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Adrian Griffin In Mix To Succeed Tom Thibodeau

May 14th, 2015 at 10:16pm CST by Chuck Myron

Bulls lead assistant coach Adrian Griffin is a contender to succeed Tom Thibodeau as Bulls head coach should Chicago and Thibs part ways now that the team’s season is over, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Stein makes it clear that Griffin would be a fallback option in case the team comes up short in its likely pursuit of Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg. However, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders recently heard from sources who questioned whether Hoiberg wants to make the jump to the NBA, given the condition of his heart, as the 42-year-old underwent open heart surgery last month to replace his aortic valve. Warriors assistant Alvin Gentry would also be among the front-runners if the Bulls job comes open, Kyler also reported.

Griffin and Thibodeau both came to the Bulls in the offseason of 2010, and Chicago promoted Griffin, who had simply been one of the team’s assistant coaches at the start, to lead assistant in 2013. The 40-year-old Griffin spent two years as a Bucks assistant between the end of his 10-year NBA playing career and the beginning of his time on Chicago’s bench. He’s been a prime head coaching candidate around the league the past few years, reportedly interviewing with the Blazers in 2012, the Pistons and twice with the Sixers in 2013, and the Jazz twice as well as the Cavs last year. USA Today’s Sam Amick identified Griffin among a few coaches believed to be likely candidates for the Nuggets job in the immediate wake of the team’s firing of Brian Shaw in March, though there’s been little to advance that notion since.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports used the term “inevitable” last week to describe a parting of ways between Thibodeau and the Bulls, and confidants of the coach had become convinced as of last month that the Bulls would fire him, Grantland’s Zach Lowe reported then. However, the Bulls could reap compensation from Thibodeau’s suitors if they hang on to him and allow him to speak with other teams instead of simply firing him, and Kyler believes the compensation route is a more likely path for Chicago. Thibodeau’s contract runs through 2016/17.

For what it’s worth, Thibodeau told reporters this evening that he isn’t anticipating a departure. “Yeah, until they tell me I’m not [the Bulls coach], I expect be here, so that’s the way I’m approaching it,” Thibodeau said, as Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relays (on Twitter).

Atlantic Notes: Draft, Monty Williams, Saric

May 14th, 2015 at 2:21pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Celtics have interviewed Stanley Johnson, Justise Winslow and Willie Cauley Stein, each of whom has a strong chance to be picked within the top 10, tweets Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald, taking it as a sign that the C’s, who have the No. 16 pick, plan to trade up. Of course, NBA teams line up teams and prospects for interviews at the combine, taking place this week in Chicago, so clubs don’t always get the players they want, but teams can give the league an idea of the sort of player they’d like to talk to, Murphy notes (on Twitter). There’s more on the Celtics and the draft amid the latest from the Atlantic Division:

The Celtics also interviewed Robert Upshaw, Murphy reports in a second tweet. Upshaw’s combine measurements stood out, but in part because of the issues surrounding the University of Washington’s decision to dismiss him for a violation of team rules in January, both Chad Ford of ESPN.com and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress rank him only 30th.
The Raptors will gauge Monty Williams‘ interest in joining their team as an assistant coach, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears (Twitter links). Still, it’s much more likely that Williams will wait for his next chance at a head coaching job, Stein adds, postulating that he could get a look from either the Nuggets or the Magic.
Sixers prospect Dario Saric insists that his father, a key figure in reports about Saric’s career, isn’t exerting undue influence, as Saric says to Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype. The 2014 No. 12 pick who’s playing overseas for Turkey’s Anadolu Efes largely avoided Sierra’s question about whether he might play with the Sixers next season, though his contract with Efes doesn’t include an escape clause until 2016. “Next season? I don’t know and I can’t speak about that because I don’t know yet the situation, how things are going to work out,” Saric said. “I can say that I’m happy here at Efes and I’m also happy that people from Philadelphia came here and want me there. That’s all I can tell you right now. I don’t have any information or any feeling regarding what could happen. I’m just focused on the rest of the season. If I stay here or if I go to the NBA, I will be happy [either way]. I don’t know what could happen this summer or next summer. Now it’s not the time to talk about that.”

Pelicans Await Clarity On Tom Thibodeau, Bulls

May 14th, 2015 at 8:58am CST by Chuck Myron

The Pelicans are waiting to see whether Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau becomes available as New Orleans approaches its coaching search, league sources tell John Reid of The Times-Picayune. That puts New Orleans in the same position as the Magic, who are also waiting on Thibodeau, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported last week. Thibodeau “could possibly” become a contender for the Pelicans job if he shakes free, Reid writes, but New Orleans has long regarded Thibs highly and made a play for him in 2010 before hiring Monty Williams instead. Indeed, TNT’s David Aldridge identified Thibodeau as a “clear and obvious candidate” for the Pelicans soon after Tuesday’s firing of Williams.

It’s “inevitable” that the Bulls and Thibodeau will part ways after the season, Wojnarowski wrote last week, while people close to the coach have been convinced Chicago will fire him, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe reported last month. Still, it seems more likely that the Bulls would seek compensation for letting Thibodeau out of his contract than that they would simply fire him, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. The Magic would likely be willing to give up one or two second-round picks for the right to hire Thibodeau, Kyler wrote, while Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times heard that the Magic’s job would be Thibodeau’s to turn down. It’s believed Thibodeau is also the front-runner for the Nuggets job, according to Kyler, though Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post has found it hard to envision Thibodeau on the sidelines in Denver, given the split between the coach’s defense-first philosophy and the Nuggets’ desire to run.

Still, the Pelicans are the only team with a coaching vacancy that possesses a star of the caliber of Anthony Davis, and New Orleans would be at the front of the line to hire Thibodeau if he becomes available, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Pelicans GM Dell Demps, who’s conducting the team’s coaching search, said Tuesday that the effort would begin immediately and that the team hadn’t established a short list yet, Reid notes. However, it appears New Orleans wants to hold off to gauge the circumstances surrounding the coach who would be perhaps the most sought-after on the market.

Fallout From/Reaction To Monty Williams Firing

May 12th, 2015 at 4:11pm CST by Chuck Myron

New Orleans faces its first turning point this summer with Anthony Davis, who becomes eligible for a rookie scale extension in July. So, the decision the Pelicans made to fire coach Monty Williams, one that GM Dell Demps reportedly pushed for, runs through the prism of significant negotiations with the team’s superstar on the horizon. Here’s the latest in the wake of the coaching change, with any new updates added to the top:

Williams released a statement regarding his termination (hat tip to David Aldridge of NBA.com via TwitLonger). In his statement, Williams wrote, “I want to thank Mr. and Mrs. Benson and Mickey for this unique opportunity I’ve had. My focus today is to appreciate the great journey over the last few years to be the head coach of this team. New Orleans is a special city with very special fans. I appreciate all the support that my family has received from all the great people and organizations we have been affiliated with throughout the area over the years. I need to thank my coaches and players because we take pride in our accomplishments as a group in progressing in the right direction and making the playoffs through the challenges of a long season. I’ll always be grateful for the relationships and thankful that our players always gave everything we asked of them on the court. I only wish the best for this team to continue taking strides forward and providing success to this special city.”

2:38pm updates:

Williams isn’t expected to become a candidate for the Nuggets vacancy, according to Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post.
If the Pelicans lure Thibodeau and the Bulls replace him with Fred Hoiberg, there’s a growing belief that the Cyclones would go after Suns coach Jeff Hornacek, who played at the school and whose contract calls for a lower annual salary than Hoiberg’s, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. However, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders heard that Hoiberg, who underwent open heart surgery last month, might not jump to the NBA because of his health.

2:18pm updates:

The Pelicans will be at the front of the line of suitors for Tom Thibodeau if indeed New Orleans decides to go after the Bulls coach, given the presence of Davis, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
Those close to Thibodeau have long seen the Pelicans and the Magic as the teams he’d most likely end up with after his time with the Bulls, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick.
John Reid of The Times-Picayune wouldn’t be surprised if the Pelicans made a run at former Thunder coach Scott Brooks (Twitter link), but for what it’s worth, the Pelicans didn’t reach out to Brooks before firing Williams, a person with knowledge of Brooks’ situation told Amick.
There was an obvious disconnect between Williams and Demps from the very start of their working relationship in 2010, writes Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune, who argues that if the Pelicans wanted change, they should have looked at the front office instead.

Northwest Notes: Nuggets, Leonard, Donovan

May 10th, 2015 at 8:51am CST by Arthur Hill

Melvin Hunt proved he could handle being an NBA head coach, and he’s one of four top candidates for the Nuggets job, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Hunt was appointed interim head coach when Brian Shaw was fired in early March. Dempsey notes that Hunt has been with the organization since 2009, and contends that he fixed the team’s problems with focus and effort that got Shaw fired. Dempsey also examines the other three top candidates, Alvin Gentry, Mike D’Antoni and Scott Brooks.

There’s more news from the Northwest Division:

Among the many decisions the Blazers face this offseason is whether to offer an extension to Meyers Leonard, according to Jabari Young of CSNNW.com. The third-year stretch four will make a little more than $3MM next season and showed signs of improvement throughout the year. One way he has attempted to better his game is by watching other NBA big men. “I’m trying to become as much as a total player as I can be,” Leonard said. “… Every now and then there is bits and pieces that I try and take out of people’s games.”
The pressure will be intense on Billy Donovan to win right away with the Thunder, contends Dave Leonardis of Bleacher Report. Donovan, who led Florida to four Final Fours, is coming to an organization that missed the playoffs this season after a long run of success. The Thunder are in need of a quick turnaround with Kevin Durant‘s free agency looming next summer.
It was an easy decision for the Wolves‘ Chase Budinger to exercise his $5MM player option for next season, writes Phil Ervin of Fox Sports North. Injuries and spotty playing time have drained Budinger’s potential free agent value, Ervin argues, and a strong showing next season could help him rebuild it.

Western Notes: Jokic, Afflalo, Aminu

May 7th, 2015 at 6:45pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Mavs forward Al-Farouq Aminu has indicated that he’ll turn down his minimum-salary player option with the team for next season, but both sides have indicated a willingness to rekindle their relationship next season. When discussing his feelings regarding returning to Dallas in a radio interview with KRLD-FM 105.3 (hat tip to the Dallas Morning News), Aminu said, “People are still playing now, so it’s hard to tell, but I really want to. … Nobody likes moving and different things like that. I’ve been in L.A. then I went to New Orleans and now here. It’s always better to stay where you’re at but things happen. But it would be nice.”

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

When asked what positives he would pitch about playing in Dallas to prospective free agent targets, Aminu said, “I guess it’s what I went through last year when I was coming to play here. It’s a great city. It doesn’t get that cold, which is nice. Also, the practice facility is in the arena is close, as well as the airport, so it’s not a lot of long hours you have to drive back and forth to places. It does become a drag. You’re going to play with great players. Obviously you’re probably going to win and then you’re going to have a chance at a championship.”
Nuggets 2014 second-round pick Nikola Jokic is seeking a long-term deal from Denver or else he’ll remain overseas, a source tells David Pick of Eurobasket.com (via Twitter). There are reports that the Nuggets intend to ink the big man prior to the NBA summer league commencing.
Blazers guard Arron Afflalo has to make a decision this offseason regarding his player option worth $7,750,000, and Sean Meagher of The Oregonian examines the pros and cons of the 29-year-old returning to Rip City in 2015/16.
Sam Amick of USA Today looks at the path Warriors star Stephen Curry has taken from being the No. 7 overall selection in the 2009 NBA draft to winning the league’s MVP award this season.

And-Ones: Coaches, Jokic, Payne, Draft

May 7th, 2015 at 1:06pm CST by Chuck Myron

Most of the college coaches who’ve come into the NBA over the past two decades have either left basketball schools that gave them wide autonomy, joined NBA teams with little hope of success, or both, observes Phil Taylor of Sports Illustrated. Brad Stevens doesn’t fit either category, and neither does new Thunder hire Billy Donovan, Taylor argues, suggesting that the success Stevens has found with the Celtics is an auspicious omen for Donovan and a signal that more college coaches are on their way to the league. In any case, Stevens is the only college head coach to jump directly to the NBA since 2000 to guide his NBA team to the playoffs, as I pointed out. Here’s more from around the Association:

The Nuggets are expected to sign 2014 second-round pick Nikola Jokic prior to summer league in July, according to Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. It’s not entirely clear whether the deal will cover only summer league or will formally bring the 6’11” draft-and-stash prospect onto the roster for training camp in the fall. However, the Nuggets are anxious to see last year’s 41st overall pick compete against NBA-caliber talent, Dempsey writes. The 20-year-old center averaged 14.9 points and 9.0 rebounds in 30.1 minutes per game this season for KK Mega Vizura in his native Serbia.
It’s Murray State point guard Cameron Payne‘s dual threat of scoring and passing that truly distinguishes him as a top prospect, but his ability to perform on defense is a question mark, as Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz of DraftExpress examine. Givony ranks Payne as the 20th-best draft hopeful.
Chad Ford and Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com, in an Insider-only piece, debate the avenues the Nuggets, Heat, Pacers and Jazz have to improve via the draft, sharing conflicting viewpoints on whether it would behoove Utah to spend a third consecutive lottery pick on a point guard.

Nuggets, Will Barton Share Interest In New Deal

May 7th, 2015 at 11:58am CST by Chuck Myron

The Nuggets would like Will Barton to return, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post, and the shooting guard whose contract is up this summer tells Dempsey that he wants to be back in Denver, too, reiterating his earlier remarks. The team is expected to tender the $1,181,348 qualifying offer necessary to match any competing bids for him, according to Dempsey, who indicates that Denver and the Brian Elfus client are likely to wind up with a multiyear deal.

Barton saw sparse playing time with the Blazers over his first two and a half seasons in the league, but the deadline trade that sent him to Denver this February landed him on a rebuilding team with plenty of minutes to go around. He averaged 11.0 points on 9.0 shot attempts in 24.4 minutes per game over 28 appearances for the Nuggets, compiling a better-than-average 15.9 PER during that stretch.

I identified the 24-year-old among several players eligible for restricted free agency this summer with relatively even chances of being tendered a qualifying offer, but it appears the team is much higher on the former 40th overall pick than I figured. Barton struggles from the outside, having shot only 28.4% from three-point range in Denver and 23.0% for his career, but Dempsey observes that he helped the Nuggets play an up-tempo game, the sort of style the team seems to want its next head coach to implement. Interim coach Melvin Hunt had praise for Barton, but Hunt’s chances of remaining in his job for next season are unclear.

Wilson Chandler‘s partial guarantee of $2MM has jumped to a full guarantee of nearly $7.172MM, as Dempsey notes in a separate piece, so the Nuggets have about $53MM in commitments for next season, not counting a player option of nearly $2.855MM for Jameer Nelson. It remains to be seen what a new deal for Barton, who made the minimum this year, and the Nuggets would look like, but extending the qualifying offer to up his cap hold by a mere $200K would do little to impinge upon the team’s flexibility against a projected $67.1MM cap.

Latest On Tom Thibodeau, Bulls, Magic

May 5th, 2015 at 3:43pm CST by Chuck Myron

3:43pm: Bulls GM Gar Forman once more dismissed the idea of a rift between the coach and management, telling Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com that, “We’re in total agreement with Tom that it’s all just noise.” Thibodeau had made a similar comment in Wojnarowski’s report.

11:31am: A parting of ways between the Bulls and coach Tom Thibodeau is “inevitable,” as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports writes, though “maybe — just maybe” it will prove tougher to oust the coach from his job than to knock the Bulls out of the playoffs, Wojnarowski adds at the end of his column. Regardless, Bulls management is eager to be rid of Thibodeau, and its choice to replace him is Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg, according to Wojnarowski. That largely falls in line with two reports from late last month, when Grantland’s Zach Lowe heard that people close to Thibodeau were convinced the Bulls would fire him at season’s end and Tim Bontemps of the New York Post wrote that many view Hoiberg as his likely replacement.

The Magic are waiting to see how the dynamic between Thibodeau and the Bulls plays out, Wojnarowski reports, just as many have been speculating, as Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel recently noted. It’s believed that the Bulls will seek some sort of compensation for letting Thibodeau out of his contract, which runs through 2016/17, to coach elsewhere, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders writes in his NBA AM piece. Kyler suggests that the Bulls wouldn’t demand as much as other teams have sought for coaches lately, given Chicago’s apparent eagerness to move on from Thibodeau, though the Basketball Insiders scribe also suggests the need to pony up compensation might dissuade Orlando from pursuing the coach. The Clippers relinquished this year’s first-round pick for the right to hire Doc Rivers, and the Bucks gave up two second-round picks for Jason Kidd. Thibodeau is close with former Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, whom Orlando fired in 2012, Lowe points out, speculating that the dynamic could pose another hurdle to Thibodeau ending up with the Magic.

Former Thunder coach Scott Brooks is second behind Thibodeau on the Magic’s list of preferred candidates, sources tell Kyler, and the team is considering Warriors assistant Alvin Gentry, too, Kyler adds. Kyler hears the Magic, like the Nuggets, the other team with a coaching vacancy, have had “small informal talks” but that neither team is expected to begin formal interviews soon.

Thibodeau’s future with Chicago is in serious doubt in spite of support from Bulls star Derrick Rose, as Wojnarowski details. That backing has helped prolong Thibodeau’s stay in Chicago to this point, but it wouldn’t forestall the end for the coach this summer, Wojnarowski writes. Rose is also under contract through 2016/17.

Western Notes: Brooks, Dumars, Bonner, Draft

May 5th, 2015 at 12:41pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Nuggets are intensifying their search for a new coach this week after having spent the past few weeks focused on scouting and the draft, reports Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. They’ll likely chat with former Thunder coach Scott Brooks, among others, Dempsey writes amid a mailbag column, though it’s unclear if he’ll receive a formal interview. The hiring process is expected to last most if not all of May and GM Tim Connelly will collaborate with team president Josh Kroenke, son of owner Stan Kroenke, on the decision, as Dempsey details in his first piece. There’s more on the Nuggets amid the latest from around the Western Conference:

New rumors have surfaced suggesting that the possibility of the Pelicans hiring Joe Dumars remains in play for what would be a supervisory role above GM Dell Demps, Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes. Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher first linked the former Pistons exec to New Orleans in January.
Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News lists Matt Bonner among the Spurs contemplating retirement. Bonner, who turned 35 last month, signed a one-year deal for the minimum to return to San Antonio last summer.
Dempsey believes that if Nuggets end up with the No. 7 pick, their likeliest first-round position as the lottery odds show, they’d try to trade it for a pick higher in the order or attempt to deal for a second top-seven pick, as the Post scribe writes in the mailbag column linked above.
Former Michigan State swingman Russell Byrd will be among the draft prospects at a workout the Jazz will hold Wednesday, sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link). Byrd is unlisted in the rankings that Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and Chad Ford of ESPN.com compile.