Reaction To Tom Thibodeau Hiring
The Timberwolves landed the most sought-after coach on the market Wednesday, hiring Tom Thibodeau and giving him player personnel control to boot. The move wasn’t a shock, since Minnesota quickly zeroed in on Thibs and appeared to pursue him with an unmatched fervor. Here’s a sampling of the reaction to Minnesota’s coup:
- The Thibodeau hire demonstrates that the Wolves are more stable and promising than they ever have been, contends Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune. That Thibodeau would choose Minnesota speaks to just how intriguing the roster is, and it also shows the franchise has its priorities in order, Souhan believes. Thibodeau, in a statement Wednesday, said the Wolves have the best young roster in the NBA, as USA Today’s Sam Amick relays (Twitter link).
- Thibodeau had long eyed the Lakers, convinced that he could attract elite free agents to play for him in L.A., writes Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, who takes the Lakers to task for not deciding Byron Scott‘s fate sooner and missing the chance to offer the job to Thibodeau. The ex-Bulls coach found it too risky to wait around for teams that haven’t decided whether to create coaching opportunities, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
- Still, many owners and executives around the league question whether Thibodeau can handle serving as coach and president of basketball operations at the same time, Wojnarowski writes in the same piece.
- The Timberwolves took an approach opposite to that of the Lakers, quickly cutting ties with Sam Mitchell and reversing course on apparent plans to let former GM Milt Newton run the front office this summer, observes Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report. The team’s statement that the search would focus exclusively on candidates outside the organization was a stunner, given Taylor’s reputation for loyalty, Ding notes.
Cal Swingman Jaylen Brown To Enter Draft
Cal freshman swingman Jaylen Brown will enter this year’s NBA draft, he announced in a press conference today, the school relays via Twitter. The 6’7″ 19-year-old is the fourth-best prospect in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and No. 9 with Chad Ford of ESPN.com. It’s not immediately clear whether he’ll hire an agent right away, a move that would prevent him from returning to college ball if he were to withdraw from the draft by May 25th.
Brown is a slasher on offense and a long, skilled defender, according to Ford. His wingspan is more than 7 feet, according to the latest measurement Givony shows. The Georgia native didn’t put up flashy numbers, playing just 27.6 minutes per game, but his 6.4 free throws per contest show his ability to get to the rim. He averaged 14.6 points and 5.4 rebounds a night, though his 29.4% 3-point shooting and 3.1 turnovers per contest are troublesome. His final game of the season was a four-point, seven-turnover nightmare in Cal’s first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Hawaii.
Still, he was already an elite prospect by the time he entered college. The Recruiting Services Consensus Index pegged him third, with only Ben Simmons and Skal Labissiere in front of him. Brown was a mainstay in competitions involving elite high school talent, and he had nine points in 21 minutes at the 2015 McDonald’s All-American game, the most well-known showcase.
Hoops Rumors Glossary: Cap Holds
The Cavaliers have committed only about $75MM in guaranteed money to player salaries for 2016/17, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the team will open $17MM of room against the projected $92MM salary cap. In fact, it’s highly unlikely that the Cavs will have any cap space at all. Each of Cleveland’s own free agents will be assigned a free agent amount or “cap hold” until the player signs a new contract or the Cavs renounce his rights.
The general purpose of a cap hold is to prevent teams from using room under the cap to sign free agents before using Bird rights to re-sign their own free agents. If a team wants to take advantage of its cap space, it can renounce its rights to its free agents, eliminating those cap holds. However, doing so means the team will no longer hold any form of Bird rights for those players — if the team wants to re-sign those free agents, it would have to use its cap room or another kind of cap exception.
The following criteria are used for determining the amount of a free agent’s cap hold:
- First-round pick coming off rookie contract: 250% of previous salary if prior salary was below league average; 200% of previous salary if prior salary was above league average
- Bird player: 190% of previous salary (if below average) or 150% (if above average)
- Early Bird player: 130% of previous salary
- Non-Bird player: 120% of previous salary
- Minimum-salary player: Two-year veteran’s minimum salary, unless the free agent only has one year of experience, in which case it’s the one-year veteran’s minimum.
A cap hold for a restricted free agent can vary based on his contract status. A restricted free agent’s cap hold is either his free agent amount as determined by the criteria mentioned above, or the amount of his qualifying offer, whichever is greater. Cavs combo guard Matthew Dellavedova is eligible for restricted free agency for a second straight offseason this summer. He signed for the value of his qualifying offer last year, and his qualifying offer amount would be $1,434,095 this year. Still, his cap hold is larger, at $2,179,824, because the Cavs will have his Bird rights and his salary of $1,147,276 is well beneath the league average. If Cleveland wants to keep his Bird rights, it’ll have to carry a $2,179,824 cap hold this summer until it either re-signs Dellavedova or he signs elsewhere and the Cavs elect not to match.
The Cavs only have Early Bird rights on LeBron James, but assuming he opts out, as expected, he’ll have a cap hold of as much as $29,861,650, or 130% of this season’s salary. A chance exists that his hold will be slightly lower, because no cap hold can exceed the maximum salary for which a player can sign. So, if the maximum salary for a player with 10 or more years of experience, like James, comes in below that figure, his cap hold will simply be whatever the max is. The projected max for James, based on a $92MM cap, is slightly above $30MM. So, if that happens, the Cavs would get a “discount” of sorts on James’ cap hold, since it would only be $29,861,650, and James is roundly expected to sign for the max. Either way, it won’t much matter for Cleveland, since whatever James’ cap hold is, it’ll wipe out that $17MM worth of would-be cap space, anyway.
An unusual case exists for the Grizzlies and P.J. Hairston, whom they acquired via trade from the Hornets this season. Memphis has his Bird rights, but the Hornets declined the fourth year team option on his rookie scale contract before the season, so the Grizzlies can’t pay him more than what he would have made in the option year, which is $1,253,160. That rule is in place so a team can’t circumvent the rookie scale and decline its option in an effort to give the player a higher salary, and it applies even if the player is traded after the option is declined, as in the case of Hairston. So, rather than coming in at 250% of this year’s salary, as would be the case with most players coming off rookie scale contracts, Hairston’s cap hold will be the option amount: $1,253,160.
If a team holds the rights to fewer than 12 players, cap holds worth the rookie minimum salary ($543,471) are assigned to fill out the roster. So, if a front office chose to renounce its rights to all of its free agents and didn’t have anyone under contract, the team would have 12 holds worth $543,471 on the cap, reducing its total cap space by about $6.5MM.
Cap holds aren’t removed from a team’s books until the player signs a new contract or has his rights renounced by the club. For instance, since Jerry Stackhouse never signed elsewhere after his contract with the Nets expired at the end of the 2012/13 season, and the Nets have never renounced him, Brooklyn still has a minimum salary hold for Stackhouse on its cap. It’s been so many years since the Nets have gone under the cap that there’s been no reason for them to renounce their rights to players who, like Stackhouse, are no longer in the NBA. Keeping those cap holds allows teams some degree of cushion to help them remain above the cap and take advantage of the mid-level exception and trade exceptions, among other advantages afforded capped-out teams. Still, Brooklyn seems likely to at last open cap room this summer, so the Nets will likely renounce the Stackhouse cap hold in July, long after he retired.
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ and the Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Earlier versions of this post were published in previous years.
Southeast Notes: Batum, Nene, Whiteside, Wade
Nicolas Batum has been “perfect” for the Hornets, contends Kemba Walker, who hopes the team shells out the money necessary to keep the swingman as he heads into free agency this summer, notes Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer. Still, it’s conceivable that Batum has played his final game for the team, as he suffered a sprained left ankle Wednesday in the second game of Charlotte’s first-round series versus the Heat. Teammate Al Jefferson doesn’t think he’ll be back at any point during the series, according to Justin Verrier of ESPN.com, and with the Hornets down 2-0, the outlook is bleak. Batum won’t rule out leaving for another team, but he’s said he wants to be back with Charlotte, as Fowler relays. “Our core is young, we signed our coach to an extension and we’re winning,” Batum said as the playoffs began. “We can have a great run here.”
See more from the Southeast Division:
- Randy Wittman‘s refusal to criticize Nene was at the heart of the reason John Wall recently cited a lack of accountability on the Wizards, sources told J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic. Other Wizards players also saw it as part of the ex-coach’s declining favor within the locker room this past season, Michael writes. Wittman was also loath to criticize Ramon Sessions, who went so far as to ask the coach to be more critical of him, according to Michael. Washington fired Wittman last week, and Nene and Sessions are set to become free agents this summer.
- Sessions has never been a full-time starter in any of his nine NBA seasons, but he said he’s gunning for a starting job as he approaches free agency, observes Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post.
- Hassan Whiteside had plenty of praise for the Heat coaching staff and front office this week, a clear sign of his appreciation to Miami for helping revive his career, tweets Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post. Whiteside is No. 10 in the latest Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings.
Top Bloggers: Adam Mares On The Nuggets
Anyone can have a blog about an NBA team, but some set themselves apart from the rest with the dedication and valuable insight they bring to their craft. We’ll be sharing some knowledge from these dialed-in writers on Hoops Rumors with a feature called Top Bloggers. As with The Beat, our ongoing series of interviews with NBA beat writers, it’s part of an effort to bring Hoops Rumors readers ever closer to the pulse of the teams they follow. Last time, we spoke about the Hawks with Kris Willis, managing editor of SB Nation’s Peachtree Hoops. Click here to see the entire Top Bloggers series.
Next up is Adam Mares, site manager of SB Nation’s Denver Stiffs, a Nuggets blog. He’s also a contributor to Nylon Calculus and Hardwood Paroxysm. You can follow Adam on Twitter at @Adam_Mares. Check out his stories here, here and here.
Hoops Rumors: Kenneth Faried‘s production has been steady but unspectacular the past few seasons. Is it time for the team to move on from Faried, or will the remaining three years on his deal be a bargain given the financial feeding frenzy that the increase in the salary cap will likely bring this offseason?
Adam Mares: I think both things are true. $13MM per year for three years doesn’t seem nearly as bad as it did in 2014 when he signed the extension, and by next year’s trade deadline, there will probably be a handful of teams interested in picking him up at that price. Especially since he had something of a bounce-back season this year despite playing the 2nd lowest MPG of his career.
That being said, I’m not sure he fits Denver’s timeline, and he might be a bad fit alongside Emmanuel Mudiay. Neither player has a consistent jump shot, which means the team has to find spacing at the other three spots on the court. I don’t think the Nuggets HAVE to trade Faried right away, but I don’t think he’ll be in Denver for the entirety of his contract. My guess is that he’ll be moved sometime between now and the 2017 NBA draft.
Hoops Rumors: From an outsider’s perspective, there appears to be a noticeable and pronounced difference in the culture of the organization this season. How much of that can be attributed to the presence of coach Michael Malone, and how would you grade his first season in Denver?
Adam Mares: The culture inside the locker room couldn’t be any more different from what it was last season. Some of that has to do with getting rid of players that didn’t want to be here (JaVale McGee, Nate Robinson, Ty Lawson, J.J. Hickson) but most of it has to do with Malone. He earned the respect of the roster, and he had the Nuggets playing hard night in and night out. That alone is enough to earn him the A. He’ll be graded on a much steeper curve next season — especially if the team continues to rank in the bottom third of the league in defensive efficiency — but he’s established a hard-working, no-nonsense culture that the team desperately needed, all while helping all the young players on the roster make big strides throughout the season.
Hoops Rumors: Gary Harris had a solid sophomore campaign, averaging 12.3 points on 46.9% shooting for the season. Has he solidified himself as Denver’s shooting guard moving forward, or does the team need an upgrade at the two spot for 2016/17?
Adam Mares: Harris was one of the big surprises for the Nuggets this season. After hardly getting court time in his rookie season, he led all Nuggets in total minutes played this season and was second on the team in minutes per game. He’s an excellent defender, shooter, and cutter, and he rarely makes mistakes on either end. His biggest issue is that he is a bit too small to defend larger guards and wings. He’d routinely get posted up or out-muscled by tall guards like Kobe Bryant, Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson. His size will probably limit his upside and for that, he might be best suited as a backup shooting guard. He can help his cause by becoming a much better ballhandler and playmaker off the dribble.
Hoops Rumors: Darrell Arthur has said he wants to remain with the Nuggets, adding that he would like to do so with a new three- or four-year deal. If Arthur declines his player option for 2016/17, should the team look to re-sign him to a long-term pact? If so, what terms would be fair for both parties?
Adam Mares: I love Darrell and to be perfectly honest, I’m surprised he wants to stay in Denver seeing as how the Nuggets are at least two or three years away from being a serious contender. Darrell would fit nicely on almost any team since he is a tough, hard-nosed defender and rebounder and has a reliable jump shot. He’s a coaches dream in that he is incredibly consistent and brings it every night. So I’d love him in Denver as a backup power forward, but for his sake, I’d be surprised if he didn’t leave for greener pastures.
Hoops Rumors: Point guard D.J. Augustin played well after having been acquired from the Thunder, and he is set to go into free agency this offseason. Should the team look to re-sign him? Would doing so hinder the growth of Mudiay?
Adam Mares: He won’t hinder Mudiay’s development because the team is content to allow Mudiay to play through his ups and downs. However, I don’t think the Nuggets should re-sign Augustin because his game is very limited. He’s a tough shotmaker, an average distributor and an undersized defender. He’ll be 29 years old by the time next season begins, and the Nuggets already have one veteran point guard capable of playing the backup role in Jameer Nelson.
Hoops Rumors: Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post speculated recently that Denver would be a good landing spot for Kevin Love, should the Cavs decide to part ways with him this offseason. Would landing Love, whose numbers never translated to wins in Minnesota, be a wise move for the Nuggets? What package would the team need to give up to snag Love?
Adam Mares: It’s such a fascinating question because I don’t see the Nuggets front office pushing all of their chips forward this offseason … unless it’s for Love. The front office seems content to let this young core of players develop for another year before they decide which way to go, but Love might be the perfect piece to complement Nikola Jokic, Jusuf Nurkic and Mudiay. The Nuggets desperately lack shooting and Mudiay thrived this season in the rare instances that he was surrounded by 3-point shooters. Mudiay, Harris, Will Barton and Wilson Chandler are all excellent cutters with high basketball IQs and would thrive cutting off of Love in the post or spacing the floor. The same goes for Jokic, who is already one of the best passing big men in the NBA. Nurkic could be the rim protector that hides some of Love’s defensive deficiencies.
Danilo Gallinari and Barton would both fit nicely in Cleveland. Throw in one of Denver’s three first-round draft picks and Cleveland might be willing to make that deal. But Denver would lose a lot of depth, especially if Chandler continues to miss games with injuries. They’d also have to find a home for Faried, since he probably wouldn’t accept a bench role. There are lots of pros and cons to such a deal, but ultimately I think Love would be a good fit in Denver. The young Nuggets roster complements Love’s skill set much better than Love’s teams in Minnesota, and the Nuggets have enough assets, youth and draft picks to add even more pieces around him in the years to come. It’s not a slam dunk, but it’s intriguing.
Eddie Scarito contributed to this interview.
Knicks Notes: Thibodeau, Blatt, Rambis, ‘Melo
Kristaps Porzingis was largely unknown to Knicks fans a year ago, but his strong rookie year quickly made him a sensation in New York, where a four-minute film called “Porzingod” that takes a playful approach with the hopes and dreams attached to the 20-year-old 7-footer will debut today at the Tribeca Film Festival, as Marc Berman of the New York Post details. Such optimism is unlikely to emerge from the draft this year for the Knicks, who have a pick in neither the first nor the second round. See the latest on the blue-and-orange:
- The Knicks didn’t reach out to former assistant Tom Thibodeau this spring before he took the Timberwolves job on Wednesday, sources told Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Knicks president Phil Jackson has spoken with Luke Walton, casually or otherwise, but for now, interim coach Kurt Rambis and David Blatt are the only candidates New York is seriously considering for its coaching vacancy, Begley hears.
- Blatt’s adaptability is part of what makes him appealing to the Knicks, Berman writes in a separate piece. Jackson, who’s expected to interview the former Cavs coach, has respect for the Princeton offense Blatt has sometimes employed, as Berman previously reported, though one NBA personnel director who’s spoken to the Cavs said Blatt would certainly be willing to run the triangle for the Knicks, according to Berman. Still, Blatt isn’t the favorite, Berman cautions. Berman heard from one scout who suggested that hiring Blatt would torpedo any longshot hope at landing LeBron James, but the same was said about James returning to the Cavs when they hired Blatt two years ago.
- Carmelo Anthony was among the Knicks in attendance as the Knicks’ triangle seminar began this week, and Jackson played the role of coach for a day as he took the lead in imparting lessons about the offensive system, reports Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. Rambis was also involved, which supports the belief that he’ll ultimately have his interim tag removed, Bondy observes. That Jackson organized the event further signals his willingness to stick around for the long haul in the wake of his Thursday declaration that he intends to stay for his whole five-year contract, Berman writes.
Kings Plan To Interview Jeff Hornacek
The Kings intend to meet with Jeff Hornacek, as Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee writes amid an update on the team’s expansive coaching search. Sacramento was reportedly scheduled to interview Sam Mitchell on Wednesday and is set to do the same with Vinny Del Negro and Mike Woodson. Luke Walton is also apparently expected to meet with GM Vlade Divac about the vacancy.
Hornacek was one of the first names to be connected to the job. The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski heard even before the Kings officially fired George Karl that the former Suns coach was among a group Sacramento would consider. Wojnarowski also identified Hornacek as a strong candidate to coach the Wizards when Washington fired Randy Wittman, but the Wizards have since offered the job to Scott Brooks, as The Vertical scribe reported Wednesday.
The Suns fired Hornacek on February 1st amid a season gone wrong, but he’s just two years removed from finishing a close second to Gregg Popovich in voting for the Coach of the Year award for his first season as an NBA head coach. Hornacek’s Suns went 48-34 that year in what was supposed to be a rebuilding season, though they failed to maintain that success, falling to 39-43 in 2014/15, and Phoenix was 14-35 when it made its coaching change this year.
Hornacek, who turns 53 next month, went 101-112 overall with the Suns. Before going to Phoenix, he served as an assistant coach for the Jazz while former Kings coach Tyrone Corbin was the head coach in Utah.
Sacramento is also interested in Brooks and fellow former NBA head coaches Brian Shaw, Monty Williams, Jeff Van Gundy, Kevin McHale, Mark Jackson, David Blatt and Nate McMillan, along with Spurs assistants Ettore Messina and Ime Udoka, Hornets assistant Patrick Ewing and Celtics assistant Jay Larranaga, plus at least two unidentified college coaches, according to previous reports. The team also reportedly had interest in Tom Thibodeau and Kenny Atkinson, who’ve since taken the Timberwolves and Nets head coaching jobs, respectively.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript
4:11pm: We hosted the weekly live chat.
3:00pm: The Timberwolves are reportedly about to reel in the most sought-after coach in the market, giving Tom Thibodeau personnel control to boot, but they’re not the only ones making moves. The Nets hired Hawks assistant Kenny Atkinson and the Suns removed the interim tag from Earl Watson. A handful of other teams are still deliberating, including the Kings, who are reportedly considering a whopping 17 known candidates. We can discuss those names and much more in today’s chat.
Brooks, Jeff Van Gundy Favorites For Rockets Job
4:04pm: Brooks is currently meeting with Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld, who is trying to reach an agreement with the coach this evening, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical tweets.
3:11pm: The Wizards have intensified their pursuit of Brooks with the hope he can be signed prior to the Rockets post opening up, Stein relays (Twitter links). Houston is hopeful that Brooks will hold making a decision until their playoff run is complete, Stein adds.
12:43pm: Scott Brooks and Jeff Van Gundy are co-favorites for the Rockets head coaching job, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). The Wizards are reportedly the front-runner for Brooks, but Houston is optimistic that he’ll wait until its playoff run is over, Stein adds. Adrian Wojnarowski and Chris Mannix of The Vertical earlier identified Van Gundy as the top candidate for the Rockets gig, but it appears Brooks is on the same level. Houston still hasn’t formally decided the fate of interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who reportedly enhanced his chances of keeping the job when the team clinched a playoff berth on the final night of the regular season, but the latest news seems to cast significant doubt on his return.
Brooks is wary of the uncertainty surrounding Dwight Howard‘s player option, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reported, even though Howard has long been expected to opt out. Stein reported earlier that the Rockets were second only to the Wizards among the options Brooks was considering but pointed to Houston’s focus on the playoffs as a disadvantage. The Rockets are down 2-0 to the Warriors in their first-round series and could be eliminated as soon as Friday’s Game 4. The ex-Thunder coach knows James Harden well from their time together in Oklahoma City, and Kevin Durant remains a fan of Brooks.
The Rockets, like many teams, had interest in Tom Thibodeau, as Stein relayed last week, but Thibodeau is apparently finalizing a deal with the Timberwolves. That cuts off a route to a job for Van Gundy, who had reportedly been a co-favorite for Minnesota. Van Gundy, who still lives in Houston, last coached in the NBA with the Rockets in 2007.
Memphis SF Dedric Lawson To Test Draft Waters
Memphis freshman small forward Dedric Lawson has entered this year’s draft in spite of an announcement from his school last week that he wouldn’t do so, reports Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter links). The 6’8″ 18-year-old won’t hire an agent, Spears was told, so his college eligibility remains intact should he have another change of heart and withdraw by May 25th. Lawson is No. 46 in Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider rankings. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress doesn’t have him in his top 100 but pegs him as the 28th-best freshman.
Lawson was No. 32 in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index entering college. He led the American Athletic Conference with 9.3 rebounds per game and was third with 1.7 blocks per contest this year. He also excelled on offense, averaging 15.8 points, though his 3-point accuracy wasn’t spectacular at 35.0%.
He capped his season with a double-double in a conference tournament loss to Connecticut, scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Still, he struggled with inconsistency, scoring at least 20 points 11 times and in single digits on seven occasions.