Eastern Notes: Kerr, Bobcats, Bulls
Here are a few links to pass along out of the Eastern Conference tonight:
- As he continues to consider accepting the Knicks’ head coaching job, Steve Kerr is currently doing his own research on the organization to make sure there are no red flags, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post.
- Josh McRoberts – who can opt out of his contract this summer – said his preference is to keep playing for Bobcats head coach Steve Clifford for many years, but money will likely be the biggest factor, opines Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.
- Bonnell also writes that swingman Chris Douglas-Roberts seems the best fit to re-sign among the team’s soon-to-be free agents.
- With the Bulls now eliminated from playoff contention, the team will presumably turn their attention toward addressing the future of Tom Thibodeau, opines Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (Twitter link).
- Derrick Rose began taking some contact on his surgically repaired right knee on Monday, reports K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. He’s still expected to begin next season at full strength.
- In addition to evaluating how certain prospects may transition into the NBA, the Pistons – equipped with their own D-League team in Grand Rapids starting next season – will also be scouring this year’s draft pool for prospects to develop in the NBDL, writes Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.
And-Ones: McGary, Daniels, Rockets, Raptors
There were a lot of no-brainer decisions when it came to early entry players in the 2014 Draft, but it was questionable for others. Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req’d) looks at who made the right call and who didn’t. Michigan’s Mitch McGary, Syracuse’s Tyler Ennis, and UCLA’s Kyle Anderson get the thumbs up. JaKarr Sampson of St. John’s, Alex Kirk of New Mexico, and New Mexico State’s Sim Bhullar are among the players who Goodman thinks should have stayed in school. More from around the Association..
- Rockets owner Leslie Alexander has an idea for ridding the NBA of Clippers owner Donald Sterling: letting all of his players become free agents. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle has the goods.
- The Hawks, Bulls, Cavs, Bucks and Magic all had interest in Troy Daniels this February before the Rockets inked the sudden playoff hero shortly after the trade deadline, according to Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling. Daniels was close to taking an offer from Australia for $70K last fall, Zwerling tweets. His agent advised him to instead dominate in the D-League to get an NBA offer and his gameplan worked.
- Toney Douglas tells Zwerling for the same piece that the Heat had interest in him ever since he came out of college. Miami acquired Douglas via trade in January.
- It’s in Kyle Lowry‘s best interests to re-sign with the Raptors, writes Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun. Lowry has never been happier, never played better, and never meant more to any of his teams at any time. The veteran guard hasn’t said much about his future, but Simmons thinks it would be best for him to stay put in Toronto.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Latest On Jazz Coaching Search
APRIL 28TH: Genessy has received further indication that Boylen is the lead candidate for the job (Twitter link). That’s in spite of a comment from Jazz president Randy Rigby last week asserting that the club had yet to identify any potential replacements for Corbin.
APRIL 23RD, 4:21pm: Hawks assistant Quin Snyder is also a candidate, Stein hears (Twitter link). Snyder worked with Lindsey in San Antonio, as Stein points out via Twitter, noting that he also spent time in Russia as an assistant under Messina.
TUESDAY, 1:59pm: Current Jazz assistant Brad Jones has also drawn mention as a potential candidate, Stein writes, though the ESPN scribe casts Boylen and Messina as the favorites. Still, neither Boylen nor Messina is likely to become available until June as their respective teams play on in the postseason. If Lindsey decides Boylen is the right choice, he wouldn’t allow the sentiment of locals turned off by Boylen’s poor performance at the University of Utah to dissuade him, according to Stein.
9:30am: Rumored candidate Jim Boylen is indeed in the running for the Jazz head coaching job, tweets Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune, and the Spurs assistant is at the top of the list, a source tells Mike Monroe of the San Antonio-Express News. The Jazz will also consider longtime European coach and former Lakers assistant Ettore Messina, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The Jazz are perhaps more open to hiring a European coach than any other NBA team, a source tells Jody Genessy of the Deseret News (Twitter link). The name of Bulls lead assistant coach Adrian Griffin has come up in regard to the Jazz as well as other teams of late, Genessy tweets. Griffin was a candidate for the Sixers and Pistons last year and the Blazers in 2012.
Utah GM Dennis Lindsey and assistant GM Justin Zanik are well-known fans of Messina, who’s apparently itching to come to the NBA, Stein says in a pair of tweets. Messina is the coach of CSKA Moscow, though his roots are in Italy, where he coached for more than a decade and a half and established himself as one of Europe’s top sideline bosses. Critics say he’s too tough on players to succeed as an NBA coach, though proponents point to his year of experience as an assistant in the NBA with the Lakers 2011/12, when the team had plenty of title-winning veterans, to suggest that he can succeed, Stein tweets. Messina was a candidate for the Hawks head coaching job last year.
Boylen’s connection to Lindsey dates back to their time together in the Rockets organization. They share the same agent and have a close relationship, Jones tweets, though Boylen’s time as coach of the University of Utah, a tenure marked by back-to-back losing seasons in his final two years, would be viewed as a negative, according to Jones, as well as Stein (Twitter link).
It’s unlikely that the Jazz’s next coach will be a retread, Jones says via Twitter. Lindsey insisted that the team hadn’t considered any candidates before announcing Monday that Tyrone Corbin wouldn’t be back, as fellow Tribune scribe Aaron Falk observes. Lindsey didn’t rule out the idea of Corbin remaining with the organization in a different capacity, Jones tweets.
And-Ones: Smith, Sterling, Kerr, Pressey
Nolan Smith has received partially guaranteed offers from the Bulls and the Thunder for next season, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Smith played in Croatia this season and averaged 17.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 4.1 APG.
More from around the league:
- NBA agent Chris Luchey says that he will steer his clients away from the Clippers due to Donald Sterling’s comments, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
- Kennedy also tweets that two 2014 draft prospects told him that they don’t want to be drafted by the Clippers due to Sterling’s comments.
- The NBA owners must unite against Sterling, writes Marcus Thompson II of The San Jose Mercury News.
- Steve Kerr has discussed becoming a head coach with multiple coaching legends, including Lute Olsen and Bill Parcells, writes Peter Botte of The New York Daily News. According to the article, Kerr made a special cross country flight to meet with Parcells recently. Kerr is expected to meet with Phil Jackson this weekend to discuss the Knicks head coaching position.
- Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com grades Phil Pressey‘s performance for the Celtics this season. Pressey averaged 2.8 PPG, 1.4 RPG, and 3.2 APG.
Eastern Notes: Nurkic, Sixers, ‘Melo
The Sixers Michael Carter-Williams is the favorite to win this year’s Rookie of the Year award, but Tom Moore of Calkins Media believes that GM Sam Hinkie should examine the possibility of trading him for another lottery pick. Moore isn’t sure if Carter-Williams will become a star, and if Hinkie could land a top five pick for him, he believes that it would be worth considering.
More from the east:
- Celtics GM Danny Ainge flew to Belgrade for the Adriatic basketball finals. He was there to observe center Jusuf Nurkic, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). DraftExpress currently projects Nurkic as the 11th pick in this year’s NBA draft.
- Phil Jackson is expected to meet with Steve Kerr this weekend to discuss the Knicks coaching position, reports Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link). Kerr will be in town to broadcast the Nets–Raptors game on Sunday.
- Larry Coon of Basketball Insiders examines three ways that the Bulls could add Carmelo Anthony to their roster this summer.
And-Ones: Daniels, Robinson, Mills
Hoops Rumors readers are some of the few wise enough to keep close track of the D-League’s impact on the NBA game, but last night the D-League made a big splash on the national stage. Troy Daniels, recalled by the Rockets two weeks ago, stepped up and hit a game-winning three to keep Houston from going down 0-3 to the Blazers. “To be honest, the D-League has prepared me for this moment,” Daniels told reporters after the game, including Sam Amick of USA Today Sports. “You can say whatever you want about the D-League, but I wouldn’t have hit that shot if I wasn’t in the D-League a couple weeks ago… It’s a dream come true. Plain and simple.” Here’s more from around the league:
- League sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM that the Bulls, Bucks, and Magic all closely monitored Daniels as a prospect, but Rockets GM Daryl Morey made the necessary moves to accommodate bringing the unproven guard’s talents to Houston.
- Thomas Robinson tells Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle that he is happy to play his current role with the Blazers, but won’t be content until he improves his game. “Right now, I do what I’m supposed to do for my team,” Robinson said. “My game will evolve. I love what I am right now. It’s not what I’m going to settle for. That’s when the summer time comes in. I can stay in the league doing what I do now, but I want to be at the top of the league by progressing, improving my game. I plan to be an All-Star.”
- The NBPA isn’t close to hiring an executive director, and Steve Mills is just one candidate among many at this point, per a tweet from Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Mills re-emerged as a strong candidate for the job yesterday.
- Ethan Skolnick of Bleacher Report talked with Isiah Thomas about the decision players face each postseason: to play hurt in high-stakes playoff games and jeopardize their long-term health, or to rest and hurt their team’s chances to advance.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Dwyane Wade
A three-time champion, Dwyane Wade could find himself in a peculiar position this summer. This offseason will be the first of two opportunities for the guard to get out of his contract early, and his decision will likely be tied to what he and teammates LeBron James and Chris Bosh decide to do collectively. All three players have early termination options this offseason and player options for 2015/16, a structure they formed by design when they joined forces in hopes of forming a dynasty before the 2010/11 season. NBA executives reportedly expect the trio to terminate their contracts but re-sign with Miami next season. While they made moderate sacrifices to squeeze into Miami’s salary books together, they aren’t expected to give up millions of dollars in salary to benefit the Heat cap structure this time around.
Ranked ninth in our latest Free Agent Power Rankings, Wade would risk the most by becoming a free agent before his six-year, nearly $108MM contract runs its full course. While James and Bosh could find max contracts in a number of cities, it seems doubtful that teams would be jumping at the chance to offer over roughly $20MM in annual salary to a 32-year-old who missed 74 games over the last three seasons due to knee injury and regimented rest. It’s unlikely that there are many teams, if any, outside of Miami that could afford to regularly rest a player of Wade’s caliber while paying him more than most or all of their other players.
Wade could play it safe and ride out his contract, but he would then face an even more precarious scenario at the age of 34. A team that believed in his talents enough to pursue him in free agency would presumably think he is still capable of performing as one of the best guards in the league for years to come. It could be worth accepting an annual pay decrease if it means securing a lengthy extension that guarantees more money overall. There haven’t been any teams legitimately linked to Wade at this point as the league waits on the Miami trio to makes their moves. The last time Wade was on the open market, his hometown Bulls made a serious play for his services.
Wade’s game has transformed significantly since taking a backseat to LeBron in the Heat offense. The year before the big-three era began, Wade averaged 30.2 points per game and stood tallest among the Heat legends. His scoring average has decreased each year since, with his 19.0 clip this season a career low outside of his rookie season. His 2013/14 per-game averages in minutes played, field goals attempted, free throws attempted, steals, and blocks are also at career-worst levels for Wade, not including his rookie year. On the other hand, he has adapted to his reduced role with improved efficiency. His true shooting percentage of .588 this season is a career high, as is his field goal percentage of .545, well above his career average of .492.
Wade has always been an abysmal three-point shooter, and he hasn’t improved at all as a veteran. He only took 0.6 threes per game this year, and only hit on 28.1% of those attempts. As his knee issues continue to be a concern, his reliance on a brutally physical offensive game is somewhat troubling. All aging players lose athleticism, and if Wade’s knee problems cause his driving and slashing abilities to decline more quickly than with most players, he doesn’t have a long-term skill set to fall back on. Shooting guards that can’t shoot from distance aren’t common in the NBA, and typically have to play defense at an elite level to stay on the floor. Wade is one of the best instinctive defenders in the game, but deteriorating athleticism would damage his defensive ability as well.
Wade has built his Hall-of-Fame career in Miami, and he has expressed a desire to play there until he retires. Kobe Bryant‘s latest extension fortified Wade’s inclination to stay, but many around the league pilloried the wisdom of such a lucrative deal for a player on the downside of his career. It would be difficult for the Heat to avoid repeat-offender tax penalties if they extend Wade significantly above market value and they also retain James and Bosh.
If Wade does opt out, my guess is that Wade’s fate as a free agent will be influenced as much by Miami’s thinking as his own. Pat Riley has been shrewd in building a championship roster without incurring enormous tax bills, but the repeater tax looms if the team moves forward with three max contracts. It would certainly be unpopular with the fan base, but if Wade’s departure would open the door for Miami to free up space for better role players or even another, younger star to complement the final stretch of LeBron’s prime, the Heat might just walk through it.
Central Rumors: Boozer, Billups, Pistons, Pacers
The Central Division representatives in the playoffs are in a world of hurt, with the Pacers stunningly behind the sub-.500 Hawks in their series and the Bulls facing an 0-2 deficit and heading to Washington for their next two games. Here’s more from a division that’s seen better days:
- Carlos Boozer‘s anger at Tom Thibodeau over a lack of fourth quarter playing time has intensified in the playoffs, a source tells Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Still, it hasn’t become a problem in the locker room, Cowley writes, praising Thibodeau for deftly handling the situation and pointing to the coach’s comfort with the Bulls as another reason to suggest he won’t head elsewhere this summer.
- Sam Smith of Bulls.com answers Chicago-centric questions in his latest mailbag column, and also suggests that Chauncey Billups undermined former Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks in an effort to curry favor with ownership. Billups has expressed interest in a front office role with the Pistons.
- The schedules of many potential Pistons front office candidates make it a tough week for the team to make progress on its search for a GM, writes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Ellis gets the sense that the Pistons aren’t too concerned with having someone in place in time for the draft and free agency.
- Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard dismisses the notion that Frank Vogel‘s job is on the line in the playoffs, but Vogel should take the fall if the team goes out early and he doesn’t bench struggling center Roy Hibbert, opines Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star.
And-Ones: ‘Melo, Jazz, Lockout, McRae
Count NBA Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson among those who think Carmelo Anthony would be wise to walk away from the Knicks in free agency this summer. The Big O sat down with SiriusXM NBA Radio and passed along why he thinks ‘Melo should get out of New York, notes Al Iannazzone of Newsday. Robertson thinks Anthony receives too much flack for his efforts as a Knick:
“No matter what he does in New York, they’re going to criticize him, the people are going to criticize him, because you got guys on that team that cannot play. You got guys that are hurt all the time… If I were Carmelo, I would say, ‘Listen, I’m not going to stay here and take all this guff and all this criticism.'”
Let’s round up the latest notes and rumors from around the Association:
- Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey acknowledges that in their most recent offseason, Utah “took a step back in order to take three or four forward,” writes Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News. Still, Lindsey remains optimistic for the future, given the club’s cap space and draft picks.
- Executives and agents around the league are reportedly nervous about the potential for a lockout in 2017, but commissioner Adam Silver says he has “no expectation” that players will opt out of the collective bargaining agreement, reveals Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press.
- Tennesee senior Jordan McRae has signed with agent Jim Tanner of Tandem agency, reports Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (via Twitter). McRae is ranked 71st in Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress‘ list of the top 100 prospects.
- The ESPNChicago.com staff discusses whether they’d rather build a team around Derrick Rose or John Wall. The general consensus is that Rose’s value is hard to gauge as a result of his injuries, and it’d likely be a safer bet to pick Wall.
- The kind words Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard had for Frank Vogel don’t carry much weight, opines Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders. Koutroupis thinks Pritchard is obligated to make such a statement in order to show support, but really Vogel is in danger of losing his job if Indiana doesn’t perform up to expectations.
Coaching Rumors: Jazz, D’Antoni, Boylen
Executives, coaches and other league insiders struggle to come up with names of intriguing coaching candidates after last year’s record volume of new hires, but Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com was able to pry the identities of a few well-regarded potential hires. Some of them have been in rumors in recent weeks, but University of Virginia head coach Tony Bennett, Bulls assistant Ed Pinckney, and Blazers assistant David Vanterpool are the names we haven’t heard. Potential head coaches with ties to the Spurs were already popular, and they’ve grown even more so this year, Arnovitz hears. Here’s more from the coaching rumor mill:
- The Jazz plan to interview more than 20 candidates fitting virtually every description, team president Randy Rigby said Wednesday on The Zone Sports Network radio, notes Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. Though a few candidates have reportedly emerged, Rigby insists the club hasn’t identified any potential targets. He also said the decision will be a group effort and won’t lie solely with GM Dennis Lindsey.
- Mike D’Antoni won’t be coaching Marshall University next season, but his brother Dan D’Antoni will be, the school announced. Dan D’Antoni is leaving his job as a Lakers assistant coach to take the new gig.
- The Pacers weren’t pleased when former assistant coach and current Jazz head coaching candidate Jim Boylen left last year to become a Spurs assistant, tweets Scott Agness of Pacers.com. “He did us dirty,” one Pacers player told Agness.
- Knicks president Phil Jackson said Wednesday that his coaching search could extend into July, but he adds that it’s not because he’s waiting around to see which, if any, coaches working in the playoffs become available, notes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (on Twitter).
- Nets GM Billy King said on NBA TV that he, and not coach Jason Kidd, made the decision to reassign assistant coach Lawrence Frank earlier this season, fellow ESPNNewYork.com scribe Mike Mazzeo observes.