Nuggets GM On Shaw, Faried, 2014/15
The Nuggets have a 1.5% chance at the No. 1 overall pick heading into the May 20th draft lottery, and GM Tim Connelly signaled his belief in building through the draft in an interview with Aaron J. Lopez of NBA.com. He also touched on his plans to talk about an extension with Thad Foucher client Kenneth Faried later in the offseason, and he had plenty more to say about the team after an injury-racked 2013/14. We’ll hit the highlights here:
On Brian Shaw‘s first year as an NBA head coach:
“He was the best. At times, it was difficult on our end [in the front office]. I can’t imagine what Brian was going through as a rookie head coach. He faced 10 years of issues in one year. At every turn, he handled the situation correctly. He’s been great and we’re fortunate to have him.”
On Faried:
“I tell guys all the time, ‘We want to pay you. Give us a reason to pay you.’ Certainly Kenneth’s energy and toughness is something our team feeds off of. It embodies who we’re trying to be. We’re in a great spot. He has another year on his rookie scale contract. We’ll try to come to some agreement this offseason. Hopefully we do. If not, he’s still on our team and we have restricted [free agency] rights the following year. It’s certainly a good spot to be in. We have to be an organization — and we have been — that will reward good play. And Kenneth’s played well — really well.”
On whether he would view missing the playoffs next year as a failure:
“That’s 100% accurate, especially considering where this organization has been for the last decade. [Team president] Josh [Kroenke] didn’t instill faith in myself and Brian to rebuild this team. This team’s ready to win. We have to ensure that’s going to happen next year. The health’s already on its way. Now we have to be creative and add a little more to the mix.”
Offseason Outlook: Memphis Grizzlies
Guaranteed Contracts
- Marc Gasol ($15,829,688)
- Mike Conley ($9,294,216)
- Tayshaun Prince ($7,707,865)
- Courtney Lee ($5,450,000)
- Tony Allen ($4,831,461)
- Quincy Pondexter ($3,146,068)
- Jon Leuer ($967,500)
- Jamaal Franklin ($816,482)
- (Fab Melo $437,080)*
Options
- Zach Randolph ($16,938,333, Player)**
Non-Guaranteed Contracts
- Kosta Koufos ($3,000,000, guaranteed for $500,000)***
- Nick Calathes ($816,482)****
Free Agents / Cap Holds
- Ed Davis ($7,884,650)*****
- No. 22 pick ($1,120,100)
- James Johnson ($915,243)
- Mike Miller ($915,243)
- Beno Udrih ($915,243)
- (Steven Hunter $7,022,400)
- (Gilbert Arenas $915,243)
- (Keyon Dooling $915,243)
- (Leon Powe $915,243)
- (Marcus Williams $915,243)
Draft Picks
- 1st Round (22nd overall)
Cap Outlook
- Guaranteed Salary: $48,980,360
- Options: $16,938,333
- Non-Guaranteed Salary: $3,316,482
- Cap Holds: $22,433,851
- Total: $91,669,026
The man whose absence was most conspicuous the last time the Grizzlies played no doubt lingers in the back of the mind of everyone in the organization. Team officials probably won’t harbor too much anger at Zach Randolph for incurring a suspension for Game 7 against the Thunder, since his hit to the jaw of Steven Adams was such questionable grounds for a one-game ban that few, if any, expected the punishment to happen. Instead, the Grizzlies will ruminate on Z-Bo’s decision regarding his lucrative player extension for next season. He’s given little, if any, indication of his preference whether to opt in or hit the market, where he could cash in as the ninth-ranked player on the latest Hoops Rumors 2014 Free Agent Power Rankings.
Randolph bookended the season with assertions that he’d like to remain with the Grizzlies for the rest of his career. He also expressed a desire to continue playing alongside Marc Gasol, who can’t elect free agency until next year, a subtle indication that Randolph might prefer to opt in so that he and Gasol can go on the market together. Still, Randolph expressed frustration with trade rumors that invoked his name this season. Team sources were adamant in their denials, but Randolph said he was hurt by what he perceived as a lack of loyalty, and he cited the Spurs, Lakers and Heat as examples of teams that have developed long-term bonds and won with them.
It would be tough to imagine the Spurs making the cap-clearing moves necessary to get into a bidding war for the 32-year-old, but the Lakers will have plenty of cap room, and the Heat might be in play if their trio of stars depart. There surely would be no shortage of other teams eyeing Randolph if he were to hit the market. The belief around the league is that Randolph would be in line for a three-year deal worth $30-35MM, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. I wouldn’t be surprised if a team goes a little higher for a player whose 17.4 points per game and 18.3 PER were the best he’s posted in three years.
There’s plenty of value in opting out, given Randolph’s increased production this season and the prospect of suitors growing all the more wary of his age in another year. He’ll turn 33 in July, suggesting it’s time to secure another long-term contract. Still, Randolph doesn’t figure to command the nearly $17MM salary he’d make next season if he opted in. Agent Raymond Brothers will no doubt earn his commission even before he negotiates Randolph’s next contract as he gathers the intel necessary to advise his client.
If Randolph’s back, the Grizzlies would have enough commitments to put them over the salary cap, but they’d have plenty of room beneath the tax line if the latest $77MM luxury tax projection holds up. That’ll allow them to use the full value of the non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception, worth $5.305MM this year. There’s also a decent chance they’ll have room to use the $2.077MM biannual exception, and that chance would become a near-certainty if Randolph opts out and re-signs for a lower salary. Those loom as critical weapons for a front office that snagged Mike Miller and James Johnson at the minimum salary for this past season. Players who are bargains at the mid-level price can have an even more significant effect than minimum-salary gems, of course, so it’ll be interesting to see what CEO Jason Levien and company do with that sort of flexibility.
Randolph’s departure would give the Grizzlies even more money at their disposal, and they’d have about $11MM in cap flexibility without him. It would also present the team with an intriguing chance to change its identity from a traditional, bruising, post-oriented squad with two big men to a club based on spacing with a stretch power forward. Replacing Randolph with an outside shooter would help the team’s deficiencies in that department, and the return of a healthy Quincy Pondexter would add to the roster’s long-range firepower. The style would seem like a fit for the analytics-friendly Memphis front office, given how highly the greater advanced metrics community values the three-pointer.
It would nonetheless be difficult to change on the fly so quickly, particularly if the team wants to remain competitive and attractive to Gasol, who’s a free agent after next season. That’s why a strong push to sign Pau Gasol, Marc’s brother, would make sense regardless of the style of play Memphis chooses. The Grizzlies reportedly see any pursuit of Gasol as a secondary priority to Randolph, but that’s true of just about anything the team would do this offseason. Gasol appears have a decent chance of garnering a $10MM offer in free agency this summer, but the allure of playing with his brother on a winning team might be enough to inspire him to take a discount to return to Memphis, where he began his NBA career. Using the full mid-level on Pau Gasol as a backup should Randolph return might seem wasteful for a team in need of outside shooting, but having a first-rate reserve would be crucial, as Marc Gasol’s absence this year demonstrated.
Kosta Koufos is a capable backup, but he’s no Marc Gasol, and he’s no Pau Gasol, either, and the Grizzlies suffered when Marc was injured this season, costing them enough wins for them to wind up as the seventh seed. They proved they were much better than a seventh-place team against the Thunder, but it was also easy to see that the Grizzlies are still a player or two away from true title contention. It might not be necessary to waive Koufos and recoup most of his partially guaranteed salary for next season to upgrade the bench, but cutting ties with Koufos seems much more plausible than when the Grizzlies pulled off a shrewd trade to obtain him for Darrell Arthur last year.
Similarly, there doesn’t seem to be enough playing time to go around for Ed Davis, whose 6’10” size and pedigree as a former 13th overall pick might intrigue a team looking for a small-ball center on the cheap. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Grizzlies fail to tender him a qualifying offer, which would be worth more than $4MM. That’s more per year than Pondexter received on his extension this past autumn, and likely more than market value for Davis. The Grizzlies probably wouldn’t mind him back at Pondexter’s salary, but no more than that.
Miller has expressed a desire to return to the club “as long as everything is done fairly,” and while that might indicate that he’s unwilling to re-sign for the minimum salary, the Grizzlies could use his Non-Bird rights to give him a 20% raise, or the biannual for a larger bump. Retaining his shooting will likely be important to the club, but the Grizzlies will no doubt keep in mind that the oft-injured 34-year-old seems a long shot to play in all 82 games next year as he did this season. The Grizzlies will be without Nick Calathes for the first 13 games of next season thanks to his suspension for alleged use of Tamoxifen, so Beno Udrih appears a candidate to return on another minimum salary deal to back up Mike Conley.
The Grizzlies will have the sort of flexibility this summer that they haven’t enjoyed in the past few years regardless of whether Randolph opts out. Just how well they apply it will be pivotal not only for the team, but for the rest of the league, as Memphis lingers on the precipice of the title picture.
Cap footnotes
* — The Grizzlies waived Melo in August 2013 and used the stretch provision to spread his salary over three seasons.
** — If Randolph opts out, his cap hold would be equivalent to the maximum salary for a player of 10 or more years of experience, which will likely be around $20MM.
*** — Koufos’ salary becomes fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before June 30th.
**** — Calathes’ salary becomes fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before July 15th.
***** — Davis’ qualifying offer is $4,268,609.
ShamSports and Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ were used in the creation of this post.
NBA Taps Richard Parsons As Clips Interim CEO
2:20pm: The NBA has officially installed Parsons as interim CEO of the Clippers, the league announced.
“I believe the hiring of Dick Parsons will bring extraordinary leadership and immediate stability to the Clippers organization,” commissioner Adam Silver said. “Dick’s credentials as a proven chief executive speak for themselves and I am extremely grateful he accepted this responsibility.”
Parsons will control the business side of the team, leaving Doc Rivers to continue to lead the basketball operations department.
12:53pm: The NBA has chosen former Citicorp chairman and Time Warner chief Richard Parsons to run the Clippers, TNT’s David Aldridge reports (Twitter link). Team president Andy Roeser is on an indefinite leave of absence while the club has been searching for someone to lead in the team in the wake of owner Donald Sterling’s lifetime ban. Roeser was in charge immediately after the NBA meted out its punishment of Sterling, but the league said it wanted a “clean slate” for whomever would manage the team next. Parsons will run the team while the league seeks new ownership.
Parsons was the CEO of Time Warner from 2002 to 2007 and was Citigroup chairman from 2009 until 2012, when he retired. He nonetheless continues to serve on the board of directors for Madison Square Garden and other organizations. He was a member of President Barack Obama’s transition team in 2008 and a senior White House aide to President Gerald Ford.
The Clippers have remained in flux as Donald Sterling’s wife, Shelly, has sought to maintain 50% ownership of the club. The league reportedly hadn’t envisioned her desire to remain in the picture when it banned her husband and made plans to strip the team from his ownership. She also asserted that she was involved in the search for the new CEO, but it’s unclear whether that was the case. Donald Sterling is widely expected to mount a legal effort to stop the NBA from seizing control of the Clippers or forcing him to sell.
Pau Gasol Eyes Grizzlies, Bulls, Spurs, Lakers
Pau Gasol spoke of highly of the Grizzlies and hinted at interest at the Bulls and Spurs as well as a return to the Lakers in a Spanish-language video on Marca.com, as James Barrigan of the Los Angeles Times notes. The soon-to-be free agent big man said it’s difficult for him to envision signing with the Clippers, given their proximity to and rivalry with the Lakers, for whom Gasol has played the past six and a half seasons. Gasol nonetheless praised Clippers guard Chris Paul and said that he likes to play with the league’s best, naming LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony in addition to Paul.
Gasol said in December that the Grizzlies would be an “appealing” option given the presence of his brother, Marc Gasol, and he reiterated those comments to Marca.com, also citing the strength of the Memphis team that won 50 games this past season. The Grizzlies want to first see what happens with Zach Randolph, who has a nearly $17MM player option, but they still seem to have designs on pursuing Pau Gasol, who turns 34 in the summer. The Bulls reportedly have interest, too, as do the Cavs and Bobcats. There have been no indications that the Spurs want to go after him, but they’d certainly fit Gasol’s desire to play for a winner, and Gasol praised the team and Coach of the Year Gregg Popovich in his latest remarks.
The Arn Tellem client has had a checkered relationship with the Lakers in recent months, recently saying the team would have to make major changes if he’s to re-sign. He seemed to soften his stance in the wake of the resignation of Mike D’Antoni, with whom he’d feuded. Gasol said this week that he still considered himself a Laker, though he said the absence of D’Antoni would not be the determining factor in his decision whether to leave the club in free agency.
Gasol said in the Marca video that he hopes the Lakers will make him an offer strong enough for him to consider. He’ll surely have to take a pay cut from this season’s salary, which exceeded $19MM, but he reportedly has a decent chance to receive an offer worth $10MM a year.
Draft Notes: Harrison Twins, Randle, Vonleh
It’s the thick of draft season in professional sports, with the NFL draft continuing today, the baseball draft less than a month away, and the NBA draft as the showstopper on June 26th. Our sister sites Pro Football Rumors and MLB Trade Rumors will keep you clued in on the football and baseball drafts while we zero in on the NBA. Alex Lee of Hoops Rumors debuted his initial 2014 mock draft today, and he’ll be posting updated versions in the weeks ahead as we continue our Prospect Profile Series, too. For now, here’s more as the NBA draft landscape begins to take shape:
- At least three NBA teams told twins Aaron Harrison and Andrew Harrison shortly before they decided to return to Kentucky that they would be drafted between 15th and 25th this year, reports Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. That’s surprising, since they were widely projected as second-rounders for 2014.
- Several NBA scouts and front office executives expect Kentucky to break its record of five first-round picks next year, when the Harrisons will be two of more than a half-dozen players with first-round talent who could come out of the school, Deveney writes.
- Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress took team needs into consideration for his latest mock, which agrees with the Hoops Rumors mock through the first four picks. Givony has the Celtics going with Julius Randle instead of Noah Vonleh at No. 5.
Warriors, Knicks, Steve Kerr Rumors: Friday
We put together a lengthy post Thursday on the latest about the Warriors and Knicks coaching situations, both of which seem tethered to Steve Kerr at this point. We’ll keep track of today’s updates below:
- The Warriors appear to have interest in Jerry Sloan and Heat assistant David Fizdale, according to Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle, who adds that Kerr and Stan Van Gundy remain the team’s primary targets. Sloan and Fizdale are the newest names on the list of coaches the Warriors are reportedly eyeing, one that already included Kerr, Van Gundy, George Karl, Mike D’Antoni, Nate McMillan, Kevin Ollie, Alvin Gentry, Fred Hoiberg, Tom Thibodeau and Lionel Hollins.
- Marc Berman of the New York Post is the latest to report that Kerr is leaning toward taking the Knicks job. Still, the former Suns GM intends to complete his TNT broadcast commitments, which run through the Western Conference Finals, regardless of whether he takes a coaching position in the meantime, a source tells Berman.
- It looks like Kerr is seeking a five-year deal with money similar to that of the four-year, $24MM contract that the Knicks gave Mike D’Antoni in 2008, Berman reports, suggesting that it’s possible the fifth year would be a team option.
- Kerr is concerned that he hasn’t seen a formal offer from the Knicks yet after expecting one would come by Wednesday, Berman also reports, adding that the Knicks will likely make their offer today.
- The Knicks and Warriors were scheduled to talk to Kerr on Thursday, Berman adds.
Latest On Warriors, Knicks, Steve Kerr
10:38pm: Kerr is waiting on a formal, written job offer from the Knicks, a source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post. Kerr is believed to be looking for a four or five year offer similar to the four-year, $24MM contract Mike D’Antoni received from New York in the past.
It’s been reported that Kerr is somewhat uneasy with owner James Dolan’s style of doing business, and Berman’s source says Kerr is concerned that the Knicks haven’t yet produced a contract offer. Nonetheless, New York is expected to do so by the end of tomorrow. Surprisingly, Kerr has decided to finish out the postseason as a TNT analyst even if he is hired as a coach in the near future.
5:40pm: There is a difference of opinion on Kerr’s appeal as a coach between Warriors management and players, writes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Begley reports that some players aren’t sold on Kerr, a factor that could convince him to settle on the Knicks. Kerr is believed to be with his family “collecting information” and considering his options at the moment, a close friend told Begley.
3:48pm: Kerr told a close friend late Wednesday his preference is to coach the Knicks, tweets Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.
11:41am: Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv also hears that the Knicks remain the favorites for Kerr, and that the Warriors haven’t made Kerr an offer. A source tells Zagoria that the Warriors are likely to interview several candidates, including Van Gundy.
10:53am: A source tells Ian O’Connor of ESPNNewYork.com that the Knicks remain the favorites to hire Steve Kerr, but fellow ESPNNewYork.com scribe Ian Begley writes in a joint report that the Warriors are confident that they have a legitimate shot at landing Kerr instead. Kerr’s admiration for Knicks president Phil Jackson is prompting him to lean toward New York, but his ties to Warriors president and COO Rick Welts are fueling the Warriors hopes, according to Begley.
Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob says that he might interview Kerr, as Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group reports, but there have been conflicting reports about whether the Warriors have already reached out. Golden State is well aware it can’t offer more money than the Knicks can, Begley writes, but the Warriors are counting on their status as a winning team and their location close to Kerr’s home in San Diego as selling points. The Warriors fear that Kerr is just using them as leverage against the Knicks, according to Begley, but an earlier report cast doubt on that notion.
Lute Olson, Kerr’s college coach and a close confidant, a week ago dismissed the idea that Kerr preferred to stay close to home and said that Kerr would more than likely take the Knicks job, but Olson seemed to take a different stance Wednesday. The former University of Arizona coach said that he was sure that the presence of Kerr’s daughter at the University of California in Berkeley was “tugging at” Kerr, and that he didn’t know what Kerr would decide to do, as Newsday’s Al Iannazzone and Barbara Barker report. Still, Olson told Marc Berman of the New York Post on Wednesday that he feels Jackson is the “trump card” that will lead Kerr to pick New York.
Berman also received confirmation from Suns owner Robert Sarver that Kerr still owns a tiny fraction of the Suns, for whom he served as GM from 2007-10. Kerr would have to sell the share, believed to be less than 1% of the franchise, within a league-mandated time frame after accepting a coaching job with another team, Berman notes.
No other candidates have emerged for the Knicks, but USA Today’s Sam Amick suggests that Jackson is growing impatient as Kerr hesitates. The Warriors are pursuing others, including Stan Van Gundy. The team has been in contact with the former Magic and Heat coach, but this morning he hedged a bit about his reported interest in the Golden State vacancy. Van Gundy made his latest comments on 740 AM radio near his home in the Orlando area, as Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel notes.
“I have not met with them or anything else,” Van Gundy said. “There have been calls to gauge interest, and until you get a chance to actually talk to somebody, it’s even hard to say if they’re interested or if I would be [interested]. So we’re not at that point of even sitting down and talking yet.”
Van Gundy, who seemed as of late February to be highly unlikely to coach next season because of his desire to be with family, said today that “part of me does, and part of me doesn’t” want to return to coaching. He acknowledged that he was a “huge fan” of the Warriors while growing up in the Bay Area.
George Karl expressed this week that he’s open to any coaching vacancy, and the Warriors have interest in him, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The Warriors will consider Karl among as many as eight candidates for their open position, Spears says. Other reports have indicated that the Warriors have interest in 10 coaches: Kerr, Van Gundy, Karl, Mike D’Antoni, Nate McMillan, Kevin Ollie, Alvin Gentry, Fred Hoiberg, Tom Thibodeau and Lionel Hollins.
Cray Allred contributed to this post.
Clippers/Sterling Rumors: Thursday
Commissioner Adam Silver could scarcely have been more resolute in his press conference last week to ban Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life, but It doesn’t appear as though final resolution to the saga will be so straightforward. Here’s more on the battle for the Clippers involving Sterling and wife Shelly Sterling.
- Shelly Sterling does not want to become the managing owner of the Clippers, but is hoping to maintain her 50% share and passive role while a new buyer replaces her husband’s active role, a person close to her camp tells Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today.
- Schrotenboer’s source said that Sterling is in talks with the league, but didn’t give an indication of whether the NBA is agreeable to such a scenario.
- Sterling’s attorney released a two page statement further detailing Sterling’s claim of rights to continue owning the team, per Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link).
- In the statement, the attorney denied that legal proceedings from Shelly Sterling’s past are fair grounds on which to judge the co-owner, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com passes on (Twitter links).
Earlier updates:
- The Sterling family trust in control of the Clippers indeed lays out a 50-50 ownership split between Donald and Shelly Sterling, Medina tweets.
- Rivers reiterated that it wouldn’t be ideal for Shelly Sterling to own the team going forward, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News notes (Twitter links). “That would be a difficult situation for everybody because of the relationship,” Rivers said. “I guarantee every person wouldn’t be on board with that. Whether I would or not, I’m not going to say.”
- Shelly Sterling’s lawyer tells Tami Abdollah of The Associated Press that she “will not agree to a forced or involuntary seizure of her interest” in the team, which is a 50% share, Abdollah writes. Attorney Pierce O’Donnell said Shelly Sterling is considering divorce from Donald Sterling, and he claims they’ve been separated for the past year. O’Donnell also said that Shelly Sterling “abhors” her husband’s racial comments and believes that Silver “exonerated” her last week when he said that no decision had been made regarding any claim to ownership from the family of Donald Sterling. O’Donnell added that he spoke with the NBA on Thursday, and that Shelly Sterling still plans to attend Friday’s game against the Thunder.
- A recording of a phone conversation allegedly involving Donald Sterling gives further indication that he’ll fight the NBA’s efforts to strip him of Clippers ownership, as Dylan Howard and Melissa Cronin of RadarOnline.com report. Howard and Cronin claim possession of an affidavit confirming that Sterling was part of the conversation. “You can’t force someone to sell property in America!” Sterling is to have said, according to the report. “I’m a lawyer, that’s my opinion.”
- Doc Rivers and the Clippers had no indication that Shelly Sterling would try to keep the team, tweets Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Markazi points to a comment Rivers made last week in which the coach asserted that it didn’t sound as if she could own the team going forward and that “I think she knows that,” Rivers said. (Twitter link).
- Shelly Sterling asked Rivers’ permission to attend Game 5 against the Warriors, then attended Game 7 against the team’s wishes, Markazi points out, adding that the team wants nothing to do with her as “co-owner” of the club (Twitter links). Rivers and other Clippers department heads are jointly running the team in the absence of president Andy Roeser, who’s on indefinite leave, while the NBA searches for a new CEO.
- We passed along the latest on Shelly Sterling’s push to control the Clippers earlier today.
Coaching Rumors: Ollie, Jackson, Scott
There probably won’t be 13 coaching changes like last offseason, but with vacancies on high-profile teams like the Lakers and Knicks and plenty of disharmony surrounding Mark Jackson‘s dismissal from the Warriors, there’s no shortage of chatter. Here’s the latest:
- University of Connecticut coach Kevin Ollie still hasn’t heard from any NBA teams about their openings, a source tells Shams Charania of RealGM. Ollie is nonetheless likely to start talks with NBA teams if his negotiations about a new deal with the school don’t bear fruit, Charania adds (Twitter links).
- Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group believes race played a role, if not the deciding role, in the Warriors‘ firing of Jackson, whether or not co-owner Joe Lacob and the front office intended it. The cultural and racial divide led to misunderstandings and discomfort, Thompson argues.
- It’s a “safe assumption” that late Lakers owner Jerry Buss would have hired Byron Scott as head coach in 2010 had he not already been coaching the Cavs, Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding writes, making the case for Scott as the most logical Lakers hire this year.
Warriors Notes: Kerr, Hoiberg, Jackson, Curry
The Warriors will take their time finding a new coach, as Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group hears, and he sees it as an indication that the team won’t land Steve Kerr if the TNT broadcaster is anxious to take a job soon (Twitter links). There’s more on Golden State’s coaching search as well as the future of their ex-coach amid the latest on the Warriors:
- Kerr, Fred Hoiberg, Stan Van Gundy and Kevin Ollie are in the first tier of Warriors coaching candidates, Kawakami believes (Twitter link).
- Ousted Warriors coach Mark Jackson says he’d like to coach again and cited the “great jobs available” at present in an interview Wednesday on ESPN New York 98.7 FM, as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com notes. Jackson, who played for the Knicks, said New York hasn’t contacted him about its vacancy. The former point guard is reportedly a candidate for the Lakers job.
- The deadline trade that sent Kent Bazemore to the Lakers angered Stephen Curry, who yelled “It’s a business!” as he ran past a press conference in which GM Bob Myers was announcing the deal, according to Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher.