Kenny Atkinson Frontrunner For Hornets’ Coaching Job
Kenny Atkinson is the frontrunner to land the Hornets‘ head coaching job, according to Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic, who report that the Warriors assistant will soon have another meeting with Hornets team officials. It’ll be Atkinson’s third meeting with Charlotte and the first one with team owner Michael Jordan in attendance, per The Athletic’s duo.
Mike D’Antoni and Terry Stotts are among the other candidates still in play for the Hornets’ head coaching vacancy, though neither of them has been invited to meet with Jordan so far, sources tell The Athletic. It’s possible that could change in the coming days.
Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report stated earlier this week that Atkinson and D’Antoni are among Charlotte’s finalists to replace James Borrego, noting at the time that Atkinson’s candidacy had gained momentum in recent weeks but D’Antoni was still believed to be favored by Jordan. Marc Stein reported today that he continues to hear the Hornets are likely to choose between Atkinson and D’Antoni.
The Hornets believe they’re on the verge of being a playoff team and want a head coach who will help the club take the next step, as well as providing “development and defensive structure” for key players like LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges, per Charania and Amick.
Hornets president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak has led the team’s head coaching search after recently signing a two-year contract extension. That deal features a trigger allowing him to transition to a consulting role if and when he wants to do so, sources tell The Athletic.
The Warriors have already lost one key member of Steve Kerr‘s staff this spring, as Mike Brown agreed to become the new head coach in Sacramento. If Atkinson departs for Charlotte, Golden State will be down a pair of top assistants.
Stein’s Latest: Portis, J. Howard, Lakers, Celtics, Hornets
Bucks forward/center Bobby Portis has the ability to become an unrestricted free agent this summer by turning down his $4.56MM player option for 2022/23. However, Marc Stein reports in his latest Substack article that some teams with interest in Portis are extremely pessimistic about their chances of luring the veteran out of Milwaukee.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Portis will exercise his player option. Because he has spent the last two seasons with the Bucks, they now hold his Early Bird rights and would be able to offer him a raise if he opts out. There’s an expectation that Portis will sign a multiyear deal with Milwaukee if he declines his option, according to Stein.
Assuming the Bucks use Portis’ Early Bird rights to re-sign him, they’ll have to offer him a deal covering at least two seasons, since Early Bird contracts can’t be for just one year. They can also offer up to 105% of the league-average salary from the previous season — that should result in a maximum starting salary in the vicinity of $11MM.
Here’s more from Stein:
- Based on the rumors circulating in coaching circles, it sounds as if Juwan Howard was the Lakers‘ preferred candidate in their head coaching search, according to Stein. Los Angeles made such “strong overtures” to Howard that it appeared the team preferred him to other long-shot targets like Quin Snyder and Doc Rivers and was willing to offer him the job if he wanted it, Stein adds. Howard wasn’t interested in leaving the University of Michigan, and L.A. ultimately hired Darvin Ham.
- The Celtics also had strong interest in Howard a year ago after Brad Stevens moved from the sidelines to the front office and before the team hired Ime Udoka, says Stein. The Lakers will be hoping their new hire works out as well as Udoka has in Boston.
- Stein continues to hear that the Hornets are likely to choose between Mike D’Antoni and Kenny Atkinson as they near the end of their head coaching search. D’Antoni and Atkinson were previously identified as finalists for the job, but it wasn’t clear if they were the only candidates still in play.
Lance Stephenson Underwent Knee Surgery After Season
Pacers wing Lance Stephenson underwent surgery on his right knee in Chicago sometime after the team’s season ended in April, league sources tell Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. According to Agness, the procedure removed “a few loose particles” from the knee.
Stephenson’s exact recovery timeline is unclear, but he’s already back on the floor taking shots, Agness says, so it sounds like the veteran should be ready to go by the time training camp rolls around in the fall, barring any setbacks.
Following a 10-day stint with Atlanta in December, Stephenson signed a series of 10-day contracts with Indiana in January, then finalized a rest-of-season deal with the club in February. The 31-year-old appeared in a total of 40 games for Indiana, averaging 9.3 PPG, 3.9 APG, and 2.8 RPG on .458/.310/.795 shooting in 18.6 minutes per contest.
Stephenson will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, but he and the Pacers have mutual interest in a new deal, sources tell Agness. The former second-round pick has had three separate stints with the Pacers and has become a fan favorite over the years in Indiana. A report in April suggested he’d like to spend the rest of his career with the team.
Atlantic Notes: White, Smart, Sixers, Anunoby, Raptors
Like longtime Celtics Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart, former Spurs guard Derrick White was a member of the USA Basketball team that played in the 2019 FIBA World Cup. As Joe Vardon of The Athletic writes, the training camp for that World Cup represented the first time that Smart met White, who is now playing a key role for Boston as the team seeks a championship.
“We knew that Derrick understood the game, the way he plays,” Smart said on Thursday, revisiting their first meeting. “Watching him play before we got to USA reminded myself a little bit of me. So, just instantly off the bat, I loved the way he played.”
While Team USA had a disappointing run at the 2019 World Cup, finishing in seventh place, White and Smart are having more success as Celtics teammates. Boston is now just three wins away from a title after White, acquired in a deadline deal in February, played a key role in Thursday’s Game 1 win with 21 points and five three-pointers.
“Every day he’s done something new to make you go, ‘That’s why he’s here,'” Smart said of his fellow guard.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Smart was no longer listed on the Celtics‘ injury report for Game 1 on Thursday, but that doesn’t mean his right ankle sprain has fully healed. “The ankle is a pretty serious injury,” Smart said on Wednesday when asked about it (Twitter link via Jared Weiss of The Athletic). “I’m thankful to let alone play and still be walking. It hurt, but my mama always told me if you’re gonna play, you can’t make no excuses.”
- Now that they know they’ll have the No. 23 pick in this year’s draft rather than sending it to Brooklyn, the Sixers can focus on what to do with that selection. Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice identifies five draft prospects who would make sense as potential targets if Philadelphia hangs onto the pick.
- In a Twitter thread, Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca explains why he believes the Raptors are extremely unlikely to trade OG Anunoby this summer, despite rumors that he could be available.
- Gabe Brown (Michigan State), Marcus Bingham (Michigan State), Trent Frazier (Illinois), and JD Notae (Arkansas) are among the prospects who worked out for the Raptors earlier this week, according to reports from Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com and Brandon Simberg of Busting Brackets (Twitter links).
Wizards Have Interest In Shane Larkin
Veteran point guard Shane Larkin is drawing serious interest from the Wizards, according to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com.
A first-round pick out of Miami in 2013, Larkin spent his first three professional seasons in the NBA with Dallas, New York, and Brooklyn, then played for Baskonia in Spain for a year before returning stateside and joining the Celtics for the 2017/18 season. After playing a minor role in Boston, Larkin headed back overseas and has spent the last several years in Turkey playing for Anadolu Efes.
Although he was primarily a reserve in the NBA, starting 41 of his 256 regular season games, Larkin has emerged as a star in Europe. The 29-year-old made the All-EuroLeague Second Team in 2021 and the All-EuroLeague First Team in 2022 and won consecutive EuroLeague titles. He ranked in the league’s top five this season in points (14.7), assists (5.3), and three-pointers (2.4) per game.
According to Urbonas, Larkin’s current team – Anadolu Efes – is making an effort to retain him and is offering a salary similar to what he has made in each of the last two seasons. Sources tell BasketNews that’s around €3.2MM, which currently converts to about $3.43MM.
Larkin said in 2020 that he wouldn’t return to the NBA to be a team’s third point guard, and spoke more recently about being happy to remain overseas and play a starring role in front of passionate European fans. So if the Wizards are serious about signing him, the salary and the role they offer will have to reflect that.
Washington is in the market for help at point guard after last summer’s acquisition of Spencer Dinwiddie didn’t work out. Ish Smith, who has a non-guaranteed $4.7MM salary for 2022/23, is the only point guard currently under contract with the Wizards.
Larkin’s backcourt partner in Istanbul, Vasilije Micic, is also reportedly considering a move to the NBA.
Warriors Notes: Iguodala, Payton, Porter, Front Office
Warriors wing Andre Iguodala isn’t prepared to say whether or not he intends to continue his NBA career beyond this season, writes Mark Medina of NBA.com.
“We’ll wait until we see how it ends. It can go either way with wins or losses,” Iguodala told Medina. “I know my answer. But I don’t want to put it out in the world. I don’t want to get in trouble.”
Due to a left cervical disc injury, Iguodala hasn’t seen any action since Game 4 of the Warriors’ first-round series vs. Denver. He made it through practice on Wednesday without restrictions and said he’s “doing everything I need to do around the clock” in an effort to be available for the NBA Finals, according to Medina.
For now, Iguodala is listed as questionable for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, as are Gary Payton II (left elbow fracture) and Otto Porter Jr. (left foot soreness), per Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link). Like Iguodala, Payton and Porter took contact in Wednesday’s practice. The Warriors will announce closer to game time whether the three veterans will be active for Thursday’s contest.
Here’s more on the Warriors:
- In an interesting story for The Athletic, Anthony Slater and Marcus Thompson II examine some of the new additions the Warriors have made to their front office in recent years and the role those individuals played in many of the moves that have worked out for the team. Executive director of basketball analytics Pabail Sidhu, for instance, leads the team’s “refurbished” analytics department that identified Porter and Nemanja Bjelica as preferred free agent targets last summer.
- Speaking to Marc J. Spears of Andscape, Draymond Green expressed appreciation for the opportunity to once again be playing in the NBA Finals after two tough seasons. “I have a much larger appreciation for it now than I did (from 2015-19) because it was kind of all I knew,” Green said.
- Tim Kawakami of The Athletic and ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne (Insider link) revisit two trades that played important parts in getting the Warriors to where they are today: the 2019 sign-and-trade acquisition of D’Angelo Russell, and the subsequent deal that flipped Russell to Minnesota for Andrew Wiggins and the first-round pick that became Jonathan Kuminga. If Golden State hadn’t turned Kevin Durant‘s departure for Brooklyn into a sign-and-trade deal for Russell, the team would’ve lost a maximum-salary slot and that second trade for Wiggins wouldn’t have been possible.
- In case you missed it, Warriors president of basketball operations Bob Myers said the team’s rising payroll won’t impede a new deal for Jordan Poole. Our full story is here.
2022 NBA Offseason Preview: New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans‘ 2021/22 season began on a sour note, as the team revealed at the start of training camp that Zion Williamson was recovering from offseason foot surgery, then proceeded to get off to a 1-12 start in the regular season.
Williamson experienced multiple setbacks in his rehab process and ultimately sat out the entire season, but the Pelicans turned their year around without him. Steady production from vets like Brandon Ingram and Jonas Valanciunas, along with impressive contributions from rookies Herbert Jones and Jose Alvarado, helped New Orleans climb back into play-in contention by the trade deadline, at which point the club took a big swing and acquired CJ McCollum and Larry Nance Jr. from Portland.
Nance spent most of the rest of the season recovering from knee surgery, but McCollum thrived in New Orleans, emerging as the team’s leading scorer in the second half and helping to lead the Pelicans to the play-in tournament, where they won a pair of do-or-die contests and earned the No. 8 seed. They even gave the 64-win Suns a scare in the first round, pushing the series to six games.
Given how well they played even without the former No. 1 overall pick available, the Pelicans have reason to be bullish about their future. With Williamson on track to return next season and an excess of valuable future draft assets – including this year’s No. 8 overall pick – still available, New Orleans appears to be on the rise.
The Pelicans’ Offseason Plan:
Few teams have as little work to do on their 2022/23 roster as the Pelicans. Of the 15 players who finished the season on standard deals with New Orleans, 14 are under contract for next season. The only free agent, Tony Snell, probably isn’t part of the team’s plans going forward.
That doesn’t mean the front office can just sit back and enjoy a lengthy summer vacation, of course. The Pelicans still have a handful of big decisions to make, starting with how aggressively to pursue an offseason extension for Williamson.
No player has ever turned down a five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension, and Zion probably won’t become the first. But the Pelicans likely won’t feel comfortable putting that offer on the table, even if Williamson’s on-court performance warrants it. He has simply missed too much time due to injuries in his first three seasons for the team to be confident that he’ll be healthy going forward. So it’s no surprise that team ownership is reportedly reluctant to offer a fully guaranteed max deal.
The most obvious – and most frequent – comparison for Williamson is Joel Embiid, who signed a five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension with Philadelphia after appearing in just 31 games across his first three NBA seasons. That contract included injury protection language, giving the Sixers an exit ramp to waive Embiid and save nearly half his full guarantee if he continued to battle the types of injuries that sidelined him in his first three years.
On the surface, a similar arrangement makes sense for Williamson and the Pelicans. As long as Zion doesn’t continue to suffer major injuries, there’s no reason New Orleans would want to cut him, so he’d have a good chance to earn his full guarantee and max out his earnings. In the worst-case scenario, if his career is derailed by injuries, he could still potentially secure upwards of $80-100MM if the Pelicans are willing to guarantee half the contract.
As logical as that compromise may be, it’s a fine line to walk for the Pelicans, who have heard whispers ever since drafting Williamson in 2019 that he might not want to remain in New Orleans long-term. While Zion himself has never suggested he wants to be anywhere else, the franchise won’t want to risk alienating him by low-balling him in terms of guaranteed money.
There’s no doubt that trade speculation will begin to heat up if the Pelicans and Williamson can’t work out an agreement this summer, but the team should be prepared to exercise patience. Zion is under contract for next season and would be a restricted free agent in 2023, so New Orleans still controls this process. Unless Williamson makes a nuclear, Ben Simmons-esque trade demand, there will be plenty of time beyond this offseason for the two sides to find a resolution — and plenty of time for Zion to get back on the court and boost his trade value, if he eventually decides he wants out.
Outside of Williamson, three other Pelicans are eligible for extensions this offseason: McCollum, Nance, and Jaxson Hayes.
McCollum is under contract for two more seasons, so I wouldn’t expect the club to approach those negotiations with tremendous urgency. I’d also be a little surprised to see Hayes get a new deal — he did well as a power forward alongside Valanciunas this season, but the team will still want to see how he fits in once Williamson is back, and his legal issues complicate matters. Nance could actually be the best candidate of the three for an extension, given his track record, his versatility, and his reasonable price point.
The Pelicans also figure to explore the trade market in search of an upgrade on the wing or in the backcourt. Devonte’ Graham received a four-year commitment from New Orleans just last summer, but had an up-and-down season and saw his role change following the acquisition of McCollum and emergence of Alvarado. He’ll likely be expendable in the right deal.
Of course, the No. 8 overall pick, which the Pelicans acquired from the Lakers, will be a fascinating asset to monitor. New Orleans should be able to secure a pretty talented prospect at that spot in the lottery if the team hangs onto the pick, but it would also be a valuable trade chip to attach to Graham and/or other veterans on the trade market.
My best guess for now is that the Pelicans would rather hang onto that pick and add one more promising youngster to their core while dipping into their stash of future first-rounders for any win-now trades. But if the right player is attainable on the trade market, the front office should be willing to let the No. 8 selection go.
Salary Cap Situation
Note: Our salary cap figures are based on the league’s latest projection ($122MM) for 2022/23.
Guaranteed Salary
CJ McCollum ($33,333,333)- Brandon Ingram ($31,650,600)
- Jonas Valanciunas ($14,700,000)
- Zion Williamson ($13,534,817)
- Devonte’ Graham ($11,550,000)
- Larry Nance Jr. ($9,672,727)
- Jaxson Hayes ($6,803,012)
- Garrett Temple ($5,155,500)
- Kira Lewis ($4,004,280)
- Trey Murphy ($3,206,520)
- Willy Hernangomez ($2,443,581)
- Herbert Jones ($1,785,000)
- Naji Marshall ($1,782,621)
- Jose Alvarado ($1,100,000) — Partial guarantee. Rest of salary is noted in non-guaranteed section below.
- Total: $140,721,991
Player Options
- None
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Jose Alvarado ($463,518)
- Total: $463,518
Restricted Free Agents
- None
Two-Way Free Agents
- Gary Clark ($1,941,833 qualifying offer / $1,941,833 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Jared Harper ($1,616,044 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Total (cap holds): $3,557,877
Draft Picks
- No. 8 overall pick ($5,434,920)
- No. 41 overall pick (no cap hold)
- No. 52 overall pick (no cap hold)
- Total: $5,434,920
Extension-Eligible Players
Note: These are players who are either already eligible for an extension or will become eligible before the 2022/23 season begins.
- Jaxson Hayes (rookie scale)
- CJ McCollum (veteran)
- Larry Nance Jr. (veteran)
- Zion Williamson (rookie scale)
Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds
- Tony Snell ($1,811,516 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- James Nunnally ($1,616,044 cap hold): Non-Bird rights 1
- Total: $3,427,560
Offseason Cap Outlook
With about $141MM in guaranteed salary on their books for next season (assuming Alvarado returns, which is a lock), the Pelicans will be far beyond the projected $122MM cap and are starting to approach the $149MM luxury tax line.
They’ll have to keep that tax cutoff in mind when they consider possible trades and weigh how to fill their final roster spot. Simply bringing back their 14 players currently under contract and using the No. 8 pick on a 15th man would leave them with $2MM+ in breathing room below the tax line.
Cap Exceptions Available
- Taxpayer mid-level exception: $6,392,000 2
- Trade exception: $6,382,262
- Trade exception: $1,786,878
Footnotes
- The cap hold for Nunnally remain on the Pelicans’ books from a prior season because he hasn’t been renounced. He can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.
- This is a projected value. The Pelicans could instead have access to the full mid-level exception ($10,349,000) and bi-annual exception ($4,050,000) if they remain below the tax apron.
Salary and cap information from Basketball Insiders and RealGM was used in the creation of this post.
Myers: Rising Payroll Won’t Keep Warriors From Retaining Poole
With Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andrew Wiggins set to earn a combined $148MM in 2022/23, the Warriors will once again blow by the luxury tax line (projected to be at $149MM) next season and will likely have the NBA’s most expensive roster. However, the rising cost of Golden State’s payroll won’t prevent the team from retaining breakout guard Jordan Poole, president of basketball operations Bob Myers told Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports.
“No, no,” Myers said. “I mean, thankfully (I) work for an ownership group in Joe (Lacob) that has committed all kinds of resources to winning. And I know that because every time I asked him about roster and strategy, it’s always winning.”
The Warriors’ team salary in 2021/22 was approximately $176MM, while their accompanying tax bill is worth $170MM+, meaning the team is spending about $346MM on this year’s roster. Golden State will remain subject to the NBA’s more punitive “repeater” taxpayer penalties as long as its team salary remains above the tax threshold.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Luxury Tax Penalties]
“You don’t need me to tell you what our payroll is. It’s pretty high,” Myers told Goodwill. “So he just wants to win. And we’ve spent a lot and we’ve kept all the players we want to keep, so I don’t see that changing.”
As expensive as the Warriors’ roster is, the organization makes a significant amount of revenue as a result of deep playoff runs like this year’s, as Tim Kawakami of The Athletic has outlined. Retaining key rotation players like Poole will help give Golden State the opportunity to make more of those runs and maximize the earning potential of the Chase Center.
Poole is under contract for one more season, but will be eligible for a contract extension this summer and appears to have made a strong case for a deal worth at least $20-25MM per year. The 22-year-old averaged 18.5 PPG and 4.0 APG in 76 regular season games (30.0 MPG) in 2021/22, and is at 18.4 PPG and 4.5 APG in 16 playoff contests (30.1 MPG).
If Poole signs an offseason extension, it would go into effect in 2023/24, at which point Andrew Wiggins‘ maximum-salary contract would be off the books, which could help lessen the Warriors’ financial burden. Of course, as good as Wiggins has been this year, the team may want to lock him up beyond his current deal too. Based on Myers’ comments, it doesn’t sound like Lacob would say no if the front office believes it’s the right move.
Wizards Notes: J. Davis, Prospect Workouts, Point Guards
The Wizards will host a pair of pre-draft workouts on Thursday, including a solo session for a potential target at No. 10. According to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link), Wisconsin guard Johnny Davis, who is viewed as a potential lottery pick and a viable option for a Washington team in need of backcourt depth, will take part in that solo workout.
Prior to Davis’ audition, the Wizards will host a morning group workout that features Kofi Cockburn (Illinois), Collin Gillespie (Villanova), Quenton Jackson (Texas A&M), Keve Aluma (Virginia Tech), Justin Bean (Utah State), and Marcus Bingham (Michigan State), per Ava Wallace of The Washington Post (Twitter link).
Here’s more on the Wizards:
- In a discussion with Robbins about the Wizards’ possible offseason point guard targets, John Hollinger of The Athletic speculates that Ricky Rubio, Eric Bledsoe, and even John Wall could be among the players Washington shows interest in, assuming Bledsoe and Wall reach free agency. Hollinger also identifies Malcolm Brogdon and Mike Conley as viable options on the trade market, and suggests Tyus Jones would be an ideal fit if he were willing to accept the full mid-level exception.
- In the same Athletic story, Robbins and Hollinger consider potential targets for the Wizards with the No. 10 pick. G League Ignite guard Dyson Daniels should get serious consideration if he’s still available, according to Hollinger, who also identifies Jeremy Sochan and AJ Griffin as logical fits on the wing.
- Maryland guard Eric Ayala, Florida forward Anthony Duruji, Richmond forward Grant Golden, Utah State forward Brandon Horvath, Marquette guard Darryl Morsell, and George Mason swingman D’Shawn Schwartz participated in a pre-draft group workout for the Wizards on Wednesday, according to Robbins (Twitter link).
- Overtime Elite point guard Jean Montero is among the other prospects expected to work out for the Wizards this week, tweets Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington.
Northwest Notes: Blazers, Daniels, Kroenke, Jazz
G League Ignite guard Dyson Daniels was the headliner of the Trail Blazers‘ first pre-draft workout on Tuesday, writes Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. Of the six prospects who auditioned for Portland, Daniels is the only one expected to receive consideration at No. 7, assuming the Blazers keep the pick and he’s still on the board.
Julian Champagnie (St. John’s), Darius Days (LSU), Mouhamed Gueye (Washington State), Fatts Russell (Maryland), and Dallas Walton (Colorado), all of whom are viewed as probable second-round or UDFA prospects, were the other players to work out for the Trail Blazers on Tuesday. In addition to controlling the No. 7 overall pick, Portland also holds the 36th and 57th selections in this month’s draft.
- The media availability for Nuggets governor Josh Kroenke, who is expected to address Tim Connelly‘s departure, was postponed again, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link). Kroenke was originally scheduled to speak last Thursday, then had that session tentatively pushed back to Tuesday after he tested positive for COVID-19. It will likely happen later this week once he clears the health and safety protocols, says Singer.
- The Jazz held a free agent mini-camp on Tuesday, according to our JD Shaw, who notes (via Twitter) that G League standouts Justin Tillman and Craig Randall II were among the attendees.
- Loyola guard Lucas Williamson has a pre-draft workout on tap with the Jazz on Thursday, tweets Tony Jones of The Athletic. Williamson has already worked out for several teams, including the Bucks, Celtics, and Grizzlies, Jones adds.
- Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune proposes 29 hypothetical offseason trades involving the Jazz — one with each of the NBA’s teams.