Bob Thate

Western Notes: Parker, Ginobili, Henry, Karl

Longtime Spurs stars Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili both wrapped up their international careers with Olympic losses today in Rio de Janeiro. Parker confirmed that this afternoon’s defeat to Spain was his “last game” for the French team, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The 34-year-old Parker, whose playing time was limited during this Olympics, added that he’s “not gonna change his mind like that.”

Ginobili, 39, also acknowledged his retirement from international basketball after his Argentinian team was soundly defeated by the United States. He got more of a sendoff than he was expecting, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News“It was emotional,” Ginobili said. “I didn’t want it to be. I was hoping to sneak out and go to the locker room and do what I had to do there, but everybody conspired against it. The coach put me back in to play together one last time, somebody gave me the ball and brought me back in, somebody threw me a shirt. Then my teammates — it got emotional.” Ginobili has already signed with the Spurs for next season, and Parker is under contract until 2017/18.

There’s more news tonight from the Western Conference:

  • Former Laker Xavier Henry is optimistic as he continues the long road back from a ruptured left Achilles tendon, writes Joey Ramirez of NBA.com. Henry, who was one of several NBA veterans at L.A.’s mini-camp today, spent last season with the D-League’s Santa Cruz Warriors and credits their coaching and training staffs for helping with his comeback. “I’ve been doing a lot of workouts this summer with a lot of different teams and getting feedback and seeing how I feel,” Henry said. “I’ve been feeling really good. I’m feeling blessed that I can even play basketball again.”
  • The Lakers will hire Coby Karl, son of former NBA coach George Karl, to be head coach of their D-League affiliate, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. Karl was an assistant with the D-League’s Westchester Knicks last season.
  • The Grizzlies have made the final two additions to new head coach David Fizdale’s staff, the team announced today. Bob Bender, who worked as a scout for the Nets last season, was hired as an assistant coach, and former Clippers and Nets shooting coach Bob Thate will fill that role in Memphis.

Central Notes: Dellavedova, Tellem, Hunter

Some in the Cavaliers organization wanted to waive Matthew Dellavedova during training camp in 2013, but former GM Chris Grant believed in the undrafted guard and stuck by him, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. That decision has never been more important than it is now, current GM David Griffin acknowledges, as the soon-to-be restricted free agent has been a surprise star of the Finals.

“The fact that Chris believed in Delly to the level that he did is paying off for the organization in spades,” Griffin said. “Everyone benefits from everyone that comes before them.”

While we wait to see what Dellavedova can do for an encore tonight after scoring 20 points in Game 3, here’s more from around the Central Division:

  • It appears that incoming Pistons vice chairman Arn Tellem will be taking more of an advisory role with the Wasserman Media Group than that of a traditional agent this summer, tweets Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. That’s not thoroughly surprising, considering the potential conflict of interest, but it nonetheless adds another layer of intrigue to the free agency of Wasserman clients like LaMarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol and Michigan native Draymond Green.
  • The Bucks, who have the 17th pick, have made Georgia State shooting guard R.J. Hunter their primary draft target, according to some NBA personnel, as Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times hears.
  • Jason Kidd is apparently targeting Clippers shooting coach Bob Thate for the Bucks coaching staff, Woelfel writes in the same piece.
  • Marquette guard Matt Carlino, Oklahoma State power forward Michael Cobbins, Michigan State forward Branden Dawson, Temple guard Jesse Morgan and Northern Iowa power forward Seth Tuttle are working out today for the Bucks, the team announced. So is UCLA power forward Kevon Looney, who mentioned Milwaukee among his many workout stops when he spoke with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors. Woelfel first reported Looney’s Bucks workout.