Denver Nuggets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Masai Ujiri Accepts Raptors GM Job

May 31st, 2013 at 7:27pm CST by Zachary Links

7:27pm: The Raptors officially announced Ujiri as their new GM. The team sent out a press release including comment from Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the parent company of the Raptors.

"We feel very lucky to have Masai in our organization. He is a proven judge of talent and we look for him to be a big part of creating a winning atmosphere, leading us to the playoffs and, ultimately, delivering NBA championships for Toronto," Leiweke said. "I would also like to publicly thank the Kroenkes in Denver for being such a class organization that they would allow Masai to pursue his dream. They put him first in all of our discussions."

The Nuggets also released statements from team president Josh Kroenke as well as Ujiri.

4:27pm: Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri has decided to accept the Raptors' GM job, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The well-respected exec received a five-year offer from Toronto earlier this week.

It's believed that Ujiri will earn $15MM over the course of the deal, good for a $3MM average annual value. Ujiri gave the Nuggets an opportunity to match the deal, but that apparently wasn't in the cards. His deal was set to expire at the end of June.

Ujiri is coming off a tremendous season in Denver as the Nuggets finished with their best regular season record in franchise history, excluding their ABA days. The GM was given the league's 2013 Executive of the Year award for his work.

The spot became open in Toronto earlier this month when the club decided to transition former GM Bryan Colangelo over to a business role. While there were bright spots for the club during Colagelo's tenure at the helm, they never quite met expectations during his seven year tenure at the helm.

Colangelo told Hoops Rumors in a conference call that he was willing to offer his advice in the club's search for his successor, but it's not clear if he was ever asked. The Raptors were linked to Kevin Pritchard and Troy Weaver as well, but reportedly had a strong preference for Ujiri.

Several Candidates Emerge For Nuggets GM Job

May 31st, 2013 at 6:33pm CST by Chuck Myron

Nuggets team president Josh Kroenke's strong relationship with Masai Ujiri was the primary force behind the outgoing Denver GM's hesitation to accept Toronto's five-year, $15MM offer to jump to the Raptors front office, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Nuggets were willing to give Ujiri a deal worth $1.2MM a year, according to USA Today's Sam Amick. Still, none of it was enough to convince Ujiri to stay, and now the Nuggets are the team looking for a new GM. There's early talk about several who could eventually get the job, as we detail below:

Nuggets assistant GM Pete D'Alessandro and director of player personnel Mike Bratz are viable options, sources tell Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).
Wojnarowski speculates that the Nuggets could promote D'Alessandro or go after Cavaliers assistant GM David Griffin. The Nuggets offered Griffin the job in 2010, but he turned them down, leading Denver to turn to Ujiri.
Other executives who figure to be top candidates include Gersson Rosas of the Rockets, Bobby Marks of the Nets, Tim Connelly of the Pelicans, Wes Wilcox of the Hawks and Scott Perry of the Magic, according to Wojnarowski.
The Nuggets could have some competition if they want to go with D'Alessandro, since Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace, the leading candidate to take the GM job in Sacramento, would like to hire him to work in the Kings front office, Amick reports (Twitter link).
Warriors assistant GM Travis Schlenk interviewed well with the Kings, Amick tweets, arguing that Schlenk could be a fit in Denver if it doesn't work out for him in Sacramento.
Assistant GMs Tommy Sheppard of the Wizards and Jeff Weltman of the Bucks have ties to the Nuggets and bear watching as the Nuggets' search takes place, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.

Clippers Targeting George Karl?

May 30th, 2013 at 8:32pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Nuggets head coach George Karl has been discussed as a potential coaching candidate by the Clippers front office. Fresh off of winning the NBA's Coach of the Year Award, Karl enters the 2013-14 season in the final guaranteed year of his contract in Denver. Sources say that Karl has usually been uncomfortable about going into the final year of his contracts and has been eager to discuss a possible extension with Denver. With that being said, those same sources say that the feeling around the 62-year-old coach and the team is that ownership wouldn't let him leave for Los Angeles.

Karl, who led the Nuggets franchise to their highest win total since the NBA-ABA merger, has not missed the playoffs in Denver since being named the team's head coach in 2005.

Odds & Ends: Jackson, Drew, Allen, Hollins

May 30th, 2013 at 7:45pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Although Phil Jackson recently criticized Mike D'Antoni and seemed skeptical about the thought of Dwight Howard wanting to re-sign with the Lakers, the eleven-time NBA champion coach appeared to backtrack on those comments during an appearance on the Willard and Thompson Show on 710 ESPN Radio in Los Angeles (Mark Medina of the L.A. Daily News). Also, Jackson reiterated that he has no plans of coaching again and explained how he's still somewhat connected with his former team: "I’m playing a role regardless whether I’m hired and on the staff and part of the payroll, I’m here to be a sounding board and personal companion to my fiance, who’s the chief operating officer I guess you would say of the Lakers. As they ferry their way through these contract problems they have and the whole mess they have right now in the organization, I’m listening. There’s not a whole lot I’m doing. But my role right now is to be attentive and supportive.”

Here are more of tonight's miscellaneous news and notes:

The Pistons and former Hawks coach Larry Drew appear to have some mutual interest in an interview for Drew, sources tell Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News. Drew is believed to be one of two finalists for the Bucks' coaching opening, along with Rockets assistant Kelvin Sampson.
Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida tweets that Heat guard Ray Allen hasn't thought about whether or not he'll pick up his $3.23MM player option this summer.
Marc J. Spears of Yahoo tweets that the Nets, Clippers, and Bucks have not contacted the Grizzlies for permission to talk to Lionel Hollins as of yet. Coincidentally, we relayed a report yesterday which indicated that the 59-year-old coach doesn't expect to be granted permission to speak with other teams before his contract expires on June 30.
In light of the rumblings that the Nuggets might not match the Raptors' five-year, $15MM offer to Masai Ujiri, SBNation’s Tom Ziller makes the argument that coaches and general managers should be paid more.
Ben Couch of BrooklynNets.com reviews Gerald Wallace’s season in Brooklyn. Just over a month ago, Wallace had alarmingly admitted that he didn’t “have a clue” as to what his role on the team was, but as of today the veteran forward seemed to be encouraged about what his future holds with the Nets: "All in all I think this was kind of a down year for me, but I feel comfortable and excited about the way I finished the season," Wallace says."I'm going into the summer knowing the things I can do to get better."
Marcus Thompson of Mercury News reported that Warriors big man David Lee had surgery to repair a torn right hip flexor today and is expected to begin rehab within the next two weeks.
According to Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post, Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari had a slight setback in rehab and won't have surgery on his ACL for another two weeks. Consequently, an expected return date of January 1 has now changed to late January or February.

Eastern Notes: Ujiri, Frank, Woodson, Wizards

May 30th, 2013 at 1:09pm CST by Luke Adams

As the Heat and Pacers prepare for a crucial Game Five tonight in Miami, let's round up a few notes from around the Eastern Conference:

As Masai Ujiri attempts to determine whether he'll join the Raptors or return to the Nuggets, all involved parties recognize that it's a big decision and aren't aggressively pushing for resolution, says Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca.
After having been let go by the Pistons at the end of the regular season, Lawrence Frank would like to coach in the NBA again, according to David Mayo of MLive.com. However, Mayo reports that Frank may not coach in 2013/14, opting instead to explore media opportunities that allow him to spend more time at home.
Although Mike Woodson signed a three-year contract with the Knicks a year ago, the final season of the pact is non-guaranteed, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Knicks could guarantee that final year at any time, but for now only the 2013/14 season is fully guaranteed for the team's head coach.
Several writers at HoopsWorld explore what the Wizards should do with the No. 3 pick in the draft next month.
Rasheed Wallace appears unlikely to play in the NBA again, but it's possible he'll remain with the Knicks next year as a player adviser, writes Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com.

Odds & Ends: Ujiri, Oladipo, Dooling, Grizzlies

May 28th, 2013 at 4:48pm CST by Luke Adams

Earlier in the day, we heard that a decision from Masai Ujiri on whether he'll be running the Raptors or Nuggets could come as early as today. But according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter links), Ujiri won't decide whether or not to accept the Raptors' offer until he meets with Denver ownership. That meeting could happen today or tomorrow, says Berger, so we may be waiting one more day to get closure on the Ujiri saga. In the meantime, let's round up a few odds and ends from across the NBA:

While Nerlens Noel remains atop the latest version of Chad Ford's big board at ESPN.com (Insider link), there's a new name at No. 2, with Victor Oladipo on the rise in a big way.
In an interesting piece for Grantland.com, Zach Lowe revisits the 2011 trade that sent George Hill to the Pacers and Kawhi Leonard to the Spurs, exploring how negotiations played out on draft night two years ago, and outlining how it's turned into a great deal for both teams.
Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic lauds Phoenix's hiring of Jeff Hornacek, writing that the former Suns guard has what it takes to become a very good head coach.
After announcing his retirement last year, Keyon Dooling returned to sign with the Grizzlies toward the end of the 2012/13 season, and he intends to play again next season, tweets Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com.
The Grizzlies are facing major decisions on a coach and a GM in addition to a handful of players, as Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld details.
No decisions have been made on Paul Pierce's future yet, Celtics GM Danny Ainge tells A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com, which echoes a report we passed along earlier.
Dave Deckard of Blazer's Edge examines the possibility of the Trail Blazers trading out of next month's draft.
As Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside writes, the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the D-League are hoping to enter a hybrid affiliation with a single NBA team.

Atlantic Notes: Pierce, Ujiri, Raptors, Ward

May 28th, 2013 at 1:09pm CST by Luke Adams

A recent News-Herald report suggested the Celtics are "likely" to buy out Paul Pierce before his contract becomes guaranteed on July 1st, but Rich Levine of CSNNE.com isn't so sure that's the case. According to Levine, a C's source "laughed off" that report — not because the idea of buying out Pierce is outlandish, but because the idea Boston is "likely" to do anything isn't accurate at this point. With over a month to make a decision on Pierce, the Celtics figure to continue exploring all their options before making a move.

Here's more on Pierce and the rest of the Atlantic Division:

Three NBA executives who spoke to Sam Amico told the FOX Sports Ohio scribe that buying out Pierce would be a no-brainer if they were running the Celtics (Twitter link).
The Raptors and Nuggets may have closure as soon as today on Masai Ujiri, according to Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld. Kyler says the Raptors are "all-in" for Ujiri, but adds that both Toronto and Denver have started kicking the tires on possible alternatives. Ujiri is currently weighing offers from both teams, though the Nuggets' counter-offer is not believed to be as competitive financially as the Raptors', tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
Canadian shooting guard Warren Ward won't be draft-eligible next month, but as a free agent, he's drawing interest from a few NBA teams, including the Raptors, says Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. Kennedy also identifies the Pacers, Magic, and Hawks as other clubs with potential interest in Ward.
As we heard this morning, the Nets are expected to request permission to speak to Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins, perhaps as soon as today.

Masai Ujiri Weighing Offers From Raptors, Nuggets

May 27th, 2013 at 11:09am CST by Chuck Myron

MONDAY, 11:09am: League sources tell Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca that it's still not clear whether Ujiri is leaning toward accepting the Raptors' offer. According to Grange, the Nuggets have made a "determined offer" to try to keep their GM, and Ujiri is weighing his options.

The Raptors, who Grange says have offered Ujiri a four-year deal worth about $9MM, remain optimistic that they'll get their man.

SUNDAY, 8:41am: Ujiri would stay with the Nuggets if they matched the offer from the Raptors, according to HoopsWorld's Steve Kyler, who believes Denver will step up with the money necessary to keep him (Twitter links).

SATURDAY, 1:07pm: Nuggets team president Josh Kroenke believed he and Ujiri had an agreement in principle on a multiyear, multimillion dollar deal before the Raptors position opened up, reports Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post.

"In my mind, we had an agreement but it doesn't matter because I would never hold someone back from an opportunity they might be curious about," Kroenke said. "Especially someone I hold in such high regard as Masai. If it was any other team, I wouldn't even have thought about granting permission to speak to him. But it's his former team and its not entirely a black-and-white situation. He'll make the decision he thinks is best for himself, and I'll support him no matter what."

FRIDAY, 10:02pm: The Raptors have offered Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri a multiyear contract that will double, or perhaps triple, the best offer Denver has made, and it appears likely the executive will jump to Toronto, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Ujiri will take the next couple of days to consider the move, but there's "significant momentum" behind his negotiations with the Raptors, Wojnarowski writes.

A source tells Wojnarowski that Nuggets brass appears to be moving on, and it looks like the team's principal owners, the Kroenke family, aren't motivated to increase their offer to Ujiri, who reportedly made just $500K this past season as one of the league's lowest-paid executives. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported this week that early estimates suggested the Raptors would offer Ujiri a salary of more than $2MM. That number appears to have grown close to $3MM, as Wojnarowski reported earlier today.

Ujiri served as assistant GM in Toronto under the recently reassigned Bryan Colangelo before taking over Denver's front office in the summer of 2010. Since that time, Ujiri completely revamped the Nuggets, trading Carmelo Anthony for a bounty widely lauded as the best return for a superstar in recent memory. Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun notes how Ujiri's skills as a talent evaluator and trade negotiator fit Raptors CEO Tim Leiweke's description of the ideal man for Toronto's GM job. The 42-year-old recipient of this year's Executive of the Year award has received overtures from other teams in the past, notably the Sixers last summer, but hasn't been close to leaving the Nuggets until now.

Ujiri's contract with the Nuggets expires June 30th. Raptors officials met with Ujiri today, and the two sides seemed to hit it off, expediting movement toward a deal. If Ujiri were to turn the Raptors down, the team appears to have interest in pairing Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard with Thunder assistant GM Troy Weaver.

Cavs Rumors: Pierce, Marion, Iske, Porter

May 26th, 2013 at 10:57am CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavaliers came away from the lottery with the top pick for the second time in three years, and with plenty of cap space and a young All-Star in Kyrie Irving, Cleveland's basketball fortunes are on the upswing. Speculation continues that all of that could spell the return of LeBron James to the shores of Lake Erie in 2014, with Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post the latest to connect the dots. Still, next summer is a long way off, and both LeBron and the Cavs have plenty to consider before any reversal of "The Decision" can come into play. Here's the latest on what the Cavs are working on:

Bob Finnan of The News-Herald hears it's likely that the Celtics waive Paul Pierce by June 30th to reduce his cap hit for next season from $15.333MM to $5MM. Finnan believes Pierce will wind up with a contender, but he expects Cavs GM Chris Grant to make a strong push for the 15-year veteran.
According to Finnan, the Cavs will probably decline a rumored trade proposal in which Cleveland would send the 19th, 31st and 33rd overall picks in this year's draft to the Mavericks for Shawn Marion and the No. 13 pick. Finnan refers to the Dallas pick as No. 12, but the Mavs have the 13th pick.
The Cavs have interviewed Nuggets assistant coach Chad Iske for a position on Mike Brown's staff, Finnan reports.
If the Cavs trade the top pick, they'll target Otto Porter and another asset, HoopsWorld's Steve Kyler figures (Twitter link).

Atlantic Rumors: Amare, Williams, Celtics, Raptors

May 25th, 2013 at 2:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

Amare Stoudemire will be working with Hakeem Olajuwon for a second consecutive summer, and despite his lack of contribution this past season, the Knicks still have high regard for their most lavishly paid player, as Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com passes along. GM Glen Grunwald called Stoudemire "a heck of a player."

"We hope he'll be able to play significant minutes for us next year," Grunwald said. "How much that will be, we don't know at this time. But when he came and played for us … he was, as (coach Mike Woodson) said, a big factor in those games."

While we wait to see how Stoudemire bounces back next year, here's the latest from around the Atlantic Division:

Terrence Williams, whose contract for next season is non-guaranteed, addressed reporters today after working out at the Celtics facility. He said that, in spite of his recent legal troubles, Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers still view him as part of the team's future, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com notes.
The Celtics have worked out a dozen players in the past two days, as A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com and Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe round up (Twitter links). On Friday the team saw Colton Iverson, Erick Green, Jeff Withey, Peyton Siva, Vander Blue and Ricky Ledo, and today the C's looked at Pierre Jackson, Gregory Echenique, Myck Kabongo, Shane Larkin, Phil Pressey and Steven Adams.
Masai Ujiri appears destined to become the next GM of the Raptors, and Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun hears Ujiri and Phil Jackson are the only two candidates the team has aggressively pursued so far (All Twitter links). The Raptors have been linked to Kevin Pritchard and Troy Weaver as well, but they seem to have a strong preference for Ujiri.
Ben Goldberg-Morse of the Philadelphia Inquirer lays out how new Sixers GM Sam Hinkie's emphasis on analytics could improve the production of Jrue Holiday, who received a long-term extension last summer, and Evan Turner, who's up for one this offseason.