Eastern Notes: Cousins, Nets, Hibbert
The Pistons reportedly have plenty of interest in DeMarcus Cousins, but Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News believes GM Joe Dumars has cooled on Cousins as Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond have developed (Twitter link). In another tweet, Goodwill asserts that Detroit won't be dealing any picks and thinks that the Celtics could offer Rajon Rondo in what would be the most attractive trade package for Sacramento. With that aside, here are a few more links we've gathered up out of the Eastern Conference tonight:
- Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun believes the Raptors would have to bite if the Kings offered Cousins for Andrea Bargnani, but he's not optimistic Cousins can overcome his volatile personality (Twitter links).
- Tim Bontemps of the New York Post dissects Mikhail Prokhorov's remarks to reporters on Friday, concluding that the Nets owner is sold on Phil Jackson and would entertain keeping P.J. Carlesimo for the rest of the season if he can't get the Zen Master of Jeff Van Gundy immediately.
- Roy Hibbert got off to a disconcerting start this season after signing a four-year deal for the maximum in the offseason, but his play has picked up of late, as HoopsWorld's Joel Brigham chronicles.
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel believes the Magic, at 12-16, have little chance of landing a high lottery pick, and writes that the team should set its sights on making the playoffs instead. Schmitz also speculates that Stan Van Gundy's next coaching job will be on the West Coast, and doesn't foresee Phil Jackson taking the Nets job.
- In a Q&A with The Plain Dealer's Mary Schmitt Boyer, Cavaliers guard Shaun Livingston discusses the career-altering injury he suffered six years ago, being cut by the Rockets, and playing alongside Kyrie Irving.
Nets Notes: Sampson, Van Gundy, Jackson
The Nets handed the Bobcats their 17th straight loss last night under newly-minted interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo. Here's a look at the latest out of Brooklyn as we wonder how long the former Seton Hall head man will get to keep that mantle..
- Rockets assistant Kelvin Sampson is not among the candidates to coach the Nets this season, reports Sam Amick of SI.com, despite earlier indication that he was receiving strong consideration. Amick also notes that Jeff Van Gundy, who doesn't want to lobby for the job while Carlesimo is in place, would prefer to stay out of coaching while his daughter finishes her senior year of high school.
Earlier updates:
- If Phil Jackson doesn't agree to coach the Nets this season, as he is reportedly relucntant to do, a source tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com that the Nets may decide to finish the season with Carlesimo on the bench and renew their coaching search in the offseason, when Jackson would be more willing to come aboard. The list of coaching hopefuls could be longer by then, but at the moment, GM Billy King is expected to propose Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy, Nate McMillan and Mike Dunleavy as candidates to owner Mikhail Prokhorov.
- Gerald Wallace, who was said to be one of Avery Johnson's biggest supporters, isn't thrilled with how his tenure came to an end, according to the Associated Press. "To me, it's kind of frustrating and sad because that's the first time in my career that a coach's been let go in the middle of the season like that," Wallace said. "But I understand the business part of it. We move on and obviously regardless of who's sitting at the head of the chair, we know what we got to do as players."
- Avery Johnson was said to be surprised by the Nets' move to fire him, but he shouldn't be, writes HoopsHype's Peter May. Johnson should have seen the writing on the wall when Prokhorov denied his request for a contract extension, May opines.
- Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (on Twitter) spoke with guard MarShon Brooks, who is excited about a new opportunity to play after being buried on the bench by Johnson. Brooks and Kris Humphries both seemed to be strong trade candidates as their roles were significantly reduced this season.
Latest On Phil Jackson, Nets
Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game reported earlier tonight that if Phil Jackson coaches the Nets, it probably won't be this season, yet he remains the team's top candidate, and some of Jackson's friends indicated to Howard Beck of the New York Times that Jackson may indeed have interest in Brooklyn. At least two other teams have approached Jackson about roles that wouldn't include coaching, and "it is believed" he's considering those options, Beck writes.
Jackson's agent Todd Musburger said Thursday that his client has no interest in the Nets opening, but Musburger's statement, which came in the form of a text to TNT's David Aldridge, included the caveat that there was no interest "at this time," and that's been widely interpreted as a hedge, according to Beck. Jackson's friends said money isn't a priority for Jackson, who doesn't expect to equal the $12MM he received in his final season with the Lakers. He instead will seek a role in player personnel decisions and may seek a promise of a front-office job once he retires from coaching. One friend said Jackson wants to make sure any team he coaches has a "path to the championship."
The Nets won't look at any other candidates until they've determined whether Jackson wants the job, Beck notes. Owner Mikhail Prokhorov gave his support to interim coach P.J. Carlesimo this evening, and while Carlesimo characterized himself as "assistant that's minding the store," he didn't rule out the idea of permanently taking over if the owner is willing to discuss the idea.
"Am I anxious to hear what he's got to say? Of course . . . I certainly don't want to lobby for it or anything like that. I'm sorry that I'm in this position right now. I'm very happy to be coaching in the NBA, but I'm sorry that I'm the one sitting up here right now," Carlesimo said, as Newsday's Roderick Boone documents.
Atlantic Rumors: Knicks, Johnson, Brooks
While much of the attention across the NBA has been focused on the struggles of the Nets, they're not the only Atlantic Division team performing below expectations this year. The prevailing wisdom entering the season was that the Atlantic would be the league's toughest division, but entering tonight, only the Knicks had a winning record. Here's more from what might be called the NBA's most disappointing division so far.
- The Knicks, who are at the 15-man roster limit, aren't in the market for another point guard in the wake of Raymond Felton's injury, tweets Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com.
- On Thursday, Avery Johnson thought he and Nets GM Billy King were going to talk about the team's plans for January 15th, when Kris Humphries becomes eligible to be dealt. Instead, King told Johnson he was fired, as Stefan Bondy recounts via Twitter.
- It's unclear how long P.J. Carlesimo will remain interim coach of the Nets, but his presence likely means more minutes for MarShon Brooks, TNT's David Aldridge tweets. Brooks' name has come up as a trade candidate, and he was reportedly among the most disgruntled players in the team's locker room under Johnson.
- Doc Rivers' ability to withstand a pair of sub-.500 seasons before the Celtics went after talent and won the title in 2008 skewed expectations for coaches in similar positions, like Mike D'Antoni with the Knicks and Avery Johnson with the Nets, opines Michael Lee of The Washington Post.
- Speaking on CSNNE.com's SportsNet Central, Chris Mannix of SI.com advocates a Pau Gasol deal for the Celtics. Boston has had interest in the Lakers big man in the past, but appears to have cooled on him since.
Nets Coaching Search Rumors: Friday
While it's been less than 24 hours since the Nets dismissed Avery Johnson, plenty of rumors are already swirling about how the team will replace its head coach. For now, P.J. Carlesimo has the interim job, but the Nets are reportedly expected to launch a "broad" search that will begin in earnest in the new year. Yesterday, multiple reports suggested that Phil Jackson was the Nets' number one choice, though TNT's David Aldridge said the club didn't necessarily have a top target. In any case, it seems Jackson is very much on Brooklyn's radar. Here are Friday's updates on the NBA's second head coaching search of the season, with any new items added to the top throughout the day:
- We've heard already tonight that Jeff Van Gundy is unwilling to coach the Nets this season, and now Ric Bucher of 95.7 Game, appearing on the NBC Sports Network, said Phil Jackson won't coach the team this year either, no matter how much money owner Mikhail Prokhorov is prepared to offer. Jackson instead prefers to wait until the end of the season, like Van Gundy. Bucher identified Van Gundy and Mike Dunleavy as the Brooklyn's next favorite choices, but notes that Brooklyn would much prefer Jackson.
- Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, speaking at a press conference, said, "Now P.J. (Carlesimo) is the head coach and if it becomes necessary, you know who the usual suspects are," as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com tweets. Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News rounds up Prokhorov's open remarks via Sulia.
- Prokhorov said he backs Carlesimo. and refused to talk about Phil Jackson, Bondy tweets. The owner wouldn't answer questions about other candidates, either, reports Howard Beck of the New York Times (Twitter link). Prokhorov said he liked Johnson, but that the results weren't acceptable, according to Newsday's Rod Boone (Twitter link).
- Prokhorov said he made the decision to fire Johnson last week, Andy Vasquez of the Bergen Record notes via Twitter.
- Deron Williams yesterday expressed surprise at Johnson's firing, and had more on his support for his deposed boss today, as Tim Bontemps of the New York Post documents. "Nobody asked me what they should have done with Avery, because if they’d asked me I would have said he needs to be our coach," Williams said.
- Jeff Van Gundy has interest in coaching the Nets, but he doesn't want to interview as long as interim coach P.J. Carlesimo is on board, as we passed along earlier.
- While the Nets are expected to take their time with their coaching search, "the Jackson aspect of the equation has the potential to move quickly in one direction or another," says Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
- Nets officials will begin meeting with owner Mikhail Prokhorov over the next couple days to identify candidates and set parameters for the search, according to Berger. No candidates will be contacted until Prokhorov is "formally looped in" to the process.
- Industry sources believe that Jeff Van Gundy is getting closer to considering a return to coaching, and the Nets are more interested in the former Knicks coach than his brother Stan Van Gundy, according to Berger.
- Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported today that Rockets assistant Kelvin Sampson is a "significant" candidate for the Nets' opening. However, the Nets have yet to contact the Rockets to ask permission to speak to Sampson, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Still, if there's mutual interest between Brooklyn and Sampson, the Rockets won't stand in his way, according to Berger (Twitter link).
- Appearing on Sirius XM Radio today, Mike Dunleavy, who is from Brooklyn, said that coaching the Nets would be a "dream come true" (Twitter link).
- In addition to Jackson, the Nets' list of potential targets includes Mike Dunleavy, Jeff Van Gundy, Nate McMillan, and Jerry Sloan, according to ESPN.com's Chris Broussard. Sloan, who Broussard calls a long shot, declined to comment on the Nets or Deron Williams, but said he'd be opening to coaching in the NBA again (Twitterlinks).
- A source tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com that the Nets' job would definitely interest Jackson and that it's something he figures to explore. Jackson's rep, Todd Musburger, said yesterday that his client didn't have interest in the position "at this time," but Berger says that statement should be taken quite literally — just because he wasn't interested immediately doesn't mean that Jackson wouldn't be intrigued after doing his due diligence on the franchise.
- Jackson would prefer to run a franchise from a front-office position and mentor a younger head coach, rather than coach himself, according to Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game (Sulia link), though he doesn't rule out the Zen Master for the position. Bucher also adds Mike Dunleavy's name to the mix as a potential candidate.
- Sam Amick of USA Today reiterates that the Nets' coaching search is expected to be "wide-ranging."
Jeff Van Gundy Unlikely To Coach Nets This Year
8:18pm: Van Gundy wants to know more about Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov and the way the Nets organization functions before determining his interest in the job, according to Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com.
6:54pm: Jeff Van Gundy is interested in the Nets job, but he probably wouldn't take it until season's end because he doesn't want to upstage interim coach P.J. Carlesimo, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Nets haven't contacted Van Gundy, but the team's front office holds him in high esteem, and he's on the team's shortlist, Wojnarowski writes. Van Gundy's reluctance to cast his shadow on Carlesimo stems from his background as the son of a small college coach as well as the Knicks' fliration with Phil Jackson when Van Gundy was interim coach of the team.
Van Gundy hasn't coached since 2007, and in 2010 turned down entreaties from the Rockets, Raptors and Nets. According to Wojnarowski, Van Gundy believes the Nets opening is more attractive now than it was when he said no two years ago because the team has made its move to Brooklyn.
If the Nets do bring Van Gundy aboard, he'll likely hire Patrick Ewing as an assistant, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Ewing has openly campaigned for head coaching jobs since the end of his tenure as an assistant with the Magic for Jeff's brother, Stan Van Gundy.
Bulls Rumors: Bogans, 2014, Hamilton, Cousins
The Bulls, at 15-12 following a Christmas Day pasting at home at the hands of the Rockets, aren't too far ahead of the 14-14 Nets, who felt compelled to change coaches. But Chicago is only a half-game behind the Pacers for first-place in the Central Division even without Derrick Rose, so there's a lot more optimism in the Windy City than there is in Brooklyn. We've got more on the Bulls here, including another tie-in with the Nets.
- Former Bulls shooting guard Keith Bogans came close to returning to Chicago in the offseason, telling Shams Charania of RealGM.com that agent Dan Fegan had talks with the Bulls. Bogans has a strong relationship with Tom Thibodeau, and though they didn't talk over the summer about the possibility of his return, the coach pushed the front office to bring him back, Charania reports. When Bogans chose the Nets instead, the Bulls signed Marco Belinelli.
- The Bulls are unlikely to take on any long-term contracts in trades this year, Sam Smith of Bulls.com writes in his mailbag column. Smith theorizes that the team has its eyes on the 2014 free agent market, when LeBron James and other flashy names may become available.
- Though the Suns reportedly have interest in trading for Richard Hamilton, Smith doesn't think a swap that would send Hamilton to Phoenix would work for either team.
- Answering a question about whether the Bulls could be players for DeMarcus Cousins as long as he comes cheaply, Smith said he doesn't think the Kings are willing to dump him for a pittance just yet, though he believes Sacramento will be active on several fronts between now and the trade deadline.
Atlantic Notes: Nets, King, Rivers, Lowry
The Nets' firing of Avery Johnson and search for a new coach has been the major post-Christmas story in the NBA, with the latest reports linking Brooklyn to top Rockets assistant Kelvin Sampson. There's plenty going on around the rest of the Atlantic Division though, so let's round up a few Friday links related to the Nets and their division rivals:
- In an Insider-only piece, ESPN.com's Tom Haberstroh puts forth some options for fixing the Nets, including trading for a major frontcourt piece, standing pat, or blowing up the roster.
- ESPN.com's 5-on-5 panel, which includes Sean Highkin of Hoops Rumors, isn't entirely in agreement on whether the Nets should become buyers or sellers at the trade deadline.
- With Johnson gone in Brooklyn, Dave D'Alessandro of the Star-Ledger wonders about GM Billy King's job security.
- Although we've seen a couple unexpected early-season coaching changes from teams believed to be contenders, don't expect the Celtics to be next. Unsurprisingly, team president Danny Ainge tells A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com that Doc Rivers' job is completely secure, despite Boston's recent struggles.
- As he prepares to return from a bicep injury, Kyle Lowry says he's okay with coming off the bench for the Raptors, writes Doug Smith of the Toronto Star.
Nets Strongly Considering Kelvin Sampson
Rockets assistant Kelvin Sampson has emerged as a "significant" candidate for the Nets' head coaching job, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Brooklyn GM Billy King is intrigued by Sampson and is expected to reach out to him, among others, as the team searches for Avery Johnson's replacement.
Sampson took over for Kevin McHale on the Rockets' bench earlier this season when McHale left the team to be with his ailing daughter. The Rockets were 7-6 while Sampson was the team's acting head coach.
According to Wojnarowski, Rockets officials praise Sampson's ability to connect with star players, something that would prove useful in Brooklyn, where Deron Williams and Johnson didn't always seem to be on the same page.
The rest of today's Nets coaching rumors can be found right here.
Poll: Should Nets Have Fired Avery Johnson?
When the Lakers fired Mike Brown five games into the 2012/13 season, many observers felt that the team should have given Brown more time to get everyone on an overhauled roster on the same page. Avery Johnson received a little more time from the Nets than Brown did from the Lakers, but it was still a surprising decision.
The Nets fired Johnson mere weeks after he was named Coach of the Month for November, and Avery Johnson Jr. isn't the only one that feels the move was premature. The Nets were just 14-14 when the change was made, a pace not far off from what many predicted for the team, as Grantland's Zach Lowe pointed out yesterday. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich lamented the Nets' impatience with Johnson at San Antonio's shootaround today, calling Johnson a "very good coach" who was victimized by circumstances (link via Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News).
On the other hand, the Nets were coming off a pair of embarrassing losses, and Deron Williams had publicly questioned Johnson's offensive system last week. Throw in Kris Humphries' demotion and the mixed results of Johnson's small-ball lineup, and there were enough factors in play to make a case that coaching decisions were becoming a real concern in Brooklyn.
What do you think? Should the Nets have given Johnson more time to right the ship, or was it time to make a change?
Should the Nets have fired Avery Johnson?
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No, he should have been given more time 78% (598)
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Yes, he wasn't a good fit with this team 22% (164)
Total votes: 762