And-Ones: Silver, Cuban, NBPA, Coaching Changes
A New York resident was arrested for sending a threatening email to NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Steve Gardner of USA Today relays via a New York Post report. David Pyant, who has served to time for robbery and has 13 prior arrests, sent the email to Silver last summer. He was charged with aggravated harassment for threatening to shoot Silver if he wasn’t allowed to play in the NBA.
In other NBA-related news:
- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban believes the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down the sports gambling ban will be a boon to sports owners, AJ Neuharth-Keusch of USA Today reports. Cuban made the comments in a CNBC interview. “I think everybody who owns a top four professional sports team just basically saw the value of their team double, at least,” Cuban said, adding “I think this is something that benefits everybody.” The Supreme Court issued its decision on Monday.
- The Players’ Association will “work to ensure our players’ rights are protected and promoted” now that states beyond Nevada can take legal sports bets, Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal tweets. The NBPA issued a brief statement on the issue, saying it would work with other sports players’ unions to reach that goal.
- Impatience from owners and GMs has led to the head coaching carousel currently going on in the NBA, Spencer Davies of Basketball Insiders opines. It takes more than three or four years to build toward a championship, Davies continues, citing the Sixers’ Brett Brown as a prime example. Knee-jerk decisions from teams that take baby steps but don’t take a full step forward are misguided, Davies adds.
Community Shootaround: Mike Budenholzer
Mike Budenholzer has generated more headlines during this offseason than he did in recent years as the Hawks’ head coach.
Since Budenholzer and the Atlanta franchise mutually parted ways, he has been mentioned prominently for virtually every coaching opening. He withdraw consideration from the Suns job but was a major candidate for the Knicks’ opening before they hired David Fizdale.
Budenholzer is now reportedly the focus of coaching searches in Milwaukee and Toronto. The Bucks will meet with him for a second time on Tuesday, while he was first outside candidate linked to the Raptors after Dwane Casey surprisingly got fired last week.
Both jobs hold appeal. The Bucks, of course, have young superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and some other quality pieces, particularly Khris Middleton. The Raptors held the top seed in the East before LeBron James and the Cavaliers swept them out of the playoffs. Perhaps some fresh ideas could squeeze out better postseason results from a roster that won 59 regular-season games.
Budenholzer’s name has also been mentioned for the Pistons’ opening. He would inherit a roster there that includes the All-Star caliber big man duo of Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin.
That leads us to our question of the day: Which coaching job should Mike Budenholzer take if he receives offers from the Bucks, Raptors and Pistons? Or should he wait for another opening?
Please take to the comments section to voice your opinion. We look forward to what you have to say.
Western Rumors: Patterson, Burks, Kokoskov, Paul
Forward Patrick Patterson admits he’s disappointed with the way his first season with the Thunder played out, Erik Horne of The Oklahoman reports. Patterson appeared in every regular season game but averaged career lows in points, rebounds, minutes and field goal percentage after signing a three-year, $16.5MM contract last summer. “At the end of the day, it wasn’t what I expected,” Patterson said. “It wasn’t what my teammates and coaching staff expected, or even the fans.” Patterson saw very little playing time with the first unit at power forward due to Carmelo Anthony‘s presence, Horne notes.
In other Western Conference news:
- Jazz guard Alec Burks, who has endured an injury-plagued career, headed into the offseason healthy but his future with the club is uncertain, according to Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News. Burks fell out of the rotation behind rookie sensation Donovan Mitchell and another rookie, Royce O’Neale. Burks has one year and $11.5MM remaining on his contract and his expiring deal could be traded in the offseason, Sorensen adds. “I’ve been here a long time, since I was 19, and hopefully it keeps going,” Burks told Sorensen. “I’ve seen a lot in seven years. There’s been high times, low times and even-keel times. Hopefully there’ll be more good times in the future.”
- The Suns may have one of the youngest rosters in the league but new coach Igor Kokoskov insists that shouldn’t lower expectations, Scott Bordow of the Arizona Republic relays. Kokoskov, the NBA’s first European-born coach, made the comment during his introductory press conference. “This is not a development league. This is the NBA,” Kokoskov said. “We won’t ever hide it or use it as an excuse.”
- Chris Paul knew what he was doing when he orchestrated a trade from the Clippers to the Rockets, Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times writes. Pairing up with James Harden gave the perennial All-Star point guard his best chance to win an NBA championship, Woike continues. He has quieted the doubters by getting to the Western Conference Finals, Woike adds. “All the people who talk about it don’t know this game better than I do,” Paul said.
Central Notes: Thompson, Pistons, Bulls Pick, Turner
Tristan Thompson will likely start at center for the Cavaliers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Tuesday, according to Joe Vardon of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Coach Tyronn Lue told reporters that Thompson’s return to the lineup is being strongly considered, mainly due to his past success in defending Celtics big man Al Horford. “It’s definitely something we have to weigh,” Lue said. “We weighed it before the series started, but we’d won seven out of eight and we weren’t going to adjust until someone beat us and we didn’t play well with that lineup that got us to this point.” Boston blew out Cleveland 108-83 in Game 1 on Sunday.
In other Central Division developments:
- The Pistons could find themselves hiring a head coach before a new team president after getting involved late in the process, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press writes. With the Pistons dealing with salary-cap issues, hiring a head coach that can maximize the potential of the current roster could loom as a higher priority, Ellis notes. Detroit and Stan Van Gundy, who held both positions, parted ways last week. Ex-Raptors coach Dwane Casey and former Hawks Mike Budenholzer are the top tier candidates, though both the Bucks and Raptors are reportedly interested in hiring Budenholzer. Ex-Piston Jerry Stackhouse, who coached the Raptors’ G League team last season, could also be a strong candidate, Ellis adds.
- The Bulls need to hit a home run on their lottery pick this June in order to advance the rebuilding process, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times argues. Chicago is currently slotted at No. 6 unless it gets lucky in the draft lottery. “We’re going to find out [Tuesday] where we pick in the top 10,” VP of basketball operations John Paxson said. “That will obviously be a significant pick.” The Bulls also have the No. 22 pick, courtesy of the Nikola Mirotic trade with the Pelicans.
- Pacers centers Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis could play together more often next season, J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star reports. They bring varied skill sets to the floor, which could allow them to complement each other. Turner prefers to shoot jumpers and 3-pointers off of ball screens, while Sabonis rolls to the basket more often and shoots mid-range jumpers, Michael notes. “They’re different in how they play,” coach Nate McMillan said. “Part of it this season was allowing those guys to spend some time on the floor and possibly developing into a spread player at the 4 or the 5, depending on who was guarding who.”
Draft Notes: Washington, Ward, Brown, Hudson
Kentucky freshman forward PJ Washington is working out for the Clippers this week and will meet with the Timberwolves and Bucks before next week’s draft combine, Fletcher Page of the Louisville Journal Courier reports. Washington, who has already visited the Celtics and Nets, has a pinky finger injury that will require surgery, Page continues. Father Paul Washington told Page that his son isn’t assured of staying in the draft.
“It’s real simple — if he’s guaranteed a first round pick, then he’ll stay in the draft,” Paul Washington said. “If he doesn’t get that, we’ll have to make a decision. It’s PJ’s decision.”
The 6’8” Washington is listed at No. 51 among Jonathan Givony’s top 100 prospects at ESPN.com. He averaged 10.8 PPG and 5.7 RPG for the Wildcats.
In other draft developments:
- Michigan State sophomore center Nick Ward will work out for the Pistons this weekend, Brendan Quinn of The Athletic tweets. Ward has already worked out for the Knicks and Thunder and at least eight other teams are interested in bringing him in, Quinn adds. He averaged 12.4 PPG and 7.1 RPG for the Spartans. He is not listed among Givony’s top 100 prospects.
- The Hawks are bringing in six prospects on Wednesday, according to a team press release. South Carolina forward Brian Bowen, Auburn guard Bryce Brown, Purdue guard Nojel Eastern, Maryland forward Bruno Fernando, Florida shooting guard Jalen Hudson and Utah Valley center Akolda Manyang are the players visiting Atlanta. Hudson, ranked No. 45 by Givony, is the most prominent member of the group.
Pacers’ Pritchard: We Hit Jackpot With Oladipo
Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard lavished praise on Victor Oladipo and revealed he consulted the team’s current star on potential moves, Dakota Crawford of the Indianapolis Star relays. Pritchard’s comments were made during radio interviews with ESPN’s Dan Dakich and CBS Sports Radio’s Kent Sterling. Pritchard said Oladipo changed the organization after being acquired from the Thunder in the Paul George deal last summer, not only with his breakout season but with his personality.
“We feel like we hit the jackpot,” Pritchard said. “No offense to Paul George, he’s having success and he’s going to go wherever he wants this offseason …”
Pritchard texts regularly with Oladipo and indicated he’d ask for the guard’s input on future decisions. Pritchard began doing that at the trade deadline.
“We looked at two or three deals. Two of them were just OK. But one of them, we really looked at. We went to Victor … he said some things, and we (kind of decided to leave it on the table).”
In other nuggets from the interviews:
- Pritchard said he’d like to retain forward Thaddeus Young, who has a player option on his contract. “He didn’t talk a lot in the locker room, but when he did it was powerful. Thad was amazing. We hope he comes back.”
- Pritchard hinted he wasn’t interested in pursuing George in free agency. Front office executives aren’t allowed to speak specifically about opposing players. “One of the things we’re about, we don’t care about big names, we don’t care about big personalities we don’t care about big brands. What we care about is being humble … Anybody that fits in, yeah, we’re interested … But if they don’t fit that, I’m not interested. It’s that simple.”
- Pritchard liked the way the contracts of Darren Collison and Bojan Bogdanovic worked out and indicated he might take the same approach this offseason. Both were signed to two-year deals with a team option. “We think big, but the challenge is, if we lose a lot of our pieces to go big … are you better off with a couple major players, or are you better off with a really good group of players that don’t make the $30 million? That (instead) make the $10 or $12 million.”
Knicks Notes: Fizdale, Hernandez, Mudiay, Kanter
Building a productive relationship with Kristaps Porzingis and devising a plan for his three point guards are among the questions facing new Knicks coach David Fizdale, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. Fizdale plans to travel to Latvia in the near future to meet with his franchise player, who is rehabbing his knee injury there.
Juggling the minutes of Emmanuel Mudiay, Frank Ntilikina and Trey Burke will be a challenge for the ex-Grizzlies coach, Berman continues. Learning from his mistakes in Memphis, particularly in the way he dealt with veteran center Marc Gasol, is another thing Fizdale must do in order to be a success in New York, Berman adds.
In other Knicks-related news:
- Former Magic assistant coach Jay Hernandez is a name to watch as Fizdale selects his staff, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets. He has a solid reputation in player development and player relationships after working with several NBA players as a trainer, Scotto adds.
- Mudiay said the coaching change has energized the team, as he told Berman in a separate story. “Nobody has played with him yet over here except Troy Williams. But I’m not the only one excited. Everyone else is, too,’’ he said. Mudiay believes Fizdale, a point guard during his playing days, can help with his development.
- Center Enes Kanter, who exchanged barbs with LeBron James this season, playfully challenged the Cavaliers superstar to sign with the Knicks during a Twitter Q&A session, Ian Begley of ESPN relays. “You really want to be king of New York? Come and prove it. I’ll see you July 1st, brother,” Kanter said in the Twitter video. James is expected to opt out of his contract this summer but the Knicks are an extreme long shot, considering their salary-cap issues and their rebuilding status.
Community Shootaround: Pistons’ Future
Pistons owner Tom Gores announced Monday that Stan Van Gundy would not return as head coach and president of basketball operations for the final year of his contract.
Van Gundy resisted making changes that Gores requested, most notably replacing GM Jeff Bower. Gores finally decided after weeks of deliberation to go in another direction.
Van Gundy upgraded the roster during his four seasons with the organization but he and Bower made too many missteps along the way. The biggest problem for the next GM or president of basketball operations is that the Pistons have major cap issues that will hamstring efforts to make necessary improvements.
The trio of Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson could carry the team to the playoffs next season, provided they stay relatively injury-free and the supporting cast is upgraded. That would require a leap of faith. Griffin and Jackson have been nagged by injuries in recent years.
Upgrading the roster could be an even taller task. The Pistons are locked into a couple of bad contracts (Jon Leuer, Langston Galloway) for two more seasons. The stretch provision used to eat up Josh Smith‘s contract gobbles up another $5.33MM in each of the next two years.
The Pistons also don’t have a first-round pick, courtesy of the Griffin deal, unless they get extremely lucky and move into the lottery. They have the mid-level exception and a $7MM trade exception to work with but that won’t help much. It’s tough to imagine another team willing to take on either Griffin’s contract or Jackson’s deal, though the next exec might give it a whirl.
A more viable option would be to deal Drummond, packaged with a bad contract, and essentially hit the reset button. That won’t sit well with fans who have seen their team reach the playoffs once since 2009.
They could also gauge the market value of some younger players like Stanley Johnson and Luke Kennard.
That brings us to our question of the day: If you were the Pistons GM, what moves would you make to revive the franchise?
Please take to the comments section to voice your opinion. We look forward to what you have to say.
Northwest Notes: Thibodeau, Exum, Hood, George
Timberwolves coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau shook up his coaching staff Monday by cutting ties with three assistants, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic reports. The most notable of the cuts is player development coach Vince Legarza, who worked closely with center Karl-Anthony Towns. Shooting coach Peter Patton and assistant video coordinator Wes Bohn are the other coaches who will not return. Towns was not given prior notice of Legarza’s departure, Krawczynski continues. Thibodeau may not replace all of those coaches since he has told some people that he’d like to downsize, Krawczynski adds.
In other notable developments around the Northwest Division:
- Jazz point guard Dante Exum has a strained left hamstring and his status for the remainder of the series against the Rockets is uncertain, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets. Exum underwent an MRI and further evaluation Monday after he suffered the injury in Game 4. Exum and Ricky Rubio, who also has a hamstring injury, will not play in Game 5 on Tuesday, the team tweets.
- There’s no chance guard Rodney Hood will return to the Jazz as a free agent, Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets. Hood will be a restricted free agent if he receives a $3.47MM qualifying offer from the Cavaliers. Otherwise, he’ll be unrestricted.
- The Thunder are willing to pay the steep cost of retaining free agent Paul George, according to Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman. George will likely sign a max contract in free agency this summer. The team wants to remain competitive, even if it means footing the bill for $260MM in salary and luxury-tax penalties, Dawson adds.
Van Gundy Disappointed, Wants To Coach Again
7:52pm: Van Gundy was willing to give up his front office duties and just coach the team next season, Rod Beard of the Detroit News tweets.
“When it came down to this, I was perfectly willing to only go in one role and to give up the front office and go into (just) coaching. I didn’t fight to hang on to that at all,” he told Beard.
5:40pm: Stan Van Gundy said he’s disappointed but not bitter that the Pistons cut ties with him on Monday, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press tweets. Owner Tom Gores parted ways with Van Gundy as both head coach and president of basketball operations when they couldn’t come to an agreement on proposed changes Gores wanted to make.
Van Gundy, who was entering the final year of his five-year contract, admitted he wanted to fulfill the rest of the contract and sees how much the team could improve next season with Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson playing together regularly. The Pistons traded for Griffin in late January when Jackson was sidelined with an ankle injury and Griffin sat out the last eight games with an ankle injury. The trio only played four games together.
“To not get a chance to coach a full season after the (Griffin) move we made is disappointing to me. I’m not bitter and I was treated well,” Van Gundy told Ellis. “I’ve got no complaints.”
Van Gundy also said he would like to coach again if he found something to his liking. “If the right situation came along, I wouldn’t dismiss it,” he said. “I’m not going out on the terms I would like.”
That comes somewhat as a surprise, considering that Van Gundy told Hoops Rumors and other reporters in April that he was set for life and would probably retire if he didn’t return next season.