Brian Adams

Atlantic Notes: Giles, Adams, Knicks Roster, Hart, Quickley

The Nets are signing Harry Giles to a contract and, according to SNY’s Ian Begley and Garrett Stepien, Giles picked Brooklyn over two other suitors who had strong interest in the big man. It’s unclear who those two suitors were, but his agent Daniel Hazan of Hazan Sports Management said the Nets showed interest in his client all offseason.

Brooklyn’s persistent interest has been a factor in free agent decisions this summer, with Dennis Smith Jr. also picking the Nets over other offers because the team made him a priority.

Giles, the No. 20 overall pick in the 2017 draft, hasn’t played in the NBA since 2021. Still just 25 years old, he joins a rotation of centers that include Nic Claxton, Day’Ron Sharpe and Noah Clowney.

As SNY points out, and we wrote Friday, Giles is eligible for a two-way deal this season due to a change to the Collective Bargaining Agreement despite the fact that he has four years of NBA service, since he missed a full year to injury. It’s still unclear whether his deal includes Exhibit 10 language, but if it does, Giles could have the deal converted to a two-way contract. Currently, Brooklyn has no spots open on its 15-man standard roster but has one two-way spot available.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Former Sixers assistant Brian Adams is leaving Philadelphia to accept a head coaching job with the Taipei Taishin Mars of Taiwan’s T1 league, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Wojnarowski notes that Adams had a storied history with former Sixers head coach Doc Rivers, with whom he coached for each of the past nine seasons with the Clippers and Sixers. Adams was also the head coach of the Agua Caliente Clippers, L.A.’s G League affiliate, from 2018 to 2020, before he joined Rivers in Philly.
  • While the Knicks have just 14 players on standard contracts and room under their hard cap of $172.34MM to add a 15th, Begley doesn’t see New York signing another rotation-level player. Begley writes that prior to the World Cup, Knicks decision-makers wanted Josh Hart to play more of the power forward position next season. While it wouldn’t surprise Begley to see the Knicks add someone who can have a positive impact on team culture (he mentions Taj Gibson and Ryan Arcidiacono), Begley writes New York could look to keep the roster flexible for someone who interests them mid-season.
  • The deadline to sign a rookie scale extension is one day before the regular season, or Oct. 24, and Immanuel Quickley is in line for a new deal. Begley writes that he would be surprised if Quickley and New York don’t reach an agreement before opening night. However, Begley notes that if the Knicks sign Quickley to an extension, it would make the Sixth Man of the Year runner-up difficult to trade in 2023/24 due to the poison pill provision. If the former Kentucky guard and New York don’t agree to a deal this year, he’ll reach restricted free agency in 2024.

Pistons Hire Brian Adams As Assistant Coach

JANUARY 4: The Pistons have announced the addition of Adams to their staff in a press release, the team’s PR department tweets.


DECEMBER 31: The Pistons are adding another assistant coach to their ranks, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports that Brian Adams is joining Monty Williams‘ staff.

After working as a video coordinator for several years in Boston under Doc Rivers, Adams served as an assistant coach with multiple NCAA programs, including Harvard. He eventually joined the Clippers’ staff as a coaching associate under Rivers in 2014 and was named the head coach of Los Angeles’ G League affiliate in 2018.

Adams left the Clippers organization along with Rivers in 2020 and became an assistant on the Sixers’ staff from 2020-23 before departing Philadelphia following Rivers’ dismissal this past offseason.

Adams subsequently accepted a job as the head coach of Taipei in Taiwan’s T1 League for the 2023/24 season, but according to Wojnarowski, he’s returning stateside and joining the Pistons on their upcoming Western Conference road trip, which begins on Monday and runs through January 7.

As Woj notes, the Pistons have been missing a member of Williams’ bench for nearly the entire season, with assistant Dan Burke away from the club for personal reasons. Williams said just over a month ago that the veteran coach was still part of his staff, but the hiring of Adams is a sign that Detroit may not expect Burke back anytime soon.

COVID-19 Updates: Wizards, Trail Blazers, Heat, Rockets, Sixers, I. Thomas, More

The league continues to be battered by players entering and exiting the health and safety protocols. If any of the players entering the protocols registered a confirmed positive COVID-19 test, they’ll remain sidelined for at least six days or until they can return two consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart.

Here are the latest updates from around the NBA:

Sixers Officially Announce Coaching Staff

The Sixers have officially announced Doc Rivers‘ new coaching staff, confirming today in a press release that Dave Joerger, Sam Cassell, Dan Burke, Popeye Jones, and Brian Adams have been hired as assistants. All five assistant coach additions were reported in the past few weeks.

In addition to those five hirings, the 76ers are retaining Eric Hughes as an assistant, hiring Pete Dominguez as a coaching associate, and giving Todor Pandov the role of assistant coach/performance director.

“After taking this job, one of my top priorities was forming the best staff in the NBA,” Rivers said in a statement. “I’m thrilled with the way it came together as this group boasts years of valuable NBA experience, both playing and coaching, and each member brings a championship-level mindset to the table. I’m confident in my staff’s ability to best support our players and look forward to getting into the lab with our team as soon as we get the green light.”

Joerger, Cassell, and Burke are the most notable additions to Rivers’ staff. Joerger is a former NBA head coach, having compiled a 245-247 (.498) record with the Kings and Grizzlies from 2013-19; Cassell is a veteran assistant who was a member of Rivers’ staff in Los Angeles and received some head coaching buzz this year; and Burke is a highly respected defensive specialist who spent the last two-plus decades in Indiana.

Atlantic Notes: Davis, Kansas City, Hinkie, Adams

Raptors guard Terence Davis has entered a not guilty plea after being charged in New York with two counts of assault, harassment, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal mischief, Blake Murphy of The Athletic tweets. As The Athletic’s Eric Koreen writes, Davis’ girlfriend visited him at a Manhattan hotel and they allegedly got into a verbal argument. Davis allegedly hit his girlfriend in the face, then grabbed the victim’s phone and broke it. His next court date is December 11.

The Raptors issued a statement which read in part that they “take these issues very seriously, and we will fully cooperate and support the League in its investigation of this matter as we work to determine the appropriate next steps for our team.”

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has made a pitch to NBA commissioner Adam Silver, lobbying to bring the Raptors to his city next season, Jonathan Concool of Basketball News relays. The Raptors may need to move their games out of Canada, much like baseball’s Blue Jays did this season, due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions. Kansas City has an arena fit for an NBA team and while Lucas insists he’s not trying to get the Toronto franchise to move there permanently, he’s hoping it would be a de facto “test run” to show the league the city is worthy of an NBA franchise, according to Sports Illustrated’s Ben Pickman.
  • Former Sixers executive Sam Hinkie believes his former team made a smart move by hiring Daryl Morey to run their basketball operations, he told ESPN’s Pablo Torre (hat tip to RealGM). “I think it’s great news. He’s not a good hire. He’s a great hire,” he said.  “It’s a really big move for the franchise. For a franchise I care a lot about. With a bunch of people I care a lot about.”
  • Brian Adams is joining Doc Rivers’ Sixers staff, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Adams worked under Rivers for both the Celtics and Clippers before a two-season stint as head coach of the Clippers’ G League team, Agua Caliente.

Pacific Notes: Kings, Clippers, Lakers

The Kings added to their glut of big men when they drafted power forward Marvin Bagley with the second pick of the 2018 draft. Now, James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area writes, head coach Dave Joerger will have to figure out how to juggle the frontcourt rotation.

Given his stature as one of the top picks in the summer draft, Bagley is a lock to play significant minutes for the Kings. He could see time at both the four and the five.

Ham writes that Harry Giles, a first-rounder in 2017, could see major minutes in his first taste of NBA action as well. The big man may have to shake off rust after sitting out last year to fully recover from knee injuries, but could be part of the Kings’ starting frontcourt of the future.

There’s more from the Pacific Division this evening:

  • A batch of coaching changes demonstrate the Clippers‘ franchise-wise commitment toward player development, Tomer Azarly of the team’s official site writes. The club will have Casey Hill join Doc Rivers’ staff after serving last year as the head coach of the team’s G League squad. Brian Adams will take his place with the Ontario affiliate and Natalie Nakase will move from the G League to big league squad’s development staff.
  • Clippers‘ forward Danilo Gallinari will ask the team to let him play for the Italian national club in September, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando writes. Gallinari was limited to just 21 games last season due to a fractured hand but appears to be healthy this summer.
  • A panel of ESPN staffers has concluded that the team that added the greatest basketball player of his generation will have the biggest turnaround this season. Alas, LeBron JamesLakers are also expected to suffer from the most team turmoil, according to ESPN’s panel.

Pacific Notes: McLemore, Davis, Curry, Durant, Knight

Shooting guard Ben McLemore and power forward Deyonta Davis probably won’t stick around with the Kings, James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area speculates. That duo was acquired, along with a future second-rounder, from the Grizzlies on Tuesday for veteran guard Garrett Temple. Adding a draft pick and clearing a little more cap space attracted Sacramento to the deal, Ham continues. McLemore joins a crowded backcourt and he could be waived or his $5.4MM contract could be bought out. Davis has a team-friendly $1.5MM salary but also doesn’t have an obvious role with the current roster.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

  • The Temple trade gives the Kings more than $20MM of cap room, making it a smarter move for them than the Grizzlies, in the eyes of Kevin Pelton of ESPN. Sacramento can use that additional wiggle room take on bad contracts or chase a restricted free agent, Pelton continues. The 2021 pick it acquired could very well wind up being at or near the top of the second round if Memphis goes into rebuild mode, Pelton adds.
  • Warriors guard Stephen Curry has decided to skip next week’s USA Basketball mini-camp, Chris Haynes of ESPN reports. Curry wants to spend more time with his family. Golden State forward Kevin Durant will take part in the mini-camp, David Aldridge of NBA.com tweets.
  • The Suns will head into the season with Brandon Knight as the starting point guard unless they make a trade, Scott Bordow of the Arizona Republic declares in his latest mailbag. If Phoenix strikes a deal, the Clippers’ Patrick Beverley would be an obvious target because of Los Angeles’ backcourt logjam, Bordow adds.
  • The Clippers will promote their G League coach, Casey Hill, to Doc Rivers’ staff with coaching associate Brian Adams replacing Hill at Agua Caliente, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter links). Natalie Nakase will be promoted to Clippers player development staff, Wojnarowski adds.