Western Notes: Warriors, Suns, Nuggets
A few notes from around the NBA's Western Conference.
- Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com tweets that Warriors assistant coach Bob Beyer is going to the Bobcats.
- The Suns could be interested in selecting a point guard with the fifth overall pick in this week's draft, writes AZCentral.com's Paul Coro. The team already has Goran Dragic, who they signed to a four-year deal last summer, and drafted Kendall Marshall with their first round pick last season.
- The Nuggets reached out to Boston over the weekend to discuss making Rivers their head coach by dangling a first round pick, but Rivers had no interest in coaching that team, tweets SI.com's Chris Mannix.
Is Doc Rivers Worth A First Round Pick?
The Clippers and Celtics finally ended their week long back-and-forth negotation deciding the value of Doc Rivers, with the Clippers finally agreeing to give up an unprotected 2015 first-round draft pick. Is Rivers worth that much?
More Notes On Doc Rivers, Clippers
A few more notes related to today's big news: Doc Rivers is leaving the Celtics to coach the Clippers.
- ESPN.com's Marc Stein tweets that the NBA will not change its stance, and that any Kevin Garnett movement will be in violation of CBA rules.
- ESPNLA's Ramona Shelburne tweets that Paul Pierce and Garnett could still become members of the Clippers, but that the league will be watching closely. Also, the Clippers might not be interested in acquiring Garnett or Pierce, as Rivers was their primary goal.
- Yahoo! NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski says before the Clippers accepted Boston's latest offer, Rivers had informed the Celtics he would return to coach them in 2013/14, instead of going back to television.
- CBSSports.com's Ken Berger reports that the agreement in principle comes with the understanding that no subsequent exchange of players can be made between the Clippers and Celtics this summer.
- The News-Herald's Bob Finnan believes the Celtics could make Vinny Del Negro their next head coach.
Draft Notes: Magic, Pistons, Timberwolves
A few more notes on the upcoming NBA draft.
- Holders of the number two pick in the draft, the Magic will host Otto Porter and Cody Zeller in the days ahead, tweets the Orlando Sentinel's Josh Robbins.
- The Pistons will work out former Michigan State center Derrick Nix, according to MLive.com's Diamond Leung.
- The Timberwolves worked out Lehigh's C.J. McCollum on Tuesday and liked what they saw, especially with his ability to shoot and handle the ball like a point guard, reports TwinCities.com's Marcus R. Fuller.
Poll: Who Will Be MVP Of The NBA Finals?
With the Spurs and Heat locked in a back and forth battle for the 2013 NBA title, who do you think will walk away with the MVP trophy in hand?
Odds & Ends: Jackson, Celtics, Spurs
A few random notes from around the league as the Spurs and Heat do battle in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.
- Former Spurs guard Stephen Jackson says he isn't bitter about being waived by the team earlier this season, and maintains he'll land somewhere else this summer, according to Sam Amick of USA Today. Jackson also said three teams called him after he was waived, but wouldn't specify on which did so.
- Tim Healey from WEEI.com wrote a profile of Providence guard Ricky Ledo, and how the scorer who took last season off can help the Celtics, who hold the 16th pick in the upcoming draft.
- Hoopsworld.com's Alex Kennedy reports a rumor that the Spurs will take French forward Livio Jean-Charles in the draft and then allow him to develop overseas for at least one year.
Coaching Notes: Gentry, Sloan, Jackson
A batch of notes regarding the league's never-ending coaching carousel:
- Former Suns head coach Alvin Gentry will interview with the Grizzlies for the second time on Thursday for their open head coaching position, tweets Yahoo! NBA reporter Marc J. Spears.
- Warriors head coach Mark Jackson is not expecting a contract extension to come this summer, despite the team's immense playoff success in his second year on the job, writes MercuryNews.com's Tim Kawakami. Jackson also said that with the departure of top assistant Mike Malone to become head coach of the Kings, last year's assistants Pete Myers and Darren Erman will simply move up the depth chart, and no hiring will take place to replace Malone.
- According to Shams Charania from RealGM.com, Jerry Sloan will continue to consult with the Jazz in an unofficial capacity for the time being. Several of the coaching vacancies that opened up this summer intrigued Sloan, but none were good enough of a fit to bring him out of retirement.
Draft Notes: Nuggets, Wizards, Nets, Jazz
A few notes about the upcoming NBA draft, which, remarkably enough, is only nine days away.
- The Nuggets are scheduled to evaluate six more players in a pre-draft workout on Wednesday, June 19th, according to Aaron J. Lopez from Nuggets.com. It will be their fourth workout before the June 27th draft.
- The Nets are hosting two pre-draft workouts later this week, one on Wednesday and one on Thursday, according to the team's official site. A total of 12 players will be worked out by the team.
- According to their official site, the Wizards will be conducting a workout on Wednesday, with six players expected to be in attendance.
- In search of a point guard, the Jazz worked out Syracuse prospect Michael Carter-Williams, but do not expect Trey Burke to be available with the 14th pick, and thus won't be working him out, according to The Salt Lake Tribune's Steve Luhm.
Grizzlies To Interview Alvin Gentry, George Karl
THURSDAY, 4:07pm: The Grizzlies have an interview lined up with Karl for Monday, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal writes that Karl is very interested in coaching the Grizz.
WEDNESDAY, 6:30pm: The Grizzlies are set to interview former Suns head coach Alvin Gentry on Friday, according to Yahoo! NBA reporter Marc J. Spears. Gentry was contacted by Memphis today and is set to meet with new owner Robert Pera and CEO Jason Levien in Washington D.C.
As was reported earlier today, along with Gentry, former Nuggets coach (and reigning Coach of the Year) George Karl and Bulls assistant coach Ed Pinckney are also being considered for the position.
Gentry has experience as the head coach with several teams, including the Suns, Heat, Clippers, and Pistons. His all-time record is 335-370. According to a tweet from ESPNLA.com's Ramona Shelburne, Gentry is also in the mix with the Nuggets.
Nets Hire Jason Kidd
Jason Kidd will serve as head coach of the Nets next season, according to Yahoo! NBA columnist Adrian Wojnarowski. The story was first reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer's John Mitchell and the hiring was confirmed by the Nets in a Wednesday night press release. Kidd will be introduced to the media in a Thursday press conference.
After much speculation about who would take over for interim lead man P.J. Carlesimo, culminating with a climactic five-hour interview on Wednesday with Pacers assistant coach Brian Shaw, it appears the job will go to Kidd, a future Hall of Fame point guard who spent last season playing for the Knicks.
Kidd's contract will be guaranteed for three years and might include an option on the fourth year. He's currently targeting Lawrence Frank and Tim Grgurich as his top assistants. Kidd has no coaching experience, but the Nets believe the blueprint set by Warriors head coach Mark Jackson, also a successful player who took that job with no experience and led his team to the second round of the playoffs this season, bodes well.
Kidd, a ten-time All-Star, spent six seasons with the Nets and most notably led them to the NBA Finals twice in a row after a lengthy playoff drought. While the Nets were runners-up to the Lakers and Spurs, Kidd finally won a title with the Mavericks in 2011.
It will be interesting to watch how Kidd does for a number of reasons, but the most compelling aspect will be to see how he deals with player discord, given his reputation as a coach killer. Of course, star point guard Deron Williams has been given the same tag by many observers, though he has denied having a hand in Jerry Sloan's retirement in Utah and expressed surprise and disappointment after Avery Johnson was fired in Brooklyn.
Zach Links contributed to this post.