Scott Skiles Is Frontrunner For Nets Job
Scott Skiles is the frontrunner in the Nets' coaching search, according to Dave D'Alessandro of the Newark Star-Ledger. Skiles has been said to be in the mix for the Nets job since shortly after P.J. Carlesimo's dismissal, but this is the first time it has been indicated that he is at the top of the club's wishlist.
The Nets have been seeking an experienced coach who preaches defense and the former Suns, Bulls, and Bucks head man certainly fits the bill. He's also known for being a strict, no-nonsense coach, an approach that may not jive with star guard Deron Williams.
Other coaches said to be high on the Nets' wishlist include longtime NBA assistant Brian Shaw and Larry Brown. The Nets also made a very public overture to Phil Jackson, but they were quickly shot down by the Zen Master. Yesterday, we also heard Lionel Hollins is on Brooklyn's list.
Poll: Where Will Dwight Howard Sign This Summer?
Earlier today, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com wrote that Dwight Howard was showing interest in the Rockets and Mavericks while he contemplates his free agent fate this summer and ignores the Lakers' request to re-sign with them as quickly as possible. The Lakers can offer Howard a fifth year and more money because the 2011 CBA allows annual raises of 7.5% over the first year, which would be in excess of $20MM for Howard; the other teams bidding for the 27-year-old center's services, including the long shot Nets and Hawks, can only offer increases of 4.5% over the first year.
Remember, Howard is just entering his peak years, and will likely sign another max contract before he retires, so a four-year deal with an option for the final year would allow him to become a free agent again at 30, when he can then sign a larger five-year deal. While Howard takes his time deciding, do you think he re-signs with the Lakers, or does he jump to some other team said to be in the mix?
Poll: Where Will Dwight Howard Sign This Summer?
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Houston Rockets 33% (795)
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Los Angeles Lakers 31% (740)
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Dallas Mavericks 13% (307)
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Atlanta Hawks 11% (260)
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Another Team Not Listed 6% (145)
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Brooklyn Nets 6% (139)
Total votes: 2,386
Woelfel On Nets, Dunleavy, Draft, Bucks
Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times begins his look around the NBA with a profile on first-round prospect Glen Rice Jr., who could become the most highly drafted player to come out of the D-League. The Journal Times scribe also touches on offseason rumblings from around the league, and we'll round up the highlights here:
- Woelfel hears the Nets are "honing in on Lionel Hollins" for their coaching vacancy. That would appear to be an exercise in futility, since Hollins says there's mutual interest in his return to the Grizzlies, the team he's guided to the Western Conference Finals. Woelfel also mentions Scott Skiles as a candidate, echoing a report by Sam Amick of USA Today earlier this month.
- Soon-to-be free agent Mike Dunleavy has piqued the interest of several teams around the league. I examined Dunleavy's free agent stock last month, figuring he could fit in as a role player with a title contender.
- Woelfel passes along a few draft rumors, noting that Kelly Olynyk and Michael Carter-Williams will work out for the Bucks, while the Magic, Nets and Knicks have shown interest in Phil Pressey. The Nuggets interviewed Otto Porter.
- Bucks interim coach Jim Boylan is gone, but his assistant coaches remain. Their contracts are up at the end of June, along with a couple members of the team's front office staff, but it remains to be seen whether any of them will return.
Draft Updates: Saturday Evening
10:45pm: There have been some updates on the second to last day of the Chicago predraft camp, which started on Thursday and ends tomorrow night, as well as other draft-related news, including a few players who hope their names are announced earlier, rather than later, by David Stern in June.
- Virginia Tech guard and ACC Player of the year, Erick Green, told CSN Washington's J. Michael that he expects to be drafted higher than expected. Despite averaging 25 PPG along with 4 APG and 4 RPG in his last college season, Virginia Tech's awful record kept him off the national radar, and at a smidgen under 6'2" he's undersized for an NBA off guard.
- One player the Wizards interviewed was Duke's Mason Plumlee, who Green beat out for ACC Player of the Year. When Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer asked Plumlee whether he believes he's a top 10 pick, Plumlee told him: "I feel like athletically and how I played this year, I’ve proven that I am."
- Another player hoping to be a lottery pick, but who didn't play in a big conference like the ACC, is Lehigh University's C.J. McCollum, who spoke with Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal about his size (he's undersized for an off guard like Green, but can play both guard positions). Two teams who don't really have a need at guard, in the Cavs and Wizards, both interviewed McCollum.
- Norvel Pelle is even further off the radar than the others mentioned, but he's a player who Jeremy Woo described at Zagsblog.com as "the most enigmatic player on the court" in Chicago, and he didn't even play in college after failing to qualify academically. Despite some praise from Woo, and one Western Conference scout's take that Pelle "would have to make it via the NBA's D-League," another scout was a bit more harsh with his assessment, saying that the rail-thin 6'11" 20-year-old was "an AAU tragedy who got bad advice. Wasted years of development. Get his passport ready."
- After watching Bobcats general manager Rich Cho inquire time and again about players in the 10-20 pick range, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer believes the Bobcats might be looking to trade down from wherever they wind up in the draft lottery this Tuesday, May 21st.
- Josh Robbins writes at the Orlando Sentinel that Magic Senior Vice President Pat Williams, is their good luck charm because his teams have won the draft lottery four different times: once for the Sixers in 1986, and three times for the Magic in 1992, 1993 and 2004.
3:00pm: There isn't on-court action at the Chicago predraft camp this weekend as there was Thursday and Friday, though teams and players remain in town until tomorrow. Several general managers tell Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel that they would prefer the event focus less on putting players through drills and afford them more time for interviews. With ESPN televising the part of the combine with players on the hardwood, I wouldn't expect the GMs to get their wish anytime soon. Here's the latest draft-related news:
- The league posted measurements and athletic testing results from the combine participants on NBA.com.
- Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com rounds up his observations from the combine, passing along gloomy opinions on the top talent from a pair of NBA GMs, one of whom says, "There's really no one worthy of the top pick."
- MLive's David Mayo provides a master list of all the draft prospects whom the Pistons have interviewed either formally or informally, along with the dates of the individual workouts those players have scheduled with the team.
- Jamaal Franklin attended the combine despite a sprained ankle that kept him out of workouts and drills, and he interviewed with at least nine teams, according to Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union-Tribune. His first workout is scheduled for June 3rd with the Mavs, and the Hawks, Nets, Cavs and Bucks are also "in the mix," Zeigler writes.
- The Sixers interviewed Rudy Gobert on Friday, reports Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
- Chris Mannix of SI.com quizzed some of the top prospects with questions they likely heard in their interviews with teams.
Spencer Lund contributed to this post
Atlantic Rumors: Sixers, Sampson, Howard, Kidd
Let's round up the latest out of the Atlantic, where the division's lone remaining team (the Knicks) will attempt to stave off elimination at Madison Square Garden tonight….
- The Sixers have received permission to interview Rockets assistant Kelvin Sampson, according to John N. Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Sampson had already been on Philadelphia's list of candidates before former Rockets assistant GM Sam Hinkie was hired by the Sixers, but it will be interesting to see whether or not the Houston connection makes Sampson a stronger candidate for the opening.
- Mitchell adds in the same piece that Hinkie is believed to be eyeing Jazz assistant Jeff Hornacek as well.
- Hinkie says he'll look at all options in building his team back up to contention, writes PhillyBurbs.com's Tom Moore.
- In identifying Dwight Howard's five likeliest free agent destinations, Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld writes that there's still mutual interest between Howard and the Nets. While Kennedy notes that, due to their cap situation, the Nets are a "long shot," I'd classify Brooklyn's odds of landing Howard as even more miniscule than that.
- Mark Hale of the New York Post notes that Jason Kidd has said there's no guarantee he'll finish his current three-year contract, and wonders if Kidd's struggles during this postseason could influence a retirement decision.
Michael Pina contributed to this post.
Pistons To Interview Brian Shaw
Brian Shaw will interview to be the new head coach of the Pistons, according to a report by WXYZ-TV passed along by Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News. The former player is in the midst of a playoff run as an assistant coach with the Pacers, but once their season ends, Shaw will interview for the head coach position. Pacers president Donnie Walsh has asked that his assistants not interview for other jobs until after the team's playoff run.
In a recent article for HoopsHype, longtime Phil Jackson confidant Charley Rosen said that he wouldn't be surprised if Jackson's former player was offered the Pistons job. The Zen Master, of course, is currently serving as a hiring consultant for Detroit.
Shaw is also in the running for the Nets' head coaching position, with Larry Brown and Jackson himself on Brooklyn's list of candidates, though Jackson isn't interested in the Nets' opening. Shaw is also up for the Sixers open slot as head coach, as we learned earlier this month.
Lawrence On Grizzlies, Hollins, Paul, Saunders
Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News doesn't hide his distaste for advanced metrics in his latest dispatch, and he thinks the Nets should wait to hire a new coach until the Grizzlies make their decision on Lionel Hollins official. If Memphis management determines Hollins, whose contract is up at season's end, doesn't fit with the team's new emphasis on statistics, the Nets should pounce on the coaching free agent, Lawrence writes. Given that Hollins said yesterday that the Grizzlies want him back, however, I'd be surprised if he's changing addresses this summer. Here's more from Lawrence on the Grizzlies and the rest of the NBA:
- Chris Paul prefers to re-sign with the Clippers this summer, but he wants them to hire an African American as coach, Lawrence hears, suggesting Nate McMillan for the job that Vinny Del Negro still holds.
- If Rick Adelman steps down as Timberwolves coach, newly installed president of basketball operations Flip Saunders would come down to the bench to replace him.
- Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer probably won't be taking another team's head coaching job this summer because San Antonio has already anointed him as Gregg Popovich's successor, according to Lawrence. When Tim Duncan retires, Popovich will, too, leaving the coaching duties to Budenholzer.
- There are members of the Grizzlies organization who still aren't sold on the Rudy Gay deal, and they believe the team would have more easily overcome the Clippers in the first round if Gay were still in Memphis.
Offseason Outlook: Brooklyn Nets
Guaranteed Contracts
- Joe Johnson ($21,466,718)
- Deron Williams ($18,466,130)
- Brook Lopez ($14,693,906)
- Kris Humphries ($12,000,000)
- Gerald Wallace ($10,105,855)
- Mirza Teletovic ($3,229,050)
- Reggie Evans ($1,695,635)
- MarShon Brooks ($1,210,080)
- Tornike Shengelia ($788,872)
- Tyshawn Taylor ($788,872)
Options
- C.J. Watson ($1,106,942, Player)
Non-Guaranteed Contracts
- Kris Joseph ($788,872)1
Free Agents / Cap Holds
- No. 22 pick ($1,082,200)
- Andray Blatche ($884,293)
- Keith Bogans ($884,293)
- Jerry Stackhouse ($884,293)
Draft Picks
- 1st Round (22nd overall)
Cap Outlook
- Guaranteed Salary: $84,445,118
- Options: $1,106,942
- Non-Guaranteed Salary: $788,872
- Cap Holds: $3,735,079
- Total: $90,076,011
This time last year, the Nets were busy putting the finishing touches on a shiny new arena in Prospect Heights, but didn't really have a clue as to what kind of product they'd be putting on the floor in 2012/13. In fact, there were only four players under contract for their inaugural season in Brooklyn with Deron Williams and Gerald Wallace holding player options. Even though it seemed like things would get hot and heavy between the Mavs and the Nets' star guard, Billy King & Co. ultimately re-signed Williams thanks to the Joe Johnson deal and, depending on who you ask, Mark Cuban's decision to tend to his reality show rather than meet with his club's No. 1 free agent target.
Eighty-nine games later, the Nets have burned through two coaches and are seeking out someone who will put a sizable buffer between themselves and coach No. 4. In a redux of 1999, the Nets made their pitch to land Phil Jackson but were quickly rebuffed. Beyond the Zen Master, they find a very deserving longtime assistant in Brian Shaw and another infamous name from their own history – Larry Brown. There's also the brothers Van Gundy (Jeff, Stan), possible darkhorse Mike Dunleavy Sr., and Deron's bestest friend in the whole wide world, Jerry Sloan. There's no telling who the next hire will be for the Nets, but they'll presumably seek out someone who can push this team to play tough defense on a nightly basis and mix up the team's playcalling a smidge. After all, you can only rotate between a Williams isolation play, a Johnson isolation play, and a Williams/Brook Lopez pick-and-roll so many times before the opposition wises up.
Making a change on the bench will only get Brooklyn so far, but it's going to be extremely challenging for this club to truly shake up this roster. The trades for Johnson and Wallace gave the Nets a short-term boost, but their contracts make them nearly impossible to flip for younger talent. Johnson will earn $70MM over the next three seasons while Wallace, who appears to be in decline and frustrated with his recent play, will make $33MM in that span.
Kris Humphries, who had a very disappointing campaign, will also be hard to move as he is set to make $12MM next season. A team may be willing to take on his expiring contract in hopes that he returns to his form of the previous three seasons, but the Nets will have to sweeten the pot with another piece to get anything of value in return. The talented and under-utilized MarShon Brooks could help entice someone to take on Hump. Last offseason's import Mirza Teletovic or 2011 first round pick Bojan Bogdanovic, who will reportedly join the club this summer, could also be decent trade chips. None of those three players would guarantee a worthwhile deal, however.
The club struggled when it came to pairing someone in the frontcourt alongside Lopez. When Humphries found himself on the pine, Reggie Evans stepped up and did the dirty work. However, Evans' lack of offensive acumen makes it tough to give him starter's minutes, especially when he's sharing the floor with Wallace. Re-signing the sometimes brilliant and sometimes aimless Andray Blatche will go a long way towards solidifying the frontcourt, but they'll need to address the power forward position in order to take a step forward next season. Someone in the middle of the spectrum between Evans' balls-to-the-wall approach and Lopez's offensive mindset would suit them extremely well.
Can they get a high caliber four with Humphries and a few shiny pieces? Could Johnson or Wallace be moved for assets that can be useful in both the short- and long- term? Neither seems terribly likely given the club's salary cap situation. That's why the Nets' coaching search is so critical. It could be the biggest impact move possible for this team.
Additional notes:
- Beyond the starting five, the Nets may also be forced to retool their bench. Blatche has said that he wants more consistent playing time, but his familiarity with Brooklyn could convince him to stay and see less burn. The Nets were also the club that took a gamble on Blatche and got him back on track after he was amnestied by the Wizards.
- C.J. Watson holds a player's option for the minimum but he will almost certainly decline it as he can get (at least) the minimum from anyone. Watson would gladly be welcomed back to the Barclays Center but, like Blatche, the guard may choose to play for a team that will showcase him and improve his value beyond next season.
- Jerry Stackhouse has enjoyed an exceptionally long career but at the of 38, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him walk away from the game. Keith Bogans is also a free agent and the Nets would like to hang on to him.
Cap footnotes:
- It's not known whether Joseph's contract for 2013/14 includes a partial guarantee, or whether it's fully non-guaranteed.
Storytellers Contracts and Sham Sports were used in the creation of this post.
Eastern Notes: Prigioni, Nets, Bobcats, Redick
After spending 17 years playing professional basketball in Europe, Pablo Prigioni has enjoyed his first taste of the NBA this season with the Knicks. Prigioni will be a free agent at season's end, but George Bass, who represents Prigioni, tells Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com that his client is interested in re-signing with the Knicks.
"Pablo really enjoyed himself here, and he has interest in playing again next year," Bass said. "He's fallen in love with New York, there's no doubt. The Knicks are just a first-class organization, so it's been good all the way around."
Here are a few more updates from around the Eastern Conference:
- With Bojan Bogdanovic expected to sign with the Nets this summer, Tim Bontemps of the New York Post examines what ramifications such a move would have for Brooklyn.
- There's no timetable for the Bobcats' coaching search, which figures to be lengthy and include plenty of candidates, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
- Before he makes a decision in free agency in July, J.J. Redick plans to consult with Mike Krzyzewski, his former coach at Duke, as Andrew Gruman of FOX Sports Wisconsin writes.
- A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com identifies a few possible offseason targets for the Celtics.
- Over at Bulls.com, Sam Smith's latest mailbag focuses primarily on the current Bulls/Heat series, but also looks ahead to the summer. Asked about Nate Robinson's value on the open market, Smith predicts Robinson will be looking at an annual salary in the $3MM neighborhood.
Atlantic Links: Raptors, Nets, Sixers, Celtics
After a night without NBA action, the headlines are a little scarce on this Friday morning. But there are still a handful of notable links to round up, particularly out of the Atlantic Division….
- It's not clear what's holding up MLSE's decision on whether or not to pick up Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo's 2013/14 option, says Eric Koreen of the National Post. As ownership weighs the Colangelo decision, it's possible that his potential replacements are being courted by other teams, according to Koreen.
- The Nets may not be able to bring back all of their productive bench players, with Andray Blatche and C.J. Watson potentially heading for free agency. However, as Michael Scotto of RealGM.com writes, Brooklyn's starting lineup is under contract for multiple years, so the team should get a chance to continue developing chemistry and consistency next season.
- Former 76ers coach Larry Brown is coaching college ball at SMU, but tells Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News that he still lives in Philadelphia and that "I'd love to be a resource [for the Sixers] any way I can." The Sixers are currently seeking a new head coach, and could also be exploring hiring a new general manager.
- The Celtics' ability to contend over the next several seasons will hinge on Kevin Garnett's future, writes Justin Barrasso of WEEI.com.