Mike Budenholzer Wins Coach Of The Year
Mike Budenholzer has won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award, the league announced. The Hawks bench boss edged first-year Warriors head man Steve Kerr for the honor. Bucks coach Jason Kidd finished a distant third.
Budenholzer took an injury-hit club that finished 38-44 in the regular season to a seventh game against the top-seeded Pacers last season, a playoff performance that foreshadowed what was to come in 2014/15. The Hawks zoomed to the top of the Eastern Conference with a 17-0 January, and they won 19 games in a row, the fifth-longest single-season winning streak in NBA history. Atlanta accomplished those feats and won 60 games without a player widely considered a superstar, and only Al Horford, who makes $12MM, earning as much as $10MM this season.
The success that Budenholzer had on the bench was even more impressive considering the turmoil surrounding the franchise. Controlling owner Bruce Levenson self-reported a racially-charged email and decided to sell the team, and GM Danny Ferry has been on a leave of absence in the wake of his own racially insensitive remarks, leaving Budenholzer as the acting GM in his place. Budenholzer is up for Executive of the Year honors as well, though Hoops Rumors learned that it’s displeased some other executives around the league who wanted the chance to vote for Ferry.
Still, there’s no denying Budenholzer’s qualifications for Coach of the Year in just his second season as an NBA head man. None of the top four finishers, including fourth-place vote-getter Brad Stevens, have more than two years of NBA coaching experience. Fifth on the list is the long-tenured Gregg Popovich, under whom Budenholzer served as an assistant before taking the Hawks job. Budenholzer, Kerr, Kidd, Popovich and Tom Thibodeau were the coaches who received first-place votes. Media members cast the ballots, and the full results are here.
Eastern Notes: Ferry, Smith, Knicks, Noel
Danny Ferry may be on a leave of absence as Hawks GM, but he hasn’t been forgotten, writes Scott Cacciola of The New York Times. Coach Mike Budenholzer said Ferry deserves a lot of credit for building Atlanta into the top seed in the East. The coach added that he talks to Ferry frequently. “I think it’s probably important to both of us that those conversations are somewhat private,” Budenholzer said. “It’s safe to say that we talk about everything.” Ferry has been on indefinite leave since racially insensitive comments about Luol Deng‘s African heritage surfaced in September. Budenholzer declined to suggest a resolution to Ferry’s situation.
There’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- J.R. Smith probably would have picked up his $6.4MM player option if he had remained with the Knicks, according to Al Iannazzone of Newsday. Despite the team’s awful season, Smith’s love of New York and his friendship with Carmelo Anthony would have influenced his decision. “I think I would have opted in,” he said. “I would have stayed. I wanted to be part of the building process to be one of those teams that ‘this is the team we got and we’re going to give a shot at it.’ I wanted to be a part of it.” A January 5th deal sent Smith to a Cavaliers team that is among the favorites for the NBA title.
- Rival executives don’t expect a quick fix in New York, Iannazzone writes in a separate piece. The Knicks will have a top five draft pick and are expected to have about $30MM to spend in free agency, but that doesn’t guarantee a huge jump in wins. “They don’t really have any trade assets,” said an unidentified Western Conference executive. “It’s going to be hard to get off the deck. They have a long road up the hill. They got to go one block at a time. One piece at a time and have some patience.”
- Sixers rookie Nerlens Noel told Tom Moore of Calkins Media that he would like to see the team improve its outside shooting through the draft. Philadelphia finished third in Hoops Rumors’ Reverse Standings and will find out its draft position at the May 19th lottery. “I think we’re pretty good with the frontcourt,” Noel said. “I think we definitely need to add shooting, whether it’s with the first pick we have or [possible] second pick.”
And-Ones: Salary Cap, Draft, Sefolosha
At this week’s NBA Board of Governors meetings, teams were advised that the league’s salary cap could rise past the $100MM mark as soon as the 2017/18 season, Marc Stein of ESPN.com writes. Stein’s sources informed him that, based on current projections, league officials expect the salary cap to increase from its current $63.1MM figure to $67.1MM next season, $89MM in 2016/17, and $108MM in 2017/18. The league has been careful to stress to its teams that these projections are contingent on the NBA and its players avoiding a work stoppage after the 2016/17 season when the league and the NBPA can opt out of the current CBA, Stein adds.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Alpha Kaba, a 6’10” forward playing for the French team Espoirs Pau-Orthez, will enter the 2015 NBA draft, Pedja Materic of BeoBasket.net tweets. The 19-year-old is not currently projected to be selected in June.
- The league also discussed playoff reform during its Board of Governors meetings, and while no immediate changes are coming, the league is mulling a number of options, Howard Beck of Bleacher Report relays (Twitter links). One of the options being discussed according to commissioner Adam Silver is the addition of a play-in tournament, Beck notes.
- The NBA also discussed potential draft lottery reform, but the league concluded that it wasn’t ready to make a change yet, Beck tweets.
- Thabo Sefolosha underwent successful surgery today to repair a fractured fibula and ligament damage in his right leg, the Hawks announced. Sefolosha will have an expected recovery period of about six months, and Atlanta hopes that he’ll be ready for the start of training camp.
Latest On Sale Of The Hawks
APRIL 17TH, 7:45pm: The league’s owners are pleased with a potential sale amount in the $900MM range, though prospective buyers aren’t offering that amount yet, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today tweets. The group fronted by Kaplan are the current favorites to purchase the team, Zillgitt adds. The Bridgeman group is not out of the running yet, Zillgitt notes in a second tweet.
APRIL 15TH,8:15pm: Ressler and Hill have replaced Rachesky in the group that includes Starker and Itzler, with Ressler now the leader of that bid, as Soshnick explains in a full piece.
APRIL 14TH: Ares Capital’s Tony Ressler, who is fronting a group that includes Hill, is making a bid to purchase the Hawks, Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg News tweets. Mark Rachesky is also no longer involved with bidding for the team, Soshnick adds.
APRIL 7TH: The group that included Hill has given up its pursuit of the team, two sources tell USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt. Presumably, that’s the group Vivlamore referred to that believed it was out of the running. Zillgitt identified Hill and Bridgeman as the leaders of the now defunct bid, of which Bryan Colangelo and neuropsychologist Richard Chaifetz were also reportedly a part. Zillgitt also refers to Kaplan and Rachesky as the leaders of their respective bidding groups.
APRIL 3RD: A bidding group that involves baseball legend Hank Aaron as well as former Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien and current Grizzlies minority owner Steve Kaplan is one of two that have become favorites to win control of the Hawks, reports Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Investor and Lionsgate Entertainment chairman Mark Rachesky, brokerage firm founder Steven Starker and rapper-turned-entrepreneur Jesse Itzler are principles in the other, as Vivlamore details. There’s a deadline of April 10th for final bids, according to Vivlamore, though that date is flexible, and Vivlamore suggests there’s a distinct possibility that the process drags on into June.
Tampa Bay Rays part-owner Randy Frankel is also reportedly a member of the Rachesky-Starker-Itzler group, while Indonesian sports and media moguls Erick Thohir and Handy Poernomo Soetedjo are in the Aaron-Levien-Kaplan partnership. A long list of other names have been connected to the sale since controlling owner Bruce Levenson announced in September that he would sell the team after he self-reported racially charged emails that he had sent. The team’s other ownership groups eventually agreed to sell their stakes, too, putting 100% of the franchise on the market. Preliminary offers have reportedly ranged as high as about $800MM.
One group of bidders believes its out of the running after a long gap in communication with the search firms that are facilitating the sale on behalf of the existing owners, according to Vivlamore. Another group has expressed displeasure with Philips Arena, as Vivlamore details.
Former Suns and Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo, former players Grant Hill and junior Bridgeman and neuropsychologist Richard Chaifetz are reportedly teaming for a bid. Dominique Wilkins has been expected to be a prominent part of one of the groups. Dikembe Mutombo and Chris Webber have also reportedly held interest. Kelly Loeffler and Mary Brock, who own Atlanta’s WNBA team, were also reportedly interested in bidding for the Hawks, along with their husbands, Jeffrey Sprecher and John Brock. Attorney Doug Davis is apparently in the mix, too. Investors Thomas Tull and Chris Hansen were seemingly poised to mount separate longshot bids to buy the Hawks and move them to Seattle, though commissioner Adam Silver has insisted the team will stay put. The Chinese investment conglomerate Fosun has also reportedly bid for the team.
Eastern Notes: Sefolosha, Faverani, Pierce
Thabo Sefolosha said his right leg hurt following his arrest last week outside a New York nightclub, but he refused immediate treatment, a New York City Police Department spokesperson told Greg Hanlon of SI.com. Sefolosha’s attorney told Hanlon that he advised his client not to appear before a judge before he went to the hospital. The Hawks swingman suffered a season-ending broken fibula in the incident.
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Former Celtics big man Vitor Faverani intends to use the NBA summer league to try and work himself into playing shape as he recovers from a knee injury, David Alarcón of HoopsHype.com relayed via Twitter (translation). If Faverani is unable to land an NBA deal he intends to play in Europe next season, Alarcón adds. Boston has been in contact with Faverani to check on the status of his balky knee, Alarcón notes.
- Paul Pierce backtracked a bit on the negative comments he made yesterday regarding his time with the Nets, Rachel Nichols of CNN.com relays (Twitter links). Pierce said that he regretted using the word “horrible” to describe his 2013/14 season in Brooklyn, but he did relay that the Wizards have more of a “family feel,” and that there is a distinct culture difference between the two organizations, Nichols notes.
- Goran Dragic said that the Heat missing the playoffs this season would not affect his opinion of the organization in regards to his pending free agency, Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald tweets.
- The 28-year-old guard also indicated that he is more than open to re-signing with Miami this summer and that it might not be necessary to speak with other teams prior to inking a new deal, Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post writes. “Of course,” Dragic said. “If you’re gonna find the same language, then it’s easy for everybody. It’s hard to talk about that right now. We’ll see. I need to sit down with my family and explore the options and see what option is the best, but the last two months that I was here [in Miami] was beautiful for me.”
Southeast Notes: Malone, Carroll, Deng, O’Quinn
Former Kings coach Michael Malone “would love to coach” the Magic, as Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel hears (Twitter link). Malone has seemingly been a hot commodity since the Kings fired him in December. Orlando has been expected to consider him, and he’s been linked to the Nuggets opening. Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders organized a meeting between Malone and owner Glen Taylor earlier this year, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link), and Malone has spent time with the Wolves in an informal capacity on at least three different occasions this season. Schmitz advises the Magic to jump on Malone, draft Willie Cauley-Stein and float a max offer sheet to restricted free agent Draymond Green. While we wait to see if the team’s offseason plays out like that, there’s more on the Magic amid the latest from the Southeast Division:
- One executive from a team estimates that DeMarre Carroll will see annual salaries of $8-9MM on the deal he signs in free agency this summer, the exec tells Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops. The executive believes that most teams will try to convince the combo forward to sign for $7MM a year, adding that if a club comes up with a $10MM offer, the Hawks seem unlikely to match, as Scotto details.
- League sources expressed doubt to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders about Luol Deng‘s ability to find annual salaries better than the nearly $10.152MM he’d have if he opted in with the Heat, as Kyler writes in an NBA AM piece. Still, the possibility remains that Deng would seek a new long-term deal that offers more security, Kyler surmises. Deng is unsure of what he’ll do with the option.
- The Magic intend to make Kyle O’Quinn the qualifying offer necessary for them to be able to match offers for him in free agency this summer, in spite of his recent lack of minutes, reports Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. That qualifying offer would be worth more than $1.181MM.
Southeast Notes: Magic, Sefolosha, Deng
The Magic will interview fewer than the half-dozen candidates they brought in when they hired Jacque Vaughn in 2012, and the focus will be on those who have head-coaching experience, as Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel details. It’s almost certain that the Magic regard Scott Skiles as a potential candidate, Robbins writes, and that falls in line with earlier reports. However, it’s unclear if the Magic will give interim coach James Borrego a chance to keep the job for the long term, Robbins adds. The general belief was that Borrego would get a chance to stick around depending on his performance down the stretch, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote in February, and the Magic have gone 10-19 with Borrego as head coach. There’s more on the Magic amid the latest from the Southeast Division:
- Thabo Sefolosha blames New York City police for the season-ending injury he suffered outside a New York nightclub last week, as the Hawks swingman made clear to reporters, including Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- Soon-to-be restricted free agent Tobias Harris regards the season as a lost opportunity for the Magic, as he tells Robbins for a separate piece. Orlando failed to make much headway this season, and for that to change next year, many league insiders believe the team needs to sign a pair of two-way free agents who are in their primes, according to Robbins.
- One reason why Luol Deng likes playing for the Heat is its medical staff, Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post notes. Miami’s playoff hopes are nearly extinguished thanks in large measure to injury this year, but all signs point to Deng’s return to the team even as he remains unsure about his player option more than $10.15MM, Lieser writes. “I love this organization,” said Deng, who turns 30 on Thursday. “It’s been top-class and everything. I’ve had one of my healthiest years. It was never anything serious. I’ve felt great about the medical staff. When you’ve been in the league 11 years, as soon as you start putting mileage on your body, you want a group that knows your body and you’re comfortable with them. The organization has been great.”
DeMarre Carroll Interested In Knicks
Soon-to-be free agent forward DeMarre Carroll acknowledged interest in the Knicks and hinted that he wouldn’t mind signing with the Lakers or Clippers, either, in a response to a question about whether he would give a great deal of consideration to the Knicks, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post. The sixth-year veteran who turns 29 in July has blossomed while on a two-year, $5MM contract with the Hawks that expires at season’s end.
“Most definitely,” Carroll said. “When guys talk about playing in certain places — they talk about Madison Square Garden and Staples Center. Those two places. New York has a lot to offer but at the end of the season, I’ll let my agent do that. We’ll keep our options and hopefully it will work out for the best.’’
Knicks coach Derek Fisher likes Carroll, and his defense in particular, a source tells Berman. Carroll is a proficient rebounder, grabbing 5.4 per game this season, but his defense is a minus, according to both ESPN’s Real Plus/Minus and Basketball-Reference’s Box Plus/Minus. Those metrics show him as a better offensive player, and he’s transformed his attack in Atlanta, shooting nearly six times as many three-pointers the past two seasons as the rest of his NBA career put together. He’s made 39.6% of his shots from behind the arc this year and is averaging a career-high 12.7 points per game.
Berman figures the Mark Bartelstein client will command a starting salary around $5MM, but Grantland’s Zach Lowe would be surprised if he doesn’t see more than that (Twitter link). Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal speculates that Carroll’s in line for $6MM salaries (Twitter link). In any case, it would seem he’s due a significant raise on the more than $2.442MM he’s making this season. The Hawks only have Carroll’s Early Bird rights, so unless they use cap space, they’d be limited to a starting salary of a figure that will likely come in just shy of $6MM when the league’s average salary is computed during the July Moratorium. Still, Atlanta, just like the Knicks and Lakers, is in line to open a significant amount of cap room this summer, depending in large measure on what happens with Carroll and Paul Millsap. The Clippers are unlikely to have the sort of cap flexibility it would take to land Carroll.
Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders wrote more than a month ago that it appeared the Hawks were looking for an upgrade at small forward, where Carroll plays. Still, it would be tough to envision the Hawks not having at least some interest in re-signing a player who has found his niche within their system. The team on Monday awarded Carroll the Jason Collier Memorial Trophy for his work as a community ambassador, as Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes, so clearly the club is high on his character.
Southeast Notes: Hawks, Harris, Dragic
Hawks coach and head of basketball operations Mike Budenholzer credited Atlanta GM Danny Ferry as the primary creator of the Eastern Conference’s only 60-win team, Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com writes. Budenholzer — instead of Ferry — was nominated by the Hawks for the Executive of the Year award.
“Anyone who has followed the Hawks for the last two or three years knows that Danny Ferry is the executive that’s most responsible for the makeup of our team,” Budenholzer said.
Ferry, who pulled the trigger on most of the moves that set up the Hawks’ current roster, took an indefinite leave of absence in September, shortly after his insensitive remarks about Luol Deng became public. Since then, Budenholzer has handled the day-to-day management of the team with with assistant GM Wes Wilcox and others.
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Magic GM Rob Hennigan says the team “intends” to re-sign Tobias Harris, who will be a restricted free agent this summer, regardless of the cost, Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel writes. Last week, Harris said he and his representatives haven’t spoken about the idea of accepting a qualifying offer worth nearly $4.434MM this summer. The forward, who played high school basketball on Long Island, has been linked to the Knicks in rumors. Before the season, Schmitz adds, Hennigan wouldn’t pay Harris near max money, but Hennigan is now telling the league he’ll essentially match any offer.
- Goran Dragic, who has a player option for 2015/16, says he will start to weigh his options once the Heat’s season ends, Shandel Richardson of the Sun Sentinel writes. Dragic previously said he planned to hit free agency this summer. “The last three, four weeks were so crazy,” Dragic said. “Everything was important for us. I tried to get my body right. I didn’t have time to think about [free agency]. That’s not fair to my teammates to think about the future. Right now, I’m part of this team. I give everything what I got on the court. We still got two games left. I’m still not thinking about that.” Dragic hinted that staying in Miami would seem to be the best option. “I’m a free agent,” Dragic said. “I like this organization. Hopefully, I can stay here and try to have a good season next year.”
Hawks Executive Of Year Choice Irks Some GMs
The Hawks have nominated Mike Budenholzer, and not Danny Ferry, for the Executive of the Year award, reports Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a move that’s displeased some executives around the league, Hoops Rumors has learned. Budenholzer has been doubling as coach and head of basketball operations for the team since Ferry, Atlanta’s GM, went on an indefinite leave of absence in September, shortly after the revelation of racially insensitive remarks Ferry made about Luol Deng. Still, most of the moves that set up the Eastern Conference leading roster came under Ferry’s watch.
Executives vote for the award winner from among their ranks. There’s no place on the ballot for write-in candidates, a league source told Hoops Rumors, adding that some GMs who wanted the chance to vote for Ferry have spoken about abstaining from the vote as a silent protest of sorts.
Many people around the league feel as though Ferry would have been a shoo-in for the award, Vivlamore writes. Chris Crouse of Hoops Rumors profiled Ferry’s Executive of the Year candidacy last month. The GM’s future with the organization is unclear, though Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports wrote in October that Ferry was not expected to return. His fate ultimately appears up to whomever controls the team once it’s sold, as Hawks ownership has put 100% of the franchise on the market. One of the current owners, Michael Gearon Jr., reportedly pressed for Ferry’s dismissal, though Gearon doesn’t hold the controlling stake in the team. Legendary Hawks player Dominique Wilkins, now a Hawks executive and prospective owner, hasn’t been enamored with Ferry ever since he tried to block the construction of a statue in Wilkins’ honor, as the Journal-Constitution’s Jeff Schultz recently wrote.
Budenholzer has replaced Ferry as the person with the final say in the front office this season, but the team has employed the same collaborative approach. Budenholzer, assistant GM Wes Wilcox and the rest of the basketball operations staff have all met to come to a consensus when the team has considered its moves this year, but that’s not unlike what took place when Ferry was present, as Vivlamore said in an interview with Hoops Rumors.