And-Ones: Cavs, LeBron, Monroe
Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert is open to hiring a “big-name team president” who would have authority over GM David Griffin, but the team has not been considering David Blatt for that role, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Cleveland will also explore trading Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson this summer, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio. Neither are on the trading block, but Amico adds that the Cavs are listening and evaluating their options.
Here’s are some more miscellaneous news and notes to pass along tonight:
- One NBA team president said that Pat Riley appeared nervous when talking about keeping LeBron James during his media presser today, adding that more teams will now be in pursuit of the superstar forward (Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports via Twitter).
- ESPN’s Chris Broussard says that the Cavs should have met with LeBron in free agency first before making a coaching hire, implying that David Blatt’s lack of NBA coaching experience doesn’t help their case of luring the Akron native back home (Twitter link).
- According to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press, Pistons coach/president Stan Van Gundy has been in consistent contact with restricted free agent forward Greg Monroe and Monroe’s agent, David Falk.
- The Hawks, Pelicans, and Wizards are expected to be potential suitors for Monroe this summer, writes Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News. While Stan Van Gundy maintains that keeping Monroe is a “high priority,” he also appears prepared for other scenarios. “We have ideas on who might offer (Monroe) what…You weigh what’s out there because once you give him a qualifying offer, he can sign it or get an offer sheet. What level of an offer would we match? We’re prepared for that and doing due diligence for people who want to sign-and-trade for him.”
- Tom Moore of Calkins Media (via Twitter) hears that a Southeast Division team offered the 76ers more in a trade package than the Pacers did for Evan Turner; that team didn’t hear back from Philadelphia GM Sam Hinkie before the trade deadline ended and Turner was eventually dealt to Indiana.
- Le Mans of the Ligue Nationale de Basket has signed former NBA guard Rodrigue Beaubois, reports Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The 6’2″ guard’s deal reportedly includes an opt-out clause that will allow him to sign with an NBA team before July 25.
Southeast Notes: Zeller, Vonleh, Anderson, Wiz
Today’s news that Josh McRoberts has opted out of his contract, while widely expected, promises to make a busy offseason in Charlotte even busier. The Hornets have two first round picks and, as GM Rich Cho tells Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte observer, there are plenty of teams looking to make moves heading into next Thursday’s talent-rich draft (Twitter links).
Here are some additional updates from the Southeast division:
- Bonnell also tweets that Cho is still very much committed to the development of Cody Zeller, who the Hornets took fourth overall in last summer’s draft. Should Charlotte select a power forward next Thursday, it would not be an indictment of Zeller according to Bonnell.
- The Hornets were supposed to host one of the draft’s premier bigs today in Noah Vonleh, but Adam Zagoria of SNY tweets that the Indiana product pulled out of the workout. Vonleh is almost certain to be off the board by the time Charlotte is on the clock at No. 9.
- Kyle Anderson will work out for the Hawks on Monday, reports Zagoria. It will be Anderson’s second workout in Atlanta. Zagoria reported a few weeks back that the Hawks had been trying to get the intriguing UCLA product back in town. Atlanta picks 15th.
- The Wizards will work out Davion Berry, Andre Dawkins, Cory Jefferson, Shawn Jones, Wally Judge and James McAdoo on Thursday, the team announced today.
- The Hornets officially announced via a team release that they have added Steve Hetzel as an assistant coach. Hetzel coached the Canton Charge of the D-League this season.
Draft Rumors: Embiid, Nets, Celtics, Lakers
The Cavs are strongly leaning toward taking Joel Embiid first overall, a source tells Chris Mannix of SI.com. Of course, earlier reports have indicated leanings toward Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker, and Cleveland threw a curveball with last season’s selection of Anthony Bennett at No. 1, so it’s tough to get a read on owner Dan Gilbert’s team. Still, Mannix and others have plenty of intel surrounding the draft with eight days to go:
- The Nets are seeking a first-round pick, according to Mannix, who echoes earlier reports that the Pelicans and Knicks are doing the same.
- The Celtics like Aaron Gordon the best among the power forwards likely to be available at No. 6, Mannix hears.
- The Lakers are leaning toward keeping their No. 7 pick rather than trading down for multiple picks, believing there’s a drop-off after the top 10 prospects, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. McMenamin nonetheless doesn’t say whether the team is leaning toward keeping the pick rather than acquiring a veteran, and the Lakers and the Kings are reportedly more open to trades than any other lottery clubs.
- The Jazz aren’t necessarily seeking Parker as they attempt to trade up from the fifth pick, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com writes in a chat with readers.
- Several teams were disappointed when Kristaps Porzingis decided to withdraw from the draft, and one executive told Mannix that he believes the Latvian has a decent chance to become a top-five pick next year. The Thunder, who’d reportedly promised to draft him, and Mavs were particularly high on him, according to Mannix, while the Hawks were also enamored with him, Ford says in his chat.
- The Grizzlies appear likely to trade into the second round, as we passed along earlier.
Draft Notes: Clippers, Vonleh, Hornets, Hairston
The Clippers are interested in trading up from pick No. 28, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Shelburne’s piece centers on a profile of former University of Colorado guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who can’t work out because he’s still recovering from a torn ACL. Dinwiddie’s nonetheless had meetings with the Bucks, Wizards, Bulls and Celtics, and he’s scheduled interviews and physicals with the Clippers, Heat, Hawks and Thunder, according to Shelburne. The ESPN scribe also says that he’ll interview and take a physical for the Jazz, advancing an earlier report that he was set to interview with the team. Here’s more on the draft:
- Julius Randle is set to work out for the Jazz tomorrow, tweets Utah’s radio announcer David Locke.
- Marcus Smart and Elfrid Payton are expected to work out for the Lakers on Friday for the second time, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports Spears advises his readers to “keep an eye” on Payton (via Twitter) in light of the second workout.
- Nik Stauskas is expected in for his first workout with the Lakers, who have struggled to get Stauskas in, tweets Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times.
- Rodney Hood had to sit out most of his Hornets workout today due to illness, reports Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
- Gary Harris and Zach LaVine will work out for the Hornets tomorrow, tweets Bonnell, who adds Charlotte’s other new workout appointees in a separate tweet: Rion Brown; Ronald Roberts Jr.; and Markel Brown, who missed an earlier workout due to travel issues.
- The Rockets worked out Shabazz Napier, Xavier Thames, Patric Young, Nick Russell, and Kadeem Coleby, tweets Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops.
- Sim Bhullar, Earnest Ross, Ian Chiles, Cameron Clark, Philipp Neumann, and Jordan Bachynski will work out for the Wizards tomorrow, tweets J. Michael of CSNWashington.com.
Earlier updates:
- Noah Vonleh will work out for the Sixers on Thursday, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
- Elfrid Payton, Josh Huestis, James Bell and Jordan Clarkson are the previously unreported prospects performing for the Hornets today, as Chris Littmann of The Sporting News tweets.
- P.J. Hairston will audition for the Hawks, as he tells Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, who also reports that Hairston will show off for the Grizzlies, Lakers and Bulls (Twitter links).
- Kyle Anderson will work out for the Suns, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, as well as the Grizzlies, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter links). A previous report indicated that the Suns were set to audition Anderson a week ago, so this appears to be his second workout with Phoenix.
- Anderson will also perform for the Bulls, as will Clint Capela and DeAndre Daniels, Zagoria tweets.
- Jordan Adams, Devyn Marble, Sean Kilpatrick, C.J. Wilcox and Jarnell Stokes are working out for the Raptors today, the team announced. A report from last month indicated that Stokes had already worked out for Toronto, but given that the dispatch came in the middle of the draft combine, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was actually an interview between Stokes and the club, rather than a workout.
- The Wizards are auditioning Semaj Christon, Nick Johnson, Deonte Burton, Alec Brown and Khem Birch today, according to Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (on Twitter).
And-Ones: Draft, Spurs, Hornets, Hollins, Wolves
Jarnell Stokes‘ representatives are excited about his performance against Adreian Payne in a workout for the Raptors today, with auditions for the Spurs and Clippers still to come, as Zach Links of Hoops Rumors reports (Twitter links). Zach also hears that Rodney Hood has rescheduled workouts with the Wolves and Kings this week after withdrawing from earlier auditions for the teams (Twitter link). Justin Jackson showed off twice for the Hornets last week, with the Hawks, Heat and Suns on his upcoming workout agenda, Zach also tweets. Here’s more from around the league:
- A Western Conference executive who spoke with Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News suggests that teams will be wary of the poor performance that soon-to-be free agent Boris Diaw turned in for Charlotte preceding his tenure with the Spurs. Monroe also hears doubt from an exec about Patty Mills‘ ability to succeed outside of San Antonio.
- The Hornets are interviewing Blazers director of college scouting Chad Buchanan for their assistant GM post, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The assistant GM will serve under GM Rich Cho, who gained full control of the front office when president of basketball operations Rod Higgins resigned last week.
- The Rockets are aggressively seeking Lionel Hollins to serve as an assistant coach even though they know it will be difficult to land him as he seeks head coaching jobs, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Hollins has interviewed to become the head man for the Cavs and Lakers.
- The Timberwolves named Sam Mitchell an assistant coach today, the team announced (on Twitter). Mitchell interviewed for the head coaching job and was reportedly a favorite of owner Glen Taylor.
Ford’s Latest: Love, Celtics, Kings, Nuggets, Bulls
We just passed along the latest on the willingness of the Sixers to trade up to draft Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid‘s meeting with the Cavs, but there are a few more highlights of note from the latest update to the Insider-only mock draft from Chad Ford of ESPN.com. They involve the draft as well as more wide-ranging NBA topics, so let’s dive in:
- The Celtics are dangling the sixth and 17th picks, future first-rounders and young players in their attempt to trade for Kevin Love, according to Ford. A source suggests to Ford that Boston’s package for the power forward is likely to be the strongest the Wolves will find, though Minnesota reportedly isn’t high on what Boston has to offer. There’s also been speculation that Wolves executive/coach Flip Saunders prefers experience over youth in any trade involving Love.
- The Kings are actively attempting to trade the No. 8 pick, Ford writes, adding that multiple sources tell him that Sacramento is more likely to trade the pick than to hold on to it. That’s something of a switch from Ford’s earlier report that the Kings were merely listening to offers for the selection. The Hawks have reportedly been involved in talks for the eighth pick.
- The Nuggets and Bulls are still discussing the 11th pick, according to Ford, whose earlier report indicated that Chicago’s picks at No. 16 and No. 19 were also a part of the conversation. The Bulls would draft either Gary Harris or Nik Stauskas at No. 11, and they’re leaning toward Stauskas, Ford writes. If the Bulls can’t move up, they have a slight preference for Shabazz Napier over Tyler Ennis, Ford hears.
Eastern Rumors: Monroe, Garnett, Draft Needs
Greg Monroe tells Nakia Hogan of The Times-Picayune that he wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Stan Van Gundy getting success out of a Pistons frontcourt featuring Monroe, Josh Smith, and Andre Drummond. Monroe is preparing to field offers as a restricted free agent, and would still be content to remain in Detroit. “Most people would rather, if possible, not to have to go through it and just re-sign with the team they are with so you can have some stability and be secure,” Monroe said. “Right now it’s like the draft process all over again. You don’t know if you will have to change cities or where you will end up. It’s a good thing that there are teams out there that want me. But at the end of the day, if I didn’t have to do it, I wouldn’t have a problem with that either.” Here’s more from out East:
- The Pelicans have inquired with the Pistons about a potential sign-and-trade for Monroe, a source tells Hogan. The Times-Picayune scribe doesn’t reveal whether Detroit was open to the discussion.
- The Nets have been in contact with Kevin Garnett, and are operating under the belief that he will return next season, sources tell Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link).
- Adi Joseph continues his series on team draft needs with a look at the Nets, Hawks, Raptors, Wizards, and Heat.
- In some of the day’s least surprising news, we passed along Amar’e Stoudemire‘s decision to decline his early termination option for the 2014/15 season.
Cavs Interview David Blatt
FRIDAY, 12:18pm: The Cavs and Warriors are the only teams left in the race for Blatt, a source tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com. That means the Timberwolves and Hawks are no longer in the mix.
THURSDAY, 1:22pm: Blatt will interview with the Cavs next week, a source tells the Plain Dealer (Twitter link). Blatt said he interviewed earlier by phone, so presumably next week’s interview will be the first face-to-face meeting. That probably doesn’t quite put him on equal footing with Lue and Gentry, both of whom are set for their second sit-downs with the Cavs.
12:35pm: Blatt says he hasn’t received an offer from the Cavs, Sinai tweets.
12:28pm: Blatt indeed announced that he’s leaving Maccabi Tel Aviv, and said that he’ll intensify talks with NBA teams, as Sinai relays via Twitter.
12:07pm: The Timberwolves are still contenders for Blatt, but he’s mostly focused on the Cavs and Warriors, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
11:32am: The Hawks are also vying for Blatt as an assistant coach, Sinai reports.
11:20am: Blatt will say that he’s headed to the NBA today, but he won’t say where, Pick hears, advancing Sinai’s report from earlier (Twitter link).
11:14am: The announcement that Blatt is set to make today doesn’t have to do with the Cavs, reports Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link). That doesn’t necessarily rule him out as a head coaching candidate for Cleveland, as Sinai tweets that it’s unclear if Blatt will identify a specific job that he’s taking or merely state his intention to go to the NBA, but it seems to cast doubt on the idea he’ll end up with the Cavs.
11:02am: The Cavaliers have interviewed Israeli league coach David Blatt for their head coaching vacancy, as Blatt tells David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Blatt said he interviewed by phone and will speak with GM David Griffin again soon, according to Pick. The news comes in advance of a press conference today in which Blatt will announce that he’s leaving Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv for the NBA, as Allon Sinai of The Jerusalem Post tweets. It’s unclear whether Blatt is headed stateside for the Cavs job or for assistant coaching positions with the Warriors and Timberwolves, gigs for which he’s also rumored to be a candidate.
The Cavs had reportedly been in contact with Blatt as of last week, but it appeared then that the conversation hadn’t yet amount to an interview. Blatt says he’s received “real offers” from the NBA, Sinai reports (on Twitter), though it seems as though he may be in line for a consulting job, either on top of or instead of a coaching position, according to Pick (Twitter link). Pick dismisses the notion of Blatt heading to Minnesota (Twitter link), in spite of an earlier report that suggested he would be Flip Saunders‘ first choice as a head-coach-in-waiting who could take over the head coaching duties from Saunders in a year or two.
Blatt told Pick today that an earlier report suggesting that he’d only come to the NBA for a head coaching job was inaccurate (Twitter link), and the Warriors are “quietly confident” that they’ll end up with him, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Still, if he were to become an NBA head coach, it would represent a groundbreaking jump from European basketball. He’s one of several seemingly in the mix for the Cavs head coaching job. Mark Price, Alvin Gentry, Adrian Griffin, Tyronn Lue, Vinny Del Negro and Lionel Hollins have all reportedly garnered interviews. The Cavs have asked Lue and Gentry back for second interviews, while Nate McMillan and Mark Jackson have also apparently emerged as candidates, too.
Kings Talk No. 8 Pick With Hawks, Eye Sanders
The Hawks have spoken with the Kings about a deal involving the No. 8 pick in this year’s draft, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com reports amid his chat with readers today. Ford wrote Tuesday about Sacramento’s interest in Dennis Schröder, though presumably much more would have to be involved to motivate the Kings to give up their pick. Ford’s Tuesday report also notes that Sacramento is merely listening to offers about the selection, rather than actively shopping it, so it sounds like Atlanta is the team that made the initial inquiry. Dario Saric and Nik Stauskas are likely players the Hawks would target with that No. 8 pick, Ford adds.
Ford also answered affirmatively when asked if his report of Sacramento’s interest in point guard Brandon Knight applied to Larry Sanders, too, though it’s not clear if the Kings are seriously thinking of making a play at either member of the Bucks. The No. 8 pick has also drawn mention in connection to Sacramento’s pitch for Kevin Love.
Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro has proven aggressive in his first year in charge of the front office, and Hawks GM Danny Ferry has constructed a roster that gives him plenty of flexibility to make trades. Atlanta possesses the 15th overall pick this year, not far from the 17th overall position at which the club landed Schröder in last summer’s draft.
Sanders is “available,” according to Ford, and it seems the Bucks have gone back and forth on their willingness to trade the center who ran into all sorts of trouble after signing a four-year, $44MM extension last year. A December report indicated they were trying to trade him, but Milwaukee apparently began to rebuff offers shortly before he suffered a fractured orbital bone that prematurely ended his season. Sanders also broke his hand in a nightclub brawl and served a five-game drug suspension during his tumultuous 2013/14 campaign.
Lowe’s Latest: Stephenson, Horford, Hamilton
Zach Lowe’s weekly column for Grantland, always required reading for NBA fans, focuses this week on Lance Stephenson, and Lowe classifies the Hornets and Pistons as the Pacers‘ stiffest competition for the unrestricted free agent shooting guard this summer. A February report made note of Charlotte’s interest, but it’s unclear if the Pistons are indeed planning a pursuit. Still, Lowe has plenty of intel on Stephenson and others from around the league, and we’ll hit the highlights here:
- The Hawks made Al Horford available to other teams at the trade deadline in a “very targeted fashion,” sources tell Lowe.
- Multiple execs have pegged the Kings as a potential suitor for Stephenson if Rudy Gay opts out, Lowe reports, but Lowe suggests that Gay is planning to opt in. The last dispatch from Gay signaled that he was torn about what to do with his player option, worth more than $19.3MM, so it’s unclear if Lowe is merely making an educated guess or if he’s heard indications that Gay will indeed pick up the option.
- Plenty of rival executives have mentioned the Pelicans as a sign-and-trade possibility for Stephenson, writes Lowe, who nonetheless doesn’t see a fit.
- Jordan Hamilton has piqued the curiosity of teams from around the league, according to Lowe. The Grantland scribe mentions Hamilton among possibilities for teams looking to split the $5.305MM non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception between two players, and that looks like ominous news for Houston’s hopes of re-signing him. The Rockets are limited to offering a starting salary of no more than $2,109,294, as I explained at the bottom of Houston’s offseason outlook last week.