Daniel Bejarano

Western Notes: Hornacek, Aldridge, Lakers

Steve Kauffman, who is Suns coach Jeff Hornacek‘s agent, denied the reports that his client declined to interview for the coaching vacancy at Iowa State, Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com writes. A source confirmed to Parrish that it was Kauffman who posted on a message board linked to the initial report, “We represent Jeff Hornacek. Rarely do I post but I will simply say this story is inaccurate. Jeff loves his alma mater and the facts are simply wrong here. Under contract is the key. School knew they had to request permission in a certain manner from the Phoenix Suns. I do not wish to allocate the blame as to the parties at fault here. But it’s a shame.” Iowa State hopes to have a replacement in place for Fred Hoiberg, who was recently named coach of the Bulls, by next week, Parrish adds.

Here’s more doings from around the Western Conference:

  • The Suns held workouts Wednesday for Sam Dekker (Wisconsin), Rakeem Christmas (Syracuse), Brandon Ashley (Arizona), Juwan Staten (West Virginia), Bo Barnes (Arizona State), and Daniel Bejarano (Colorado State), Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops tweets.
  • Scheduled to work out for the Suns today are Frank Kaminsky (Wisconsin), Trey Lyles (Kentucky), Kelly Oubre (Kansas), Daniel Mullings (New Mexico State), Keifer Sykes (Wisconsin-Green Bay), and Greg Whittington (Georgetown), Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic relays (Twitter link).
  • The Lakers held workouts on Wednesday for Aaron Thomas (Florida State), Tyler Haws (BYU), Rashad Vaughn (UNLV), Sykes, Richaun Holmes (Bowling Green), and Chris Walker (Florida), the team announced (on Twitter).
  • Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge has put his Portland area home up for sale, Amy Schwartz of 750 The Game tweets. Aldridge is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, and while his real estate dealings could be strictly a coincidence, they could also be interpreted as a harbinger of the 29-year-old’s intent to sign elsewhere this summer.
  • LSU forward Jarell Martin is scheduled to work out for the Blazers today, Scotto relays (Twitter link).

Western Notes: Jordan, Draft, Nuggets

The Mavericks don’t have a great track record of attracting top-tier free agents to Dallas, but the franchise badly needs to land Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, Jean-Jacques Taylor of ESPNDallas.com writes. Jordan represents the Mavs’ last hope to put a championship-caliber team together around Dirk Nowitzki, Taylor opines. The 26-year-old big man has expressed through back channels that he’ll be “extremely interested” in signing with the Mavs this offseason, but the Clippers have indicated that re-signing Jordan is the team’s top priority.

Here’s the latest from the NBA’s Western Conference:

  • The Nuggets will begin their pre-draft workouts on Wednesday, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post reports (Twitter links). The first group to display their wares for Denver will consist of J.J. Avila, Askia Booker, Derek Cooke, Alex Herrera, Stanton Kidd, and Mitch McCarron, Dempsey notes. Working out for the team on Thursday will be Daniel Bejarano, Michael Frazier II, Cam Griffin, and Brett Olson, the Denver Post Scribe relays.
  • Arizona guard T.J. McConnell said that he worked out for the Spurs, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
  • Working out for the Jazz on Wednesday will be Dallin Bachynski, Ryan Harrow, Kendall Gray, Tyler Harvey, Hugh Greenwood, and Tyler Kalinoski, the team announced.
  • Duke freshman point guard Tyus Jones‘ first team workout will be for the Mavericks this coming Monday, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN reports (via Twitter).
  • The Timberwolves have workouts scheduled with Harvey and Michael Qualls for this Friday, Wolfson tweets.