Central Rumors: LeBron, Kyrie, Bucks
The Pacers are the Central Division’s remaining horse in the race but for the rest of the gang, the offseason is underway. Here’s the latest..
- The NBA is moving quickly toward approval of Herb Kohl’s sale of the Bucks to Marc Lasry and Wesley Edens, and there’s a chance the league will announce the transfer later this week, a source tells Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- LeBron James gave his thoughts on Mike Brown‘s dismissal before the tip-off of Game 4 against the Nets. “It’s a tough business and Mike Brown got the short end of a tough business,” the Heat star said, according to Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald (on Twitter). The Cavs made the long-expected decision to oust Brown earlier today.
- Meanwhile, Cavs guard Kyrie Irving is “in complete support” of Brown’s dismissal and David Griffin‘s promotion to permanent GM, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio. There have been rumblings that Irving has been unhappy in Cleveland and the Cavs have him under team control through the summer of 2016, so it’s important for them to keep him satisfied in the long term.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Cavs Fire Mike Brown, Name Griffin Full-Time GM
The Cavs have fired coach Mike Brown and removed the interim tag from GM David Griffin‘s title, the team announced. Griffin appeared close to appointment as the team’s GM this weekend, just as doubts about Brown’s future lingered. It’s the second time that the Cavs have parted ways with Brown in the past four years. They hired him for a second stint last summer, but he didn’t last after compiling a 33-49 record in a season in which owner Dan Gilbert expected to make the playoffs.
“This is a very tough business. It pains all of us here that we needed to make the difficult decision of releasing Mike Brown,” Gilbert said in the team’s statement. “Mike worked hard over this last season to move our team in the right direction. Although, there was some progress from our finish over the few prior seasons, we believe we need to head in a different direction. We wish Mike and his family nothing but the best.”
Brown rejoined the Cavs last year on a five-year deal worth between $20-25MM, but it appears the team will have to shell out much of that money for a coach who won’t be on their sidelines. Gilbert was reportedly looking for feedback from the players and the front office staff on Brown as he made his decision about whether to retain the coach, and another report indicated that the players were in Brown’s corner, with Dion Waiters his loudest supporter. Brown was hired under former GM Chris Grant, whom Gilbert axed in February. Griffin has been serving in his place ever since.
The team responded well to the switch from Grant to Griffin, winning six in a row immediately after the change and going 17-16 overall. Griffin acquired Spencer Hawes at the trade deadline, and he meshed well with the team, giving it an outside shooter to balance the floor on the offensive end. Isiah Thomas and George Karl were among those who campaigned for the top front office job, and Gilbert considered other candidates, but Griffin gave the impression he’d be retained in a season-ending press conference last month.
“Our ownership group is looking forward to David Griffin leading the basketball side of our business. We interviewed several strong candidates for the GM position including Griff,” Gilbert said. “We chose David as our GM because we believe he is the best person to lead our franchise at this critical time and into the future. David brings over two decades of experience. He knows the ins and outs of this league as well as anyone and is also an outstanding talent evaluator.”
Griffin joined the Cavs as vice president of basketball operations in 2010, serving under Grant. He’d spent the previous 17 years with the Suns, rising from intern to senior vice president of basketball operations, a role in which he assisted Steve Kerr, now the primary coaching candidate for the Knicks.
And-Ones: Sterling, Cavs, Brown, Rockets
Donald Sterling’s sit down with Anderson Cooper airs on CNN tomorrow night, but Charles Barkley won’t be among those watching. “We got to work tomorrow night so we don’t have to watch that junk,” the Hall of Famer told his Inside The NBA cohorts as they came back from commercial, as noted by Nina Mandell of USA Today. Here’s tonight’s look around the league..
- LeBron James and other NBA players are concerned about Shelly Sterling taking control of the Clippers, but a statement released this evening by NBA spokesman Mike Bass could put those worries to bed. “Under the NBA Constitution, if a controlling owner’s interest is terminated by a 3/4 vote, all other team owners’ interests are automatically terminated as well. It doesn’t matter whether the owners are related as is the case here. These are the rules to which all NBA owners agreed to as a condition of owning their team,” the statement read (Howard Beck of Bleacher Report on Twitter).
- Shelly Sterling’s attorney released a statement of his own to reporters, including Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com (on Twitter).
- Sources tell Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio that Cavs owner Dan Gilbert will support whatever decision the team’s next GM makes regarding Mike Brown. So, it appears the coach’s fate is in the hands of David Griffin, who’s expected to have the interim tag removed from his GM title soon. People around the league are split on whether Griffin would retain Brown, according to Amico.
- Kostas Papanikolaou, whose NBA rights are owned by the Rockets, says he’s in no rush to make the leap over. “Nothing changed in my thoughts about the NBA. If I get a good chance, I will go. However, I am new in this team [FC Barcelona Regal], they have treated me with respect and I only think about Barcelona. A team that helps me evolve my game and be better. So, I don’t know what will happen, if I will end up in the NBA this summer or the next one,” the Euroleague standout told Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops.net.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Cavs Expected To Name Griffin Permanent GM
David Griffin is close to being named the permanent GM of the Cavaliers, reports Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Cleveland Plain Dealer. This news is also confirmed by a tweet from Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Griffin has been the team’s acting general manager since team owner Dan Gilbert fired Chris Grant on Feb. 6th. According to the article, neither Gilbert nor Griffin would comment, but a source said that after interviewing four or five serious candidates, the Cavs settled on Griffin.
After Griffin took over for Grant, the team responded with a six-game winning streak, which was its longest since the 2009/10 season, and went 17-16 the rest of the way, remaining in the playoff hunt until the final week of the season, notes Schmitt Boyer. He was the one who pulled the trigger on the trade that brought Spencer Hawes in from the Sixers.
Griffin joined the Cavs as vice president of basketball operations in 2010, after Danny Ferry resigned as GM. Before joining the Cavs, Griffin spent 17 years with the Suns, starting as an intern in communications and working his way up to Suns senior vice president of basketball operations. During his time with Phoenix he also served as assistant GM of player personnel, director of player personnel, assistant director of player personnel, basketball operations assistant and media relations assistant, per the article.
One of the first calls that Griffin will have to make is in regard to the status of coach Mike Brown. No matter who is named GM, a league source tells Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio that Brown’s job is “very much up in the air” (Twitter link).
And-Ones: Kerr, Sterling, Hawks, Griffin
Although Steve Kerr has never coached before, Keith Schlosser of Knicks Journal opines he possesses the necessary traits to effectively run an NBA club. Still, it remains to be seen whether those traits can translate into effective results, says Schlosser. Here’s this afternoon’s look around the Association:
- The Heat‘s James Jones, an executive for the NBA Player’s Association, says that it wouldn’t be acceptable for Shelly Sterling to retain ownership of the Clippers, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. “That’s our stance, and it hasn’t changed, and it won’t,” said Jones.
- John Branch of the New York Times examines the scenario that led to Donald Sterling purchasing the Clippers and chronicles the now banned owner’s tenure as boss in Los Angeles.
- Some soon-to-be free agents have shown fondness for the Hawks roster and are intrigued at the prospect of playing with Jeff Teague, Al Horford, and Paul Millsap, making Atlanta an appealing destination, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio.
- The Cavs named David Griffin “acting” GM on Februrary 6th, and Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer thinks it’s time the team officially offers him the role of full-time general manager.
Eastern Notes: Kerr, Brand, Cavs
The Nets hope to avoid falling in a 0-3 hole to the Heat tonight in Brooklyn. So far, the champs have faced little resistance on their quest to represent the Eastern Conference in the Finals for the fourth straight year. Here’s more from the East:
- Marc Berman of The New York Post says that the Knicks are comfortable waiting for Steve Kerr to join the team, if hired, until after the playoffs (Twitter links). Kerr would have three weeks with the team before the draft, and the Knicks front office is already handling draft preparation in the event they are able to acquire any picks, since they have none at the moment.
- Elton Brand tells Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Consititution that if he returns for another season, he would like it to be with the Hawks. “Absolutely,” said Brand. “It was a great year for me and for the team and everything this organization is building and stands for.” Brand is planning on deciding whether to retire over the next couple months.
- The Cavs offered the No. 1 2013 pick, Dion Waiters, and Tristan Thompson to the Wolves for Kevin Love in a failed attempt to acquire the All-Star power forward last summer, Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer reports. The revelation came in a mailbag response where Boyer dismissed Cleveland’s chances at trading for Love in the future.
Mavs To Pursue ‘Melo, Tyson Chandler
The Mavs are optimistic that they’ll be on the list of teams that Carmelo Anthony plans to meet with this summer and that he’ll give them legitimate consideration, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Dallas will also try to acquire another Knick, with Stein asserting that they’ll be first in line should New York make Tyson Chandler available via trade. The Mavs will attempt to court LeBron James, too, though Stein suggests that’s a longshot effort.
Dallas only has about $28.2MM in commitments for next season, but that doesn’t include the roughly $2MM non-guaranteed portion of Samuel Dalembert‘s contract or new deals for Dirk Nowitzki, Shawn Marion, Vince Carter and Devin Harris. The team has expressed interest in keeping all of them, and the team’s “working assumption,” according to Stein, is that Nowitzki will sign for $10-12MM per year. That doesn’t leave much wiggle room for a max offer to Anthony, who can draw a starting salary of up to $22,458,401. Still, Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com wrote Monday that the Mavs wouldn’t have interest in ‘Melo if he demands his max.
While the Mavs could net Chandler as part of a sign-and-trade involving Anthony, that would be extremely difficult, given Chandler’s salary of nearly $14.6MM next season. The reacquisition of the center who was the defensive anchor of the Mavs’ 2011 title team would probably preclude Anthony from heading to Dallas, and it would make it difficult for the Mavs to accommodate any other marquee free agent this summer. Stein reiterates McMahon’s report from yesterday indicating that the Mavs will likely target Luol Deng but take a pass on any pursuit of Lance Stephenson.
The Mavs have some concern about their ability to keep a couple of their own free agents, too, according to Stein. They’re worried that they’d have to cut deeply into their cap flexibility to fend off suitors for Vince Carter and, in particular, Shawn Marion. Carter and Marion have expressed their preference to re-sign, though such statements are commonplace for soon-to-be free agents at this time of year, and they don’t always translate into a new deal that keeps them in place.
Mavs Rumors: Bledsoe, Stephenson, ‘Melo, Dirk
Mavs GM Donnie Nelson promises an “action-packed summer,” but he indicated today that he’s pleased with the roster as is, notes Bryan Gutierrez of ESPNDallas.com (Twitter links).
“I think if we had the same cast or crew come and lace ’em up next year, I’d feel real good about our chances,” he said.
Fellow ESPNDallas.com scribe Tim McMahon doesn’t buy it, writing that the Mavs front office knows it needs significant improvement to contend. There’s more from McMahon’s piece amid the latest on the Mavs:
- McMahon throws Eric Bledsoe‘s name into the mix of likely targets that already included Marcin Gortat and Luol Deng, though he acknowledges that it’ll be “extremely difficult” to pry Bledsoe, or even Gortat, away from their respective teams. The Mavs are unlikely to make a run at Lance Stephenson, according to McMahon.
- The Mavs would like to get involved in the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes, but not if he demands a max contract, McMahon writes.
- Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs have made it clear that they fully intend to strike a new deal this summer. Nowitzki acknowledged today that he doesn’t think it will resemble Kobe Bryant‘s massive two-year, $48.5MM extension, but he does want the team to respect his continued on-court prowess in negotiations, as Gutierrez observes (Twitter links). McMahon, in his piece, suggests Nowitzki is likely to sign a three-year, $30MM deal.
- Shawn Marion, who turns 36 on Wednesday, plans to play two more seasons, tweets Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com, noting that while there’s strong mutual interest in a return to the Mavs, the forward will also think about signing elsewhere. Still, he intends to retire as a Mav one way or another, Gutierrez notes (Twitter link).
- Soon-to-be free agent DeJuan Blair is hopeful that he’ll re-sign with the Mavs this summer, as Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram chronicles.
- We passed along news of the Mavs’ mutual interest in Devin Harris earlier today.
Eastern Notes: Pistons, Cavs, Bradley
Two openings in the Pistons organization that aren’t getting much press coverage are the GM and coaching positions for their new D-League team in Grand Rapids, writes Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press. The Pistons are turning to Grand Rapids after a long-time relationship with the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants. Pistons assistant GM George David said of the new arrangement, “One of the things we’re most excited about is the proximity. We did a tremendous amount of research with some of the other D-League teams and saw the intrinsic value for the teams that had a driving-distance proximity to their D-League team. It does make a big difference.”
More from the east:
- With the Cavaliers being unlikely to re-sign Luol Deng this summer, the team’s focus will turn to finding a small forward in the NBA Draft, writes Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer. Pluto breaks down a number of the small forwards available in the draft and how they might fit alongside Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters.
- Gerry Woelfel of The Journal Times (Twitter link) notes that the owners approval of sale of the Bucks has begun to drag on.
- Avery Bradley‘s future with the Celtics is up in the air, writes Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. Bradley is an unrestricted free-agent and his injury woes make it unlikely the team will offer him anything close to the four-year, $24MM extension that was on the table prior to this season, opines Murphy. In 60 games this year, Bradley averaged 14.9 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 1.4 APG in 30.9 minutes a night.
Eastern Notes: Thibodeau, Young, Cavs, Bucks
In a subscription-only piece, K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune looks at the Bulls roster heading into the offseason, addressing 10 of the 15 players that finished the year under contract in Chicago. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- David Haugh of The Chicago Tribune thinks that the Bulls are highly unlikely to grant an opportunity for Tom Thibodeau to speak with the Lakers, who are rumored to have interest in the coach. However, Haugh believes the lack of a public statement to dispel the notion from either Thibodeau or management belies a pettiness between the two sides.
- A league source floated a far-fetched possibility to Haugh: that Thibodeau and Carmelo Anthony, both represented by Creative Arts Agency, could angle to join forces with the Lakers, rather than with the Bulls.
- Tom Moore of Calkins Media thinks that Thaddeus Young could demand a trade this offseason, if the Sixers draft a power forward in the lottery and ask the veteran to come off the bench for another losing season. Though Young survived Philadelphia’s efforts to deal away most of its veterans for draft assets this past trade deadlines, speculation about Young’s future with the team has remained.
- The Cavs are waiting to see which candidates become available before making the final call on interim GM David Griffin and coach Mike Brown, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio.
- Members of the Bucks coaching staff and front office still remain uncertain about their employment status in wake of the team’s new ownership, tweets Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times.
Charlie Adams contributed to this post.