interviews this week with the Sixers and Suns, and sources tell Pompey that he’s reviewing the jobs to determine which would be the best fit. A source refused to confirm to Pompey that Philadelphia has made a formal offer.
Pompey points out that Nurse has a long-time working relationship with Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, whom he worked with in Houston as head coach of the Rockets’ G League affiliate. Nurse built a reputation for developing talent during that time, winning two G League titles and sending 23 players to the NBA, Pompey adds.
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- Before announcing his retirement this week, Carmelo Anthony received interest from a “high-level” European team, Marc Stein writes in a Substack column. However, Anthony decided he didn’t want to play in another league after spending 19 years in the NBA.
- Nine teams finished the season in tax territory, Eric Pincus notes in his updated luxury tax tracker on Sports Business Classroom. The Clippers had the highest team salary at $191,189,228 and will be assessed a $140,302,811 tax bill, per Pincus’ projections. The largest tax payment is $163,153,075 for the Warriors, who had $188,371,492 in salary. The Celtics, Nets, Mavericks, Nuggets, Lakers, Bucks and Suns are the other taxpaying teams. The other 21 franchises will receive about $15MM each through the tax, Pincus tweets.
- NBA fans are anticipating an active summer trade market, but it could be limited by teams that have reduced their options due to past moves, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic. Hollinger notes that nine teams already owe unprotected future first-round picks, and others have lightly protected first-rounders on the move. Some executives at the draft combine suggested to Hollinger that front offices may become less likely to give up multiple first-rounders in the future, even when star players become available. Hollinger identifies the Hawks, Nets, Mavericks, Warriors, Clippers, Heat, Bucks, Timberwolves and Suns as teams that could be considered “stuck.”
Two of the biggest winners on draft lottery night last week were the Hornets and Pacers. Charlotte moved up two spots from the pre-lottery standings to claim the No. 2 overall pick. The Pacers, meanwhile, stayed put in the lottery, but because San Antonio leapfrogged Houston in the first round, Indiana moved up 18 spots from No. 50 to No. 32 in the second round due to a convoluted set of trade criteria.
The Hornets and Pacers have something else in common: Charlotte and Indiana are the only teams that control more than three picks in the 2023 NBA draft. In fact, the two clubs own five selections apiece, accounting for 10 of the 58 total picks in this year’s event.
Nine additional teams each have three 2023 picks, joining the Hornets and Pacers to control nearly two-thirds of the draft — those 11 teams hold 37 of this year’s 58 picks, leaving the other 19 clubs to divvy up the remaining 21 selections.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, three teams don’t own any 2023 draft picks. The Bulls, Knicks, and Sixers will sit out this year’s event unless they acquire a pick via trade.
To present a clearer picture of which teams are most – and least – stocked with picks for the 2023 NBA draft, we’ve rounded up all 58 selections by team in the space below. Let’s dive in…
Teams with more than two picks:
- Charlotte Hornets (5): 2, 27, 34, 39, 41
- Indiana Pacers (5): 7, 26, 29, 32, 55
- San Antonio Spurs (3): 1, 33, 44
- Portland Trail Blazers (3): 3, 23, 43
- Orlando Magic (3): 6, 11, 36
- Washington Wizards (3): 8, 42, 57
- Utah Jazz (3): 9, 16, 28
- Oklahoma City Thunder (3): 12, 37, 50
- Brooklyn Nets (3): 21, 22, 51
- Sacramento Kings (3): 24, 38, 54
- Memphis Grizzlies (3): 25, 45, 56
Teams with two picks:
- Houston Rockets: 4, 20
- Detroit Pistons: 5, 31
- Atlanta Hawks: 15, 46
- Los Angeles Lakers: 17, 47
- Los Angeles Clippers: 30, 48
Teams with one pick:
- Dallas Mavericks: 10
- Toronto Raptors: 13
- New Orleans Pelicans: 14
- Miami Heat: 18
- Golden State Warriors: 19
- Boston Celtics: 35
- Denver Nuggets: 40
- Cleveland Cavaliers: 49
- Phoenix Suns: 52
- Minnesota Timberwolves: 53
- Milwaukee Bucks: 58
Teams with no picks:
- Chicago Bulls
- New York Knicks
- Philadelphia 76ers
MAY 26: Kokoskov has signed a contract with the Hawks to become the top assistant on Synder’s staff, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowsi (Twitter link).
MAY 22: The Hawks are nearing a deal to hire Igor Kokoskov as an assistant coach, league sources tell Marc Stein (Twitter link). Michael Scotto of HoopsHype was the first to link Kokoskov to Atlanta.
As Stein writes in his latest article at Substack, Kokoskov is expected to be the top assistant under head coach Quin Snyder, who was hired mid-season after Atlanta fired Nate McMillan. Kokoskov worked with Snyder for three years in Utah from 2015-18.
Kokoskov, who is Serbian and became a U.S. citizen in 2010, became the first head coach born and raised outside of North America when the Suns hired him in 2018/19. He was dismissed following the season after the club went 19-63.
The 51-year-old has extensive NBA experience, having served as an assistant coach for 20 years with the Clippers, Pistons, Suns, Cavs, Magic, Jazz, Kings, Mavericks, and most recently with the Nets in ’22/23. He’s known as a creative coach with an emphasis in player development.
In addition to his NBA coaching jobs, Kokoškov has been head coach of the Georgian, Slovenian and Serbian national teams, leading Slovenia to a EuroBasket gold medal in 2017. He also was the head coach of Turkish club Fenerbahçe in ’20/21.
Heat guard Gabe Vincent has been a key member of the team’s surprising playoff run, boosting his regular season averages of 9.4 points and 2.5 assists on .402/.334/.872 shooting (25.9 minutes) up to 13.1 points and 4.1 assists on .417/.375/.893 shooting in 15 postseason games, all starts (30.8 minutes).
Unfortunately, the impending free agent suffered a left ankle sprain in Tuesday’s Game 4 loss to Boston and is officially listed as questionable for Game 5, per Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link).
Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald hears (via Twitter) that Vincent is “doing all he can” to try and play Thursday night. The Heat lead the series 3-1 and are only one win from the Finals.
Here’s more from the Southeast:
- The Heat were unfazed by their lone loss in the Eastern Conference Finals on Tuesday, writes Nick Friedell of ESPN. “If anything, it will build momentum for us knowing that we have to play with a lot more energy,” star Jimmy Butler said. “We’ve got to play like our backs are against the wall. But I think all year long, we’ve been better when we’ve had to do things the hard way.”
- Although the Lakers have reportedly had internal dialogue about trying to trade for Trae Young, Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report said on the #thisleague UNCUT podcast that Young and the Hawks seem to be in a good spot right now, with no talks of a possible trade (hat tip to HoopsHype). Jeff Schultz of the Athletic contends that trading Young this summer – especially to Los Angeles – doesn’t make sense, as the Lakers don’t have much to offer and the Hawks want to see what he can do with a full season playing under Quin Snyder. Schultz notes that Young praised Snyder at the end of the season, saying the coach could bring Atlanta a championship.
- Wizards guard Bradley Beal was surprised former president Tommy Sheppard was dismissed after the season, league sources tell Fred Katz of The Athletic. The Wizards are set to hire a new president, former Clippers GM Michael Winger, who will reportedly have full discretionary power over the team’s roster.
A young team making an unexpected trip to the conference finals is never a bad thing, right? It generates money, which ownership loves. It gets fans excited for the future. The players gain valuable experience. All positive benefits.
Unfortunately, that same core group takes a step back the following season, barely sneaking into the playoffs via the play-in tournament and then losing in the first round in five games. That seems like a good time to make changes, because maybe the roster isn’t clicking in ways you’d hope.
So you make a major offseason trade to shake up the starting lineup. But the team sees its record in the following season drop to .500 and makes another quick first-round playoff exit, this time in six games.
That’s the position the Hawks find themselves in entering the 2023 offseason. The biggest change Atlanta made during the 2022/23 season was firing head coach Nate McMillan – who reportedly didn’t have a great relationship with Trae Young – and replacing him with Quin Snyder, the former Jazz coach. Snyder will have a voice in personnel decisions going forward, and it will be interesting to see what direction he wants to go with the roster.
Despite sliding down the standings and dealing away two unprotected picks (2025 and 2027) to the Spurs in the deal to acquire Dejounte Murray, the Hawks have plenty of players other teams want, so they aren’t lacking in assets. Improving the team’s defense — which ranked 22nd in the league this season — will be a priority going forward.
The Hawks’ Offseason Plan:
Atlanta has 10 players on guaranteed contracts entering 2023/24 for a grand total of $162.3MM. The projected luxury tax line is $162MM, and owner Tony Ressler has never paid the tax since he bought the team in 2015.
Last offseason, the Hawks traded Kevin Huerter to the Kings to avoid being a taxpayer. Could another cost-cutting move be in store this summer? It seems highly likely, given the mediocre on-court results in ’22/23.
John Collins is the most obvious trade candidate on the roster, and his name has consistently been in the rumor mill for years now. The problem is, he’s owed $78.5MM over the next three years, and is coming off a career-worst season statistically. As such, his contract will likely be viewed as a negative asset by rival front offices.
General manager Landry Fields has publicly maintained that the team likes Collins, and the Hawks aren’t interested in simply shedding his salary. That’s understandable — it’s typical for incumbent teams to value their own players and nothing can be gained by undercutting Collins’ value — but it won’t have any bearing on how rival teams view the veteran forward.
Minnesota was interested in Clint Capela before trading for Rudy Gobert last summer, and I view the Swiss center as another logical trade candidate. He’s under contract for the next two seasons (for about $43MM), but his backup, Onyeka Okongwu, is eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason, and it’s hard to envision both players being on the roster by the time ’24/25 rolls around.
The biggest offseason question the Hawks face is what to do with the backcourt pairing of Young and Murray. Despite lobbying for Murray to join Atlanta, Young didn’t show much interest in playing off the ball this year; it was mostly Murray who adjusted in that sense. That isn’t ideal, because Murray only shot 34.4% from three-point range, and teams don’t treat him as an outside threat.
Still, while it would be nice to see more synergy and off-ball movement between those two and there’s always room for improvement, offense is far from the main problem — the Hawks ranked seventh on that end in ’22/23 and have been in the top 10 in each of the past three seasons. The issue is, can two guards who ideally play the point hold up defensively? Young is one of the smallest players in the league and is always going to get targeted on that end, so it’s an uphill battle.
Of all the players under contract next season, I would be most surprised if Murray gets dealt simply because of what the team gave up to get him last year. He’s set to hit unrestricted free agency in 2024 and will likely be looking for a max contract, which puts Atlanta in a tough spot with Young already making the max and four other players making $17MM+ in ’24/25. That doesn’t even include possible rookie extensions for Okongwu and/or Saddiq Bey, whom the team acquired for five second-rounders at the trade deadline.
Very little feels settled on this roster. Almost everything should be on the table if it pushes the Hawks in the right direction. That said, despite some speculation, I don’t see Young going anywhere this summer. Perhaps if next season goes really poorly the Hawks will think about it, but it seems like it would be prudent to see how he does with a full season under Snyder first.
There is a good deal of individual talent in Atlanta, and nearly everyone under contract in ’23/24 has positive or neutral trade value. There is depth at every position, and young players complementing veterans. All things you want when building a team.
But not many of the players are well-rounded, and the payroll is about to get very expensive just as the new Collective Bargaining Agreement — which is much more punitive to the league’s taxpaying teams — is set to kick in. The Hawks will have to strike a delicate balance of acquiring the right pieces to fit the roster while watching their salary, because it’s clear more changes are needed.
Salary Cap Situation
Guaranteed Salary
Trae Young ($40,064,220)- John Collins ($25,340,000)
- Clint Capela ($20,616,000)
- De’Andre Hunter ($20,089,286)
- Bogdan Bogdanovic ($18,700,000)
- Dejounte Murray ($18,214,000)
- Onyeka Okongwu ($8,109,063)
- Saddiq Bey ($4,556,983)
- AJ Griffin ($3,712,920)
- Jalen Johnson ($2,925,360)
- Donovan Williams (two-way)
- Total: $162,327,832
Dead/Retained Salary
- None
Player Options
- None
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Bruno Fernando ($2,581,522)
- Note: Fernando’s salary would become fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before June 29.
- Note: Fernando’s salary would become fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before June 29.
- Garrison Mathews ($2,000,000)
- Note: Mathews’ salary would become fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before June 29.
- Vit Krejci ($1,836,096)
- Tyrese Martin ($1,719,864)
- Note: Martin’s salary would become fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before July 21.
- Total: $8,137,482
Restricted Free Agents
- None
Two-Way Free Agents
Draft Picks
- No. 15 overall ($4,033,440)
- No. 46 overall (no cap hold)
- Total: $4,033,440
Extension-Eligible Players
- Clint Capela (veteran)
- Vit Krejci (veteran)
- Dejounte Murray (veteran)
- Saddiq Bey (rookie scale)
- Onyeka Okongwu (rookie scale)
Note: These are players who are either already eligible for an extension or will become eligible before the 2023/24 season begins.
Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds
- Aaron Holiday ($1,989,698 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Total: $1,989,698
Cap Exceptions Available
- Taxpayer mid-level exception: $5,000,000
- Trade exception: $6,292,440
- Trade exception: $2,564,980
- Note: Expires on September 27.
- Trade exception: $692,429
- Note: Expires on July 6.
- Trade exception: $46,120
- Note: Expires on July 6.
Note: The Hawks would gain access to the full mid-level exception and the bi-annual exception if their team salary remains below the tax apron.
Would LeBron James, owed $46.7MM in 2023/24, really decide to retire before the start of next season? James said on Monday that he’ll have to consider the possibility, but sources close to the Lakers star have downplayed the idea that it will actually happen, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic.
As Amick writes, James’ state of mind when he made his postgame comments to the media on Monday may have been influenced by the retirement of his close friend and fellow 2003 draftee Carmelo Anthony, who made his announcement earlier in the day. Just a few questions before he hinted at his own retirement, James was asked about Anthony’s decision.
As Helene Elliott of The Los Angeles Times notes, the disappointment of being eliminated from the postseason was still raw when LeBron spoke to reporters, which may have factored into his comments. Elliott also suggests that James’ remarks could been the beginning of an effort to encourage an aggressive offseason for the Lakers, who will be looking to contend for a title again in 2024.
In his own look at possible explanations for James’ retirement talk, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer wonders if there’s a chance the four-time MVP will pursue a change of scenery, assuming he decides to continue his career. While it’s hard to imagine it happening, O’Connor specifically discusses the possibility of a trade to the Warriors, pointing out that James is good friends with Draymond Green and has said in the past that he’d love to play with Stephen Curry.
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- As the Lakers consider ways to upgrade their roster this offseason, Jovan Buha of The Athletic says the team has had internal discussions about what a hypothetical trade offer for Hawks star Trae Young might look like. Even if Atlanta were willing to trade Young, it’s hard to see how the Lakers could put together a viable package, given their lack of draft assets and players under contract.
- The best approach the Lakers could take this summer would be running it back by retaining and re-signing the players that got them to the Western Conference Finals, contends Mirjam Swanson of The Southern California News Group. As Swanson observes, a team like the Nuggets benefited from continuity, and the Lakers could follow that blueprint by giving this group a full offseason together rather than continuing to make major roster changes.
- While losing in four games to the Nuggets wasn’t an ideal end to the season, Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times argues that the Lakers should feel no shame about the outcome, given that all the games were competitive and the team had already defied the odds by rebounding from a 2-10 start to make the playoffs and win two series.
- Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype takes a closer look at the myriad offseason decisions facing the Lakers and how they may tackle those decisions.
- In case you missed it, a report on Monday stated that the Lakers are “determined” to bring back restricted free agents Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura. A source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to Amick that the club intends to bring back Reaves and Hachimura.
- The Hawks will hire Antonio Lang as one of Quin Snyder‘s lead assistant coaches, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). A Cavaliers assistant for the last four seasons, Lang previously worked on Snyder’s staff in Utah from 2014-19.
The Hawks held pre-draft workouts with six college players on Thursday and will be hosting six more on Friday, the team announced (Twitter links).
Thursday’s group featured Alex Fudge (Florida), Logan Johnson (St. Mary’s), Matthew Mayer (Illinois), Kevin Obanor (Texas Tech), Antonio Reeves (Kentucky) and Hunter Tyson (Clemson), while Marcus Carr (Texas), Kendric Davis (Memphis), Tosan Evbuomwan (Princeton), Landers Nolley (Cincinnati), Drew Peterson (USC) and Erik Stevenson (West Virginia) will be working out tomorrow.
Of the players mentioned, only Evbuomwan — who helped lead the 15th-seeded Tigers to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament — appears on ESPN’s top-100 prospects list ahead of the draft; he’s considered a fringe second-round pick at No. 77. The Hawks control the 15th and 46th overall picks in June’s draft.
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Trailing 3-1 and facing playoff elimination tonight, the Knicks will be without Sixth Man of the Year runner-up Immanuel Quickley for the second straight game due to a left ankle sprain, head coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters, including Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link). Thibodeau did say the third-year guard’s injury has improved, but obviously not enough to play. He’s still considered day-to-day, Begley adds. Reserve guard Evan Fournier (illness) will also be sidelined, per the Knicks (Twitter link) — the veteran has yet to play this postseason.
- Cavaliers guard Ricky Rubio didn’t have the season he was hoping for after returning from his second left ACL tear, but he and the team are hoping for better results in 2023/24, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Sources tell Fedor the Cavs are encouraging Rubio to play in this summer’s World Cup for Spain, but the veteran hasn’t made a decision on that front. “I think it will help,” Rubio said. “I’m going to meet with my team, my personal team, see what’s the best for me in rehab. I think I’ve got to get more even strength on my lower legs, lower body and see what’s the best for me. I always want to compete up. The World Cup is something special as well. But I will take my time.”
- Former NBA veteran JJ Redick, who is now an ESPN analyst, recently interviewed for Toronto’s head coaching job. The Celtics are among “several teams” that have shown interest in hiring Redick as an assistant coach since he retired a couple years ago, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The Hawks will take a look at six draft prospects on Tuesday, Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. That group includes three guards — UCLA’s Tyger Campbell, Furman’s Mike Bothwell and Ole Miss’ Matthew Murrell — along with Miami (Fla.)’s Norchad Omier, UTC’s Jake Stephens and Arizona State’s Marcus Bagley.