Coaching Rumors: Joerger, Scott, Lakers
The recently fired Mark Jackson returned to ESPN for the NBA playoffs and he’s not the only talker turned coach/GM turned talker again, the Detroit Free Press staff writes. Longtime Bears coach Mike Ditka was fired in 1992, signed on with NBC, left to coach the Saints in 1997, and eventually came to ESPN. Staying in the NBA, Doug Collins, now with ESPN, knows a thing or two about going back and forth from the booth to the sidelines as well. Here’s more from around the league:
- The sense in coaching circles is that Dave Joerger would become a head coaching candidate for the Wolves if he were to be let go by the Grizzlies, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. Stein notes that Joerger is a long-time associate of Minnesota president of basketball operations Flip Saunders.
- Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times has heard that the Lakers haven’t and won’t open formal talks with any coaches before the lottery, but they have put out feelers for some (Twitter link).
- In another tweet, Pincus says it’s safe to consider Byron Scott a fallback coaching option for the Lakers, presuming that Scott will be around no matter how lengthy L.A.’s process becomes.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Latest On Grizzlies Turmoil
Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien and assistant GM Stu Lash parted ways with Memphis earlier today, and the potential exists for the shakeup to extend even further. Here’s the latest:
- Chris Mannix of SI.com tweets that the turmoil in Memphis is surprising everyone around the league. Levien represented the Grizzlies in GM meetings as recently as a week ago.
- Grizzlies owner Robert Pera has been operating in an abnormally hands-on manner for an owner of late, a person with knowledge of the situation tells Sam Amick of USA Today. Pera conducted his own end-of-season player interviews independent of the Memphis front office and coaching staff, per Amick.
- Amick adds that the ouster of Levien and Lash were tied to the increased influence of Grizzlies lead attorney David Mincberg, who has been granted involvement in duties normally reserved for front office personnel.
- Levien and Pera have been at odds for over a year, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
- Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com insinuated in a tweet that former Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins could be a candidate to return to the Memphis bench just a season removed from being fired.
And-Ones: Coaches, Wolves, Cavs
A league executive tells Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer that Dante Exum, who considers himself a point guard, will be taken high as a potential point guard despite his uncommon size and skill set for the position. The executive believes Exum will wind up a shooting guard, but says that Michael Carter-Williams‘ standout rookie performance as a 6’6″ point guard makes Exum more enticing for teams at the top of the draft. Here’s more from around the league:
- Flip Saunders has conducted the Wolves coaching search with stealth, and Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune reveals that Saunders interviewed rumored candidate Lionel Hollins three weeks ago.
- Zgoda describes Hollins as “in the running” for the Cavs job. Hollins was named in earlier reports as a potential candidate.
- Zgoda reports that Saunders also had informal discussions with Tom Izzo, Fred Hoiberg, and Stan Van Gundy, but the talks stalled in each case.
- Izzo was first offered the five-year, $35MM offer to run the Pistons that Van Gundy eventually accepted, opting to stay in the college ranks, writes Zgoda.
- Saunders isn’t interested in George Karl, who would prefer to coach the Cavs or, if Randy Wittman were fired, the Wizards over the Wolves, according to Zgoda.
- Zgoda mentions Nate McMillan, Scott Skiles, and Sam Mitchell as intriguing possibilities for the Wolves head coaching vacancy in a separate piece. There hasn’t been any reported interest from the team toward McMillan or Skiles, and Minnesota is reportedly not interested in Mitchell.
- During the combine, the Wolves met with enough power forwards and prospects projected in the top tier of the draft to make Zgoda wonder if a Kevin Love trade is a possibility (via Twitter). The Wolves have very little chance of moving above 13th in the first round, and obviously have no pressing need at power forward so long as Love is on the team.
- LaQuinton Ross is scheduled to work out for the Cavs on Monday, reports Bob Finnan of The Morning Journal.
- Tomas Satoranksy will join the Wizards summer league team for the second consecutive year, reports J. Michael of CSNWashington.com (H/T Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). The shooting guard was selected as a “draft and stash” player in the second round of the 2012 draft, and could find his way onto the team next season if Washington loses perimeter talent to free agency, Michael writes.
Coaching Notes: Ollie, Kerr
Within the next couple days, Kevin Ollie plans to reject the advances of the only NBA team that has reached out to him this offseason, a league source familiar with Ollie’s thinking tells Mark Medina of Los Angeles Daily News. The team’s identity is unknown, but the source tells Medina is isn’t the Lakers or Knicks. The source says Ollie, who is also renegotiating his contract with UConn, never “got to first base” with an NBA team. Here are more coaching notes on a night without any playoff action:
- A league source told Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer the Cavs were not the team that had contacted Ollie, which would leave the Wolves and Jazz as the only other teams with head coaching vacancies that might have reached out.
- A source close to Ollie tells Boyer that the coach is indeed “strongly leaning” toward remaining at UConn.
- Steve Kerr’s agent told Diamond Leung of Bay Area News Group that two teams other than the Knicks and Warriors pursued Kerr as a head coach, but he didn’t engage in talks with either. The Jazz were one such interested team, but any other interested teams have not been revealed.
Draft Rumors: Harris, Smart, Jazz, Magic
With the Chicago predraft combine wrapping up, Jeremy Bauman of Sheridan Hoops looks at a number of prospects that increased their draft stock with their performances. These players include Zach LaVine, Kyle Anderson, Elfrid Payton, James Young, and Jordan Clarkson. More on the draft front:
- The athletic testing results from the combine are in and Draft Express runs them down.
- Gary Harris was invited to the Draft Lottery broadcast by the NBA as part of a 10-player group deemed the top-10 prospects, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets. The inviation, which Harris declined, could signify a boost in his draft stock. Some projections, including Jonathan Givony’s at DraftExpress, have had Harris well outside of the top 10.
- In a combine wrap-up, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes that Marcus Smart stood out as an exceptional physical specimen and hard worker among the point guards in attendance.
- Dante Exum fared well during interviews at the combine, a team official who met with the Aussie tells Chris Mannix of SI.com. “He seems like a really good kid,” the official said. “He’s confident, but not cocky. Now we have to see if he can play.” With far less exposure than the other prospects at the top of the draft, Exum hopes to impress teams during his individual workouts.
- If Joel Embiid doesn’t clear medically prior to the draft, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders tweets that the big man could drop out of the top five. Embiid sat out of combine activities as he recovers from a back injury suffered late in his season at Kansas.
- Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey told Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune that he “has to listen to everything” when asked about whether he was willing to trade Utah’s draft picks (Twitter link).
- The Magic aren’t trying to trade away their extra first round pick, according to Kyler (on Twitter).
- Tommy Dee of Sheridan Hoops looks at some of the older draft prospects, laying out why each could follow in Damian Lillard‘s footsteps in making an impact exceeding many of the younger, more well-known players from the same talent pool.
- Joe Kotoch of Sheridan Hoops released his second mock draft of the year.
- Earlier, we passed along word that we could be in for a busy pre-draft trade season.
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.
League Primed For Pre-Draft Trading Surge
League executives and scouts tell Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com that there could be an unusually high number of pre-draft trades this year. Howard-Cooper’s sources say that some of the lottery teams have grown impatient with continued struggles, and would rather acquire proven talent than wait on the development of more young players. These “aggressive sellers” have enough interest from teams looking to add assets that a spike in pre-draft trading is a distinct possibility.
One potential seller is the Celtics, currently projected to pick at No. 5. GM Danny Ainge has regularly commented on the weaknesses of the 2014 class. Ainge has said that he doesn’t want to endure another losing season, and is willing to trade the team’s first round pick. He has also acknowledged that Boston needs to improve sooner rather than later to convince his star point guard, Rajon Rondo, to remain with the team beyond his current contract. Cleveland, projected at No. 9 currently, has used four top-4 selections in just three drafts following the departure of LeBron James. GM David Griffin is looking to move from “asset accumulation mode” to “target acquisition mode,” which could signal a willingness to deal away draft picks.
It should be noted that this past trade season was expected to include heightened activity, but after some early-season deals, the deadline came and went without any true blockbuster moves. No first round picks changed hands in-season, either. Many have pointed to the tightening cap and tax restrictions from the CBA as a reason many teams have been unwilling to part with draft picks for high-priced veterans. However, uncertainty about teams’ final lottery position for a hyped 2014 draft class could also have been a factor in cooling the market for draft picks. After the lottery settles the final draft order, teams will have a much clearer idea of which players will be available for any potential pick, which could make the prospect of moving up in the draft more appealing.
And-Ones: Aldridge, Assistants, Cavs
Clippers players told reporters, including Dan Woike of The Orange County Register, that they’re unsure what they would do if Donald Sterling isn’t removed from ownership by next season. Still, they expressed hope that the issue will be resolved sooner rather than later. “It appears that this will be a long process. Things will be in flux for a while,” J.J. Redick said. “I can’t imagine a scenario where we start the season next year and he’s the owner and all is kosher.” Here’s more from around the league:
- The players union won’t demand a timetable on Sterling’s ouster as long as the league is acting “in good faith” on its promise to remove the Clippers owner, acting union executive director Ron Klempner told reporters, including Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal (Twitter link).
- Extending LaMarcus Aldridge is the Blazers’ first priority moving forward, as Portland GM Neil Olshey tells Erik Gundersen of The Columbian (Twitter link).
- Bobcats assistant coach Bob Beyer is a strong candidate to become Stan Van Gundy‘s top assistant on the Pistons bench, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
- Andy Greer and Nick Nurse are possibilities to become Steve Kerr‘s assistant coaches with the Warriors, per another Wojnarowski tweet. Greer and Nurse are currently on staff as assistants with the Bulls and Raptors, respectively.
- Mark Jackson won’t be a serious candidate for the Cavs head coaching job, Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com hears.
- James Posey could be an assistant coaching candidate for the Cavs, Pluto writes. Posey has been an assistant with Cleveland’s D-League affiliate, and GM David Griffin holds him in high regard.
- Pluto adds that Griffin would love to find a shooter in the draft, and mentions Doug McDermott, Nik Stauskas, and Rodney Hood as intriguing prospects where the Cavs will be drafting.
- In a series of tweets, Frank Isola of The New York Daily News casts doubt on an earlier report that Phil Jackson had “low balled” Kerr. Isola insinuates that if the Knicks played “hardball” with Jackson’s only coaching target, it would have been a result of ownership’s influence, not Jackson’s.
- In another tweet, Isola relays an accusation from a person involved in the Kerr talks that Knicks owner James Dolan “sabotaged” the negotiations.
- Chris Mannix of SI.com weighed in with a tweet of his own, agreeing with Isola that a tough negotiation strategy would have come from Knicks ownership, not Jackson.
Draft Notes: Ross, Adams, Gordon, McAdoo
Celtcis GM Danny Ainge tells Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald that he isn’t sure that the team could find a premier scorer in this year’s draft. “There are a lot of good players in this draft, guys that can be starters and guys that can play major roles on really good teams,” Ainge said. “But I’m not sure that there are those 20-to-25-point-a-game guys.” Here’s more from the draft:
- Adi Joseph of USA Today notes some of the more remarkable measurements taken at the combine. Joseph thinks LaQuinton Ross‘s draft stock will take a hit due to his poor conditioning being evident in drills and tests
- UCLA guard Jordan Adams interviewed with the Magic at the combine today, reports Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link).
- NBA scouts are high enough on Aaron Gordon for Paul Coro of azcentral.com to consider the forward a “surefire” lottery pick.
- Numerous NBA sources lead Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com to believe that James McAdoo could slide out of the draft completely. McAdoo is currently projected as a late second-rounder.
- Noah Vonleh has been generating positive buzz during the combine, but Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders tweets that he hasn’t gotten the sense that Julius Randle is in danger of being surpassed by the fellow big on teams’ draft boards.
- Mark Deeks of Hoop365.com looks at the factors leading a player like the 7’5″ Sim Bhullar to leave school early and declare for the draft, despite not being projected to be selected.
- While some of the scouting benefits of the pre-draft combine are diminished when elite prospects skip the event, Jodie Valade of The Plain Dealer says that the gathering still holds value as a networking event for front office executives looking to discuss trades and make hires.
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.
Coaching Rumors: Dunleavy, Fisher, Ollie
Mark Jackson has a multiyear agreement to return as a lead game analyst for ESPN, according to a report from The Associated Press. Although this may be an indicator that Jackson isn’t occupied with any serious coaching opportunities at the moment, the contract would presumably allow for Jackson to return to the bench should he land another head coaching gig. Diamond Leung of Bay Area News Group tweets that Jackson is still in the head coaching mix. Here’s more of the day’s coaching rumors:
- Phil Jackson‘s meeting with Mike Dunleavy Sr. is believed to have been an interview for the Knicks open coaching job, reports Marc Berman of The New York Post.
- A confidant of Derek Fisher tells Berman that the Thunder guard would be open to coaching next season if the right opportunity presented itself. Fisher is considered a leading candidate for the Knicks job.
- Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal hears that it would take more than the $25MM contract Steve Kerr just received to lure Kevin Ollie to an NBA coaching job (Twitter link).
Eastern Notes: Fizdale, Pistons, Gortat
Heat assistant coach David Fizdale is on the Cavs radar, tweets Chris Broussard of ESPN.com. Broussard doesn’t specify that Cleveland’s interest regards its head coaching vacancy, but Fizdale recently drew interest as a Warriors head coaching candidate before Golden State hired Steve Kerr. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Stan Van Gundy has prioritized hiring a GM and some assistant coaches for the Pistons in the near future, he told reporters including Vincent Ellis of Detroit Free PRess. “The biggest thing right now for us is probably our GM search, getting through that,” said Van Gundy. “And at the same time we’ll make some other hirings pretty quickly to get more people on board.”
- Van Gundy also said that he is considering some of his former players as assistant coaches with the Pistons.
- Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel thinks that Van Gundy will have to become more patient in his approach to succeed in his front office role with the Pistons. Schmitz also worries that Van Gundy’s health will suffer if he doesn’t delegate his coaching and executive duties well.
- Marcin Gortat said that he doesn’t want to play anywhere with a “blind” point guard as he approaches free agency, tweets Ben Standig of CSNWashington.com. The Wizards center praised John Wall‘s willingness to share the ball.