Grizzlies Rumors: Pinckney, Lee, Rivers
While Dave Joerger is viewed as the favorite for the Grizzlies' head coaching job, it appears the team will explore plenty of other options before making a decision. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reports that Memphis has received permission to speak to Bulls assistant Ed Pinckney about the position, marking the first time this offseason that we've heard Pinckney's name come up in a head coaching search. Here's more on the Grizzlies:
- In addition to Joerger and Pinckney, the Grizzlies have also spoken to George Karl and Alvin Gentry and intend to have them in for formal interviews, says Berger. The team isn't interested in Brian Shaw.
- Memphis is also eyeing new faces for its front office, according to Sam Amick of USA Today, who reports that the club has been granted permission to speak to Nets director of basketball operations Milton Lee. The Grizzlies are considering Lee for a senior executive position in the front office, and Amick adds that the decision to interview him is tied to Chris Wallace's uncertain future with the team.
- Amick also has some updates on the coaching search, following up on Berger's report by confirming that Pinckney will meet Thursday with the Grizzlies.
- The Grizzlies have not requested permission to speak to Doc Rivers, but the club would have "serious interest" if Rivers decided to step down as coach of the Celtics, says Amick. For now, Memphis is monitoring the situation in Boston.
Nets Have Offer In Place For Jason Kidd
The Nets will meet with Brian Shaw today to discuss the team's head coaching vacancy, but all signs at the moment are pointing to Jason Kidd becoming Brooklyn's new head coach. Fred Kerber of the New York Post reports that the Nets have the parameters of a three-year deal in place to offer Kidd. While the offer hasn't been formally extended, "the Russians are on board," a source tells Kerber, referring to the club's owners.
Kidd and Shaw appear to be the only two candidates still standing for the Nets' opening, despite earlier reports of interest in Lionel Hollins and several others. Just a week after announcing his retirement as a player, Kidd met with the Nets on Monday and impressed upon management that he "really wants this," according to Kerber.
When I asked yesterday whether the Nets should hire Kidd, more than half of you voted in favor of Brooklyn opting for the longtime point guard over a more experienced coaching candidate.
Odds & Ends: Spurs, Nets, Pekovic, Muhammad
The Spurs blew out the Heat tonight, behind 51 combined points from Danny Green and Gary Neal. Though Green and Neal are American-born success stories, many of the Spurs' accomplishments have been built around players from overseas, as Seth Wickersham of ESPN The Magazine examines. Foreign players are "fundamentally harder working than most American kids," Gregg Popovich says. GM R.C. Buford is similarly high on imports, as no team in the league has more players from outside the U.S. than the Spurs do. We'll see if San Antonio's global approach sparks copycats in the years to come, but in the meantime, here's the night's news from the Association:
- The Nets, reportedly deciding between Brian Shaw and Jason Kidd for their next coach, want to make their choice by the end of the week, writes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. The Nets can give Shaw, also in the hunt for the Clippers job, the more lucrative offer, Bondy adds, speculating that Shaw's interview may be little more than a courtesy, given how high Brooklyn is on Kidd.
- Timberwolves president Flip Saunders had to cut short his meeting with Nikola Pekovic in Italy this past weekend, but the team still "badly" wants to re-sign their restricted free agent center, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
- Shabazz Muhammad will work out for the Blazers, The Oregonian's Mike Tokito notes via Twitter.
- Peyton Siva highlights a group of second-round hopefuls set to work out Thursday for the Grizzlies, reports Chris Vernon of 92.9 FM ESPN in Memphis (Twitter link). Julian Gamble, Jason Jones, Murphy Holloway, Jordan Aboudou and Romero Osby will also participate.
Nets Deciding Between Jason Kidd, Brian Shaw
8:29pm: The Nets have narrowed their search to just Kidd and Shaw, reports Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press.
7:49pm: TNT's David Aldridge bats down rumors that Kidd and the Nets have already begun contract negotiations, and reiterates that the team will interview Shaw on Wednesday (Twitter link).
5:10pm: The Nets were "very impressed" with Kidd after yesterday's interview, sources tell Howard Beck of The New York Times, who adds that there's no indication the team will turn to Lionel Hollins, whom they've yet to contact (Twitter links).
2:45pm: Despite Kidd's apparent lead, Shaw still has a shot at the job and will interview as planned tomorrow, reports Sam Amick of USA Today (via Twitter).
2:04pm: Jason Kidd has emerged as the strong frontrunner for the Nets' open head coaching job, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. For now, the club still has a Wednesday interview scheduled with Brian Shaw, who had previously been considered the top candidate for the position, but it's unclear if that meeting will happen, says Wojnarowski.
According to Wojnarowski, talks for a potential contract with Kidd are already underway, and the longtime All-Star point guard could be hired by the end of the week. Kidd represents the sort of "fresh face" the franchise is seeking, and would give the Nets a hire with some starpower as well, as Wojnarowski points out.
If Kidd does land the job, it would be a pretty incredible turnaround, considering that a week and a half ago it still seemed as if he was set to play for the Knicks in 2013/14. Kidd announced his retirement as a player last Monday, and almost immediately rumors begin to swirl connecting him to Brooklyn's coaching opening.
Yesterday, we heard that Kidd was being seriously considered by the Nets, while this morning, over half of you voted in favor of Brooklyn hiring Kidd over a more experienced candidate like Shaw or Lionel Hollins. For his part, Shaw is interviewing with the Clippers today and considers that job his priority, according to Wojnarowski.
Odds & Ends: Warriors, Ewing, Rogers, Jazz
Earlier this afternoon, I previewed the Mavericks' offseason, concluding that I have faith in Mark Cuban's ability to turn his team into a contender again. Dirk Nowitzki feels the same way, telling that Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he believes Cuban's track record speaks for itself: "We had 12 seasons straight (seasons) of making the playoffs, so obviously we did something right."
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA:
- The Warriors' best chance at gaining some cap flexibility in the short- and long-term would involve moving David Lee's contract, but there's not much leaguewide interest in Lee's contract at the moment, says Grantland's Zach Lowe.
- Patrick Ewing has reached an agreement to become the Bobcats' associate head coach, as part of Steve Clifford's staff, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Wojnarowski refers to the move as a Space Jam reunion, though I'd rather wait until owner Michael Jordan also hires Muggsy Bogues and Shawn Bradley before going that far.
- Wojnarowski also reports (via Twitter) that Nets coaching candidate Jason Kidd has targeted longtime NBA assistant coach Tim Grgurich to be part of his potential staff in Brooklyn.
- In other assistant coaching news, Sam Amick of USA Today tweets that former Pistons assistant Roy Rogers will join Jeff Hornacek's staff with the Suns.
- The Jazz are hosting a three-day free agent minicamp this week that will include Travis Leslie, Luke Zeller, and Lazar Hayward, among others. In this series of tweets, Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune lists all 24 players expected to participate.
- In an entertaining piece at ShamSports.com, Mark Deeks outlines how Sasha Pavlovic is partially responsible for a bump in career earnings for Anthony Tolliver.
Poll: Should The Nets Hire Jason Kidd?
It's only been eight days since Jason Kidd announced his retirement as an NBA player, but already he has emerged as one of the leading candidates for perhaps the most high-profile head coaching job still available. According to multiple reports, there's mutual interest between Kidd and the Nets, with the two sides meeting yesterday to discuss the team's open coaching position.
The Nets are also said to be seriously considering highly-coveted assistant Brian Shaw, and have more established head coaches like Lionel Hollins on their radar as well, so Kidd is hardly the most qualified candidate on their list. Still, players and coaches alike rave about the longtime point guard's basketball IQ, and according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, Kidd convinced the Nets that he was serious about committing the necessary time and energy to the job.
What do you think? Would hiring Kidd as their head coach be the best move for the Nets, or should the team opt for someone with more coaching experience, such as Shaw or Hollins?
Should the Nets hire Jason Kidd as head coach?
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Yes 54% (526)
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No 46% (450)
Total votes: 976
Draft Notes: Blazers, Muhammad, McCollum
Here's a look at the latest draft news as we close in on June 27th..
- The Trail Blazers took a gamble on a mid-major guard last season when they drafted Damian Lillard and Joe Freeman of The Oregonian wonders if they might do the same in 2013 with Lehigh's C.J. McCollum. Portland, who owns the No. 10 pick, worked McCollum out earlier today.
- On paper, Shabazz Muhammad is just the type of player that the Kings need, but the outside issues could dissuade them from taking him at No. 7, writes Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.
- Today's Suns draft workout featured North Texas small forward Tony Mitchell, Duke center Mason Plumlee, Murray State point guard Isaiah Canaan, USC center DeWayne Dedmon, Delaware power forward Jamelle Hagins, and Temple shooting guard Khalif Wyatt, tweets Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
- The Nets released the workout lineup for their workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday. Jeff Withey of Kansas, Ray McCallum of Detroit, and Vincent Council of Providence are among the players who will audition in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Nets Seriously Considering Jason Kidd As Coach
5:36pm: Kidd's candidacy for the Nets' opening is gaining momentum, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who says Kidd convinced Brooklyn of his seriousness in committing the time and energy to a head coaching job. The Nets, who are intrigued by the possibility of making a "star hire," could make a decision within the next several days, says Wojnarowski. Brian Shaw is the team's other top candidate, with an interview lined up for Wednesday.
3:00pm: The Nets are taking Kidd seriously as a head coaching candidate, but he must surround himself with lots of experience on the bench, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter). A key element of Kidd's pitch is former Nets head coach Lawrence Frank joining him on the bench (link).
2:30pm: The Nets met with Jason Kidd earlier today to discuss his interest in the club's vacant head coaching position, tweets Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. We learned yesterday that the recently-retired guard has interest in taking the reins in Brooklyn and the Nets are at least considering the possibility.
Kidd's candidacy is being discussed in the highest levels of the organization, which presumably means that it involves the group of Russian executives that report directly to owner Mikhail Prokhorov. Sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports yesterday that Kidd is already working to identify a group of assistant coaches that can help offset his lack of experience.
Jason Kidd Pursuing Nets Coaching Job
Less than two weeks removed from his retirement, Jason Kidd is seeking to become the next head coach of the Nets, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. The guard's candidacy is already being discussed within the highest levels of the organization.
Kidd has been talking with associates about the possibility of making the immediate leap from playing to a head coaching job and has been working to identify a staff of assistant coaches who could help him overcome the significant learning curve, sources said. Right now, Brian Shaw is viewed as a leading candidate for the Nets' job, but they'll have to fight it out with the Clippers and Nuggets in order to secure him. Kidd would be an extremely bold choice for the Nets but it would certainly satisfy the organization's desire for a big splash this summer.
Lawrence On Messina, Nets, Pacers
Mitch Lawrence of the Daily News has tons of interesting bits in his latest column and we have the highlights..
- There has been talk about the Nets looking for a “fresh face" rather than going with an established coach and Italian coach Ettore Messina would fit the bill, along with Pacers assisstant Brian Shaw. A group of Russian Nets executives who report to Mikhail Prokhorov is quite familiar with Messina, which could help his candidacy. Communication also won't be an issue for Messina as he speaks English fluently. “Players will find that Ettore has the technical mind to do the job, he can do the X’s and O’s, so strategically, it would not be hard for him at all,’’ said Spurs GM R.C. Buford.
- The Pacers know they need outside shooting help and would love to add Kyle Korver or J.J. Redick. Both players, of course, will be free agents on July 1. The club's other free agents, Tyler Hansbrough and D.J. Augustin, are expendable, which can give them some extra breathing space this offseason.
- David Stern plans to step down from the competition committee – which has the power to make rules changes – once he's done being commissioner. Lawrence's bet, however, is that he’ll still be used by the committee as a consultant.
- Lionel Hollins wants to paint Grizzlies assistant Dave Joerger like the bad guy if he doesn’t get a new deal in Memphis, but people in the NBA feel that he hasn’t done anything to bounce Hollins and get the job for himself. The Memphis front office doesn’t want Hollins back unless it’s on the cheap and he starts buying into the club's statistical analysis.
- New Raptors GM Masai Ujiri wants to hire Bucks assistant GM Jeff Weltman to be his top assistant. Weltman and former Knick president Scott Layden were up for the Suns gig that went to Ryan McDonough.