Central Notes: Gasol, Hoiberg, Jackson
Tom Thibodeau, who was fired Thursday as coach of the Bulls, received some public support Sunday from Pau Gasol, writes K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. Gasol used his blog to thank the coach who convinced him to come to Chicago and helped him thrive with an inside-out offense. “Coach Thibodeau, [I] want to thank your trust and support this season,” Gasol wrote. “I am sure that his departure was a very difficult decision for the organization of the Bulls, but I am convinced that they have a solid plan for the success of the franchise. We all have high expectations for the coming season and will do anything to bring the ring to Chicago. Go Bulls!”
Here’s more news from the Central Division:
- Iowa State’s Fred Hoiberg, who is expected to officially replace Thibodeau this week, is a “leader,” former Bulls GM Jerry Krause told Johnson in a separate story. “He’d earn respect of players right away,” Krause said. “If you don’t respect Fred Hoiberg, you don’t respect people.” Hoiberg is recovering from heart surgery and his children are finishing the school year Monday, so the date of his announcement is uncertain, but it’s a foregone conclusion that he will be Chicago’s next coach. Johnson couldn’t confirm a report that Hoiberg will receive $25MM over five years, but a source told him the contract will top the $20MM extension Hoiberg got from ISU in 2013.
- Chicago is counting on Hoiberg to improve its offense, according to Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders. The columnist contends that Hoiberg’s philosophies fit well with the talent that the Bulls possess.
- Some have wondered if Reggie Jackson, acquired last season, could be the long-term replacement for point guard Brandon Jennings, who will be a free agent in the summer of 2016. For what it’s worth, Pistons coach/exec Stan Van Gundy says that he can see the two clicking well on the floor at the same time, David Mayo of MLive.com writes. “I think it can work,” Van Gundy said. “I think that we’ve seen a vision of it already with [Russell] Westbrook and Reggie in Oklahoma City. They were certainly able to find minutes for both of them. So yeah, I’ve certainly thought about it. But that would be jumping the gun a little bit. The main thing is to get him back.”
Zach Links contributed to this report.
Draft Notes: Holmes, Christmas, Mickey, Vaughn
Richaun Holmes, Rakeem Christmas, Jordan Mickey and Rashad Vaughn have improved their stocks considerably, as one Eastern Conference GM tells Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops.
“All four have helped themselves so far during the workouts,” the anonymous GM said. “Vaughn has a chance to go in the first round. The other three are second-round picks. Although Christmas has apparently intrigued some teams at the bottom of the first round.”
Here’s more from Scotto on these prospects:
- Holmes will work out for the Lakers, Clippers, Warriors, Raptors and Grizzlies as well as other teams that should bring him to roughly 15 workouts. He has already worked out for the Jazz, Spurs, Suns, Pacers and Mavericks. Holmes previously spoke with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors about how he changed his form to improve his shooting.
- Mickey will work out for the Wolves and Spurs. He has already worked out for the Bulls, Rockets and Celtics. “I like Mickey,” an Eastern Conference GM told Scotto. “He’s an NBA shot blocker and rebounder. He’s a more athletic Taj Gibson.”
- Vaughn has already worked out for the Heat and Pacers. “I really like Vaughn,” one GM told Scotto. “He’s a good shooter with range. He can get his own shot and is athletic.”
Eastern Notes: Skiles, Wizards, Varejao
The big news of the day is the Magic‘s hiring of Scott Skiles as the team’s new head coach. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports previously reported that Skiles’ arrangement with the team was for four years, and Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link) adds that the fourth year (2018/19) is a team option. Robbins also tweets that Skiles said he would like to keep former interim coach James Borrego on his coaching staff.
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- The Wizards have workouts scheduled for this Monday with Jerian Grant (Notre Dame), Darian Hooker (New York Institute of Technology), Cady Lalanne (UMass), Stefan Nastic (Stanford), Juwan Staten (West Virginia), and Delon Wright (Utah), Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post reports (via Twitter).
- Cavs big man Anderson Varejao, who has been out of action since suffering a torn left Achilles tendon, could be activated for the NBA Finals if something were to “go bad” for Cleveland, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com said in an appearance on ESPN Cleveland radio (Twitter link).
- Former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau didn’t deserve the shots he took on the way out the door from the franchise, but he did deserve to be fired because of the team’s lack of offensive creativity and production despite having a potent roster and rotation, Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo! Sports opines.
- Working out for the Sixers today were T.J. McConnell (Arizona), Chasson Randle (Stanford), Jarvis Threatt (Delaware), K.T. Harrell (Auburn), and Gabe Olaseni (Iowa), Jake Fischer of LibertyBallers.com relays (Twitter link).
Pelicans Interview Alvin Gentry, JVG
MAY 29TH, 7:30pm: Gentry was in New Orleans today for a second interview with the team, Fletcher Mackel of WDSU NBC New Orleans tweets. Van Gundy is also still in contention for the job, Mackel adds.
MAY 22ND, 6:04pm: The Pelicans interviewed Van Gundy on Tuesday, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. The two sides had previously spoken over the phone, but this was the first face-to-face meeting, Wojnarowski’s sources relayed.
10:16pm: Van Gundy has expressed interest in coaching the Pelicans, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets.
MAY 21ST, 12:50pm: Gentry sees the chance to coach Davis as career-defining and is “more than interested” in the job, a source close to Gentry told John Reid of The Times-Picayune. The source pointed to clear indications that Gentry will meet again with Pelicans management after the season is over for the Warriors, Reid adds. New Orleans wants a coach who’ll install an exciting, up-tempo attack while further developing Davis, Reid hears from league sources, and Gentry’s last NBA head coaching gig came with the fast-paced Steve Nash-era Suns.
8:34pm: Gentry is being interviewed by Pelicans president Mickey Loomis and GM Dell Demps tonight in San Francisco, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Gentry, who was granted permission by the Warriors to interview in between playoff series, will try to sell the Pelicans’ brass on offensive strategies that he would institute to expand Anthony Davis‘ game, Wojnarowski continues. Loomis is also interested in Thibodeau, who is waiting to hear from the Bulls about his future with the franchise, but Demps isn’t as sold on the hard-edged Chicago coach after having endured much internal conflict with former coach Monty Williams, Wojnarowski hears. The Pelicans have also made calls on Jeff Van Gundy and have an interest in Scott Brooks, Wojnarowski adds.
5:11pm: There was a lot of talk at the combine that the Pelicans would be hesitant to give up compensation to Chicago in return for the Bulls allowing them to hire Thibodeau, Johnson reports (Twitter link). That doesn’t mean the team will necessarily hire Gentry instead, but it supports the idea that the Pelicans will wait to see how things shake out between the Bulls and Thibs, Johnson tweets.
4:40pm: The Bulls and Thibodeau are still operating as though Thibs remains Chicago’s coach, Stein writes in a full story. Stein still says the sides are widely expected to part ways. It’s unclear just when Gentry’s interview with the Pelicans will take place, Stein notes.
MAY 18TH, 4:15pm: The Pelicans have received permission from the Warriors to interview assistant coach Alvin Gentry, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Most of the reports regarding the New Orleans vacancy have centered on Tom Thibodeau, so it appears the Pels are expanding their base of candidates. Gentry is reportedly a front-runner for Chicago should the Bulls part ways with Thibodeau, so perhaps the Pelicans’ interest in Gentry is brinksmanship of sorts to entice the Bulls to let Thibs go for minimal compensation, though that’s just my speculation.
Gentry has reportedly drawn interest from the Nuggets and Magic, too, as he helps head coach Steve Kerr guide the Warriors toward a title. The sought-after candidate has made it clear he enjoys coaching in Golden State even though he’d like to return to a head coaching capacity. Gentry is a veteran of parts of 12 seasons as an NBA head coach with the Heat, Pistons, Clippers and Suns. He took Phoenix, where he made his last head coaching stop, to the Western Conference Finals in 2009. Gentry left a job as an assistant for the New Orleans franchise, then known as the Hornets, after one season in 2004 to join Mike D’Antoni‘s staff with the Suns, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic points out (on Twitter).
New Orleans was reportedly waiting for clarity on Thibodeau’s situation with the Bulls as of last week. There’s apparent mutual interest between Thibs and the Pelicans, and a pair of reports Friday indicated that if he’s not coaching in Chicago, he’ll most likely end up on the Pelicans bench. However, his contract with the Bulls runs through 2016/17, so Chicago controls his fate if he wants to coach in the NBA anytime soon. Thibodeau isn’t about to walk away from the money remaining on his deal, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link), an amount Stein last week pegged at close to $9MM. Still, Johnson suggests it’s possible that Thibodeau will sit out next season if the Bulls indeed decide to go with someone else.
Bulls Rumors: Hoiberg, Thibodeau, Reinsdorf
Those in Tom Thibodeau‘s inner circle heard that the Bulls and Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg reached an understanding that he would accept an offer from Chicago, prompting the team to fire Thibs, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. GM Gar Forman has been “obsessive” about hiring Hoiberg, according to Wojnarowski, who details Thibodeau’s failings to act more diplomatically in a Bulls organization that’s hostile to those who don’t give deference to management, Wojnarowski believes. Here’s more on the coaching change in Chicago:
- Several close to Thibodeau have suggested that he sit out this coming season, when the Bulls will continue to pay him toward the nearly $9MM left on his contract, and wait for the NBA coaching vacancies of 2016/17, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.
- One NBA coach likened the way the Bulls let go of Thibodeau to a crucifixion while another insinuated that owner Jerry Reinsdorf stabbed the coach in the back, according to Steve Aschburner of NBA.com. Indeed, Thibodeau confidants told Wojnarowski that the coach was especially hurt by Reinsdorf’s comment in the statement the team released to announce the firing, having deeply valued his relationship with the owner.
- Forman and executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson weren’t the only ones in the organization who didn’t get along with Thibodeau, as Jon Greenberg of ESPNChicago.com heard from staffers whose attitudes toward Thibs ranged from apathy to loathing.
Fallout From Tom Thibodeau Firing
Bulls GM Gar Forman and executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson didn’t say as much in their press conference today, but the now-vacant Bulls coaching job is Fred Hoiberg‘s to lose, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. There has been some doubt about whether Hoiberg, coming off heart surgery last month, would head to the Bulls this year, but sources close to the Iowa State coach tell Randy Peterson of The Des Moines Register that they believe Hoiberg would accept if, or when, offered. Indeed, several close to Hoiberg are confident that he’s ready for the challenge of the NBA, Johnson hears (Twitter link). There’s much more on Hoiberg, the fired Tom Thibodeau, and the Bulls, as we relay:
- There’s no way Hoiberg would turn down the Bulls job, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press, and the coach was ready to jump to the NBA if the Warriors had offered him their job last season, according to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (on Twitter). However, the Warriors got the sense then that Hoiberg wasn’t quite ready, notes Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group (via Twitter). Still, Hoiberg last month told recruiting target Cheick Diallo that he couldn’t guarantee that he’d remain the school’s coach for 2015/16, sources told Travis Hines of the Ames Tribune (hat tip to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv).
- The Bulls have also fired assistant coach Andy Greer, Forman confirmed at the press conference today, as Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com notes (on Twitter).
- Forman also said that Bulls management got the sense they needed to make a change after meeting with players and other team personnel, Friedell tweets. That would jibe with Johnson’s report that some players conveyed in their exit meetings this month that they didn’t endorse Thibodeau’s return.
- The GM denied that the Bulls viewed Thibodeau as an asset they could use to extract compensation from other teams and confirmed that no team had called to ask permission to interview the coach this year, Friedell passes along (on Twitter).
- Paxson suggested that the Bulls would have kept Thibs if they’d won the title this year, advancing the idea that the team’s inability to get past the Cavs in the playoffs further lowered Thibodeau in the eyes of management. “We wouldn’t be sitting here if we won a championship,” Paxson said, according to Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com (Twitter link). “I feel like we had a real chance.”
And-Ones: Wolves, Lakers, Pacers, Celtics
Several players and agents suggested to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders that any given Eastern Conference team would be more attractive than a comparable one from the Western Conference given the disparity between the conferences. One agent told Kennedy that players “absolutely” want to be the East and that he hopes his draft clients are taken by Eastern teams, though an executive cautioned that the presence of LeBron James might dissuade free agents from jumping out of the West. James is set to represent the East for the fifth straight time in the NBA Finals, and while we wait more than a week for tip-off, here’s more from around the NBA:
- Chad Ford of ESPN.com hears D’Angelo Russell is in the mix for the Timberwolves at No. 1, says Karl-Anthony Towns, but not necessarily Jahlil Okafor, would be a lock for the Lakers at No. 2, and also writes in his chat with readers that the Pacers and Celtics would love to move up. Ford has heard chatter among GMs that the Thunder have promised Cameron Payne they’ll take him at No. 14, but he isn’t sure just how much truth there is to that, as the ESPN scribe writes in the same piece. Sources have suggested to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders that Payne has a promise from some team. Our Eddie Scarito has Payne going to the Thunder in the Hoops Rumors Mock Draft.
- UNLV shooting guard Rashad Vaughn had an especially impressive workout this past weekend, Ford observes in an Insider-only piece, and Vaughn also opened eyes in his workout Tuesday for the Heat, reports Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Ford adds in his piece that scouts have told him that French center Alpha Kaba is willing to stay in the draft rather than withdraw by the June 15th deadline if he receives a promise from a team.
- The Bulls and Pelicans have interest in former 16th overall pick Royce White, reports Shams Charania of RealGM, though it’s not clear if they’re yet considering him for any sort of deal that would go beyond summer league.
Bulls Fire Tom Thibodeau
The Bulls have fired coach Tom Thibodeau, the team announced via press release. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reported overnight that resolution to the long-running drama between Thibodeau and Bulls management was expected no later than Friday.
“When Tom was hired in 2010, he was right for our team and system at that time, and over the last five years we have had some success with Tom as our head coach,” Bulls GM Gar Forman said in the team’s statement. “But as we looked ahead and evaluated how we as a team and an organization could continue to grow and improve, we believed a change in approach was needed.”
Owner Jerry Reinsdorf also made a lengthy comment in the statement that spoke to a breakdown in cohesion among the coach and management, essentially confirming a well-documented storyline that’s persisted for more than a year. The Bulls let Thibodeau know his fate at a meeting today, but the coach knew the news was coming, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). The Bulls are still on the hook for the nearly $9MM they owe Thibodeau for the rest of his contract, which covered the next two seasons, but that would be offset if he takes a coaching job elsewhere within two years.
The Magic and the Pelicans are known to have interest in talking to Thibodeau, Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote Wednesday, but as of last week, no team had contacted the Bulls to ask permission to hire Thibs, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Thibodeau wasn’t willing to meet with teams or talk to them about their vacancies while he remained under contract with the Bulls, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders heard. The Nuggets are not an option for Thibodeau, sources told Berger. The Bulls reportedly wanted to hold off on firing Thibodeau and seek compensation in return for allowing another team to hire Thibs, but teams didn’t appear willing to give it up for a coach whom Chicago was well-known not to want back.
Multiple reports have cast Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg as Chicago’s top choice to succeed Thibodeau, but the Bulls are interested in Warriors assistant Alvin Gentry, too, Kyler reported, and one source who spoke with Howard Beck of Bleacher Report considers Gentry the favorite for the job. Bulls lead assistant coach Adrian Griffin is also in the mix as a potential Thibodeau replacement, as Stein reported. Hoiberg had open heart surgery last month to replace his aortic valve, and Kyler and Beck have heard doubts that he’ll jump to the Bulls this year. The Nuggets and Magic appeared to have interest in Gentry at various points this spring, and the Pelicans interviewed him.
Thibodeau had plenty of on-court success in his five seasons with the Bulls, who gave the longtime assistant his first NBA head coaching job. He went 255-139 in the regular season, winning the 2010 Coach of the Year award, though he was just 23-28 in the playoffs, and Stein heard that the Bulls were displeased with his team’s inability to get past a banged-up Cavs team in the second round this year.
Bulls Warming To Idea Of Outright Thibs Firing
9:36am: Thibodeau isn’t willing to meet with other teams or talk to them about their coaching vacancies while he remains under contract with the Bulls, sources tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders for his NBA AM piece.
THURSDAY, 8:37am: A resolution is expected no later than Friday, sources tell K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, and the Bulls are set to fire Thibodeau unless owner Jerry Reinsdorf intercedes. Some players, during exit meeting interviews with the team, didn’t endorse the return of Thibodeau, as Johnson also hears from sources. Thibodeau and executive VP of basketball operations John Paxson haven’t spoken since January, Johnson adds. Still, Johnson heard from three sources who refuted the report that the Bulls tried to hire Collins as an assistant to Thibodeau. Instead, Collins was the one who came up with the idea of joining the Bulls, and he approached Thibodeau about it in 2013, not 2014, according to Johnson’s sources. Bulls management didn’t find out about it until months later, Johnson hears.
4:18pm: Some Bulls players and personnel have already been informed that Thibodeau won’t be returning next season, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News relays.
WEDNESDAY, 3:30pm: The Bulls are considering firing coach Tom Thibodeau without attempting to garner compensation from another team and simply absorbing the resulting financial hit, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports. The chances that the franchise fires Thibodeau is growing increasingly likely as the days pass, Stein adds. Thibodeau’s contract with the team still has two more years and nearly $9MM left, which Chicago obviously would prefer not to fork over if Thibs was no longer calling the plays.
The relationship between the coach and the front office has grown increasingly contentious and the team was reportedly waiting for all the remaining coaching vacancies to fill up before parting ways with its coach, thus potentially freezing Thibodeau out of the NBA for the 2015/16 campaign. This is a curious tact for the team to take if it truly desires to avoid compensating Thibodeau, since the coach’s contract contains a set-off clause which could allow the Bulls to recoup as much as 100% of his salary if the franchise fires him and he ends up with another job.
According to Stein’s sources, there is more to the front office’s displeasure with Thibodeau than a difference in philosophies and opinions. Team management is reportedly frustrated with the team’s inability to defeat the injury-depleted Cavaliers in the second-round of the playoffs this season, as well as with the squad’s continued lack of flow on the offensive end of the court, the ESPN scribe adds. The team had reportedly tried to get Thibodeau to hire Doug Collins to help revamp the Bulls’ offense, Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun Times notes.
The only remaining coaching vacancies are with the Magic, who are reportedly looking at Scott Skiles as the front-runner, and the Nuggets, who may simply promote interim coach Melvin Hunt to fill their vacancy. So unless another coaching position unexpectedly opens up, it is looking increasingly likely that Thibodeau will be a spectator, albeit a well-paid one, when the 2015/16 season tips off.
Central Notes: Thibodeau, Blatt, J.R. Smith
It’s well-known throughout the NBA that the Bulls would grant other teams permission to interview Tom Thibodeau if they asked, but no team has done so this year, reports K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. Johnson believes that suggests the options for Thibs to coach elsewhere next season are fading and sees Chicago’s slow-paced approach to Thibodeau so far this offseason as a sign that the team isn’t opposed to simply paying off the $9MM left on his contract and parting ways with him. There’s more on the Thibodeau drama amid the latest from the Central Division:
- There is indeed a set-off clause in Thibodeau’s contract, so the Bulls would recoup at least part of that money — and as much as 100% of it if his contract is like that of most coaches, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com recently detailed — if the Bulls fire him and he ends up with another job, Johnson reports in the same piece. Still, it’s unknown how owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who Johnson refers to as an occasional “oasis” of sorts for Thibodeau amid the coach’s squabbles with management, wants the situation to play out, Thibs received more pushback from players this year than ever, Johnson adds.
- Cavs owner Dan Gilbert insists that the team never considered firing coach David Blatt, in spite of a report to the contrary and another that indicated the organization was concerned by Blatt’s uneven early season performance, as Gilbert said to Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. The owner said his confidence never wavered about the coach who’s in his first NBA job. “It really didn’t,” Gilbert said. “I don’t care what the expectations were, especially after we changed coaches twice in two years. This was a guy with a long-term record of success. You have to at least give a season, maybe more than just one. I think it would have destabilized the entire franchise and it would have been bad.”
- Cleveland received permission from the Knicks to talk to J.R. Smith prior to trading for him in January, and he impressed upon the Cavs that he was excited for the chance to play with them, writes Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Smith later said that he would walk to Cleveland to play with LeBron James, Isola adds amid a story that casts the Cavs as a long-term threat atop the Eastern Conference.