Dell Demps

Timberwolves To Hire Dell Demps In Front Office Role

The Timberwolves plan to hire Dell Demps to join the team’s front office, sources tell Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link).

A former NBA player, Demps joined San Antonio’s front office following his retirement and eventually moved to New Orleans, where he was hired as the Pelicans’ general manager in 2010. That same year, he hired Tim Connelly, Minnesota’s new president of basketball operations, to be his assistant GM, so the two have a long-standing relationship.

Demps, 52, was fired by the Pelicans in 2019. He later decided to try his hand at coaching, having served as an assistant coach for the Jazz since he joined Utah in 2020.

Mike Singer of The Denver Post reported last month that Demps joining Connelly in Minnesota was a possibility.

Once the move is official, Demps will become the second front office staff member hired by Connelly, with the first being senior vice president of basketball operations Matt Lloyd, who’s reportedly being hired away from the Magic.

Timberwolves Exec Rumors: Demps, Arthur, Lloyd, Simon

After recently signing a five-year, $40MM contract that includes a kicker for ownership equity to become the Timberwolves‘ new president of basketball operations, Tim Connelly appears to be looking to add some co-workers. Sources tell Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link) that Dell Demps and Darrell Arthur might join Connelly in Minnesota.

A former NBA player, Demps was the general manager of the Pelicans from 2010-19. He hired Connelly to be his assistant GM in New Orleans in 2010 before Connelly departed to run Denver’s front office in 2013. Demps is currently an assistant coach for the Jazz, having joined Utah in 2020.

Arthur is also a former player, having appeared in 503 games from 2008-18 with Memphis and Denver. His entire five-year tenure in Denver overlapped with Connelly’s stint, so clearly the two are familiar with each other. The 34-year-old recently joined the Nuggets‘ front office.

Following up on Singer’s news, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report (Twitter link) hears that a couple other executives have been floated as possibilities to join Connelly’s front office: Magic vice president of basketball operations Matt Lloyd, and Heat VP of basketball operations/assistant GM Adam Simon.

Lloyd was with Chicago for 13 seasons prior to joining Orlando 10 years ago. He was just promoted to VP last October. Simon has reportedly been in the mix for top executive positions in the past, but has always stuck with Miami, having spent 27 seasons with the Heat.

Dell Demps Joining Jazz As Assistant Coach

Longtime NBA executive Dell Demps is transitioning into coaching, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports that Demps has agreed to join the Jazz as an assistant on Quin Snyder‘s staff (Twitter links).

A former NBA player, Demps joined the Spurs’ front office following his retirement and eventually moved to New Orleans, where he was hired as the Pelicans’ general manager in 2010, assuming control of the team’s basketball operations department. He was let go in 2019 and replaced by David Griffin.

As Wojnarowski explains, Demps decided after leaving New Orleans last year that he wanted to try coaching — he has since spent time in Utah attending practices and meetings with Snyder and the rest of his staff.

Snyder was the coach of the Austin Toros, San Antonio’s G League affiliate, from 2007-10 when Demps was still with the Spurs, so the two men have a strong, long-standing relationship, according to Woj.

Demps will help fill the gap created on Snyder’s staff by the departure of Johnnie Bryant, who accepted a job with the Knicks under Tom Thibodeau.

Pacific Notes: Johnson, Rondo, Kings, George

Former Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson recently appeared on Fox Sports 1 to discuss his old team, the well-documented trade conversations involving Anthony Davis and more.

Prior to the trade deadline last February, with Davis seeking to move out of New Orleans, Johnson and then-Pelicans GM Dell Demps engaged in a serious of discussions with hopes of finalizing a trade to land Davis in Los Angeles. The Lakers never believed Demps was truly looking to accommodate Davis’ request, and Johnson used a noteworthy level of honesty while discussing the matter in his appearance on Fox.

“He was looking at me like I caused Anthony Davis to want to be traded,” Johnson said (h/t Dan Feldman of NBC Sports). “So, we’re on the phone, and he’s blaming me. I said, ‘What are you blaming me for, Dell?’ I heard he wanted to be traded, so I’m giving you a call. ‘Are you going to trade him?’ ‘You’re not going to trade him.’ So, he had me send three or four proposals, but he never got serious, Shannon. He never got serious. And I said, I told Rob [Pelinka], I told Jeanie [Buss], ‘He doesn’t want to trade AD to us.’ And sure enough, the last one was, ‘Give us your whole team and five first-round picks.’ I said, ‘Listen, man. [Laughter.] I can’t give you five first-round picks and the whole team.’ He wanted all our young guys. I said, ‘No, I can’t do it now.’ That’s when I said he doesn’t want to trade him.

“And look what happened. When they found out, the owner found out what was the trade proposal from us, she was like, ‘Oh, what are you doing?’ And then the new general manager comes.”

Johnson didn’t mince words about what failing to trade Davis did for Demps’ job security, either.

“It got him fired,” he proclaimed.

There’s more from the Pacific Division tonight:

  • Despite originally targeting a Sunday return date, Lakers guard Rajon Rondo (calf) will wait to make his season debut, according to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes (Twitter link). Rondo participated in a workout on Saturday and will work out again on Sunday to ramp up his endurance, Haynes notes. The Lakers have games scheduled this week against the Suns on Tuesday, Warriors on Wednesday and Kings on Friday.
  • In his latest mailbag, Jason Jones of The Athletic examines the situation of Kings big man Harry Giles, where coach Luke Walton stands with the front office, and more. Sacramento has opened the 2019/20 season with 3-6 record, including a 1-3 mark at home.
  • Clippers star Paul George could make his season debut as early as Monday after being cleared for five-on-five practice this weekend, Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register writes. George had separate surgeries earlier this year to repair a partially torn tendon in his right shoulder and a small labrum tear in his left shoulder.

Rich Paul Talks Anthony Davis, Lakers, Celtics

Anthony Davis‘ agent, Rich Paul, took a good deal of criticism earlier this year when he went public with his client’s trade request just 10 days before the 2019 deadline, seemingly pressuring the Pelicans to get a deal done with the Lakers and indirectly derailing both teams’ seasons in the process.

However, Paul tells S.L. Price of Sports Illustrated that he feels as if going public with Davis’ trade request was his only option. As Paul explains, he told Pelicans GM Dell Demps of AD’s desire to be moved, and Demps – who said he’d talk to team owner Gayle Benson and get back to Paul – instead tried to contact Davis directly and didn’t get back in touch with his agent.

“It was necessary to go public,” Paul told Price. “When I told you, ‘Here’s our intentions,’ and you say, ‘Hey, let me talk to ownership,’ and instead of you talking to ownership you call Anthony Davis? That’s called being ignored. … [Trying to get between a player and his agent] is a no-no. Every GM knows that.”

Price’s feature on Paul includes several other interesting tidbits, including one source telling SI that the agent approached at least one NBA coach to gauge his interest in an assistant role on Frank Vogel‘s staff — both Paul and the Lakers denied that happened.

Here are some more of Paul’s most noteworthy comments from the story, which is worth checking out in full:

On why the Lakers would be a good landing spot for Anthony Davis, with or without fellow Paul client LeBron James on their roster:

“My thing is: Take LeBron off the Lakers. Are the Lakers not a great destination for an arguably top-two player that went to Kentucky and won a national championship, signed with Nike? For a team that’s had centers from George Mikan to Wilt Chamberlain to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Shaq? So now, when you add LeBron, that’s what? The cherry on top. LeBron’s 34 years old. Anthony Davis is 26. So when LeBron’s done playing, the Anthony Davis trade is still rolling. What better place to do it than L.A.?

“I’m trying to help Anthony Davis. Now, if helping Anthony Davis helps LeBron in the long run? So be it. But my goal is Anthony Davis.”

On why the Knicks would also be an appealing destination for Davis:

“The only difference is, they don’t have as many championships as the Lakers. They got a tradition. It’s a big market—not that it’s only big markets. They have cap space, flexibility, they’re able to absorb more than one star. What’s wrong with that?”

On the idea of the Celtics trading for Davis:

“They can trade for him, but it’ll be for one year. I mean: If the Celtics traded for Anthony Davis, we would go there and we would abide by our contractual [obligations] and we would go into free agency in 2020. I’ve stated that to them. But in the event that he decides to walk away and you give away assets? Don’t blame Rich Paul.”

On Davis’ plans to test free agency in 2020:

“Where he’s going to land? I have no idea. And it don’t matter. We’re going into free agency. Why does it matter to me where he goes? Earth: We’re going into free agency. He has a year, he has to play. But after that, I can’t say it no bigger: WE ARE GOING INTO FREE AGENCY. 2020: ANTHONY DAVIS WILL BE IN FREE AGENCY.”

(Note: The team that holds Davis’ Bird rights when he enters free agency in 2020 will be able to offer him more years and more money than any other team.)

Lakers Notes: Pelinka, Johnson, Demps, Russell

Lakers GM Rob Pelinka said Magic Johnson‘s blistering comments about him were “surprising” and “disheartening,” Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Johnson, who resigned as president of basketball operations shortly before the season ended, accused Pelinka on ESPN’s First Take of “backstabbing” him for telling people around the league he wasn’t working hard enough. Pelinka responded to the accusation during coach Frank Vogel‘s introductory press conference.

“They’re just simply not true,” Pelinka said. “I stand beside him. I stand with him as a colleague and a partner. I’ve always supported everything he’s done and will continue to.”

According to an ESPN report, Pelinka spoke to Johnson two days ago regarding the team landing the fourth pick in the draft lottery.

We have more on the Lakers:

  • Pelinka confirmed that the organization will not hire a president of basketball operations to replace Johnson, according to a post from ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. Pelinka revealed that, in terms of decision-making, he consults with the basketball staff as well as senior adviser Kurt Rambis and then makes suggestions to owner Jeanie Buss.
  • Pelinka vows that the turmoil surrounding the organization won’t prevent it from building a championship team as soon as next season, ESPN’s Dave McMenanim writes. “I think if people take a look at where this franchise is right now, again we have a great coach, we have a high draft pick. We have a great young core, maybe one of the best in the league. We have a superstar on our team, and an open slot,” he said. “So I think people can look at this as an opportunity to win a championship possibly next year.”
  • Johnson blamed former Pelicans GM Dell Demps in the ESPN interview for leaking trade offers involving Anthony Davis prior to the trade deadline, Dan Feldman of NBC Sports relays. “I told Dell Demps, ‘Let’s just do it in private. What we offer, let’s keep it between us.’ Well, Dell didn’t do that. So, that’s how it got out,” Johnson said.
  • Johnson also said during the First Take interview that his decision to trade D’Angelo Russell to the Nets was directly related to the issues he had with former Lakers guard Nick Young, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News writes. Russell pranked Young by goading his teammate into admitting that he cheated on his former fiancé, recording star Iggy Azalea. Russell posted the recording on his private Snapchat account but it became public.

Pelicans Notes: Zion, Culver, Davis

Those concerned about Zion Williamson‘s game being dependent on his athleticism are overthinking the evaluation process.

“So (Williamson) is 18 now,” a non-Pelicans executive explains to Sam Vecenie of The Athletic. “He’ll play his first NBA season at 19. He’ll be 23 when his second contract starts. Even if we get him for eight seasons and that takes us all the way through his team-controlled years, that only gets us through his age-26 season. And if he ends up being good enough to be with us for eight years as a No. 1 overall pick, we probably won’t complain because he’ll have been a good player. I don’t think we should worry about his athleticism falling off by then unless he gets hurt.”

A few of the front office analytic executives who spoke with Vecenie told him that Williamson’s projection is actually more favorable than Anthony Davis‘ was coming out of college. Opinions throughout the league are split. Some executives believe Davis was the better prospect while others feel it’s extremely close.

The Pelicans are selecting Williamson after winning the draft lottery, barring an upset of massive proportions. Let’s take a look at more notes from New Orleans:

  • The Pelicans met with Jarrett Culver (Texas Tech) at the draft combine in Chicago, NBA writer Jim Eichenhofer tweets. “You never know what could happen. Anything could happen. You just have to be ready,” Culver said. New Orleans could be looking at a second top-5 selection if they trade Davis to the Knicks or Lakers.
  • Pelicans owner Gayle Benson called Davis’ trade request “disappointing” during a commencement speech she made for Loyola University. Benson referred to the team’s on-court performance as “frustrating” and said that the franchise has “not adapted to the reality of today’s NBA,” as Christopher Dabe of The Time-Picayune passes along.
  • The Pelicans hired David Griffin to lead a more analytical approach in the front office. It wasn’t easy for ownership to dismiss former GM Dell Demps, as Dabe relays in the same piece. “I must be honest with myself in making painful decisions because my ultimate responsibility is to the fans,” Benson said.

Southwest Notes: Demps, Rockets, Spurs

After being let go by the Pelicans last week, longtime general manager Dell Demps published a letter today thanking fans in New Orleans for supporting the franchise during his time as GM, as The Advocate relays.

“Pelican Fans, I will always remember the buzz in the arena during the playoffs when everyone wore red shirts and your passion inspired our team to victory,” Demps’ statement reads, in part. “Through the highs and the lows, your love for the team did not go unnoticed.”

With Demps no longer in New Orleans, it will fall on interim Pelicans GM Danny Ferry to navigate the waters of the Anthony Davis saga for now, as we detailed earlier today.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

  • Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press spoke to former NBA stars who asked for trades during their careers, such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Rick Barry, to get their thoughts on the Davis saga. Barry, for one, doesn’t like the fact that the Pelicans‘ star made his request during the season and did it so publicly. “I just think it’s a situation where they needed to keep it in house,” he said. “Just talk to the owners. Talk amongst yourselves. Airing your dirty laundry and putting stuff out there … I just don’t understand why you want to get into a situation like that that does nobody any good and can only cause problems.”
  • In his latest mailbag, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle checks in on Danuel House, the Rockets‘ most pressing needs, and how the team plans to fill its open roster spots.
  • LaMarcus Aldridge (33 years old) and DeMar DeRozan (29) aren’t exactly young in NBA terms, but the Spurs‘ stars believe time is still on their side and that they’re capable of leading the club for years to come, writes Mike Finger of The San Antonio Express-News.

Pelicans Notes: Davis, Demps, Benson, Okafor

Despite Anthony Davis not wanting to be the bad guy, his botched trade request in New Orleans has left him with no other choice, Michael Lee of The Athletic writes.

Davis made his request last month through agent Rich Paul, who took the request to various media outlets and publicized his client’s wish. Davis confirmed his list of preferred trade destinations over All-Star Weekend: The Bucks, Celtics, Clippers, Knicks and Lakers.

“When you’re somewhere for seven years, of course it’s tough but, I don’t know how long I’m going to play this game,” Davis said, according to Lee. “I want to make sure I have a chance to win. I want to win. Like I said, no matter where it is. I have no preferred destination. But I want to play the game of basketball and I want to win. I just felt like it was time for me to move forward, try to take control of my career and go out there and try to win.

“Market doesn’t matter to me. I just want to win,” Davis said. “Big market, small market, that doesn’t matter. I’m focused on winning at this point in my career, wherever that may be. It could be a big market or a small market, I just want to win.”

Davis will have to finish out the 2018/19 season in New Orleans despite seeking a trade. The Pelicans failed to move him before the Feb. 7 trading deadline, meaning the earliest they can open new trade discussions is when season comes to an end.

Davis has mostly received boos from Pelicans fans in pregame intros, and the reaction from the fan base on social media has been mixed.

There’s more out of New Orleans today:

  • The Pelicans made the right decision by parting ways with general manager Dell Demps last week, Ben Golliver of The Washington Post opines. Demps, who served as New Orleans’ GM for nine seasons, failed to effectively build a winning roster around Davis since drafting him back in 2012. Pelicans owner Gayle Benson said the team will immediately begin the process of restructuring its basketball operations department, which will include a comprehensive and confidential search of a new leader that reports to Benson.
  • Benson’s next major decision will either break or make the Pelicans, Larry Holder of The Athletic writes. New Orleans has to decide whether to trade Davis this offseason, or try to persuade him into staying with their younger group. “I think they’re young, and we’re going to invest more money and get the big players and do everything we can to keep Anthony here,” Benson said. “I really like what we have in place. I really like Anthony, but if he wants to leave, you can’t hold him back.”
  • William Guillory of The Athletic hosted a Q&A with Jahlil Okafor, who’s having a bounce-back season with the Pelicans through 38 games. Okafor discussed his mentality this season, playing with Davis, how he’s improved as a player and much more in the story.

Dell Demps’ Firing Bad News For Knicks?

The ouster of Pelicans GM Dell Demps could complicate the Knicks‘ hopes of landing Anthony Davis in a trade this summer, writes Frank Isola of The Athletic.

Knicks president Steve Mills had informal talks with Demps last month about a deal involving Davis and Kristaps Porzingis, according to Isola. Porzingis was since shipped to the Mavericks in a trade that enabled New York to open two max salary slots for free agency.

A source tells Isola that Demps wanted to wait until after the draft lottery before resuming talks so he would know where New York would be picking. Second in the league in our current Reverse Standings, the Knicks have a 14% chance of winning the lottery and getting a shot at Duke standout Zion Williamson, whom Demps was intrigued by. Demps also has a prior connection with New York, having served as a scout for the organization.

The team has a much different relationship with former Cavaliers GM David Griffin, who is considered one of the potential front-runners to replace Demps in New Orleans. Another source tells Isola that Griffin was considering an offer to become GM of the Knicks two years ago, but turned it down when he discovered he wouldn’t be solely in charge of personnel decisions. While Griffin was negotiating with New York, Mills signed Tim Hardaway Jr. to a long-term contract.

Another top contender for the Pelicans post, Celtics assistant GM Michael Zarren, presents an even worse scenario for the Knicks and Lakers, Isola adds. Zarren is considered “the right-hand man” to Boston GM Danny Ainge and has a strong familiarity with the young players who would be key to any deal with the Celtics.