Central Notes: Pistons, Jones, Pacers, Pargo, Cavs
The Pistons not only have the top pick in next week’s draft, they possess three second-rounders. It’s a virtual lock they won’t draft three players with those picks and keep them on the roster next season, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com notes. The Pistons have plenty of young players throughout their roster and simply don’t have enough openings to retain that many rookies. It’s very likely they’ll flip one or more of those picks for a couple of future second-rounders, Langlois adds.
We have more from the Central Division:
- The Pistons have hired away Andrew Jones III from the Sixers as an assistant coach who will focus on player development, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Jones was a player development coach in Philadelphia the past two seasons after a five-year stint with the Thunder.
- The Pacers are adding Jannero Pargo to Rick Carlisle’s coaching staff, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets. Pargo was an assistant the past two years in Portland under Terry Stotts, who was let go after the season.
- The Cavaliers hold the No. 3 pick and already have some young talent on their roster. Their greatest need is to nurture that talent alongside some tested veterans, according to Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. They require more capable rotation players to balance out the roster and provide a comfort level and stability.
Olympic Notes: Grant, Johnson, Finals Trio, Randle, McGee
Bradley Beal won’t be able to participate in the Olympics due to health and safety protocols, but Team USA has Jerami Grant back on the roster, Joe Vardon of The Athletic tweets. The Pistons forward exited protocols and played 12 minutes in the team’s final tuneup, an 83-76 win over Spain on Sunday. Team USA will begin its quest for gold this Sunday against France.
We have more Olympic news and observations:
- Gregg Popovich and managing director Jerry Colangelo raised some eyebrows when Keldon Johnson was promoted from the Select Team as an injury replacement. The Spurs wing is justifying that decision, as ESPN’s Brian Windhorst notes. Johnson supplied 15 points in 17 minutes against Spain. “Keldon Johnson just played a solid basketball game,” Popovich said. “He shot it when he was open and when he did go to the bucket he was very physical.”
- For the Olympic team’s sake, it would best for the Finals to end with a Milwaukee victory on Tuesday, Vardon writes. Devin Booker, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday will join Team USA after the Finals are completed and it’s fair to wonder how much they’ll have left in the tank both physically and emotionally. Popovich hopes he can ease them into the Group play. “In some ways, it might depend on if everybody else is healthy, and if they’re not then they got to play,” he said. “We’ve gone over lots of scenarios, but we haven’t figured it out yet.”
- Knicks All-Star Julius Randle was never offered the chance to join the U.S. team as an injury replacement, Marc Berman of the New York Post reports. Instead, Team USA opted for role players in Johnson and center JaVale McGee, who gives the team a much-needed shot blocker. “We decided that was the most logical and appropriate choice,’’ Popovich said. “Given the choices we had, (McGee) fit the best.”
Shabazz Napier Signs With Russia’s Zenit
Longtime NBA guard Shabazz Napier has signed a one-year contract with BC Zenit Saint Petersburg, the Russian basketball club tweets.
Napier, who turned 30 this month, did not play in the NBA this season. He saw action in a combined 56 games with the Timberwolves and Wizards in 2019/20. He averaged 10.3 PPG and 4.7 APG in 24.0 MPG in those contests, which included 32 starts. He also appeared in 56 games with the Nets the previous season, averaging 9.4 PPG and 2.6 APG in 17.6 MPG.
He has also had stints with the Heat, Magic and Trail Blazers. Overall, Napier has averaged 7.1 PPG and 2.5 APG in 345 NBA games.
As EuroHoops.net relays, coach Xavi Pascual called Napier an “excellent acquisition.”
“Shabazz Napier is an excellent acquisition for our club, and I am very glad that he chose Zenit to make his first basketball step in Europe,” Pascual said. “Shabazz is the kind of player who leads the team in offense and is very good at making important decisions. With his experience, he is a player who leads a team to create and make important decisions. He is very good at developing a quick offense, has great ball handling and is very versatile. “
And-Ones: Rose, Roberts, Thunder’s Arena, Free Agents, Silver
NBA VP of basketball operations Malik Rose is a candidate to succeed Michele Roberts as executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, Marc Stein of Substack tweets. Roberts recently told Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill she planned to stay at her post for “another six or so months.” Rose was an assistant GM with the Pistons for two seasons prior to accepting his current post last June.
We have more from around the basketball world:
- A new name for the Thunder‘s arena will be revealed as soon as next week, Steve Lackmeyer of The Oklahoman writes. Signage for the Chesapeake Energy Arena was removed on Thursday. The team has a naming rights deal in place, pending approval of its application from the Downtown Design Review Committee.
- Kawhi Leonard, Chris Paul and John Collins are the top three potential free agents, according to a ranking system used by The Athletic’s John Hollinger. The top 20 free agents are ranked, with Hollinger projecting potential contracts offers for those players.
- The challenges over the past two seasons created by the virus have been immense but NBA commissioner Adam Silver hopes it has brought a better understanding between management and players, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. “That sense of unity, I hope we can keep up,” Silver said. “I think the players have a better understanding of what we’re up against in trying to run this business, and we have a better understanding of the players — what it’s like to travel the amount they do, the stresses they’re under, the emotional and physical burdens they’re under by competing at this level.”
Draft Notes: Warriors, Hornets, Green Room Invites, Preston
The Warriors brought in some first-round prospects for workouts on Friday, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets. Chris Duarte, Keon Johnson, Corey Kispert, Trey Murphy III, Ziaire Williams and Ayo Dosunmu visited the Warriors’ training facility. Johnson is the highest-rated prospect on the list, as the Tennessee guard is currently ranked No. 9 overall by ESPN.
Gonzaga’s Kispert (No. 13), Virginia’s Murphy (18), Oregon’s Duarte (23), Stanford’s Williams (24) and Illinois’ Dosunmu (34) could all be off the board by the second round. Golden State holds the seventh and 14th overall picks.
We have more draft-related news and tidbits:
- The Hornets looked at a handful of prospects on Thursday, the team’s PR department tweets. That group included Jahvon Blair (Georgetown), Tahj Eaddy (USC), Balsa Koprivica (Florida State), Sterling Manley (North Carolina) and M.J. Walker (Florida State).
- Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green, Evan Mobley and Jalen Suggs — the highest-rated prospects — are among the 15 players already invited to Green Room for the draft, which will be held at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, Jonathan Givony of ESPN tweets. Davion Mitchell, James Bouknight, Keon Johnson, Scottie Barnes, Franz Wagner, Jalen Johnson, Kispert and Moses Moody will also be there. As previously noted, Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddey and Kai Jones have received invites. The remaining invites will be determined next week, Givony adds in a separate tweet.
- Ohio University guard Jason Preston blogged about the Pistons as a teenager, James Edwards III of The Athletic writes in a feature piece. Edwards details Preston’s journey from a journalism student who wasn’t recruited out of high school to a likely second-round pick. He’s currently slotted at No. 42 on ESPN’s list.
Central Notes: Love, Pistons, Pacers’ Staff, Sexton
Kevin Love‘s decision to withdraw from the Olympics raises more questions for the Cavaliers about his future, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes. Love is still bothered by the right calf strain that limited him to just 25 games this season, an alarming development for Cleveland, considering Love still has two years left on his contract. Rather than using his experience with Team USA as a springboard to a career revival, Love may be facing the prospect of seeing his career come to an abrupt end. The Cavs will soon have conversations with Love about his health issues, Fedor adds, though retirement has not been discussed or considered.
We have more from the Central Division:
- While there has been plenty of speculation about whether the Pistons are sold on Cade Cunningham as the No. 1 pick, it’s in their best interests to keep their intentions secret, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com writes. If GM Troy Weaver has any desire to trade the pick, it’s best the others come calling with increasingly better offers, rather than Weaver openly shopping it.
- The Pacers officially announced in a press release that former Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce, Ronald Nored, Mike Weinar and Jenny Boucek will be assistant coaches under Rick Carlisle. Pierce is currently an assistant with Team USA. Nored spent the past three seasons as an assistant with the Hornets, while Weinar spent 13 seasons with the Mavericks, four as an assistant coach. Boucek was also on Carlisle’s staff in Dallas the past three seasons.
- Although the Cavaliers have made Collin Sexton “very available” according to a recent report, they’ve put a hefty price tag on him, Fedor writes in a separate story. The Knicks have had discussions with the Cavs about Sexton but they’re just one of many teams monitoring the situation, according to Fedor. Cleveland may ultimately be better off holding onto Sexton next season and not signing him to an extension, then allow him to become a restricted free agent next summer. In that scenario, another team can set the price tag for Sexton and Cleveland can choose whether or not to match it.
Wes Unseld Jr. Offered Wizards’ Head Coaching Job
The Wizards have offered their head coaching job to Nuggets assistant Wes Unseld Jr., Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.
Contract negotiations are expected to begin on Saturday and the two parties are likely to come to terms, Wojnarowski adds in a separate tweet, Those talks could begin tonight, according to Mike Singer of the Denver Post (Twitter link).
Unseld will replace Scott Brooks after a lengthy search by Washington’s front office. Washington’s brass is confident an agreement will be reached this weekend, Ava Wallace of the Washington Post tweets.
The Nuggets made a hard push for Unseld to get a shot at his first head coaching job, including numerous calls from president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, Singer adds in a separate tweet.
Reports surfaced on Thursday that the Nuggets assistant was the frontrunner for the job. Bucks assistants Darvin Ham and Charles Lee were the other finalists.
Unseld, who grew up in Maryland and attended Johns Hopkins from 1994-97, began his coaching career in 2005 in D.C. He spent six years as an assistant on the Wizards’ staff from 2005-11 before moving on to coaching roles with the Warriors (2011-12), Magic (2012-15), and Nuggets (2015-present).
His father, Hall-of-Famer Wes Unseld Sr., was a D.C. legend. The elder Unseld, who passed away in 2020, earned five All-Star nods and an MVP award in Baltimore and Washington for the then-Bullets, then coached the team and later held a front office role.
All coaching searches around the league have now been completed. The Pelicans and Wizards were the last two teams seeking a head coach and New Orleans is on the verge of hiring Willie Green to fill their vacancy.
Central Notes: Doumbouya, Middleton, Antetokoumpo, Simonovic
While fielding a number of questions about the Pistons’ No. 1 pick, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com also addressed the future of 2019 draft pick Sekou Doumbouya. Langlois anticipates Doumbouya, who wasn’t drafted by current general manager Troy Weaver, will play in the summer league where he can show greater consistency and effectiveness. The Pistons must decide this offseason whether to pick up the forward’s fourth-year option at $5.5MM for the 2022/23 season.
We have more on the Central Division:
- Bucks forward Khris Middleton is focused on the Finals but he’s also a minority owner with the Brisbane Bullets in Australia’s NBL. Middleton told Marc Spears of The Undefeated many players are looking into similar ventures. “Being a part of an ownership group is something I wanted to do, for sure,” Middleton said. “As a player it could be tough. But I realize the responsibilities I had wasn’t going to really affect my basketball career right now. But it’s something I think a lot of players are starting to trend towards is finding ways to invest their money, finding things to do with their money that can grow, and it’s something I’m interested in.”
- Giannis Antetokounmpo and Middleton are the two main building blocks that made the Bucks a championship-level team. Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today examines the lengthy partnership between the two teammates. Middleton was acquired in 2013 from Detroit in the same year the two-time MVP was drafted. “At first, friendly competition, a guy like him from Detroit and I just got drafted,” Antetokounmpo said. “We just tried to get on the floor, going at one another in practices. But throughout the time, there was a lot of times that he proved that he’s going to do whatever it takes to help the team win. That’s the type of guy that you want next to you.”
- Draft-and-stash prospect Marko Simonovic is expected to sign with the Bulls this summer and from what K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago hears, he can be a rotation player at least. Simonovic was a second-round pick so the team’s fans should set their expectations for the 6’11” big man accordingly, Johnson adds.
Olympic Notes: Exhibition Game, Beal, Harris, Wood, Adebayo
There have been discussions about canceling Team USA’s exhibition game with Australia on Friday due to the U.S. team’s COVID issues, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Olgun Uluc tweet. Bradley Beal has been ruled out of the Olympics and Jerami Grant has also been placed under health and safety protocols. Australia defeated Team USA earlier in the week.
We have more on Team USA:
- Coach Gregg Popovich is crestfallen for Beal, Joe Vardon of The Athletic writes. “I’m dying for him. We all are,” Popovich said. “Since he’s a little kid this has been a dream of his, he was playing great, he was having fun, being a big part of us coming together chemistry-wise and as a family. So for him and his family, his immediate family, it’s devastating. We just feel horrible about it.”
- USA Basketball is checking into Tobias Harris‘ availability, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The Sixers forward is currently out of the country but is expected to return Saturday evening. Rockets big man Christian Wood is also being considered as Beal’s replacement.
- Heat center Bam Adebayo contributed 12 points, five assists, and five rebounds in the team’s victory over Argentina on Tuesday. Adebayo’s versatility could be a major component for the squad, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. “The one thing about it is we don’t want everybody on the court thinking too much,” Adebayo said. “So I feel like with me and (Draymond Green), we have a responsibility to do all the little stuff — the screening, getting people open, making the extra pass. And obviously go score when there’s an opportunity.”
Western Notes: Shaw, Jackson, Anderson, Kispert
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue has lost at least two members of his staff from this season, including recently-hired Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups. G League Ignite coach Brian Shaw may be one of the replacements. Shaw is in serious negotiations with the Clippers to become one of Lue’s assistants, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
We have more from the Western Conference:
- Jaren Jackson Jr. is eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason and Chris Herrington of the Daily Memphian believes it would take somewhere in the neighborhood of four years and $100MM for the Grizzlies to sign him. That’s a major commitment to a player who has appeared in just 133 career games, Herrington notes, presenting the franchise with a very difficult decision. Herrington takes a deep dive into Jackson’s strength and weaknesses, suggesting the Grizzlies need to play him at center more often to maximize his value.
- Ryan Anderson admits it was an emotional struggle when things went sour for him with the Rockets, Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle relays. Anderson, who made his comments on The Long Shot podcast, felt heavy pressure after signing a four-year, $80MM contract and his production declined while his defensive deficiencies sometimes kept him off the court. “It was hard for me to be the guy that was like, ‘You need to do more and we’re paying you a lot for this,’ rather than before it was like, ‘Wow, we got a steal for this guy,’” Anderson said. “It really affected me at home. I felt like every time I was in Houston, I was letting down the fans or something like that.”
- Gonzaga’s Corey Kispert visited the Kings on Wednesday, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Kispert, a 6’7” small forward, averaged 18.6 PPG and 5.0 RPG and made 44% of his 3-point attempts last season. He’s currently ranked No. 13 on ESPN’s Best Available list. Sacramento holds the No. 9 selection.