Mitch Kupchak On Draft, D’Antoni, Kobe
After finishing with the worst record in the Pacific Division, the Lakers are looking to turn things around in a major way. The Lakers bid farewell to coach Mike D’Antoni and they could be moving on from free agent Pau Gasol as well. In advance of the NBA Lottery, GM Mitch Kupchak took some time out from his schedule to talk with Mike Trudell of Lakers.com about the road ahead. The whole Q&A is worth reading but we’ll provide a few of the highlights here..
Does having only three players on the roster right now for next season change how you approach the coaching hire?
You do take into consideration the make up of your roster. Although I won’t rule out hiring a coach prior to the lottery on May 20, I think it’s likely that we don’t, because that’s really the first step in terms of additional information for this franchise. Let’s find out what kind of pick we have. That may even help us decide what direction to go with for our coach. It will be a consideration.
Does the search for D’Antoni’s replacement and the uncertainty over where you’ll pick effect your draft preparations?
As you mentioned, May 20 is the lottery, and it’s hard to focus 100% on the draft until you know where you’re drafting. If the stars all line up and you get No. 1 instead of No. 9, there’s a difference, and it’s impossible to schedule workouts because the agents won’t cooperate until they know where you’re drafting. That part of it has proved uneventful, and probably won’t change until the 20th. We are working on setting up some interviews, and we’ve been successful, but you’re not going to really get moving on it until the agents know where you’re drafting.
You’ve been criticized for the contract extension that was given to Kobe Bryant. How does it factor into the way you build this team over the next two seasons, with salary cap implications and so on, and how would things look different if you’d given him less money?
When we gave Kobe the extension, we took a lot of factors into consideration, including the factors you just mentioned. We felt it was the thing to do. We’re still in a position to be a big player in the free agent market. Signing Kobe when we did, we felt, gave us one of the top two or three free agents that would be available this summer. We had the rare opportunity to get that done and not have to wait until July 1. Everybody can debate whether they would have waited or not, but our mindset was: ‘This is somebody we can get done now, and we still have a chance to be a player financially with free agency.’ Cap space is valuable and you don’t want to misuse it. You do have to use it, but you don’t have to use it going forward unless you want to.
And-Ones: Sterling, Cavs, Brown, Rockets
Donald Sterling’s sit down with Anderson Cooper airs on CNN tomorrow night, but Charles Barkley won’t be among those watching. “We got to work tomorrow night so we don’t have to watch that junk,” the Hall of Famer told his Inside The NBA cohorts as they came back from commercial, as noted by Nina Mandell of USA Today. Here’s tonight’s look around the league..
- LeBron James and other NBA players are concerned about Shelly Sterling taking control of the Clippers, but a statement released this evening by NBA spokesman Mike Bass could put those worries to bed. “Under the NBA Constitution, if a controlling owner’s interest is terminated by a 3/4 vote, all other team owners’ interests are automatically terminated as well. It doesn’t matter whether the owners are related as is the case here. These are the rules to which all NBA owners agreed to as a condition of owning their team,” the statement read (Howard Beck of Bleacher Report on Twitter).
- Shelly Sterling’s attorney released a statement of his own to reporters, including Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com (on Twitter).
- Sources tell Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio that Cavs owner Dan Gilbert will support whatever decision the team’s next GM makes regarding Mike Brown. So, it appears the coach’s fate is in the hands of David Griffin, who’s expected to have the interim tag removed from his GM title soon. People around the league are split on whether Griffin would retain Brown, according to Amico.
- Kostas Papanikolaou, whose NBA rights are owned by the Rockets, says he’s in no rush to make the leap over. “Nothing changed in my thoughts about the NBA. If I get a good chance, I will go. However, I am new in this team [FC Barcelona Regal], they have treated me with respect and I only think about Barcelona. A team that helps me evolve my game and be better. So, I don’t know what will happen, if I will end up in the NBA this summer or the next one,” the Euroleague standout told Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops.net.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Hoops Rumors Originals
Here’s this week’s look back at the original reporting and analysis generated by the Hoops Rumors staff..
- I conducted a Q&A with former Duke standout and first round prospect Rodney Hood.
- Alex Lee rolled out the first edition of the Hoops Rumors mock draft.
- The Grizzlies will have flexibility this summer, regardless of whether Zach Randolph opts out. How well they apply it will be absolutely pivotal for the team, Chuck Myron writes.
- Chuck rolled out the latest edition of the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings.
- The Bulls have some work to do this summer but the biggest addition they can possibly make is a healthy Derrick Rose, Chuck writes.
- Almost 75% of Hoops Rumors readers polled say Mark Jackson didn’t deserve to get fired by the Warriors.
- Cray Allred checks in on the free agent stock of Zach Randolph.
- Eddie Scarito profiled Clemson star K.J. McDaniels and UCLA’s Zach LaVine.
- Need a refresher on the mid-level exception? Chuck has you covered.
- We asked you to pick the Game 7 loser with the brightest future in 2014/15. The Warriors got the most votes but the Raptors weren’t far behind.
- We featured the best of Hoops Rumors comments in this week’s Featured Feedback.
- Did you miss out on this week’s chat? Get caught up here.
Hoops Links: Bobcats, Celtics, Draft
On this date in 1995, the Bulls’ 104-94 win over the Magic in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal Round series drew a 7.9 rating on TNT. The game was viewed in an average of better than five million homes, making it, at the time, the most watched NBA game ever on cable television.
Got a great basketball blog post that you want to see featured on Hoops Rumors? Send it to Zach at HoopsLinks@gmail.com. Here’s this week’s look around the basketball blogosphere…
- Hoops Habit evaluates the Bobcats’ free agency options this summer.
- Sports Of Boston looks at the Celtics’ roster heading into the summer.
- Six Championship Drive brings us their updated big board for the 2014 Draft.
- Mid-Major Madness brings us some early predictions for the Southern Conference.
- Brew Hoop evaluates Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s place in the 2013 draft class.
- The Bird Writes recapped Anthony Morrow‘s season.
Please send submissions for Hoops Links to Zach at HoopsLinks@gmail.com.
Week In Review: 5/5/14 – 5/11/14
Pau Gasol is about to hit the open market and with a whole lot of uncertainty in Los Angeles, the big man is weighing his options. In an interview with a Spanish website, Gasol cited the Grizzlies, Spurs, and Bulls as teams that would appeal to him, in addition to the incumbent Lakers. When asked about the prospect of signing with the Staples Center’s other tenants, Gasol said it would be hard to envision given that he’s been on the other side of the rivalry for six-and-a-half seasons. More from the week that was..
- After a tumultuous year and a first round ouster, the Warriors gave Mark Jackson the boot.
- The Knicks are close to making Steve Kerr an offer, taking an option off the table for the Warriors.
- The Lakers could be interested in Jackson.
- The league appointed Richard Parsons as the interim CEO of the Clippers. Team president Andy Roeser took an indefinite leave of absence from the team.
- The Mavs will go after Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler.
- The Raptors and Dwane Casey agreed to a three-year deal.
- There’s mutual interest between the Lakers and Chris Bosh.
- The Mavs are unlikely to pursue Bosh.
- The Cavs are expected to make David Griffin their permanent GM.
- Kerr and Stan Van Gundy are the Warriors’ top two targets but they also like Jerry Sloan and others.
- There’s mutual interest between Devin Harris and the Mavs in a return.
- Andrew Bynum will not play for the rest of the playoffs.
- R.C. Buford is your executive of the year.
- The Nuggets and Kenneth Faried will talk extension.
- Former Raptors and Suns GM Bryan Colangelo and current Celtics assistant GM Mike Zarren are reportedly the front-runners for the top Pistons front office job.
- The Lakers reportedly want to talk with Roy Williams but the coach is distancing himself from such talk.
- Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg could be a candidate for the Bulls’ job if they part ways with Tom Thibodeau.
- Shelly Sterling is fighting to maintain some stake in the Clippers.
- Kevin Ollie still hasn’t heard from any NBA teams about their openings.
- At least three NBA teams told the Harrison twins that they would have gone between No. 15 and No. 25 before they returned to school.
Pacific Rumors: Van Gundy, Lakers, Clippers
It wasn’t long ago that the Kings appeared to be Seattle-bound, but owner Vivek Ranadive‘s group brought that talk to a definitive end. This weekend it was reported that the Kings finalized a 35-year lease agreement to build a new arena in Sacramento. The measure still needs to be approved by the city council, but there’s no indication that it won’t go through. Here’s tonight’s glance at the Pacific Division..
- Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News feels that Stan Van Gundy is the current frontrunner for the Warriors‘ head coaching job among the known candidates out there. However, he adds that there could be under-the-radar names who are currently employed and therefore cannot publicly discuss their interest in the gig.
- Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com rounds up the Lakers‘ quest for a new coach, and surmises that the candidate they decide to pursue will be heavily affected by their position in the lottery.
- Shelly Sterling‘s resistance to surrender ownership of the Clippers means she’ll likely be in control of the team for the foreseeable future, opines Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. Any ousting process could take over a year, says Mannix, who also adds the NBA isn’t buying her claimed outrage at her husband’s comments (all Twitter links).
- LeBron James, meanwhile, doesn’t want to see anyone with the Sterling surname involved in the Clippers, writes Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press.
- At this point, the over/under on the number of years it will take the NBA to excise the Sterlings from the Clippers is around two, tweets Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.
- Yesterday, we rounded up news on the Lakers and Clippers.
Charlie Adams contributed to this post.
Lakers Want To Interview Roy Williams
THURSDAY, 3:53pm: Williams distanced himself from the notion that he’d like to head to the Lakers in comments he made during an appearance on Fox Sports Radio, according to Sports Xchange.
“I’ve always felt like that I’m a college coach and that’s where I belong,” Williams said. “Mitch Kupchak is one of my best friends in the whole wide world, there’s no question there, but I’m a college guy and if somebody calls and offers me the greatest job in the world, it better be really good because I feel like I’ve got about the greatest job in the world.”
MONDAY, 7:00pm: The Lakers reportedly want to make a splash with their next coaching hire and the latest name in the mix would certainly accomplish that. General Manager Mitch Kupchak & Co. want to speak with North Carolina head coach Roy Williams at some point, according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter).
As Bresnahan notes (link), Williams declined to discuss the Lakers’ job in 2004, one year after he left Kansas for UNC. While the Lakers like Williams and can see him making the transition to the NBA, there’s no rush to talk to him as they have a slow timetable to make their hire. Over the course of his college coaching career, Williams has racked up a 724–190 record, good for a .792 win percentage. UNC finished the 2013/14 regular season tied for third in the ACC and saw their season end at the hands of Iowa State in the Round of 32.
Other candidates linked to the Lakers job have included George Karl, Jeff Van Gundy, Byron Scott, Kurt Rambis, Kevin Ollie, and John Calipari.
Q&A With NBA Draft Prospect Rodney Hood
Duke’s 2013/14 season ended with a shocking first round upset to Mercer, but on an individual level it was an all-around success for standout Rodney Hood. The 6’8″ small forward impressed with his offensive game throughout the year and averaged 16.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 2.1 APG in 32.9 minutes per contest. Hood, widely regarded as one of the best at his position in the 2014 draft, took some time out of his busy schedule earlier this week to chat with Hoops Rumors about his journey thus far, his skill set, and when he believes he’ll hear his name called on June 26th.
What can you bring to an NBA team?
“I just think I’m ready to play right away. I’m a versatile player, I can guard most positions, I can handle the ball, and I’ve gotten better this season. I’m not the same player I was the year before. I’m ready to contribute to a team.”
It seems like your draft stock skyrocketed over the course of the year. Did your sizable leap surprise you at all?
“No, not really. I always had the vision in mind to be a top-10 pick and that’s something I always worked towards in my year off [due to transferring from Mississippi State] and this year. I think the difference was me just getting better and gaining confidence in my abilities. That’s the biggest jump I’ve had, and I still think I can go up even more.”
Do you view yourself as the best shooter in this draft?
“I feel like I am and I feel like I’m different than everybody else in the draft in terms of being able to shoot the ball and being one of the most athletic guys out there. I think that sets me apart, plus I’m taller than most guys at my position.”
What are the main parts of your game that you want to work on?
“I just want to get stronger and I’m down here at IMG working on all parts of my game. I’m getting better with my shot and doing stuff off the dribble.”
Are you working out individually or with other draft prospects?
“There are others here [at IMG] but I’m training by myself, mainly working out with [coaches] Dan Barto and Kenny Natt.”
How do you respond to concerns over your defense?
“I think it’s way overblown. Obviously, I need to make some improvement, but every game I was guarding the best player, whether they play the 2 or the 3. I won Duke’s Defensive Player of the Year award this year, [coach Mike Krzyzewski] always put me on the best player, so I think Coach K knows what I’m doing out there. I’m not saying I’m the best player on D but I don’t think that’s a big weakness or anything to worry about.”
Do you have an read on where you might get drafted?
“I’m not sure yet. Based on what some people have said and what a couple of teams have told me, I can go from pick No. 6-12 or anywhere in the top 15. That’s what I’ve been hearing. Not from any mock drafts or anything, but just from people I talk to.”
Did you have any hesitation over entering the draft early?
“It was always a goal of mine just to play one year at Duke and then leave for the NBA. It was hard leaving Duke because it’s such a great place to be and being with Coach K was great. I wish I had another year to be under his leadership, but I just felt like it was my time to go. Being at Duke prepared me for this transition.”
The first round loss to Mercer was obviously heartbreaking, but did you feel like you learned from that experience?
“I definitely learned from it. It was tough just being in that situation but I’m a pro now. It’s … it’s just hard to leave on that note but I talked to Coach K and he told me not to base my decision off of one game. I had a really good season and it was just one bad game out of 30-something. I’ll always remember that game though.”
From an emotional standpoint, in the immediate aftermath of that game, did you think about changing course and staying for one more year?
“I think in every kid’s mind, as soon as you get off of a loss, you get emotional and you say you want to come back. But, at the end of day, I had to do what was best for me. For all you know, the same thing could happen next year, so I couldn’t come back for that reason or because I thought I owed something. It was about being ready [for the NBA] and I’m ready to go chase my dream.”
Who did you talk with before making the decision to enter the draft?
“Pretty much everybody. I spoke with my family; I had a lot of conversations with Coach K and Wojo (former Duke Associate Head Coach Steve Wojciechowski). Even though he got the head coaching job at Marquette, I was in constant contact with him. I also talked with Mason Plumlee and a lot of different people, but, mainly, Coach K and my family, and I was praying that I made the right decision.”
If you had to give a scouting report on Jabari Parker for an NBA team, what would you tell them?
“I’d just say he’s a great kid who works hard all the time and is just a great guy to be around. Obviously you can see his talent and that’s the most important thing you see from him, that he just loves the game of basketball.”
What made you choose Travis King and the folks at Relativity to represent you?
“After talking with Travis and Dan Fegan, I felt like it was the best decision for me. They really know my game and they really believe in me as a player. I didn’t want to be just another player, I wanted to be one of the top guys represented by my agent, and I felt like they were the right team for me.”
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Raptors, Dwane Casey Agree To Three-Year Deal
TUESDAY, 9:12am: The Raptors formally announced their agreement with Casey, in a press release. Oddly, the release states that the team and the coach have merely agreed in principle, so it appears the contract isn’t yet finalized. Still, the move indicates that they’re at least on track to put pen to paper, with Casey and GM Masai Ujiri scheduled to address the media later this morning.
“From day one last summer Dwane has done an excellent job both on-and-off the court,” Ujiri said as part of the team’s statement. “There’s been growth from each player on the roster and the team’s identity of toughness and a desire to always compete has clearly been established. We’re very excited to continue to grow and develop this team with Dwane as our head coach.”
MONDAY, 6:27pm: Casey will earn just under $4MM per year in his new three-year deal, a source tells David Aldridge of TNT (on Twitter).
5:33pm: The Raptors and Dwane Casey have reached agreement on a new three-year deal, sources tell Doug Smith of the Toronto Star (on Twitter).
Casey’s contract expired at the end of this season but a new agreement was widely anticipated. Just last week, Raptors CEO Tim Leiweke told SportsNet 590 The Fan that he wasn’t worried about Casey or free agent Kyle Lowry going anywhere this summer. “Why wouldn’t you want to be here?” Leiweke asked rhetorically. With their coach reportedly locked in through 2016/17, the Raptors’ next task will be to strike a new deal with their star point guard.
All of the buzz in the Atlantic Division this summer went to the Nets and (to a lesser extent) the Knicks, but it was the Raptors who came out on top with a 48-34 record in the regular season. Ultimately, the Nets bested the Raptors in a wild seven game series, but the Raptors took a significant step forward this year and reinvigorated a dormant Toronto fan base.
Between his three years at the helm in Toronto and his one-and-a-half seasons with the Wolves, Casey owns a career 159-193 (.451) record.
Warriors Rumors: Curry, O’Neal, Jackson
Marcus Thompson II of the Mercury News laid out a plan for how the Warriors can join the NBA elite. Even though they have four starters making $10MM or more and Klay Thompson is due an extension, they’ll have to find a way to put another star alongside Stephen Curry, Thompson writes. That could be easier said than done since the player they’d be most willing to move, David Lee, will earn $30.5MM over the next two years. Here’s more out of Oakland..
- Warriors center Jermaine O’Neal is expected to take his time in deciding whether to keep playing or retire, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. The veteran still loves the game but badly wants to spend time with his family, Spears writes. O’Neal averaged 7.9 points and 5.5 rebounds in 20.1 minutes per game for Golden State this season.
- Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle has more from O’Neal on his difficult decision.
- Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group takes a look at the contract situations of several key Warriors, sizing up the sway that each of them has with the front office and examining how the fate of Mark Jackson plays into their futures. Of note, Kawakami says that if Jackson returns, Steve Blake probably won’t.
- The Warriors are confident they’ll have enough room under the luxury tax threshold to sign a player for the full value of the mid-level exception this summer, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.