Central Notes: Van Gundy, Rose, Bucks Arena
Pistons owner Tom Gores credits the decision to unify the position of coach and chief basketball executive and the subsequent hiring of Stan Van Gundy to fill that post as the primary reason the team was able to advance to the playoffs this season, Keith Langlois of NBA.com relays. “I think throughout the league are disconnects between the floor and the front office, but not everybody can do what Stan can do,” Gores said. “Coach and then think big picture, high level and what’s good for the franchise long term. I thought that was a way to accelerate our progress and I had seen enough in terms of how that can be disconnected. Hopefully, it has, and we’re in the playoffs now.”
The owner also indicated that the team’s plan all along was to set itself up for sustained success, Langlois adds. “When we talked the first time, we said we wanted to win but never sacrifice the future and we didn’t know how that was going to play out,” Gores said. “Stan deserves a lot of credit. He came in, really quickly changed the culture. We worked together setting up the organization. When I met with Stan those couple years ago, what he had to say really impressed me. But more importantly now, he just delivers. He’s hard working, dedicated and I think he’s a great role model for our players in terms of preparation.”
The team’s success under Van Gundy has caught the eye of Wolves owner Glen Taylor, who’s reportedly thinking about mimicking that unified coach/executive structure. Here’s more from the Central Division:
- Bulls point guard Derrick Rose admits that the orbital fracture he suffered during the preseason affected his entire 2015/16 campaign, writes K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. “It set me back,” Rose said. “But everything happens for a reason. … I can’t look back on it and say, ‘All right, it stopped me from doing this and doing that.’ It made my bank shot better. That’s one of the positives I got out of it. And it gave me time to really look at the game.” Rose doesn’t place all the blame for his troubles on the eye injury, noting he usually is a slow starter, Johnson notes. “It would’ve been a process anyway,” Rose said. “Usually after I come back from working out during the summer, it takes me a couple games anyway because I don’t play pickup. Working out all the time is good, but you need bodies out there to get used to [opponents] being around.“
- The Bucks have reached a 30-year lease agreement with the Wisconsin Center District, the agency that will own the basketball team’s future arena, Tom Daykin of The Journal Sentinel relays. The new facility is set to open in time for the start of the 2018/19 season.
- The Cavaliers have recalled shooting guard Jordan McRae and center Sasha Kaun from their D-League affiliate in Canton, the team announced.
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.
Western Notes: Bickerstaff, Prince, Carlisle
If the Rockets are able to clinch a playoff berth this evening, it would greatly enhance the chances of interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff earning the post on a full-time basis, Marc Stein of ESPN.com relays in a series of tweets. Houston does have interest in Scott Brooks and Tom Thibodeau, who are likely to be two of the more sought-after coaches this offseason, Stein adds. The Rockets are intrigued by the discipline and structure that Thibodeau could bring, but Brooks, who played for the Rockets, has an excellent familiarity with James Harden from their time spent together with the Thunder, Stein notes.
Here’s more from out West:
- Wolves small forward Tayshaun Prince intends to play next season, telling reporters, “I’m not going to retire,” Kyle Ratke of NBA.com tweets. The 36-year-old, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent, appeared in 77 games and averaged 2.9 points and 1.9 rebounds in 19.0 minutes per outing for Minnesota on the season.
- Rick Carlisle, who is in his eighth season as Mavericks coach, has given the organization an uncommon stability during his tenure, Colin McGowan of RealGM writes. Carlisle deserves credit for making the most out of the talent he has been afforded, and the organization also deserves praise for sticking with the coach despite a few rocky seasons, McGowan adds.
- Brandan Wright was limited to just 12 games for the Grizzlies this season, which likely diminishes his value as a potential trade chip and increases the likelihood Wright will be on Memphis’ roster next season, opines Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal. The big man inked a three-year, $18MM with the Grizzlies last summer.
- The Pelicans will finish the 2015/16 campaign with 351 games missed due to injury and illness, the most in the NBA in the past six years, Justin Verrier of ESPN.com relays (Twitter link).
Knicks Notes: Afflalo, Calderon, Anthony
Knicks shooting guard Arron Afflalo says his desire to be a starter will influence his decision regarding his player option for 2016/17 worth $8MM, Ian Begley of ESPN.com relays (ESPN Now link). “I still believe I’m one of the premier two guards in this league and part of being an elite two guard in this league is opportunity,” Afflalo said. “You have to be in a certain environment where you can excel and show what you can do and hopefully that contributes to winning. And I still believe I’m that player, so I’ll find the best opportunity for me, whether it’s in New York or anywhere else.” The dynamic between Afflalo and the team has been the subject of close scrutiny since interim coach Kurt Rambis‘ decision to use the shooting guard in a bench role and their odd disagreement over the basic issue of whether they had a conversation about it.
Here’s more from New York:
- Afflalo indicated that he’s looking for one more big contract in his career and reiterated that he views himself as a starter, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. “I’ve been through so much in my career in terms of the opinions of how your game fits in certain situations and what can you do?” Afflalo told reporters. “What can you do outside of when you’re in a chance to put yourself in position, you make the move that’s necessary?“
- Veteran point guard Jose Calderon has no issue with accepting a bench role for the Knicks next season, Bondy notes in the same piece. “I’m a team player, and if it’s better for the team, its great, I got no problem with that,” Calderon said. “I know my role, I know my weaknesses. That’s not going to be a problem with me. The organization should not be thinking that they have to start Jose.” New York is instead reportedly thinking about using the stretch provision to part ways with Calderon this summer.
- Carmelo Anthony plans to be heard by the Knicks front office during his exit interview and wants to be involved in New York’s offseason decision-making process, Bondy writes in a separate piece. “My conversation with them is to be open and honest about what’s going on, about transparency, how we can make this situation better and what we’re going to do to make this situation better,” Anthony said. “At the end of the day, nobody loves this feeling, nobody wants to lose. We work too hard as players to be in this situation right now. Even though we almost doubled our wins from last year, we made some strides in certain areas. But now we got to continue to build on that.”
- Anthony expects some clarity regarding the Knicks’ future when he sits down with team president Phil Jackson and GM Steve Mills, Begley relays in a full-length piece. When asked what he hopes to garner from his discussions, Anthony said, “Just an understanding of kind of a plan, a plan of action of what they’re trying to do, what we’re trying to do, what we’re trying to accomplish here. I don’t really have — I think everybody knows my questions that I have. So it’s just a matter of them kind of being transparent with me. We talk. We have an open dialogue, an open conversation, about how we all can get better at this situation moving forward, what I can do to kind of help and kind of fill the holes that we need to fill at this point.“
- The small forward also noted that he is well aware of the players who are hitting the free agent market this summer and the Knicks’ place in that market, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. “Free agency is always going to be big for everybody,” Anthony said. “I looked at the list. I look at the list every day. Whether it’s for me or other teams, I want to see what other guys are thinking about as far as trying to better their team. Where we fit in the free agency market, those are things I pay close attention to.”
Justin Jackson To Enter NBA Draft
North Carolina sophomore small forward Justin Jackson intends to test the waters and enter the 2016 NBA Draft, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Jackson isn’t expected to hire an agent immediately, which will allow him to return to school should he choose to withdraw prior to the May 25th deadline, Goodman adds.
The 21-year-old comes in at No. 11 overall among sophomores and is ranked No. 63 overall by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com slots him at No. 125 overall. The main knocks against Jackson are that he is a year older than the average sophomore, which limits his ceiling somewhat, and that he isn’t as strong or athletic as the majority of NBA wings, according to Ford.
In 40 appearances for the Tar Heels this season, Jackson averaged 12.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 28.4 minutes per contest. His slash line on the year was .466/.292/.667.
Community Shootaround: Suns Coaching Search
The Suns are reportedly planning on casting a wide net this offseason in the search for their next head coach. Interim coach Earl Watson will be among the candidates in the running, with Phoenix also considering Sixers assistant and former Suns head coach Mike D’Antoni, former Suns player and current Grand Canyon University coach Dan Majerle and Warriors assistant Luke Walton. Villanova coach Jay Wright is also reportedly in the mix, though there have been conflicting reports about the Suns’ level of interest in the 2016 NCAA National Championship winner.
GM Ryan McDonough had said that Watson would be a candidate for the job shortly after he replaced former coach Jeff Hornacek, and Watson has the support of at least some of the players. Phoenix is just 7-23 since Watson took over, though injuries have limited Brandon Knight to 10 games and Eric Bledsoe to none during that stretch. While the team hasn’t climbed in the standings under Watson, he has improved the Suns’ defense, with Phoenix notching a defensive rating that is good for 12th-best in the league over its past 10 contests. Before Watson arrived, the Suns were a lowly 29th in that category.
Team owner Robert Sarver was reportedly interested in hiring former MVP Steve Nash to coach the team back in February, but Nash remains uninterested in going into coaching on a full-time basis, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Nash currently wants to focus on fatherhood, his various off-court interests, the part-time consulting role with the Warriors that he took on at the start of this season, and his duties as GM of Team Canada, according to Stein.
This brings me to the topic for today: Who should coach the Suns next season?
Has Watson done enough to have the interim tag removed from his job title, or do you feel the team needs to bring in some fresh blood? Out of the reported candidates, who would be the best fit in Phoenix? Take to the comments section to share your thoughts and opinions on the subject. We look forward to what you have to say.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 4/12/16
According to Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times, Bucks GM John Hammond will either be fired or resign from his post soon, and people close to the team told Woelfel that coach Jason Kidd is on shaky ground as well. Lottery-bound Milwaukee has disappointed this year and can finish no better than 35-47 after last season’s 41-41 record. The news on Kidd lends credence to a February report from The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski that noted the coach was losing his influence with Bucks owners in the wake of player personnel moves Kidd spearheaded that haven’t panned out.
The Bucks were expected to take the next step forward toward contention this season, especially after landing Greg Monroe in free agency last summer. But the big man hasn’t been a great fit in Milwaukee’s system and the franchise reportedly had talks with the Pelicans about Monroe before the trade deadline. Bucks owners vetoed a would-be trade with the Pelicans that Kidd was spearheading, according to Wojnarowski, though it’s unclear if that deal would have involved Monroe. Milwaukee also made the controversial decision to trade Brandon Knight last season in exchange for Michael Carter-Williams, who doesn’t appear to be the team’s long-term answer at point guard.
This brings me to the topic for today: Who is more to blame for the current state of the Bucks — Jason Kidd or John Hammond?
Do you place the majority of the blame in Milwaukee on Kidd, whose fingerprints are on a number of the team’s recent roster moves and who coaches the team on a nightly basis? Or do you blame Hammond for the overall construction of the roster, as well as its deficiencies? Take to the comments section to share your thoughts and opinions on the matter. We look forward to what you have to say.
And-Ones: Brown, Van Gundy, Jackson
The Nets have gone 11-33 under interim coach Tony Brown, who understands that he is coaching for his job but asserts that he is unfazed by the pressure involved, Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily relays. “I feel like the situation has been tough from the beginning,” Brown said. “I’ve tried to make the best of it, and I’m going to continue to do that the last two games and whatever happens, happens. I’m not worried about my fate with this organization. I’m just trying to give these guys a great opportunity to showcase their skills, and I’m going to continue to do that.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy won the trade market this season, with his deals for Marcus Morris, Reggie Bullock and Tobias Harris being clear victories for the franchise, writes Rod Beard of The Detroit News. The scribe also points to the offseason signing of Aron Baynes, who has provided solid minutes as the backup center, as another strong roster move by Van Gundy.
- Notre Dame junior point guard Demetrius Jackson intends to hire Priority Sports to represent him, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops tweets. Hiring an agent would eliminate the possibility of Jackson returning to school for his senior campaign. The 21-year-old is ranked No. 11 in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress listings and 25th according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com.
- Dragan Bender is easily the most tantalizing among the international prospects who are entering the 2016 NBA Draft, opines Derek Bodner of USA Today. The big man’s combination of size, speed and mobility have NBA scouts excited for his potential, though he will need to add strength and bulk before he can hope to be a force in the NBA, Bodner adds. Bender is the No. 3 overall prospect according to both Ford and Givony.
2015/16 D-League Usage Report: Hawks
The NBA’s relationship with the D-League continues to grow and this season a total of 19 NBA teams have one-to-one affiliations with D-League clubs. Those NBA organizations without their own affiliates were required to assign players to D-League teams 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 will be recapping the D-League-related activity for the 2015/16 campaign for each team and we’ll begin with the the Atlanta Hawks, one of the 11 NBA franchises without their own D-League affiliate:
The Hawks made 18 assignments for the 2015/16 campaign, sending three different players to the D-League for a total of 122 days (and counting). Atlanta sent the majority of their assignees (14 out of the 18) to the Spurs’ affiliate in Austin, which is only logical given the similarities between the two teams’ systems. The Hawks also made three assignments to the Canton Charge, who are the Cavaliers’ affiliate, and one to the Bakersfield Jam, who are affiliated with the Suns.
Listed below are all the assignments and recalls made by the Hawks for the 2015/16 campaign:
- November 11th: Assigned Edy Tavares (1st) [Austin Spurs] — Recalled November 15th
- November 13th: Assigned Lamar Patterson (1st) [Austin Spurs] — Recalled November 15th
- December 3rd: Assigned Edy Tavares (2nd) [Canton Charge] — Recalled December 6th
- December 3rd: Assigned Tim Hardaway Jr. (1st) [Canton Charge] — Recalled December 6th
- December 5th: Assigned Lamar Patterson (2nd) [Austin Spurs] — Recalled December 6th
- December 17th: Assigned Edy Tavares (3rd) [Austin Spurs] — Recalled December 21st
- December 28th: Assigned Tim Hardaway Jr. (2nd) [Austin Spurs] — Recalled January 3rd
- December 30th: Assigned Edy Tavares (4th) [Austin Spurs] — Recalled December 31st
- January 13th: Assigned Lamar Patterson (3rd) [Austin Spurs] — Recalled January 16th
- January 13th: Assigned Edy Tavares (5th) [Austin Spurs] — Recalled January 17th
- January 27th: Assigned Edy Tavares (6th) [Austin Spurs] — Recalled February 1st
- February 8th: Assigned Edy Tavares (7th) [Austin Spurs] — Recalled February 12th
- February 26th: Assigned Lamar Patterson (4th) [Austin Spurs] — Recalled February 28th
- February 26th: Assigned Edy Tavares (8th) [Austin Spurs] — Recalled February 28th
- March 1st: Assigned Lamar Patterson (5th) [Canton Charge] — Recalled March 25th
- March 2nd: Assigned Edy Tavares (9th) [Bakersfield Jam] — Recalled March 4th
- March 6th: Assigned Edy Tavares (10th) [Austin Spurs]
- March 29th: Assigned Lamar Patterson (6th) [Austin Spurs]
Here is how the Hawks’ players performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:
- Tim Hardaway Jr. — In five combined appearances, the shooting guard averaged 18.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 26.9 minutes per contest. His shooting line on the season is .413/.324/.882.
- Lamar Patterson — In 19 combined appearances, Patterson notched averages of 12.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 26.9 minutes per night. The swingman’s slash line is .432/.257/.783.
- Edy Tavares — In 29 combined appearances, the center averaged 9.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 3.3 blocks in 21.6 minutes per outing. His slash line is .652/.000/.707.
Atlantic Notes: Colangelo, Rozier, Raptors
New Sixers executive Bryan Colangelo believes that instilling the right culture is just as vital as finding talent in building an organization, pointing to the success that the Spurs have had using that formula, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “You win with talent,” Colangelo said. “But you also win with talent plus chemistry plus culture. Those are all the things that are put in place here and that we really look forward to building.” The executive said he would pick the brain of coach Brett Brown, who was a longtime assistant coach with San Antonio, for tips on how that franchise operated, Pompey adds. “I want to know more about that San Antonio … perhaps we can call it that secret sauce,” Colangelo said. “What creates that environment? I can tell you that, over the years, I understand a lot of what drove that was their thought process, but also the type of people that they had involved.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Celtics rookie Terry Rozier has impressed many around the league with his rebounding ability and he hopes to garner more playing time from the exposure, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com writes. “I think it’s a start. I think I can impact the game in a lot of ways and I appreciate a lot of people saying I’m getting better,” said Rozier. “I just feel I’m getting more comfortable. I know I’m capable of a lot of things [and] rebounding is definitely one of them. So if that’s going to help me get me in the game, help me with playing time, help this team out, then I’m all for it. It’s something that I’m always going to do, it’s an effort thing. It’s always going to be in me.” The 6’2″ point guard is averaging 1.6 rebounds in just 8.0 minutes per appearance on the campaign.
- Raptors coach Dwane Casey believes his roster is better constructed to advance in the playoffs than previous seasons, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com relays (ESPN Now link). “I am not predicting what we will do differently but … physically, we are better built for the playoffs with Bismack Biyombo, Cory Joseph, DeMarre Carroll is coming back,”Casey said. “Last year, we were a strictly offensive-driven team with Greivis Vasquez and Lou Williams, who were great one-on-one offensive players but didn’t give it to us on the defensive end with the physicality. But we still have to go out there and do it … Everybody is curious and anxious [about how the Raptors will do]. A different feel with this year’s team [is we are] more confident in the grittiness and toughness of our team.“