Odds & Ends: Ujiri, Oladipo, Dooling, Grizzlies
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
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
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
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
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.
Masai Ujiri To Meet With Raptors Today
12:14pm: Raptors officials are meeting with Ujiri in Colorado today, according to Wojnarowski, who says (via Twitter) things are "moving fast" now.
11:22am: The Nuggets have granted the Raptors permission to speak to NBA Executive of the Year Masai Ujiri, and a meeting between Ujiri and the Raptors is expected to take place within the next 24 hours, reports Adrian Wojnarwoski of Yahoo! Sports. Ujiri is reportedly the preferred candidate for Toronto as the team searches for a head of basketball operations.
According to Wojnarowski, the Raptors intend to make Ujiri an offer that would pay him nearly $3MM annually. Ujiri, whose contract expires next month, is prepared to leave Denver for the chance to run the Raptors unless the Nuggets respond with a competitive offer. As Wojnarowski notes, the Nuggets have historically been reluctant to pay big money to general managers, so there's a belief they won't match the commitment the Raptors are prepared to make to Ujiri.
If Ujiri and the Raptors don't reach an agreement, Toronto's next target may be Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard, who was previously cited as a candidate by the Toronto Star's Doug Smith. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reports that the Raptors have requested permission to speak to Pritchard, though the Pacers prefer to wait until the playoffs to allow a meeting.
According to Berger, Tim Leiweke and the Raptors are intrigued by the possibility of pairing Pritchard with Thunder assistant GM Troy Weaver. However, the Thunder may not allow Weaver to interview for what would be a lateral move, and it still appears Ujiri is the Raptors' first priority anyway.
Former Raptors president and general manager Bryan Colangelo remains in the organization as team president, but won't be as involved in basketball decisions. Whoever the Raptors hire as their new GM will have full control over the club's basketball operations.
Stein’s Latest: Clippers, David West, Ujiri, Nets
ESPN.com's Marc Stein passes along a few notable tidbits in his latest piece for TrueHoop, including word of a potential Clippers target, a Phil Jackson update, and some items on the coaching front. Let's dive in and check out the highlights….
- "Whispers are already swirling" that the Clippers intend to make a hard run at free-agent-to-be David West, says Stein. West and the Pacers seem to be mutually interested in a reunion, and Indiana will have the ability to offer West much more than the Clippers could, barring a sign-and-trade. But Stein points out that if West's old teammate Chris Paul re-signs in Los Angeles, the Pacers forward figures to be interested in at least listening to a Clippers pitch.
- The Nuggets remain confident that they'll be able to hang on to Masai Ujiri, despite rumblings that the Raptors may offer him an annual salary of $2MM+. Ujiri had reportedly been making about $500K with the Nuggets, according to Stein, so he appears in line for a raise no matter which team he ends up running.
- According to Stein, some league observers "remain convinced" that Phil Jackson's flirtations with various teams are designed to convinced Jim Buss to cede his organizational power with the Lakers to Jeanie Buss, which could allow Jeanie to bring Jackson aboard to run the team's basketball operations.
- Part of the reason the Nets' coaching search has been moving slowly so far is that two of the team's top potential targets remain active in the playoffs — Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins and Pacers assistant Brian Shaw. Stein adds that Ettore Messina, who is rumored to be a candidate for the Hawks, isn't on the Nets' list.
- While the Nets and perhaps the Clippers appear to have interest in Hollins, the Grizzlies appear determined to lock him up to a new contract once their season ends, says Stein.
Woelfel On Nets, Dunleavy, Draft, Bucks
Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times begins his look around the NBA with a profile on first-round prospect Glen Rice Jr., who could become the most highly drafted player to come out of the D-League. The Journal Times scribe also touches on offseason rumblings from around the league, and we'll round up the highlights here:
- Woelfel hears the Nets are "honing in on Lionel Hollins" for their coaching vacancy. That would appear to be an exercise in futility, since Hollins says there's mutual interest in his return to the Grizzlies, the team he's guided to the Western Conference Finals. Woelfel also mentions Scott Skiles as a candidate, echoing a report by Sam Amick of USA Today earlier this month.
- Soon-to-be free agent Mike Dunleavy has piqued the interest of several teams around the league. I examined Dunleavy's free agent stock last month, figuring he could fit in as a role player with a title contender.
- Woelfel passes along a few draft rumors, noting that Kelly Olynyk and Michael Carter-Williams will work out for the Bucks, while the Magic, Nets and Knicks have shown interest in Phil Pressey. The Nuggets interviewed Otto Porter.
- Bucks interim coach Jim Boylan is gone, but his assistant coaches remain. Their contracts are up at the end of June, along with a couple members of the team's front office staff, but it remains to be seen whether any of them will return.
Raptors Targeting Masai Ujiri For Front Office
As deadline day for Bryan Colangelo's 2013/14 option approaches, the Raptors are pursuing current Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri to take over their basketball operations, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The head-hunting firm hired by Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment to whittle down the list of potential replacements for Colangelo identified Ujiri as the top choice, sources told Wojnarowski.
Doug Smith of the Toronto Star reported yesterday that the Raptors had until Monday to make a decision one way or the other on Colangelo, and that MLSE had hired a search firm to look into potential candidates — Wojnarowski identifies the firm as Korn/Ferry International.
Perhaps it's no surprise that the man who was named 2013's NBA Executive of the Year earlier this month would emerge as the top candidate for MLSE. But in addition to being more than qualified for the job, Ujiri is on an expiring deal. Although he has a strong relationship with Nuggets CEO Josh Kroenke, Ujiri is only under contract until June 30th. It had been assumed that he and the Nuggets would work out a new agreement, but perhaps MLSE president/CEO Tim Leiweke could make a pitch and offer that would be enough to present Ujiri with a difficult decision.
Prior to becoming the Nuggets' GM in 2010, Ujiri worked under Colangelo in Toronto for three years, including two as assistant GM, so he does have a history with the Raptors, which could work in Toronto's favor. The 76ers made a run at Ujiri a year ago in hopes of hiring him as their GM, but he turned down the team's interest.
Odds & Ends: Jack, Iguodala, Cavaliers, Suns
With just one Conference Semifinal still ongoing, we won't see any NBA action tonight, as the Knicks and Pacers prepare for tomorrow's Game Six. Even if the Eastern Semifinal extends to a seventh game though, we can look forward to the Western Finals getting underway on Sunday, featuring a Spurs/Grizzlies matchup that few would have predicted last fall. As we get ready for those games, let's check in on a few odds and ends from around the Association:
- Following the Warriors' elimination from the postseason, Jarrett Jack tells Marcus Thompson II of the San Jose Mercury News that he'd love to get a chance to return to the team next season. "Obviously there are other things that go into seeing if that works," Jack said. "We all know this is a business at the end of the day. If I could do it, if I could rearrange it, I would definitely be back at this same locker."
- Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post takes a look at Ty Lawson's efforts to woo Andre Iguodala back to the Nuggets via social media. Lawson says he's been "telling [Iguodala] all year" that he ought to stay in Denver beyond this season.
- Cavaliers GM Chris Grant suggests to Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (Twitter link) that the Cavs expect to be bigger players in free agency this summer than in recent years.
- Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic shares the latest news on the Suns' head coaching search, writing that candidates on playoff teams become less likely for Phoenix the longer their respective clubs stay alive.
- Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau is hoping the team can bring back Nazr Mohammed, calling his performance "tremendous," but acknowledged that the big man may receive better offers. Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times has the details.
- The Bobcats can't afford a misfire on draft night this year, says Lang Greene of HoopsWorld.