Suns To Hire David Fizdale As Assistant Coach
The Suns are adding former Grizzlies and Knicks head coach David Fizdale to be an assistant on Frank Vogel‘s coaching staff, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
According to Wojnarowski, Phoenix made a “significant financial play” to lure Fizdale away from his current position as associate general manager of the Jazz. John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, who first reported that Fizdale was a prime candidate to join Vogel in Phoenix, hears that Fizdale tripled his salary and will be making in the range of $1.2-1.5MM annually (Twitter link).
Gambadoro writes that Fizdale was happy with his job in Utah, but enjoyed working with Vogel after spending the 2021/22 season on his staff with the Lakers. Wojnarowski notes that Fizdale also has experience with Suns president of basketball operations and GM James Jones, as they spent several years together in Miami when Jones was a player, winning a couple of championships.
Fizdale, who played college ball at San Diego from 1992-96, became an assistant coach at his alma mater in 1998. He made the transition to the NBA in 2003 and served as an assistant coach for the Warriors, Hawks, and Heat before being hired as the head coach of the Grizzlies in 2016. The 48-year-old had brief head coaching stints in Memphis and New York, compiling a 71-134 record (.346 winning percentage) and making one playoff appearance.
Kenny Atkinson A Finalist For Raptors’ Coaching Job?
Kenny Atkinson, who is currently an assistant coach with the Warriors, recently traveled to Toronto for an in-person interview for the Raptors‘ head coaching job, reports Marc Stein at Substack.
A longtime NBA assistant who has spent time with the Knicks, Hawks and Clippers, Atkinson was the head coach of the Nets from 2016-20, accruing a 118-190 record (.383) over parts of four seasons. He has been with the Warriors for the past two seasons.
The Nets improved their win total in each of Atkinson’s first three seasons, making the playoffs in ’18/19. Known as a player development guru, the 55-year-old had a verbal agreement to become Charlotte’s head coach last offseason, but backed out of the arrangement before it was finalized, citing family considerations as a factor in his decision.
Atkinson was a finalist for Milwaukee’s coaching vacancy, which ultimately went to Adrian Griffin, and also interviewed or was expected to interview this spring for the previous openings in Houston and Phoenix.
The Raptors have been very secretive about their search for a new lead coach this offseason after dismissing Nick Nurse. However, they are reportedly in the final stages of interviews and are expected to hire a new coach relatively soon.
According to Stein, since Atkinson interviewed at this juncture, he’s believed to join a group of finalists that includes Virtus Bologna head coach Sergio Scariolo, Kings associate head coach Jordi Fernandez, and Grizzlies assistant Darko Rajakovic. Sources tell Stein that Scariolo’s second interview was set for “as early as Monday,” though it isn’t clear if he’ll be traveling to Toronto, since his Italian team is about to begin its championship series Friday.
As Stein writes, there’s no real consensus about which coach the Raptors might favor. Some view Scariolo as the frontrunner due to his ties to the organization, having served as an assistant under Nurse for three seasons, but Stein hears Fernandez is also a “name to watch.”
Clippers Promote Redden To GM, Hughes To Senior Vice President
1:10pm: The two promotions are now official, the Clippers announced (Twitter link via Greif).
12:36pm: After Michael Winger was hired away by the Wizards to be their new president, the Clippers have decided to promote Trent Redden to take his place as general manager, a league source tells Andrew Greif of The Los Angles Times.
Marc Stein reported at Substack over the weekend that Redden was a “strong candidate” to be promoted.
Redden has been an assistant GM with the Clippers since 2017. He previously worked with the Cavaliers for 11 seasons, winning a title as assistant GM with Cleveland in 2016.
Another assistant GM who joined Los Angeles at the same time, Mark Hughes, will also be receiving a promotion, with a new title of senior vice president as well as assistant GM, reports Greif.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski confirms the news, adding that both Redden and Hughes will continue to report to president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank. Redden has been a key strategist and talent evaluator for the Clippers, while Hughes is known for his leadership and scouting abilities, according to Wojnarowski, who notes both front office members have drawn interest from rival teams in the past.
Hughes has a diverse basketball background. A former international player, Hughes also played and coached in the Continental Basketball Association before becoming an NBA assistant coach with the Magic and Kings.
He then transitioned to a scouting role with the Knicks, later receiving a promotion to director of player personnel. He spent 10 seasons with New York (2007-17).
Celtics Notes: Stevens, Playoff Exit, Brown, Pritchard
It certainly doesn’t sound like the Celtics will be making a change to their core, as president of basketball operations Brad Stevens told Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston that he’s a firm believer in the team’s “foundation.” It’s a lengthy interview with several other insights from Stevens.
“I really believe in our foundation,” Stevens said. “It’s really hard to be in the mix in this league. The competition is great. Sometimes things have to go your way, and sometimes they do. But you’ve got to do everything you can to take the luck out.”
“Listen, we didn’t have a great playoff run in whole,” Stevens added. “And we certainly were outplayed for the better part of that Miami series, even though it went seven games. So we have a lot of work to do. But it doesn’t mean that we need to mistake activity for achievement. For my seat, I think we have to understand what’s really good and how hard it is to have a foundation, and then figure out how to build off of it.”
Here’s more on the Celtics:
- Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer takes the opposite approach, arguing that they can’t run back the same group and need to make some big changes, including trading Jaylen Brown, whose poor ball-handling was a glaring issue in the Celtics’ Game 7 blowout vs. Miami.
- Although it could be costly, Stevens seems committed to keeping Brown, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Brown is eligible for a super-max contract after earning All-NBA honors this year, which could eventually subject the Celtics to some of the harsher provisions in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. “I can say without a doubt we want Jaylen to be here, he’s a big part of us, we believe in him and I’m thankful for him,” Stevens said. “I’m really thankful for when guys have success, they come back to work. When they get beat, they own it and they come back to work.”
- Stevens also addressed the situation involving Payton Pritchard, who was unhappy with his playing time this season and expressed disappointment after not being traded before the deadline in February, Weiss adds (Twitter link). Stevens said other teams recognize that Pritchard is a talented player who is stuck behind established veterans, but he didn’t promise to pursue a trade this summer.
Kevin Young To Remain With Suns; Will Be Highest-Paid Assistant
Associate head coach Kevin Young plans to remain with the Suns under new head coach Frank Vogel, and he will be getting a new contract that will make him the highest-paid assistant in the league, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Young will earn more than $2MM per year in the role, according to Wojnarowski, who notes that Phoenix was determined to keep the veteran assistant rather than having him join Monty Williams in Detroit.
Young had been a finalist for the head coaching job along with Vogel and Doc Rivers, with the position ultimately going to Vogel.
Young also interviewed for the vacancies in Houston, Toronto and Milwaukee this spring. The Raptors’ coaching search is still ongoing, but it seems Young is no longer a candidate.
The 41-year-old has been with Phoenix since 2020 as an assistant under Williams, who was fired after a second consecutive second-round playoff ouster. Young was also an assistant with Philadelphia from 2016-20.
Draft Workouts: S. Henderson, Blazers, Howard, Nowell, Roberts
The Trail Blazers, who control the No. 3 overall pick, are holding a pre-draft workout Saturday with G League Ignite guard Scoot Henderson, a projected top-three pick, tweets Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report.
Henderson has said in the past he thinks he’d be a good fit alongside Damian Lillard and he reiterated that again today, according to Aaron J. Fentress of The Oregonian (Twitter link).
Recent mocks have Henderson, who was a candidate for No. 1 overall at one point before Victor Wembanyama went to a different level this season, going No. 3 to Portland, with Alabama’s Brandon Miller going to Charlotte at No. 2.
Highkin recently said he thought the Blazers would trade their pick for an established star player, mentioning Jaylen Brown and Pascal Siakam.
Here are a few more 2023 NBA draft-related notes ahead of June 22:
- Michigan wing Jett Howard will work out for the Magic Saturday, per Cody Taylor of Rookie Wire (Twitter link). The Magic control the Nos. 6, 11 and 36 picks in the draft, while Howard is currently ranked No. 17 on ESPN’s big board. The son of Juwan Howard, Jett is thought to be one of the better shooters in the draft.
- Kansas State guard Markquis Nowell has workouts lined up with the Mavericks, Pacers, Suns and Clippers. He also worked out for the Jazz and Wizards the past couple days, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). The 5’8″ Nowell had a memorable performance in the NCAA tournament for the Wildcats, averaging 23.5 points, 13.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 4.0 steals on .446/.419/.920 shooting in four games (40.0 MPG) en route to the Elite Eight.
- Georgia guard Terry Roberts worked out for the Nets this week and had a previous workout with the Rockets, a league source tells Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com (Twitter link). Roberts had previous experience with Florida SouthWestern State College and Bradley before playing for the Bulldogs as a senior.
Nets To Hire Kevin Ollie As Assistant Coach
The Nets plan to hire Kevin Ollie as an assistant coach, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter).
Ollie was a finalist for the Pistons’ head coaching vacancy, but the team ultimately convinced former Suns coach Monty Williams to take the job. Ollie was said to be a favorite of Detroit’s general manager, Troy Weaver.
A former NBA journeyman guard who played for 11 different teams in his 13 seasons, Ollie began his coaching career after retiring as a player in 2010. He was the head coach at UConn from 2012-18 and won a national title with the Huskies in 2014 but lost his job after the NCAA opened an investigation into UConn and its coaches for recruiting violations.
More recently, Ollie was the head coach of the Overtime Elite program for two years, beginning in 2021. He issued a statement in March announcing that he was leaving that position.
Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn decided to make some changes to his staff last month, letting go of three assistants. Vaughn was named interim head coach when Brooklyn fired Steve Nash after a 2-5 start, later receiving a multiyear deal while having the interim tag removed. Ollie will be one of his new additions.
Western Notes: Gordon, Nuggets, Booth, Cooper, Spurs
Aaron Gordon‘s siblings noticed a positive change in his focus, demeanor and approach last offseason after the Nuggets were eliminated in their first-round playoff series against the Warriors, they told Marc J. Spears of Andscape. The 27-year-old responded with a career year.
As the team’s best defensive player, Gordon is often given the unenviable task of attempting to slow down the world’s best scorers. He limited Heat star Jimmy Butler to just two field goal attempts in 34 half-court possessions during Denver’s Game 1 victory, per Spears. Butler finished with his fewest points scored (13 on 6-of-14 shooting) since March 29, Spears adds.
Gordon, who had 12 points (on 6-of-8 shooting) and four rebounds in the first quarter en route to a lead the Nuggets would never relinquish, says he isn’t interested in anything but winning.
“I’m not here for the credit. I’m here for the wins,” Gordon said in the post-game presser. “Playing with guys like the guys that are on this team is just a blessing. It’s a beautiful opportunity to play with guys on the team that have so much talent, have so much skill and have so much passion for the game of basketball.
“That’s what I’ve always loved is to play the right way of basketball, and we do that here. I don’t care if I score 50 or 0, as long as I’m helping impact the game and we’re winning.”
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- In another story for Andscape, Spears details general manager Calvin Booth‘s influence on the Nuggets reaching the NBA Finals. “It’s pretty well known now the guys he brought in are a huge part of the reason why we’re in the Finals,” forward Michael Porter Jr. said. “Obviously, KCP (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope) and Bruce (Brown) being two of those guys. But really the vets, too, as much as the guys on the floor, are contributing to us winning, like DJ (DeAndre Jordan), Jeff (Green), Ish (Smith), Reggie (Jackson). Those guys’ attitude and their leadership is just part of the reason why we’re doing so well. It’s really just finding a group of guys that mesh in the locker room is a big part of winning. Calvin did a great job of that.“
- The Timberwolves are hosting a free agent camp on June 14 and 15, reports Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News and Skor North (via Twitter). One former NBA player who will be present is guard Sharife Cooper, who spent his rookie season in 2021/22 with the Hawks. Cooper played for the Cavs’ G League affiliate, the Cleveland Charge, this past season, averaging 21.3 PPG, 6.3 APG and 3.8 RPG on .431/.316/.853 shooting in 25 regular season games (32.5 MPG).
- As Mike Vorukov of The Athletic writes, the Spurs were the only NBA team in ’22/23 to finish below the league’s salary cap floor, coming in at about $14MM under the threshold. Because that amount is then distributed to the players, each member of the roster will be getting a check for more than $700K, sources tell Vorkunov. San Antonio might be the last team to go under the salary floor for quite a while, Vorkunov adds, since the new CBA penalizes teams for not spending enough.
- LJ Ellis of SpursTalk.com recently took a look at San Antonio’s roster following the news that Victor Wembanyama will be in the fold. Ellis likes the fit between Wembanyama and big man Zach Collins, but thinks the Spurs will likely wait to see how they play together before contemplating a possible extension for Collins.
Bucks Rumors: Griffin, Borrego, Stotts, Assistants
Although he has yet to officially put pen to paper, new head coach Adrian Griffin has already been with the Bucks for the past week as they prepare for the draft and offseason, according to Eric Nehm and Shams Charania of The Athletic, who report that Griffin will receive a multiyear deal worth about $4MM annually.
As Nehm and Charania write, Griffin holds experience as a player and was an assistant for 15 seasons, but he’s a first-time head coach. That means assistant coaches with head coaching experience might be prioritized.
Former Hornets head coach James Borrego and former Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts are a couple of names to watch, per Nehm and Charania. The Athletic’s duo notes that Griffin had defensive game plan responsibilities with Toronto, so it would make sense to complement him with offensive coaches.
Borrego, who was actually expected to interview for Milwaukee’s job, interviewed for the coaching vacancy in Houston and was reportedly a finalist before the Rockets decided to hire Ime Udoka. He has also been linked to assistant jobs in Brooklyn and Dallas.
Stotts, who was with Portland for nine years (2012-21), has interviewed for head coaching jobs since he was fired and has been rumored to be a candidate for other teams as an assistant, including the Mavs.
As Nehm and Charania detail, a few Bucks assistant coaches have already announced they’re leaving the organization following Mike Budenholzer‘s dismissal, but the fates of several others remain up in the air even though they’re currently employed. According to The Athletic, GM Jon Horst acknowledged that the coaching staff was in flux last month, with more assistants possibly finding opportunities elsewhere.
“I have a ton of respect for all of this group,” Horst said. “I think we have one of the best supporting coaching groups in the NBA and I would hope if they’re still with us when we make the next hire, that they’ll get consideration from that hire. That’ll be part of that process.
“I also expect a number of these guys will have other opportunities across the league. And if they do, I have great relationships with everyone, we’ll have an open line of communication as we already do and I’ll support them in that way too.”
Draft Notes: Mocks, B. Miller, Thompson Twins, J. Powell
Following the NCAA’s early entrant withdrawal deadline Wednesday night, Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com updated his top-100 prospects list, adding 17 players based on who remains eligible.
Three players at three different positions — Duke center Dereck Lively II, Metropolitans 92 wing Bilal Coulibaly, and Santa Clara guard Brandin Podziemski — have seen their stock go up over the past few months.
Lively, who was ranked No. 25 on ESPN’s list on May 20, is up to No. 12 overall and goes 14th overall in Givony’s updated 2023 mock draft with Jeremy Woo of ESPN (Insider link). Lively is picked 12th overall in Jonathan Wasserman’s latest mock for Bleacher Report.
A former top high school recruit, Lively had a very narrow offensive role for the Blue Devils, attempting just 3.4 field goals (65.8 FG%) per game and averaging 5.2 points in 34 contests (27 starts, 20.6 minutes). However, he’s an active 7’1″ center who averaged 2.4 blocks as well, making him one of the top rim protectors in a class without many true big men beyond Victor Wembanyama. Lively also impressed during his pro day, per ESPN and Bleacher Report.
Coulibaly is Wembanyama’s teammate with French club Metropolitans 92, and he’s one of the youngest early entrants. Coulibaly, who turns 19 in late July, is considered a strong athlete who has two-way potential, according to Wasserman, who says there are rumors the guard/forward might have a lottery promise, with teams in the late lottery showing interest (he has Coulibaly going 13th to the Raptors).
Coulibaly’s range might be a bit wider than that though — he goes 21st in ESPN’s mock and is ranked No. 22 on their board. Woo writes that Coulibaly has shown flashes, but it’s a small sample size and he has improved his stock by helping the team win in France’s LNB Pro A, as opposed to private and public workouts for college prospects. Coulibaly was No. 26 on ESPN’s list when he declared as an early entrant in April, so he has improved either way.
Lastly, Podziemski was No. 39 on ESPN when he declared in late March (No. 20 at Bleacher Report). He’s up to No. 27 overall at ESPN now thanks to a strong combine appearance, while Wasserman reports that the Rockets (No. 20) like the combo guard’s “creativity, shot-making and playmaking.” Wasserman says Podziemski could go as early as the late teens.
Here are a few more draft notes:
- Sources tell Wasserman that some members of the Hornets‘ front office view Brandon Miller as a “star wing.” That’s not exactly surprising, as he’s No. 2 prospect on both mock drafts now, but noteworthy that he goes before Scoot Henderson (No. 3).
- Wasserman has also heard from sources who say Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson, twin brothers from Overtime Elite, are both getting “heavy consideration” from the Rockets at No. 4. Although both Wasserman and Woo have Amen going to Houston, Woo notes that with rumors of James Harden possibly returning to the Rockets, it might not make sense for them to draft another guard.
- Washtington State guard Justin Powell has had workouts with the Knicks and Thunder, and has upcoming workouts with the Bulls, Cavaliers, Sixers and Hawks, tweets Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com. Zagoria previously reported Powell had worked out for four other teams.