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Eastern Notes: Cavs, Pistons, Knicks, Nets

May 13th, 2014 at 5:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Cavs GM David Griffin was especially vehement when he told reporters today that Kyrie Irving wasn’t behind the team’s decision to fire Mike Brown, pounding the table in front of him as he spoke, observes Jodie Valade of the Plain Dealer. People close to Irving weren’t pleased with Brown, but Irving himself expressed a mix of positive and negative feelings on the former coach, as Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal details. Here’s more on the Cavs and the rest of the Eastern Conference:

Former Raptors and Suns GM Bryan Colangelo and Bucks assistant GM David Morway were rumored to be in the mix for the Cavs front office job before the team removed GM David Griffin‘s interim tag, according to Bob Finnan of The Morning Journal.
Pistons owner Tom Gores was torn on what to do about Greg Monroe and Josh Smith in addition to how to fill his coaching and front office vacancies before Stan Van Gundy entered the picture, USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt tweets. In any case, Gores has been looking to hire a “name,” according to Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News (Twitter link).
The Knicks are seeking to trade cash for a pick late in this year’s draft, as Marc Berman of the New York Post reports amid a story on the team’s pursuit of Steve Kerr. New York is without a pick in either the first or the second round.
The Nets hold the draft rights to Bojan Bogdanovic, but they don’t expect to sign him anytime soon, and Bogdanovic is nearing a new deal with Turkey’s Fenerbahce Ulker that will cover two or three seasons, reports Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops.net. The pact will likely include a lower NBA buyout price than the $2MM called for in his existing contract with the team, Varlas adds.
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel thinks the Magic should consider trading up to pick Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker or Joel Embiid if Orlando misses out on one of the top three picks in the lottery. The Magic are in line for the No. 3 pick but could fall as low as No. 6.

Eastern Notes: Kerr, Anthony, Jackson

May 10th, 2014 at 6:43pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Steve Kerr is seeking a five-year deal worth $30MM from the Knicks, notes Matt Moore of CBSSports.com. The article speculates that Kerr wants his deal to be the same length as Phil Jackson‘s, and he wants a salary comparable to Mike D’Antoni‘s $6MM per season when he was the team’s head coach. Kerr is expected to decide next week if he’ll become the next coach of the Knicks.

And-Ones: Jazz, Harris, Oden

May 8th, 2014 at 10:47pm CST by Cray Allred

Steve Smith tells Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News that he’s interested in becoming a GM at some point, but that the Pistons opening doesn’t interest him. “As of right now, I’m happy where I am,” said Smith. “The time will come when the right situation pops up and I’ll be ready.” Here’s a roundup of the night’s notes:

The Jazz are picking twice in the first round, but vice president of player personnel Walt Perrin tells Jody Genessy of Deseret Sports that Utah uses the pre-draft process as an opportunity to evaluate prospects well outside of their draft considerations. “Not only are we looking at guys for this year’s draft, but you’re also getting information and you’re getting a feel for players,” said Perrin. “Once we figure out where we are come lottery [time], then we can concentrate on those particular players in that particular area.”
Jay Yeomans of Deseret News profiles each of the six draft prospects who worked out for the Jazz earlier today.
Jamal Crawford told reporters including Mark Medina of Los Angeles Daily News that the unresolved ownership issues in L.A. won’t outweigh his desire to play there for coach Doc Rivers (Twitter link). “As long as I’m with this group of guys and Doc [is] leading us, that’ll work itself out,” said Crawford. The Clippers have control over Crawford’s partially guaranteed contract for the next two years.
Devin Harris and the Mavs have mutual interest in the soon-to-be free agent returning to Dallas next season, and Harris tells Dwain Price of The Star-Telegram he’d prefer to reach a long-term agreement. “Obviously I don’t really know where [the negotiations] will go,” Harris said. “My intent is to come back, but like I said, only time will tell. I would rather not [sign a one-year deal]. It’s kind of tough to do, especially coming off surgery.”
Greg Oden tells Mark Titus of Grantland he’s come to terms with being a deep bench player for the Heat (H/T Shandel Richardson of The Sun Sentinel). “I know I’m one of the biggest busts in NBA history,” said Oden. “It’s frustrating that my body can’t do what my mind wants it to do sometimes. But worrying or complaining about it isn’t going to fix anything…I wish the circumstances would let me play more, but I certainly don’t regret coming back, and I don’t regret signing with the Heat.”

Coaching Rumors: Jackson, Kerr, Karl, Izzo

May 7th, 2014 at 5:59pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Mark Jackson addressed the circumstances regarding his former Warriors assistant coaches Brian Scalabrine and Darren Erman in an interview with the NBA’s Sirius XM radio station earlier today (hat tip to Ben Golliver of SI.com). Of Scalabrine, Jackson said, “The one that was demoted [Scalabrine], I would have had handled it six weeks, a month, two months earlier. The things that took place from his side, I would have nipped it in the bud initially. That’s my fault for allowing it to go on. I’m pretty much a guy, just like ministry, I try to show you a different way of handling it. Hope that seeing me handle your disrespect, you’ll come around and realize this isn’t the way to handle it. Fortunately for me, it works for a lot of folks, there are some folks that just won’t get it and you have to handle them differently. I would do that differently.”

In regards to Erman, Jackson said, “As far as assistants, you have to pick people who are loyal and dedicated. It’s inexcusable what the second assistant [Erman] did. That cannot be tolerated. For folks to say, two situations, it’s obviously documented that they both were 100 percent wrong. The only fault I got is hiring those guys. I would use wisdom in who is around me.”

Woelfel On Pistons, Colangelo, Zarren, Izzo

May 7th, 2014 at 8:23am CST by Chuck Myron

Gary Woelfel of the The Journal Times has updates on the Pistons front office and coaching searches as well as the future of the Bucks. We’ll hit the highlights here:

Former Raptors and Suns GM Bryan Colangelo and current Celtics assistant GM Mike Zarren are the front-runners for the top Pistons front office job, Woelfel hears. There’s talk that Detroit is targeting an experienced GM to serve as a mentor for the front office career of Chauncey Billups, Woelfel says, speculating that Bucks GM John Hammond, a former aide to Joe Dumars in the Pistons front office, could be a candidate.
Tom Izzo appeared to leave some wiggle room when he said last week that he didn’t want to coach in the NBA next season, and some around the league tell Woelfel that the Pistons could re-emerge as a suitor for the Michigan State bench boss. The Timberwolves aren’t counting themselves out of the running for Izzo either, as we passed along earlier, and Woelfel seconds that sentiment.
League approval of the sale of the Bucks to Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry could come as soon as a little more than a week from now, according to Woelfel. The wait has nonetheless left many within the Bucks in limbo, as several coaches and executives have said they haven’t been notified whether they’ll have their jobs next season, Woelfel writes.
The cost of a new Bucks arena in Milwaukee will be anywhere from $420MM to $500MM, a source tells Woelfel. Edens, Lasry and Kohl have committed a combined $200MM toward the arena’s construction.

Coaching Rumors: Jackson, Warriors, Kerr

May 6th, 2014 at 8:51pm CST by Charlie Adams

The Warriors cut ties with Mark Jackson today, and rumors have already started swirling about potential fits for the now vacant coaching spot in Golden State. Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders rounds up the situation and discusses possible candidates and also suggests a few teams that might be wise to seek out Jackson’s services. Here’s the latest on Jackson, Kerr, and the Lakers coaching search:

Brian Scalabrine was also dismissed from Warriors, reports Matt Steinmetz of CSN Bay Area (via Twitter). Scalabrine had been an assistant coach with Golden State under Jackson before a mid-season demotion sent him to their D-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors.
Kerr was expected to begin talks with the Knicks about a coaching role yesterday, but there have still been no contact between the two sides, a source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. There’s a strong chance Kerr has a conversation with the Warriors about taking on the head coaching role in Golden State, but his preference remains New York, says Wojnarowski (Twitter links).

Earlier updates:

The Knicks haven’t called Jackson about their head coaching position, tweets Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.
It’s very unlikely the Timberwolves have any interest in bringing Jackson aboard, passes along Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (on Twitter).
The Pistons should consider hiring Jackson in Detroit, even though it wouldn’t be a cheap acquisition, writes Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News. Goodwill points to Jackson’s ability to earn his players’ respect as a particularly valuable trait.
Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com discusses the likelihood that Steve Kerr chooses to take on head coaching duties for the Warriors rather than the Knicks. Both teams are reportedly interested in Kerr, but Begley concludes that Phil Jackson‘s presence in New York will give the Knicks an edge in their pursuit.
Kerr’s college coach, Lute Olson, also sees the Knicks as the front-runner to land Kerr, even after Jackson’s dismissal in Golden State, reports Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
Lakers management is taking a slow approach to its coaching search, but Kobe Bryant and Byron Scott have talked in the past few weeks, notes Chris Broussard of ESPN during an interview on the Mike & Mike Show (Audio link).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Eastern Notes: Pistons, Cavs, Bradley

May 4th, 2014 at 11:33am CST by Eddie Scarito

Two openings in the Pistons organization that aren’t getting much press coverage are the GM and coaching positions for their new D-League team in Grand Rapids, writes Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press. The Pistons are turning to Grand Rapids after a long-time relationship with the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants. Pistons assistant GM George David said of the new arrangement, “One of the things we’re most excited about is the proximity. We did a tremendous amount of research with some of the other D-League teams and saw the intrinsic value for the teams that had a driving-distance proximity to their D-League team. It does make a big difference.”

Stein On Hawks Offseason

May 4th, 2014 at 10:27am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Atlanta Hawks lost to the Pacers last night by a score of 92-80, eliminating them from the playoffs. Marc Stein of ESPN.com weighed in on some of the issues the team will deal with this offseason. Here are the highlights:

Stein opines that GM Danny Ferry will let other teams around the league know that they have lots of assets and are willing to use them in the trade market if the opportunity presents itself.
The Hawks want to acquire another major piece for their roster. The team knows that they need at least one more star player even if Al Horford makes a full recovery from the shoulder separations he’s endured these past two seasons.
That piece might be Pistons restricted free agent Greg Monroe, opines Stein. The article notes the close ties between Monroe’s agent, David Falk and Ferry, who Falk used to represent.
One of the Hawks priorities this offseason will be the continuing development of Dennis Schröder, who never emerged as the backup to Jeff Teague that they hoped he would become. In 49 games, Schröder averaged 3.7 PPG, 1.2 RPG, and 1.9 APG in 13.1 minutes per contest.

Lawrence On D’Antoni, Gasol, Calipari, Sterling

May 3rd, 2014 at 2:12pm CST by Charlie Adams

Mike D’Antoni walked away from the Lakers due in part because the team is likely to attempt to re-sign Pau Gasol this summer, reports Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News. A source tells Lawrence that D’Antoni knew that Gasol and Kobe Bryant didn’t want to play for him, so he made the decision to resign from the team on Wednesday. Let’s have a look at some more interesting notes from Lawrence’s piece:

Kurt Rambis and Byron Scott are two of the most viable candidates for the Lakers’ coaching job, hears Lawrence. We reported on Thursday that both Rambis and Scott are set to interview with the team.
Despite rumored interest, Lawrence says there’s no chance John Calipari will become the next head coach for the Lakers. The team reportedly has “zero interest” in hiring Calipari.
Stan Van Gundy was contacted about taking over the head coaching role for the Pistons, but talks didn’t get far because he wanted some level of control over the team’s personnel decisions, writes Lawrence.
Lawrence hears that once Adam Silver meets with Donald Sterling, Silver is expected to tell Sterling that the league will battle him in court to see that the franchise is sold, no matter the resistance Sterling puts up.
Knicks assistant GM Allan Houston and director of player personnel Mark Warkentien aren’t worried about their jobs, since the duo has contracts with owner Jim Dolan and not the Knicks specifically, says Lawrence. As a result, the pair will be able to retain their positions, even if Phil Jackson doesn’t want them around.
The Cavs and Bucks still haven’t decided whether or not they’ll keep their general managers beyond this season, reveals Lawrence. Both Central Division teams failed to meet preseason expectations and finished well below .500.
It’s likely Mark Jackson will be fired by the Warriors, suggests Lawrence, who adds the coach might have a hard time landing another job with an NBA team because of the perceived dysfunction in Golden State’s organization during his tenure.
The Thunder could potentially see a first-round playoff exit tonight, but Lawrence says Scott Brooks‘ position is safe in Oklahoma City.

Tom Izzo Won’t Coach In NBA Next Season

April 30th, 2014 at 11:24am CST by Chuck Myron

Tom Izzo said on ESPNU’s College Basketball podcast today that he’ll return to Michigan State next season rather than pursue interest from the NBA, as Andy Katz of ESPN.com writes. Izzo had reportedly been a candidate to coach the Wolves and Pistons, though he says he hasn’t heard from any NBA team this year.

“If somebody made me an offer to be the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers that was so good that it would impress everybody, does that mean I would never say never? I’m not doing that anymore,” Izzo said. “I’ve seen too many people get stung that way. But put it this way, I’ve got a big-time recruit coming in an hour and if I was leaving I wouldn’t be recruiting.”

The 59-year-old Izzo strongly denied the rumors linking him to the Pistons last month, but the perception has remained that he had interest in a pro job. People close to the coach told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com last month that they thought he’d entertain NBA offers but that he wouldn’t leave this year. Fellow ESPN.com Marc Stein scribe suggested about a week ago that Izzo would listen to an offer from Timberwolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders, his friend, but it appears as though Saunders can cross Izzo off his list of candidates.

Izzo considered taking the Cavaliers coaching job in 2010, but decided against it. He’s expressed frustration with the changing dynamics of recruiting players for the Spartans, but it looks as though he’ll be doing that job for at least one more year.