Community Shootaround: Coach Of The Year
The league announced on Tuesday that Steve Kerr was selected as the NBA’s Coach of the Year. Kerr missed the first 43 games of the season while recovering from multiple operations on his back, but it appears voters were willing to overlook that in light of Golden State’s 73-9 record overall, the best in the history of the league. The Warriors adapted seamlessly to his absence, going 39-4 under acting head coach Luke Walton, who was also eligible for the award.
Kerr, 50, maintained a consistent presence around the team in practices while he was recovering, and it was clear the relaxed tone he set during last year’s championship season remained. He finished second in last year’s voting to Mike Budenholzer. Golden State went 34-5 to close the regular season after Kerr returned in January, though a knee injury that will sideline Stephen Curry for at least the next two weeks threatens Golden State’s bid for a repeat championship.
This brings me to the topic for today: Should Steve Kerr have won Coach of the Year?
There’s no denying the success Kerr has had since arriving in Golden State, and it is certainly a credit to him and his staff that the team seemingly didn’t lose a beat despite his early-season absence. But is coaching under half a season’s worth of games, no matter how successful the team was, worthy of snagging such a prestigious award? The success the Warriors had under Walton’s command certainly lends weight to the argument that Kerr wasn’t necessarily deserving of the accolade, but it’s arguable that it was his system and culture that allowed the team to continue to be successful in his absence.
But what say you? Are you OK with Kerr winning the award, or do you feel another coach was more deserving? Take to the comments section to lend your support to Kerr’s selection, or if you are on the other side of the argument, share with us whom you believe should have won the award this season. We look forward to what you have to say.
2015/16 D-League Usage Report: Cavaliers
The NBA’s relationship with the D-League continues to grow, and this season a total of 19 NBA teams had one-to-one affiliations with D-League clubs. Those NBA organizations without their own affiliates were required to assign players to D-League clubs associated with other NBA franchises. D-League teams could volunteer to take on the assigned players, and if no volunteers emerged, the players were assigned at random.
This significant change from the 2014/15 season came about after the Pacers purchased the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and turned them into their one-to-one partner for the 2015/16 campaign. Other NBA teams have interest in following suit in the years ahead, and the NBA’s ultimate goal for the D-League is for all 30 NBA franchises to have their own D-League squads. You can view the complete list of D-League affiliates here.
We at Hoops Rumors are recapping the D-League-related activity for the 2015/16 campaign for each team and we’ll continue with the Cleveland Cavaliers, whose D-League affiliate is the Canton Charge:
The Cavs made nine assignments for the 2015/16 campaign, sending three players to the D-League for a total of 29 days. Listed below are all the assignments and recalls Cleveland made for the 2015/16 season:
- November 13th: Assigned Joe Harris (1st) — Recalled November 19th
- November 20th: Assigned Joe Harris (2nd) — Recalled November 21st
- November 28th: Assigned Joe Harris (3rd) — Recalled November 30th
- December 2nd: Assigned Joe Harris (4th) — Recalled December 17th
- December 19th: Assigned Joe Harris (5th) — Recalled December 20th
- April 11th: Assigned Sasha Kaun (1st) — Recalled April 11th
- April 11th: Assigned Jordan McRae (1st) — Recalled April 11th
- April 12th: Assigned Sasha Kaun (2nd) — Recalled April 13th
- April 12th: Assigned Jordan McRae (2nd) — Recalled April 13th
Canton also had seven players assigned to it from other NBA franchises via the flexible assignment rule:
- The Bucks sent Damien Inglis (one assignment, 13 days) and Rashad Vaughn (one assignment, eight days).
- The Bulls sent Cristiano Felicio (two assignments, 15 days).
- The Clippers sent C.J. Wilcox (three assignments, 40 days).
- The Hawks sent Edy Tavares (one assignment, three days), Tim Hardaway Jr. (one assignment, three days) and Lamar Patterson (one assignment, 24 days).
Here is how the Cavs’ players performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:
- Joe Harris: In 10 D-League appearances, the combo guard averaged 16.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 33.1 minutes per outing. Harris’ shooting line was .397/.323/.794.
- Sasha Kaun: In one D-League outing, the center logged 15 points, nine rebounds, three steals and three blocks in 30 minutes of action. Kaun made six out of his seven field goal attempts on the night.
- Jordan McRae: The shooting guard did not see any game action for Canton while on assignment. McRae did appear in 29 contests this season for the Delaware 87ers, who are the Sixers’ affiliate, averaging 23.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 35.4 minutes per outing. His slash line with Delaware was .549/.318/.799.
And-Ones: D’Antoni, Eversley, Walton
Former NBA player Nate Robinson, when asked who was the worst coach he had played for in the NBA, had some unkind words for Mike D’Antoni, who coached the diminutive guard when both were with the Knicks, international journalist David Pick relays. “Mike D’Antoni was a cool coach, but he was just a bad person,” Robinson told Pick. “He can coach. He was just mean for no reason. He had no reason to be a certain way toward players he liked and didn’t like. As a man, you would talk to somebody if you had a problem with them. You would tell them. He never told me exactly what his problem was with me. I didn’t know how to change it. I’d talk to him every day, but he would ignore me. It was crazy.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Lakers have asked for and been granted permission to interview Warriors assistant Luke Walton for their vacant coaching post, reports Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (on Twitter). Golden State’s allowance for Los Angeles to speak with Walton did come with the caveat that it occur when the team is between playoff series, Spears adds.
- Marc Eversley, who is currently the Wizards‘ VP of scouting, interviewed with the Sixers this week for a post that would make him GM Bryan Colangelo‘s second in command, relays Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post (via Twitter).
- Heat power forward Chris Bosh, who hasn’t played since February 9th because of concerns about reported blood clots in his left calf, is lobbying for the team to activate him so he can contribute in the playoffs, The Toronto Sun relays via the Sports Xchange. Bosh’s wife, Adrienne, even took to Twitter with the message #BringBoshBack, but the organization still maintains its stance that the veteran is out indefinitely, according to the post.
- LSU freshman shooting guard Antonio Blakeney won’t be testing the draft waters this season despite his name appearing on the league’s official early entrants list, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com relays (Twitter links). “Just a case of formality of the paperwork not reaching the NBA office prior to the preparation of the list,” LSU coach Johnny Jones said of Blakeney’s inclusion among the draft entrants, Goodman notes.
Northwest Notes: Wolves, Westbrook, Layden
Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor, coach/executive Tom Thibodeau and GM Scott Layden have all made it clear that the team will make its basketball decisions mostly by consensus rather than concentrating power in Thibodeau, despite his title as president of basketball operations, observes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. “For me personally, this is about alignment,” Thibodeau said. “It’s not about power, it’s not about any of that stuff. I’ve known Scott a long time. We’ve shared our philosophies with each other. We feel strongly about certain things. He was the person I really wanted.”
Here’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Russell Westbrook was pleased that Thunder teammate Kevin Durant publicly came to his defense against Mavs owner Mark Cuban, who said the point guard was an “All-Star but not a superstar,” Royce Young of ESPN.com relays. “It was very important [to me],” Westbrook said. “Me and Kevin’s relationship is great. He’s like my brother. We talk about different things, not just basketball-related. He’s always gonna have my back and I’ll always have his.” The strength of the duo’s relationship will likely be the topic of much discussion this offseason as Durant heads into unrestricted free agency.
- Layden chose to accept his post with the Wolves because of Taylor’s high level of commitment and the presence of Thibodeau, Kent Youngblood of The Star Tribune writes. The executive isn’t concerned with what his title is or his level of power, but is instead focused on results, Youngblood notes. “I think if you’re looking for credit, you’re in the wrong place,” Layden said. The GM also echoed Thibs’ sentiments that decision-making would be a group process, telling reporters, “In the end, [Taylor] will probably make the decision, because it’s his money. And we’re going to try to convince him, together, why we need to spend it. … I feel good about this. We’re aligned in how we think. And that’s important.”
- The Jazz desperately need to turn their cap flexibility for next season into a superstar player this summer via free agency, writes Doug Robinson of The Deseret News. The scribe does praise the efforts of Gordon Hayward but notes that the small forward is better suited to being a team’s second option.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Western Notes: McGee, Durant, Price
Thunder small forward Kevin Durant, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, sees some parallels between himself and Mavs big man Dirk Nowitzki regarding their importance to their respective franchises, Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman relays. “Dirk has been a model of how you should handle things,” Durant said. “I’m just trying to do things my way as well. There’s a lot that comes with it. Dirk has handled it about as good as anybody’s ever handled it in this league. I try to learn from guys like him, Kobe Bryant. From everybody that’s been in that position, handling the situation as being a franchise guy.”
Durant did note that he has had an advantage over Nowitzki with the presence of teammate Russell Westbrook on the roster, Tramel adds. “The good thing about it here, I’m not the only guy,” Durant said. “Having Russell Westbrook along with me, that’s been with me along the way, to have another guy with you going through it and being able to kind of relate to the same things, it helps. I’m not here by myself. The organization’s been great, Russell has been more of a teammate than I could ask for over these last nine years. It’s not just myself.”
While Oklahoma City’s fan base hopes that Durant remains as loyal to the Thunder as Nowitzki has been to Dallas, here’s more from out West:
- The Kings are closing in on hiring Pistons executive Ken Catanella as their new assistant GM, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports. Catanella has been with Detroit since being named director of basketball operations in December of 2011, and he was promoted to assistant GM in 2014/15. He and George David were jointly in charge of the Pistons front office during the brief period between the tenures of Joe Dumars and Stan Van Gundy in 2014.
- The Mavericks will seek to add a center this offseason but still consider JaVale McGee a part of their future plans, writes Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. “I don’t want to leave out JaVale McGee,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “He came to us as a guy who was recovering from a very serious [leg] injury. And his deal is a two-year deal and we felt it was going to take two years to get back to being completely healthy and the player he completely was. He’s regained his health, regained his footing and he and Salah Mejri right now are the two centers we have. We’ll certainly look to add somebody else. But we’re going to be looking at those two guys as very important.”
- Suns point guard Ronnie Price, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, said he wants to remain in Phoenix and that he and his teammates need to stay close over the summer to improve team chemistry, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic writes. “It’s a mutual responsibility for all of us to stay linked in and just stay connected,” said Price. “We talk about being a family and we’ve made great strides. We can’t make those strides and then, in the summer, be like, ‘See you next August.’ We have to stay connected and continue to build so then, when the season gets here, we’re ahead of the game.”
Submit Your Questions For Hoops Rumors Mailbag
In addition to our regular weekly chat, which Chuck Myron facilitates every Wednesday, we have a second opportunity for you to hit us up with your questions in our weekly mailbag feature, which is posted every Sunday.
Have a question regarding player movement, free agent rumors, the salary cap, the NBA draft, or the top storylines of the week? You can e-mail them here: hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com. Feel free to send emails throughout the week, but please be mindful that we may receive a sizable number of questions and might not get to all of them.
If you missed out on any past mailbags and would like to catch up, you can view the full archives here.
Eastern Notes: Turner, Brooks, Pistons
Evan Turner‘s strong play for the Celtics this season should put him in line to command a starting salary of over $10MM per year on his next contract, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. “You hear players talk all the time about doing whatever it takes to win, but he’s doing it,” an NBA executive told Blakely. “Start, come off the bench, play a few minutes, play a lot of minutes. He’s done everything they’ve asked him to do and from what I hear hasn’t grumbled a day about it. Every team needs a guy like that in their locker room.”
“If you’re looking for him to come in and put X amount of points and X amount of assists per game and [shoot] this or that from the field, he’s probably not your guy,” another executive told the CSN scribe regarding the future unrestricted free agent. “He helps you win games. That’s probably his greatest strength.” The 27-year-old averaged 10.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 81 appearances for Boston this season.
Here’s more from the East:
- At his introductory press conference, new Wizards coach Scott Brooks sidestepped all questions regarding Kevin Durant coming to Washington, with GM Ernie Grunfeld stressing to reporters that Brooks was there to coach the team’s current roster and not to lure Durant, Stephen Wyno of The Associated Press relays.
- If the Pistons hope to advance deeper in the playoffs than the first round, the team will need to add depth to its bench via free agency and the NBA draft, writes Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. The scribe does note that Detroit enters the offseason with few holes to fill, which should allow the team to focus on its deficiencies in its quest to return to the postseason in 2016/17. Potential draft targets for Detroit, which owns the No. 19 overall pick this June, include Michigan State wing Denzel Valentine, Turkish guard Furkan Korkmaz or Gonzaga’s Domantas Sabonis, Bontemps opines.
- The Bucks also need to add depth to their roster over the summer, opines Bobby Marks of The Vertical in his offseason primer for the team. Milwaukee needs to find athletic wings to complement its starters and a reliable power forward to back up Jabari Parker, Marks writes. The scribe adds that the team is on solid footing with its young core despite missing the playoffs this season, but finding a workable role for big man Greg Monroe is paramount if the Bucks hope to improve in 2016/17.
Community Shootaround: Dell Demps
The Pelicans had the unfortunate distinction of finishing the 2015/16 campaign with their players missing a total of 351 games due to injury and illness, which was the most in the NBA in the past six years. “It’s been disappointing,” GM Dell Demps said of the seemingly never-ending string of physical maladies New Orleans endured this season. “We had a lot of high hopes coming into the season. And, obviously, not being at full strength has really … it’s been tough. It’s been tough on us. It’s been tough on the organization.“
New Orleans, which had been predicted by many to be a playoff contender this season, went just 30-52 on the campaign, which was a decrease of 15 wins from its 2014/15 showing. Demps is on the hot seat as a result and his position with the organization in doubt. The executive was originally scheduled to have his season-ending press conference on Monday, but it was abruptly rescheduled for an unspecified later date. The Pelicans have reportedly not made any final decision regarding Demps’ future with the team and evaluations of the rest of his staff are still ongoing, though current indications are that the executive will remain in his post for next season, according to Brett Dawson of The Advocate.
This brings me to the topic for today: Should the Pelicans retain Dell Demps as GM?
New Orleans has gone 203-273 while under Demps’ control, hardly an earth-shattering track record, but the Pelicans did appear to be a franchise on the rise before the season’s parade of injuries commenced. Do you believe the executive should be given another season to show results, considering how the team’s glut of injuries could not have been foreseen? Or have you viewed a large enough sample size of Demps to decide that he’s not the one to lead the Pelicans to the next level? Take to the comments section to share your thoughts and opinions on the subject, weigh in on what you believe Demps’ best and worst moves were as an executive, or simply to vent about New Orleans’ frustrating season. We look forward to what you have to say.
And-Ones: Taylor, Ridley, Robinson
Glen Taylor has brought two minority-share investors into the Timberwolves ownership group, according to Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter link), but the 75-year-old Taylor said today that he’s committed to remaining in charge of the team for at least the next five years, observes Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press. That aligns with the length of the contracts for new coach/executive Tom Thibodeau and GM Scott Layden. Taylor has been in talks to sell 30% of the team to Grizzlies minority-share owner Steve Kaplan, and they were reportedly discussing a plan to have Kaplan eventually succeed Taylor as primary owner. Presumably, no such plan exists for new Wolves part-owners Meyer Orbach, a New York real estate mogul, and John Jiang, who, according to Walters, is believed to be the first NBA investor from China.
See more from around the NBA:
- Dave Joerger would like to see Lance Stephenson back with Memphis for next season, the Grizzlies coach said Monday, according to Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). Memphis has a $9.405MM team option on Stephenson. “He’s had a lot of success here and the guys accepted him,” Joerger said.
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Agents Matt Babcock and Adie von Gontard of APAA Sports Group have signed Texas senior Cameron Ridley, a source told Hoops Rumors. The 6’10” center was a McDonald’s All-American Game starter in 2012 and ranked 14th in the 2012 Recruiting Services Consensus Index, two spots ahead of current Nuggets shooting guard Gary Harris. Ridley will look to regain that form in predraft workouts with NBA teams and climb his way into the top 100 lists that Chad Ford of ESPN.com and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress compile.
- Kentucky coach John Calipari said in March that all 14 underclassmen on his roster would enter this year’s draft, at least to test the waters, but only five Wildcats appear on the NBA’s official list of early entrants released earlier this evening. Florida small forward Devin Robinson was reportedly going to enter the draft and doesn’t appear on the official list either, though that’s no shock, since he’s had major foot surgery since the report that he was draft-bound emerged.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Western Notes: Augustin, Williams, Gobert
Point guard D.J. Augustin, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent, appreciates the opportunity he was given in Denver, but he isn’t sure if he will re-sign with the Nuggets this summer, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post writes. “This is my fourth summer being a free agent,” Augustin told Dempsey. “You never know what can happen. I’ve been promised things in the past, and it didn’t come true. I’ve had my hopes up in the past [and things] didn’t happen. It’s just all about putting things in God’s hands and my agent’s hands and I’m going to just relax. My wife is having our third child. So I’m going to just see what happens. Anything can happen. I love it here, and hopefully things work out.”
Regarding finally getting an opportunity to play after being buried on the Thunder’s bench, Augustin told Dempsey, “I was in a tough situation in Oklahoma. Like I told a lot of people, it wasn’t working out there. I did the right thing, my agent did the right thing and talked to those guys and they were kind enough to trade me, trade me to a good situation. Everything worked out.”
Here’s more from out West:
- Mavs point guard Deron Williams‘ sports hernia is getting worse and he will likely need offseason surgery to repair the injury, as Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com relays (Twitter links). Williams, who has a player option worth $5,621,026 for next season, impressed the team and seemed to have fun for the first time in the past few seasons, executive Donnie Nelson said, according to Sneed.
- Lance Stephenson said he would be comfortable remaining with the Grizzlies if they exercise their team option on his contract worth $9,405MM for next season, when asked if he would prefer to ink a multiyear deal instead, tweets Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal.
- Despite struggling with injuries this season, Jazz big man Rudy Gobert feels like his overall game has improved, as Jody Genessy of The Deseret News relays. “It’s been kind of weird this year with injuries to try to come back and get my rhythm back,” Gobert said. “My teammates got me involved, but it was kind of tough this year. I feel like I still got better. You can’t really see it on stats, but I feel like I got better.”