Cuban On Long-Term Deals, Nowitzki, Draft
Mark Cuban is talking about a two-year plan to revive the Mavericks, as we passed along last night. Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com provides a transcript of Cuban's radio appearance Saturday on 103.3 FM's ESPN Dallas Game Day, one in which the Mavs owner dropped plenty of hints about his team's plan for this summer and beyond. The entire transcript is worth a read, especially for Mavs fans, but we'll highlight a few key comments.
On the value of the fifth year a team can offer its own star free agents:
"In terms of that fifth year, that really is overrated from the perspective that if he’s young enough, he’s going to get another contract or two. When you sit down with them and say that there might be the issue of this contract ends before we can opt out of this current CBA. That may sound silly since we just signed a new CBA two years ago, but the ability for the league to opt out after six years means a five-year contract signed now puts you (on the) other side of that CBA, which may not be a good thing. You may want to be in a position where you want to sign another long-term deal before the NBA has the option to opt out of this CBA. I’m not suggesting that anything is going to happen with this CBA, but it’s just something to consider. On the second side of that, you’re young enough to get another contract.
On Dirk Nowitzki's willingness to take a paycut next summer:
"I’ll let Dirk decide that (amount of his pay cut). It’ll just depend on how strongly he feels about who we’re bringing (in). That dude has saved every nickel he’s ever had. He’s not worried about paying for his funeral. Dirk wants to win, and his heart is in the right place. He’s a great guy. We get along great and we can have very open and honest conversation and we don’t hold anything back. When it comes down to that time, we’ll have that conversation and figure it out.”
On the team's plans with the 13th pick in this year's draft:
"If we like the person at 13, we’ll keep it and we’ll figure something out elsewhere to free up cap space to get there, but (trading the pick will) be an option for us. If our guy doesn’t get there, we’ll look at trading it. … If a guy falls, we’ll be happy to take him and figure out who to work the cap. If no one wants to make a trade for whatever reason, we can maybe get a guy to stash overseas somewhere. If we put him overseas and he doesn’t play, he won’t count against our cap. There are so many different options, and we’ll explore them all.”
On the team's pursuit of marquee free agents:
“We can go out there and get guys that are really good players that want to come here whose agents have suggested that they’d really love to come to Dallas. We can go put together a good team and see what we’ve got. If it doesn’t work, with Dirk and (Shawn) Marion coming off the books, with the stretch provision and contracts, we still have the opportunity to go after two max free agents (next summer) if we’re willing to take the hit on the stretch. I’m willing to do that."
On how the stretch provision will factor into his approach to marquee free agents:
"It’s not like last year. We’re going to go after them. But it’s not like we’re not having all the intense conversations to figure out all of our alternatives. We can play it both ways. We can go and put together a better team by signing multiple guys to multiyear contracts. We won’t sign anybody to a one-year deal. They’ll all be four-year deals because that gives you the most flexibility if you stretch them. Just to explain some more, you can sign a guy to a four-year deal and only have $10 million guaranteed. If you cut him and want to stretch him, you take the guaranteed money only and divide it by the number of years, times two, plus one. So you can stretch that contract out over nine years, as long as you do a four-year deal. There’s a finite amount that you’re allowed to total and stretch, but that’s more of a financial issue more than anything else.
Bucks Interview Michael Curry
The Bucks interviewed Sixers assistant Michael Curry for their head coaching job during the draft combine last week in Chicago, reports Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times. There's "increasing speculation," according to Woelfel, that the Bucks will end their search for a coach by the end of this week.
Curry joins Nate McMillan, Kelvin Sampson, J.B. Bickerstaff, Steve Clifford and Larry Drew on the list of candidates the team has interviewed. The Bucks also had informal meetings with Stan Van Gundy and Jerry Sloan.
The Sixers were reportedly set to interview Curry last week for their head coaching vacancy, and he appears to have the support of the players in Philadelphia. Curry was also linked to the Cavs last month before they hired Mike Brown. The 44-year-old Curry spent one season as Pistons head coach, going 39-43 and getting swept out of the playoffs in the first round the year Detroit traded Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson.
Jeff Hornacek Has Offer To Become Suns Coach
The Suns and Jazz assistant coach Jeff Hornacek are working over the weekend to finalize a deal that would make him Phoenix's new head coach, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Suns have offered Hornacek the position, and the two sides have already begun working on assembling a staff of assistants. Phoenix never formally parted ways with interim coach Lindsey Hunter, who remained a candidate for the full-time Suns job even after interviewing for the Pistons coaching vacancy, but it appears they'll soon be doing so.
Hornacek met with Suns owner Robert Sarver, president Lon Babby, and new GM Ryan McDonough this week. Phoenix also sat down Friday with Rockets assistant J.B. Bickerstaff, according to Wojnarowski, but it appears Bickerstaff will join Hunter on the list of candidates who came up short. Phoenix was also reportedly set to interview fellow Rockets assistant Kelvin Sampson, and appeared to have interest in Quin Snyder. The Suns received permission from the Lakers to interview assistant Steve Clifford, though it's unclear if they followed through with a meeting.
The 50-year-old Hornacek spent the first six seasons of his playing career with the Suns, who dealt him to the Sixers in the Charles Barkley trade. He interviewed Thursday for the Bobcats coaching job and was also rumored to be a candidate for the Sixers vacancy as well.
Draft Links: Bennett, Cavs, Schroeder, Crabbe
- The Plain Dealer's Mary Schmitt Boyer takes a close look at UNLV power forward Anthony Bennett, whose left rotator cuff surgery this month doesn't appear to be hurting his draft stock. Bennett sits atop her rankings of the top power forwards available.
- Boyer answers plenty of draft-related questions about the Cavaliers in her latest mailbag column. She theorizes that if the Cavs draft Nerlens Noel, that means they'll end their pursuit of Greg Oden.
- HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy chronicles German point guard Dennis Schroeder's unconventional path to becoming a first-round prospect. Schroeder's long arms and wide hands have led him to be compared to Rajon Rondo.
- Shooting guard Allen Crabbe was surprised when he found out the Wizards wanted to meet with him, as he tells J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. The Wizards would likely have to trade into the late first round to take the Cal junior.
- Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com has more on the dozen prospects the Celtics have brought in for workouts the past two days.
Offseason Outlook: Chicago Bulls
Guaranteed Contracts
- Derrick Rose ($17,632,688)
- Carlos Boozer ($15,300,000)
- Luol Deng ($14,215,000)
- Joakim Noah ($11,100,000)
- Taj Gibson ($7,550,000)
- Kirk Hinrich ($4,059,000)
- Jimmy Butler ($1,112,880)
- Marquis Teague ($1,074,720)
Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Contracts
- Richard Hamilton ($5,000,000; guaranteed for $1,000,000)1
- Malcolm Thomas ($884,293)2
Free Agents / Cap Holds
- Marco Belinelli ($2,348,400)
- No. 20 pick ($1,174,200)
- (Nikola Mirotic - $1,038,900)3
- Daequan Cook ($884,293)
- Nazr Mohammed ($884,293)
- Vladimir Radmanovic ($884,293)
- Nate Robinson ($884,293)
- (Brian Scalabrine – $884,293)4
Draft Picks
- 1st Round (20th overall)
- 2nd Round (49th overall)
Cap Outlook
- Guaranteed Salary: $73,044,288
- Options: $0
- Non-Guaranteed Salary: $4,884,293
- Cap Holds: $8,982,965
- Total: $86,911,546
Considering Derrick Rose never played a single game, the season went about as well as could be expected for the Bulls. Even if Rose had made it back from his injury, Chicago may not have done better than winning a playoff series and putting a scare in the Heat, considering the turnover they suffered on the bench coming into 2012/13. Coach Tom Thibodeau deserves credit for developing an overachieving supporting cast, many of whom wound up starting and playing prominent roles in the playoffs while Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich joined Rose on the bench with injuries.
Presumably, Rose will return healthy for the start of next season, and the central question for John Paxson, the team's executive VP of basketball operations, and GM Gar Forman is whether that's enough to give Chicago a shot at the championship. The Bulls entered the playoffs as the top seed the last two seasons in which Rose played, but they've won a total of just two playoff series with Rose in uniform. Part of the reason that's the case is the team's inability to get past the Heat, and that obstacle could be gone after next season, when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh can all opt out of their contracts. They could also all choose to stay with the Heat, or one or more of them could go elsewhere and form another superteam that erects another barrier for the Bulls.
LeBron and company passed on Chicago in the summer of 2010, and there's no pressing reason to suspect they wouldn't do so again, making the specter of a superteam in Chicago far-fetched. In 2010, the Bulls instead went with Carlos Boozer, who has drawn criticism ever since. Boozer has never been the most consistent of producers, and some of his numbers suggest this season was another dip on his personal rollercoaster. He recorded career lows in shooting percentage (.477) and PER (17.1), even as his scoring and rebounding went up from last year. His numbers held steady in the playoffs, unlike his first two postseason runs with the Bulls, and that may be enough to spare him from becoming an amnesty victim.
The Bulls owe him $32.1MM over the next two seasons, making him the highest paid player on their roster aside from Rose. His presence as a playoff force will be critical to the team's ability to get past Miami or other elite teams, and if Paxson, Forman and company feel they can't get that sort of performance from him, there's little reason to keep him around. His amnesty represents the easiest way for the Bulls to avoid paying the tax next season after having done so for the first time in franchise history this year.
Still, if the Bulls are confident Boozer can produce in the postseason, they're probably better off keeping him, since amnestying him wouldn't create enough cap room to replace him with a player who's likely to do any better. The Bulls reportedly reached out to the Raptors and others about trading Boozer before the deadline this past season, but found no takers. A trade could be the most viable option the team has of either upgrading its roster, avoiding the tax, or both.
Writers have batted around a trade idea that would send Kevin Love to the Bulls in exchange for Boozer, Jimmy Butler, former first-round pick Nikola Mirotic and a future first-round pick that the Bobcats owe Chicago. That one seems a non-starter now that new Wolves exec Flip Saunders has worked to strengthen the team's relationship with Love, and it doesn't sound like a proposal the teams ever considered anyway.
The Bulls played well in the postseason without Deng, leading to speculation that he could be the centerpiece of a deal this summer. The Cavaliers and Pistons have apparently expressed interest in Deng already, but it's unclear what it would take to get a deal done. The Bulls would probably want to reduce their payroll, and both Cleveland and Detroit will have the cap room to facilitate an uneven exchange of salaries. I'd be surprised if Chicago gave up Butler, who emerged as a force on the perimeter this season and has two more years left on his rookie deal. Mirotic is another young, cheap asset, even if it's unclear when he'll make the move to the NBA.
Butler's emergence helps make parting ways with Richard Hamilton an easy choice. The Bulls are expected to waive the 35-year-old former All-Star by July 10th, allowing them to save $4MM on his cap hit for next season. Injuries held Hamilton back from becoming the reliable starting two-guard the team signed him to be, but even when he was healthy and the Bulls were in need of help in the postseason, Thibodeau rarely called on him.
With Rose and Hamilton out of the picture and Butler pressed into duty at small forward in place of Deng, the Bulls rode with Nate Robinson and Marco Belinelli as their starting backcourt in the playoffs. Both exceeded expectations, particularly Robinson, who was a minimum-salary signee. The Bulls have Non-Bird rights on both, allowing them to go no more than 120% over their salaries from this past season to re-sign them, unless Chicago dips into its mid-level exception. As a team in line to pay the tax, the Bulls will only have the $3.183 taxpayer's mid-level, which might be enough for one of them, but not both. Chicago has Non-Bird rights on backup center Nazr Mohammed, too, but he's unlikely to return unless he agrees to another minimum-salary deal.
The Bulls would have to make a drastic move to significantly improve their roster this summer. Forman identified a return to health as the team's primary offseason goal, and the return of Rose should vault the Bulls into some level of title contention. If they keep the core of the team together, they won't enter next season as favorites, but they'll probably have a chance. Unless they get a trade offer they can't bear to turn down, the Bulls seem like they'll give this group one more try and gauge a changing NBA landscape next summer.
Cap footnotes
- Hamilton's contract becomes fully guaranteed if he's not waived on or before July 10th.
- Thomas' contract becomes guaranteed for $250,000 if he's not waived on or before July 24th, and for $500,000 if he's not waived on or before December 9th.
- The cap hold for Mirotic, the 23rd pick in the 2011 draft, is equal to 100% of the rookie scale amount for the 23rd pick in this year's draft.
- No, Scalabrine isn't on the Bulls' payroll, and he wasn't last season, either. He's still listed as a cap hold because Chicago has yet to renounce his rights after he played on a minimum-salary deal in 2011/12. The Bulls were over the cap last summer, and it's likely they'll remain so this offseason. Unless they intend to dip below the cap line and use their space, there will be no reason to renounce their rights to Scalabrine, or any of their free agents who go unsigned this summer.
Storytellers Contracts and Sham Sports were used in the creation of this post.
Atlantic Rumors: Amare, Williams, Celtics, Raptors
Amare Stoudemire will be working with Hakeem Olajuwon for a second consecutive summer, and despite his lack of contribution this past season, the Knicks still have high regard for their most lavishly paid player, as Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com passes along. GM Glen Grunwald called Stoudemire "a heck of a player."
"We hope he'll be able to play significant minutes for us next year," Grunwald said. "How much that will be, we don't know at this time. But when he came and played for us … he was, as (coach Mike Woodson) said, a big factor in those games."
While we wait to see how Stoudemire bounces back next year, here's the latest from around the Atlantic Division:
- Terrence Williams, whose contract for next season is non-guaranteed, addressed reporters today after working out at the Celtics facility. He said that, in spite of his recent legal troubles, Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers still view him as part of the team's future, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com notes.
- The Celtics have worked out a dozen players in the past two days, as A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com and Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe round up (Twitter links). On Friday the team saw Colton Iverson, Erick Green, Jeff Withey, Peyton Siva, Vander Blue and Ricky Ledo, and today the C's looked at Pierre Jackson, Gregory Echenique, Myck Kabongo, Shane Larkin, Phil Pressey and Steven Adams.
- Masai Ujiri appears destined to become the next GM of the Raptors, and Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun hears Ujiri and Phil Jackson are the only two candidates the team has aggressively pursued so far (All Twitter links). The Raptors have been linked to Kevin Pritchard and Troy Weaver as well, but they seem to have a strong preference for Ujiri.
- Ben Goldberg-Morse of the Philadelphia Inquirer lays out how new Sixers GM Sam Hinkie's emphasis on analytics could improve the production of Jrue Holiday, who received a long-term extension last summer, and Evan Turner, who's up for one this offseason.
Odds & Ends: Magic, Warriors, Dwight, Clippers
In the NFL, teams are frequently better off drafting for positional need rather than going for the best player, writes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, who argues that the opposite is true in the NBA. Thus, he implores the Magic to ignore fans who have football on the mind and draft the most talented player available with the No. 2 pick. He also notes that the Orlando summer league will add a title game this year, similar to the Las Vegas summer league, and sees Kevin Love's frequent chats with Flip Saunders as encouraging news for the Timberwolves. Here's more from around the Association as a long weekend commences:
- Dwight Howard's camp has "never given the slightest indication" that he wants to join the Warriors, tweets Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link), echoing an earlier report from Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game. Kawakami thinks the W's shouldn't pursue Howard as a result.
- Grantland's Bill Simmons points to evidence that suggests Howard is in decline, leading him to advise the Lakers to pass on him. Simmons encourages Howard to sign with the Rockets instead.
- DeAndre Jordan was surprised to see the Clippers and Vinny Del Negro part ways, as the center tells Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston (Twitter link).
- As for Del Negro's replacement, HoopsWorld's Bill Ingram makes the case that Nate McMillan and Brian Shaw should top the list of coaching candidates for the Clippers.
- Point guard Pierre Jackson will work out on June 17th for the Trail Blazers, Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com reports, adding that strong workouts in New Jersey this past week have turned the Baylor senior into a potential first-round pick.
- Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune thinks the Wolves will shy away from guards with the No. 9 pick, as long as they don't trade the selection (Twitter link).
Offseason Outlook: Atlanta Hawks
Guaranteed Contracts
- Al Horford ($12,000,000)
- Lou Williams ($5,225,000)
- John Jenkins ($1,258,800)
- (Jeremy Tyler – $100,000)1
Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Contracts
- DeShawn Stevenson ($2,240,450)
- Mike Scott ($788,872)2
- Shelvin Mack ($884,293)
Free Agents / Cap Holds
- Josh Smith ($16,402,500)
- Devin Harris ($12,750,000)
- Kyle Korver ($9,500,000)
- Zaza Pachulia ($7,873,125)
- Johan Petro ($6,665,000)
- Jeff Teague ($6,082,692)3
- Dahntay Jones ($5,510,000)
- No. 17 pick ($1,348,200)
- No. 18 pick ($1,280,800)
- Ivan Johnson ($1,250,854)4
- Anthony Tolliver ($884,293)
- (Hilton Armstrong - $884,293)
- (Erick Dampier - $884,293)
- (Randolph Morris - $884,293)
- (Etan Thomas - $884,293)
Draft Picks
- 1st Round (17th overall)
- 1st Round (18th overall)
- 2nd Round (47th overall)
- 2nd Round (50th overall)
Cap Outlook
- Guaranteed Salary: $18,583,800
- Options: $0
- Non-Guaranteed Salary: $3,913,615
- Cap Holds: $73,084,636
- Total: $95,582,051
If there are any questions about Danny Ferry's abilities as a general manager, what he does this summer will probably answer them. The Hawks enter the offseason with as much of a clean slate as any team can have, with the exception of an expansion franchise. Twelve players on the team's 15-man roster are free agents, and even coach Larry Drew's contract is up. The Hawks have left the door open for Drew to return, but it looks like both sides have moved on, meaning Ferry will likely have to pick a new coach to lead a team that promises to look much different when the 2013/14 season tips off.
Atlanta will have enough room for a pair of max-contract free agents, even if they're Dwight Howard and Chris Paul, whose maximum salaries are the largest of any free agents on the market this summer. Not surprisingly, it appears Ferry's first order of business, after resolving the coaching situation, will be to see if both D12 and CP3 are interested in forming a super-team with the Hawks.
It would make the summer relatively easy for Ferry if he could land the two most sought-after free agents, but Paul, in particular, is a long shot. The Hawks will have plenty of competition for Howard even if the big man is interested in returning to his hometown, so it seems there's a strong chance that neither will wind up in Atlanta. That puts the onus on Ferry's abilities as a talent evaluator. Nobody else on the market is indisputably deserving of a max deal, and that includes Atlanta's in-house candidate, Josh Smith.
The 6'9" forward believes he's deserving of the max, and while Ferry and company like him enough to have offered him an extension prior to the season, it doesn't seem like they share Smith's view of his abilities. Other unrestricted free agent options include Andrew Bynum, Al Jefferson, David West and Paul Millsap. Andre Iguodala and Monta Ellis could be in play if they decline their options. Top restricted talent includes Brandon Jennings, Tyreke Evans, Nikola Pekovic, Tiago Splitter and the Hawks' own Jeff Teague.
It sounds like the Hawks are high on Teague, and, along with Smith, he'll be relatively easy to evaluate since he's been around the team for so long. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Hawks sign Teague as soon as they have a definitive answer from Paul. After CP3 and Jennings, Teague is probably the best point guard on the market. He's probably not a maximum-salary player, so unless another team decides to overpay, Atlanta shouldn't have much trouble bringing him back into the fold.
The most talented player available, other than Howard and Paul, is probably Bynum. Of course, he comes with a significant caveat surrounding the health of his knees. If Ferry and the team's medical staff are confident that Bynum can regain and maintain full health, they might offer him the max, but that's a big "if." Really, unless one of the other free agents wows the Hawks, the team is likely better off pursuing smaller deals. That way, Ferry could fill out more of his empty roster space with players who command more than the minimum salary. Depending on how cheaply Ferry finds his talent, he may decide to leave enough cap space open for a run at a superstar from the better-stocked 2014 free agent class. Ferry could also decide to go with a bunch of one-year deals, a la the Mavericks this past season.
Whatever Ferry does, he'll be doing it with Al Horford in mind. Horford is owed $36MM through 2016. The contract is reasonable, if not a bargain, so Ferry could probably find a taker if he wants to trade Horford, but there's no indication he'll go that route. The former No. 3 overall pick is no superstar, but he is the building block around which this team will be constructed. His skills present Ferry with an intriguing choice — Horford can play power forward in a traditional lineup that bucks the small-ball trend, or center if Ferry wants to embrace the philosophy of an increasing number of teams. To a lesser extent, Lou Williams will factor into Ferry's thinking as well, since he's under contract through 2015.
John Jenkins, the 23rd overall pick from 2012, is set to return as well after spending the better part of his rookie season in the rotation. The Hawks have four draft picks this year, but I wouldn't expect Atlanta to keep all of them and bring four rookies aboard, unless Ferry decides to roll the team's cap space over to 2014.
The summer ahead is a defining one for the franchise, but it may only be the first step. Unless Howard or Paul arrives in Atlanta, there's no one who automatically propels the Hawks into the title picture for next season. After years as a mediocre playoff team that never got past the second round, the Hawks probably won't be content to pin their hopes on a long-term plan that doesn't include a superstar. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Hawks enter next summer with plenty of cap space as well.
Cap footnotes
- When the Hawks waived Tyler in March, his contract included a $100K guarantee for 2013/14.
- Scott's contract becomes guaranteed for $100K next season if he's not waived on or before August 15th.
- The qualifying offer for Teague, the 19th pick in the 2009 draft, is $3,469,568, which is less than 250% of his salary in 2012/13. The cap hold for a former first-rounder who made less than the league average salary in the fourth season of his rookie-scale contract is always the greater of those two amounts in the summer after his rookie deal expires.
- The qualifying offer for Johnson, originally signed as an undrafted free agent, is $1,202,744, which is less than 130% of his salary in 2012/13. The cap hold for any Early Bird free agent who's not coming off a rookie-scale contract — deals that are reserved only for first-round draft picks — is always the greater of those two amounts.
Storytellers Contracts and Sham Sports were used in the creation of this post.
Eastern Rumors: Prigioni, Mirotic, Nets, Sixers
The Eastern Conference Finals resume tonight after a stirring overtime contest in Game One. The Pacers will have to find a way to come up with a win in Miami after squandering a chance in the opener. If they don't, it will soon be open season for teams going after Indiana GM Kevin Pritchard and assistant coach Brian Shaw. While we wait to see how the postseason turns out, here's the latest on what will happen for a few Eastern teams and players in the future:
- In an interview with Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com, Pablo Prigioni expounds on his desire to return to the Knicks while acknowledging that there could be other options for him this summer. The point guard hints that his wife's desire to return to Europe wasn't as much of a factor in his decision as had been reported. "The most important things for me to decide where I want to play is I feel that I can play and help the team, to feel that the team really wants me," Prigioni said. "On this professional level, the place where you go is always nice, and the people always take care of you and your family."
- Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com looks to the summer ahead for the Bulls, as well as what could be a key negotiation in 2014 with former first-round pick Nikola Mirotic. The power forward from Montenegro appears to have the most leverage, Friedell writes, making it uncertain whether the Bulls will be able to sign him anytime soon.
- While the Nets appear to have interest in Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins, they have yet to ask Memphis for permission to speak with him, USA Today's Sam Amick reports via Twitter.
- Tyler Tynes of the Philadelphia Inquirer tries his hand at a mock draft, predicting that the Sixers will come away with Cody Zeller at No. 11. Tynes adds that he wouldn't be surprised to see the team trade down instead.
Doc Rivers’ Return To Celtics Remains Uncertain
There's a 90% chance Doc Rivers will be coaching the Celtics again next season, but Rivers has yet to make his final decision, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. If Rivers walks away from the final three years of his contract, it won't be with the intention of coaching another team. Even if he wanted to coach another team during the years remaining on his deal, the Celtics don't intend to let him, Bulpett hears.
The uncertainty began the night the Celtics were eliminated from the playoffs, when Rivers told reporters he'd have to think about it before deciding whether to come back next season. The coach tried to soften those remarks later the same evening, but has yet to make any definitive statement. Danny Ainge, the team's president of basketball operations, tried to do as much when he declared that Rivers would be back, but speculation remains.
Bulpett encourages Rivers to make his intentions known one way or the other, and said the team's pursuit of free agents will be hindered if he doesn't do it soon. I'd be surprised if this saga drags on into July, when free agents can sign with teams, though knowing who their coach will be would probably help the C's as they explore the possibility of trades leading up to the draft.