Detroit Pistons Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pistons Rumors: SVG, Coach, Beyer

May 19th, 2014 at 1:16pm CST by Zachary Links

The latest out of Detroit..

For the most part, Stan Van Gundy wants to evaluate Pistons players in camp before making any serious moves, writes David Mayo of MLive.com. “I’m not going to do anything rash. If you see any of our roster guys moved before the season, I hope you’ll look at it and go, ‘Well, that’s a no-brainer, they had to do it.’ But anything that’s close, I want to get a look at these guys,” said Detroit’s new head coach and president of basketball operations.
Zach Lowe of Grantland (on Twitter) hears from Van Gundy that he’s only interested in GM candidates who have had a GM job full-time. That limits the possible pool of candidates the Pistons could focus on.
The Pistons have been granted permission to talk with Bobcats assistant Bob Beyer for their coaching vacancy, tweets Vincent Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.

Warriors Hire Steve Kerr

May 19th, 2014 at 11:41am CST by Eddie Scarito

MONDAY, 11:41am: The Warriors officially announced that they have hired Kerr as their head coach. Kerr becomes the 25th head coach in franchise history and the 20th since the team moved to the West Coast in 1962.

“We’re very pleased to introduce Steve Kerr as our new head coach,” said Warriors General Manager Bob Myers. “We are confident that he will be an extremely good fit for our team and our organization as we venture into the future. The fact that he played for several of the greatest coaches in the history of the game – including Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich – will serve him well, as will the many nuances that he learned from performing on the brightest stage during his incredibly successful, championship-filled career.”

WEDNESDAY 7:18pm: Steve Kerr has accepted the Warriors head coaching position, reports David Aldridge of NBA.com (Twitter link). Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link) is reporting that the deal is for five years and $25MM. Kerr’s agent, Mike Tannenbaum, has confirmed the deal, reports Diamond Leung of Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). Kerr has no prior head coaching experience. He will be replacing Mark Jackson who was fired by the team after compiling a 121-109 record over three seasons with the Warriors.

The Warriors management group lost out on Stan Van Gundy when he accepted a $35MM deal yesterday to run the Pistons, and they subsequently flew to Oklahoma City on Tuesday to meet with Kerr, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Warriors left that meeting more convinced of Kerr’s readiness to coach the franchise, the article notes, and Kerr also had a chance to further familiarize himself with the entire Warriors front office.

Kerr was believed to have been the favorite for the Knicks head coaching position. It had been reported that the Warriors had moved on from him because he was believed to be too far along in his negotiations with team president Phil Jackson. It was also reported earlier today that the Knicks had added on a guaranteed fourth year to their offer for Kerr. Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweeted that Lute Olson, Kerr’s college coach, said, “I know he wanted to go with the Knicks. They must not have gotten the five-year deal worked out.”

It was noted previously that Kerr still owns a tiny fraction of the Suns, for whom he served as GM from 2007-10. Kerr would have to sell the shares, believed to be valued at less than 1% of the franchise, within a league-mandated time frame after accepting a coaching job with another franchise.

Eastern Notes: Bulls, Bobcats, Pistons

May 18th, 2014 at 10:00am CST by Eddie Scarito

Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times thinks Lance Stephenson or Thabo Sefolosha would be good backup targets for the Bulls if Chicago makes a failed attempt at signing Carmelo Anthony in free agency.

And-Ones: Coaches, Wolves, Cavs

May 17th, 2014 at 10:45pm CST by Cray Allred

A league executive tells Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer that Dante Exum, who considers himself a point guard, will be taken high as a potential point guard despite his uncommon size and skill set for the position. The executive believes Exum will wind up a shooting guard, but says that Michael Carter-Williams‘ standout rookie performance as a 6’6″ point guard makes Exum more enticing for teams at the top of the draft. Here’s more from around the league:

Flip Saunders has conducted the Wolves coaching search with stealth, and Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune reveals that Saunders interviewed rumored candidate Lionel Hollins three weeks ago.
Zgoda describes Hollins as “in the running” for the Cavs job. Hollins was named in earlier reports as a potential candidate.
Zgoda reports that Saunders also had informal discussions with Tom Izzo, Fred Hoiberg, and Stan Van Gundy, but the talks stalled in each case.
Izzo was first offered the five-year, $35MM offer to run the Pistons that Van Gundy eventually accepted, opting to stay in the college ranks, writes Zgoda.
Saunders isn’t interested in George Karl, who would prefer to coach the Cavs or, if Randy Wittman were fired, the Wizards over the Wolves, according to Zgoda.
Zgoda mentions Nate McMillan, Scott Skiles, and Sam Mitchell as intriguing possibilities for the Wolves head coaching vacancy in a separate piece. There hasn’t been any reported interest from the team toward McMillan or Skiles, and Minnesota is reportedly not interested in Mitchell.
During the combine, the Wolves met with enough power forwards and prospects projected in the top tier of the draft to make Zgoda wonder if a Kevin Love trade is a possibility (via Twitter). The Wolves have very little chance of moving above 13th in the first round, and obviously have no pressing need at power forward so long as Love is on the team.
LaQuinton Ross is scheduled to work out for the Cavs on Monday, reports Bob Finnan of The Morning Journal.
Tomas Satoranksy will join the Wizards summer league team for the second consecutive year, reports J. Michael of CSNWashington.com (H/T Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). The shooting guard was selected as a “draft and stash” player in the second round of the 2012 draft, and could find his way onto the team next season if Washington loses perimeter talent to free agency, Michael writes.

And-Ones: Aldridge, Assistants, Cavs

May 17th, 2014 at 1:41pm CST by Cray Allred

Clippers players told reporters, including Dan Woike of The Orange County Register, that they’re unsure what they would do if Donald Sterling isn’t removed from ownership by next season. Still, they expressed hope that the issue will be resolved sooner rather than later. “It appears that this will be a long process. Things will be in flux for a while,” J.J. Redick said. “I can’t imagine a scenario where we start the season next year and he’s the owner and all is kosher.” Here’s more from around the league:

The players union won’t demand a timetable on Sterling’s ouster as long as the league is acting “in good faith” on its promise to remove the Clippers owner, acting union executive director Ron Klempner told reporters, including Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal (Twitter link).
Extending LaMarcus Aldridge is the Blazers’ first priority moving forward, as Portland GM Neil Olshey tells Erik Gundersen of The Columbian (Twitter link).
Bobcats assistant coach Bob Beyer is a strong candidate to become Stan Van Gundy‘s top assistant on the Pistons bench, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
Andy Greer and Nick Nurse are possibilities to become Steve Kerr‘s assistant coaches with the Warriors, per another Wojnarowski tweet. Greer and Nurse are currently on staff as assistants with the Bulls and Raptors, respectively.
Mark Jackson won’t be a serious candidate for the Cavs head coaching job, Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com hears.
James Posey could be an assistant coaching candidate for the Cavs, Pluto writes. Posey has been an assistant with Cleveland’s D-League affiliate, and GM David Griffin holds him in high regard.
Pluto adds that Griffin would love to find a shooter in the draft, and mentions Doug McDermott, Nik Stauskas, and Rodney Hood as intriguing prospects where the Cavs will be drafting.
In a series of tweets, Frank Isola of The New York Daily News casts doubt on an earlier report that Phil Jackson had “low balled” Kerr. Isola insinuates that if the Knicks played “hardball” with Jackson’s only coaching target, it would have been a result of ownership’s influence, not Jackson’s.
In another tweet, Isola relays an accusation from a person involved in the Kerr talks that Knicks owner James Dolan “sabotaged” the negotiations.
Chris Mannix of SI.com weighed in with a tweet of his own, agreeing with Isola that a tough negotiation strategy would have come from Knicks ownership, not Jackson.

Eastern Notes: Fizdale, Pistons, Gortat

May 17th, 2014 at 10:22am CST by Cray Allred

Heat assistant coach David Fizdale is on the Cavs radar, tweets Chris Broussard of ESPN.com. Broussard doesn’t specify that Cleveland’s interest regards its head coaching vacancy, but Fizdale recently drew interest as a Warriors head coaching candidate before Golden State hired Steve Kerr. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Stan Van Gundy has prioritized hiring a GM and some assistant coaches for the Pistons in the near future, he told reporters including Vincent Ellis of Detroit Free PRess. “The biggest thing right now for us is probably our GM search, getting through that,” said Van Gundy. “And at the same time we’ll make some other hirings pretty quickly to get more people on board.”
Van Gundy also said that he is considering some of his former players as assistant coaches with the Pistons.
Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel thinks that Van Gundy will have to become more patient in his approach to succeed in his front office role with the Pistons. Schmitz also worries that Van Gundy’s health will suffer if he doesn’t delegate his coaching and executive duties well.
Marcin Gortat said that he doesn’t want to play anywhere with a “blind” point guard as he approaches free agency, tweets Ben Standig of CSNWashington.com. The Wizards center praised John Wall‘s willingness to share the ball.

And-Ones: Watson, Love, Seattle, Isiah, Draft

May 16th, 2014 at 5:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

Earl Watson would like to coach the Jazz next season, and he’s picked up the endorsement of restricted free agent Gordon Hayward, as both Watson and Hayward tell Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. Watson, who played with the Blazers this year, hasn’t ruled out playing again next season, but if he becomes Jazz coach, he’ll target Hubie Brown as an assistant, he says. Here’s more from around the league with an altered title picture now that Serge Ibaka is expected to miss the rest of the playoffs.

Kevin Love will have some say in who coaches him next season on the Wolves, owner Glen Taylor confirmed to Charley Walters of the Star Tribune. President of basketball operations Flip Saunders has spoken with eight candidates, but he hasn’t endorsed any of them to Taylor, Walters adds.
Taylor also said the Wolves lost “a couple million” dollars this year, Walters notes in the same piece.
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who partnered with Chris Hansen on an ill-fated bid to buy the Kings and move them to Seattle, is open to purchasing any NBA team, but wouldn’t necessarily bring them to the Emerald City, as he tells Shira Ovide of The Wall Street Journal. He says he wouldn’t move the Clippers out of Los Angeles if he bought them.
Isiah Thomas and the Pistons are in preliminary talks about a deal for him to purchase a minority share of the team, reports Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News.
Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey and Cavs GM David Griffin have said they’re open to trading their respective first-round picks for players who can help immediately, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio.
Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson has political aspirations that would make him reticent to accept the post of executive director of the players union, but the job increasingly appears to be his if he wants it, tweets Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times.
Hawks and Cavs officials will meet with draft prospect Alessandro Gentile of the Italian league, Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia reports. The swingman is No. 66 in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and 100th with Chad Ford of ESPN.com.

Draft Combine Updates: Friday

May 16th, 2014 at 2:46pm CST by Chuck Myron

We gathered a slew of reports connecting draft prospects with teams yesterday on the first full day of the Chicago draft combine, and we’ll do the same today with this post. The latest updates will be on top as we follow the action throughout.

Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders adds the Pistons, Kings and Suns to the list of teams interviewing Noah Vonleh (Twitter link).
The Pistons met with Rodney Hood, Ellis tweets, and the Thunder also met with him, Holmes notes (on Twitter).
Thanasis Antetokounmpo sat down with the Nets, Knicks, Pacers, Cavs, Wizards and Pelicans, according to Woelfel (Twitter link).

2:00pm updates:

The Pistons have met with Smart and Zach LaVine, according to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press and Keith Langlois of Pistons.com, respectively (Twitter links).
Smart is also among the players interviewing with the Celtics tonight, according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, and the C’s spoke with Aaron Gordon, too, fellow Globe scribe Baxter Holmes notes (Twitter links).
Gordon also met with the Magic, who are set to meet with James Michael McAdoo, as well, according to Robbins (Twitter links).
Tyler Ennis is meeting with the Bucks today after interviewing with the Bulls on Thursday, as Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times and Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com report (Twitter links).
Jarnell Stokes already worked out for the Raptors, according to Wolstat (on Twitter).

12:02pm updates:

Dante Exum‘s interview with the Magic went well, he said, adding that the team would like to bring him to Central Florida for a workout, tweets Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. Robbins, in a full piece, added Marcus Smart to the list of top prospects who’ve interviewed with the Magic.
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge expressed a fondness for Smart today in an interview with ESPN’s Andy Katz on the network’s coverage of the combine, as Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv notes (on Twitter).
Gary Harris told Katz he met with the Raptors, Nuggets, Grizzlies and Pistons, as Zagoria once more passes along via Twitter.
The Raptors will interview Jordan Adams today, according to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun, who says the team also spoke with James Young (Twitter links).
Zagoria adds the Sixers, Spurs, Clippers, Mavs, Nuggets, Warriors and Bulls to the list of teams that Kyle Anderson either met or is slated to meet (Twitter link).
Markel Brown said he’ll talk with the Celtics today, according to A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com (Twitter link).

Draft Combine Updates: Thursday

May 15th, 2014 at 10:40pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Chicago draft combine is underway, and teams can meet with up to 18 players. With 30 teams, that means there could be as many as 540 interviews this week. We’ll try to keep track of as many as possible here, and we’ll update this post throughout the day as news filters in. Here’s the latest:

Ennis will meet with the Bobcats and at least four other teams in addition to the organizations listed below, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer reports.
Vonleh interviewed with the Wolves, Bucks, Lakers, and Blazers, tweets Robbins, who adds that the big man is scheduled to meet with the Sixers.

Earlier updates:

LaVine shot very well, and Seth Davis of SI.com hears that he may have helped his stock more than any other prospect today (Twitter link; H/T Wolstat).
In Exum’s extended quotes transcribed by Sean Deveney of The Sporting News regarding the point guard’s willingness to pressure certain teams not to draft him, Exum said he doesn’t see any of his potential destinations as a bad fit, and is willing to play behind an established point guard.
LaQuinton Ross will work out for the Cavs on Monday, tweets Jason Lloyd of Akron Beacon Journal.
The Raptors plan to meet with K.J. McDaniels, McDermott, Payton, Anderson, McDaniels, and possibly Hood, reports Wolstat (via Twitter).
Hood will meet with the Bulls on Friday, tweets K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune.
Randle interviewed with the Cavs and will do so with the Bucks, too, as the Plain Dealer and Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel note (Twitter links).
Patric Young spoke with the Pelicans and has a sit-down with the Grizzlies scheduled, according to Robbins (Twitter links).
Blakely adds Hood and Noah Vonleh to the Celtics interview list, while Randle and T.J. Warren are talking to Boston, too, according to Holmes (All Twitter links).
Vonleh says he also has an interview scheduled with the Magic, Robbins notes, adding that Orlando wanted to interview Stauskas, but his meeting schedule is too full (Twitter links). The Magic sat down with Randle on Wednesday, Robbins adds (on Twitter).
Aaron Gordon met with the Sixers on Wednesday, Pompey tweets.
Exum will also interview with the Kings, according to Howard-Cooper (on Twitter).
Julius Randle is meeting with the Sixers today, reports Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter).
Doug McDermott said he met Wednesday with the Bulls, Hawks and Timberwolves, Robbins observes, and McDermott added that he’s looking forward to a meeting with the Cavs, as Robbins and the Plain Dealer observe (Twitter links).
Rodney Hood is set to interview with the Wolves tonight, Zgoda tweets. Hood interviewed with the Bobcats on Wednesday, as Bonnell details (Twitter links).
Kyle Anderson met with the Celtics and he’ll also see the Wolves tonight, Washburn and Zgoda note (Twitter links).
The Pistons met with Glenn Robinson III on Wednesday, as he tells Langlois (Twitter link).
Add the Celtics and the Bucks to Exum’s interview agenda, as Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe and Matt Velazquez of the Journal Sentinel report (Twitter links). Exum thinks he’ll sit down with the Cavs, too, the Plain Dealer notes (on Twitter).
The Wolves will interview Lavine on Friday after having spoken with James Young on Wednesday, Zgoda tweets.
The Bobcats have expressed interest in P.J. Hairston, as he tells Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).
Dante Exum‘s wingspan measured out at nearly 6’10”, and he’ll draw consideration for the No. 1 overall pick from some teams, ESPN’s Chad Ford said on the network’s combine coverage today, as Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv notes (Twitter link). He denied that he’s angling for the Lakers in the draft, but he wouldn’t rule out pressuring some teams not to take him, tweets Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. Exum met with the Sixers, Pistons and Suns on Wednesday, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. The Celtics, Lakers, Magic and Jazz will also speak with him, report Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel and Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune (All four Twitter links).
Marcus Smart has interviewed with the Rockets, Raptors, Lakers, Suns and Nuggets, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. The Cavs, Jazz and Bucks are also on his agenda, as the Plain Dealer, Falk and Gery Woelfel of the Journal Times report (All Twitter links). The Timberwolves won’t interview Smart in Chicago, but Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities hears the team is hoping to get him to come to Minnesota for a workout (Twitter link).
Ontario native Tyler Ennis is excited about the idea of playing for the Raptors and has interviewed with them, tweets Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. He’s also met with the Bobcats, Kings, Suns, Thunder and Nuggets, according to Kennedy (on Twitter).
Nik Stauskas has met with or will meet with the Kings, Pistons and Raptors, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com and Doug Smith of the Toronto Star (All Twitter links).
The Nuggets, Spurs, Warriors and Nets have met with Shabazz Napier, Kennedy tweets.
The Hawks, Spurs, Thunder, Raptors, Magic, Cavs and Timberwolves met Elfrid Payton, Kennedy reports (Twitter link).
Zach LaVine interviewed with the Celtics, among others, Wednesday, he tells Blakely (Twitter link).
Russ Smith sat down with the Suns, Celtics and Blazers, according to Kennedy (via Twitter).

Central Rumors: Karl, Brown, Bulls, Pistons

May 15th, 2014 at 9:22pm CST by Cray Allred

George Karl would like to coach the Cavs and is high on Kyrie Irving, as Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio hears (Twitter link), but a source tells Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer that Kevin Ollie doesn’t envision taking the Cleveland coaching gig. It’s unclear whether the team has interest in either Karl or Ollie. Here’s more from the Central:

Former Cavs coach Mike Brown is open to listening to coaching opportunities, but plans to take a year off from coaching, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links).
Bulls GM Gar Forman is optimistic Chicago can select two rotation players in the draft, but is open to other possibilities, including trading up or doing a draft-and-stash, he tells K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. “If we want to try to create more cap room, we may look at doing something with one or both of those picks,” Forman said (Twitter links).
The Bulls are prioritizing added shooting this offseason, tweets Johnson.
Stan Van Gundy will retain Ken Catanella as the Pistons cap specialist, reports Vincent Ellis of The Detroit Free Press. Van Gundy will meet Friday with Detroit’s assistant GM George David, who has a “solid chance” to stay in the front office, according to Ellis (Twitter links).
At today’s introductory press conference, Van Gundy said he is excited about the dual role he will have with the Pistons. “I think the position gives us a chance to create the most unified organization in sports,” Keith Langlois of Pistons.com quotes Van Gundy as saying. “That’s what the dual role is all about. I came into the NBA in an organization like that in Miami with Pat Riley running it and I think there are tremendous advantages there.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.