Odds & Ends: Rivers, Saric, Clippers, D-League
While the big talk in the NBA right now is whether Doc Rivers will wind up coaching for the Celtics or Clippers next season, there's always the possibility that he takes the 2013/14 season off. If that's the case, Rivers could go from behind the bench to back behind a microphone, a source tells A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. "You guys (media) have been around Doc long enough to know that's always been something he's talked about," the source said. "So it shouldn't come as a surprise. And frankly, now is probably as good a time as any for him to go that route." Here's more from around the Association..
- One team picking in the lottery promised Dario Saric that they would draft him this year if he guaranteed he'd play in the NBA next year, but he said no, tweets Chad Ford of ESPN.com. Earlier tonight we learned that the Croatian forward will formally withdraw from the draft tomorrow with an eye on the 2014 draft.
- Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld wonders what the next move for the Clippers will be. The Clippers want to be active on the open market, but it's difficult to project how they will fill out their roster with free agents until they’ve taken care of their own players, especially Chris Paul.
- This weekend's D-League tryouts are over, and Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside rounds up the intriguing prospects.
- Before tonight's game, Heat big man Chris Andersen was asked about his thoughts on George Karl's dismissal from the Nuggets. “It’s never a good feeling to get released or get fired, so I can imagine how he feels," the former Nugget said, tweets Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida.
Dario Saric To Withdraw From Draft
Croatian forward Dario Saric will withdraw from the 2013 draft, agent Marc Cornstein told Chad Ford of ESPN.com. Saric has signed his letter of withdrawal and Cornstein will deliver it to the NBA on Monday, the deadline for international players to withdraw.
Saric was ranked at No. 11 Ford's list of prospects and at one point was regarded as a lottery pick by many NBA general managers and scouts. Saric was under serious consideration from the Pelicans, Trail Blazers, 76ers, Thunder, and Mavericks. Even though Mavs GM Donnie Nelson and Pelicans GM Dell Demps flew to Croatia to see Saric play recently, Saric was concerned he wouldn't get playing time in the NBA or would have a lengthy stint in the D-League.
Saric believes that with another season under his belt, he'll secure a higher spot in the draft and a bigger role in the NBA, Cornstein said. On the flip side, Saric will be vying with a much stronger talent class in the 2014 draft.
Central Notes: Cavs, Oladipo, Noel
Here's a look at the latest out of the Central Division..
- The Cavs are seriously considering Alex Len, Anthony Bennett, Ben McLemore, Nerlens Noel, and Otto Porter for the top pick, with Victor Oladipo as a long shot, the Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto writes. While Noel was long thought to be the slam-dunk No. 1 pick, the Cavs' desire to win this year coupled with concerns over his ACL injury have them considering other options.
- Oladipo will work out for the Cavs next week, but he's declined an invitation from the Wizards to work out at their home arena and prefers to have the team audition him at a location of his choosing, reports Michael Lee of The Washington Post. Oladipo's camp doesn't believe the Wizards will draft him third overall.
- Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times shares the heart-wrenching personal saga of second-round hopeful Dwayne Davis, who worked out Saturday for the Bucks. He's also worked out for the Bulls and Suns, and has auditions scheduled with the Warriors and Mavs.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Hoops Links: Cousins, Suns, Rockets, Howard
On this date in 1975, the Bucks traded Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and reserve center Walt Wesley to the Lakers for center Elmore Smith, forward David Meyers, guard Brian Winters and swingman Junior Bridgeman. While Abdul-Jabbar appreciated the fans in Milwaukee, he was much more of a city guy and had requested a deal to either New York or Los Angeles.
Got a fantastic basketball blog piece that you want featured on Hoops Rumors? Send your submissions to HoopsLinks@gmail.com. Here's this week's look around the web..
- Bobcats Baseline asks if Charlotte should trade for DeMarcus Cousins.
- Bright Side Of The Sun celebrates Father's Day, Suns style.
- Red94 delved further into the Dwight Howard–Chris Paul idea.
- Silver Screen And Roll looks at the relationship between Dwight Howard and Mike D'Antoni.
- Hoops Addict marvels at the Chris Bosh disappearing act.
- Pounding The Rock talks games 4 and 5 for the Spurs.
- Blog A Bull likes Tony Mitchell for the Bulls in this year's draft.
- 3SOB weighed in on Lionel Hollins.
- Hardwood Paroxysm goes one-on-one with Rick Barry.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Zach can be reached here.
Clippers Notes: Rivers, Hollins, Shaw
Suddenly, the Clippers offseason has gone from a will he/won't he situation surrounding Chris Paul to much, much more. Will the core of the Celtics franchise pick up a one way ticket out west? Here's more on that and other notes out of L.A…
- The Celtics and Clippers haven't had any conversation today on a potential deal, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). We heard earlier today that the C's want Eric Bledsoe, DeAndre Jordan and at least one future first-round pick in return for Garnett and Rivers. They're also insisting the Clippers take on the contract of either Jason Terry or Courtney Lee.
- Former Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins is not expected to do a second interview for the Clippers' vacant job, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (via Twitter). It's a two-man race for the job between Hollins and Brian Shaw, independent of the Doc Rivers situation. Shaw, however, will do a second interview (link).
- Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links) spoke with a well-placed insider on the talks who cautions not to be surprised if there's no movement on the deal today. He added that until the Clippers hire a coach not named Doc Rivers, or until the Celtics make an official announcement that Doc is staying, this isn't over.
- While a deal makes sense for both sides, the roadblocks in place are substantial, writes Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld.
Hoops Rumors Originals
Here's a look back at the original analysis provided by the Hoops Rumors team this week..
- Chuck Myron previewed the offseason ahead for the Bobcats.
- Cleveland may not be the most desirable free agent destination, but the Cavs have plenty going for them, Luke writes.
- Hoops Rumors readers believe that Nerlens Noel will be the No. 1 overall pick, but its a close tally. Ben McLemore and Otto Porter weren't far behind in the poll.
- Opinions were somewhat split on where Doc Rivers would end up next year with 41% saying Boston and 31% of Hoops Rumors readers forecasting a move to L.A. Almost 20% see him taking the year (and possibly beyond) off.
- Chuck previewed a very important summer in Detroit.
- The Mavs won't settle for an unimpressive offseason like they had in 2012, Luke writes.
- Check out the Hoops Rumors agency database.
- Readers were about 50/50 on whether the Nets should hire Jason Kidd. Later in the week, Mikhail Prokhorov & Co. pulled the trigger on it.
- The Danny Granger storyline will be key to the Pacers' summer, Chuck writes.
Draft Notes: Karasev, Pistons, Knicks, Wolves
Despite talk in recent weeks that teams have been having doubts about Sergey Karasev, it appears that the tide has turned sharply in the other direction. Interest in the Russian swingman has elevated so much from seven teams between the Nos. 9 and 22 picks in the NBA draft, that he will have those organizations fly out to meet him in Europe, league sources told Shams Charania of RealGM. The 19-year-old remains unlikely to leave Russia for any workouts or interviews, but teams have insisted they come sit down with him in Russia, even though he won't work out. Here's the latest draft news..
- The Pistons are likely to go international at some point during the 2013 draft, according to David Mayo of MLive.com. Among international players expected to go in the first round and be available when the Pistons select at No. 8 are German point guard Dennis Schroeder, Karasev, and Greek small forward Giannis Adetokunbo. Detroit is looking hard at international players in the draft, partcicularly with their two second-round picks, with consideration to keeping at least one of their selections stashed overseas next season.
- Steve Popper of the Bergen Record (Sulia link) has the full list of players who have or will work out for the Knicks.
- The Wolves announced that Monday's workout session will feature Trevor Mbakwe, Reggie Bullock, Deshaun Thomas, Carrick Felix, Jason Washburn, and Tony Snell.
Week In Review: 6/10/13 – 6/16/13
The Lakers obviously hope that they can re-sign Dwight Howard this summer, but what will they do in the event that he finds greener pastures elsewhere? Howard's next club might prefer a sign-and-trade to help the numbers work, but the Lakers may or may not entertain such an idea, depending on who you ask. Here's more from the week that was..
- Coach Doc Rivers, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce reportedly want to stay together, even if that means taking the show out west to Clipperland. The talks were underway with Boston GM Danny Ainge pushing for DeAndre Jordan and Eric Bledsoe at one point, but talks have stalled for the time being.
- Raise your hand if you said that Jason Kidd would be the Nets' next head coach after P.J. Carlesimo was fired. The guard, who is just weeks removed from his NBA playing career, is now looking to assemble an experienced staff to help ease the learning curve.
- The Pistons hired Maurice Cheeks as their head coach. The veteran coach was said to be the frontrunner for the job for several weeks.
- Andre Iguodala will opt out of his deal with the Nuggets.
- The Kings will hire Pete D'Alessandro as their next GM. Larry Bird was a target but things didn't work out on that front.
- The Pacers are leaning towards keeping Danny Granger for the final year of his deal.
- The Rockets will decline their options on Carlos Delfino and Aaron Brooks.
- Nets GM Billy King threw some cold water on the idea that his club is still in the mix for Howard.
- The field of suitors for DH could be growing.
- Kobe Bryant wants two more cracks at a ring.
- C.J. Watson will decline his player option.
- The No. 1 pick is still fairly open as we approach the draft. Victor Oladipo is reportedly in the conversation for the Cavs, along with Alex Len, Otto Porter, and Nerlens Noel.
- The Grizzlies will talk to George Karl tomorrow and current assistant Dave Joerger on Tuesday. Alvin Gentry is reportedly coming off of a very strong showing. This comes after Memphis formally parted ways with Lionel Hollins.
- Marvin Williams declined his ETO.
- Brandon Rush triggered his player option.
- Nerlens Noel signed up with Andy Miller and Frank Catapano.
- Rashard Lewis doesn't plan to opt out.
- The Cavs could have something big in the works.
- The Rockets, Hawks, and Kings all got fined for tampering.
- Tony DiLeo is a serious candidate for the Denver GM gig.
- Team USA announced its mini-camp roster.
Latest On Grizzlies Coaching Search
Former Nuggets coach George Karl will meet with Memphis brass tomorrow, followed by Dave Joerger on Tuesday, a source tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). They're certainly not the only two people vying for the job, however. The Grizzlies met with former Suns coach Alvin Gentry about their head coaching vacancy yesterday and came away extremely impressed, the source says (link).
The Grizzlies granted Lionel Hollins permission to speak with other teams earlier this month and it wasn't a surprise earlier this week when they officially let him go. Former Hollins assistant Joerger was said to be a frontrunner for the job, but he may have his work cut out for him after Gentry's strong showing and the legendary Karl in the mix.
Doc, KG, Pierce Want Clips If They Can’t Stay Celts
There's a rising belief around the NBA that coach Doc Rivers, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce all want to carry on as a trio with the Clippers if they can't roll on in Boston, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Stein sees it as a very possible scenario with a cash/draft pick driven deal for Rivers and separate trades for KG and Pierce without surrendering Blake Griffin (link).
That's not to say that there aren't stumbling blocks for the Clippers to clear before bringing the trio to Los Angeles. Rivers has an unusually strong non-compete clause in his contract that prohibits him from coaching elsewhere for the duration of the deal, which takes him through 2016. There's also a lot of salary that would have to go from L.A. to Boston to accomodate a deal with both Pierce and Garnett. The club could revisit talks from this past trade deadline that would have sent the duo to the Clippers in a package involving Eric Bledsoe and DeAndre Jordan.