Joakim Noah Leads All-Defensive Team
Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah, Paul George, Chris Paul, Serge Ibaka and Andre Iguodala make up this year’s All-Defensive First Team, the NBA announced in a press release. LeBron James, Patrick Beverley, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard and Roy Hibbert are on the second team. The news is a boon for the Bulls, who would have had to pay Taj Gibson a $250K bonus for making either the first or second All-Defensive teams. Chicago scrambled late in the season to avoid the possibility that such a bonus for Gibson would force the team to pay the luxury tax. Earning the bonus would have pushed Gibson’s salary cap figure higher for next season, too, since it would have been considered a “likely” bonus for next season.
Noah received 105 first-place votes, far outdistancing George, who with 65 first-place votes earned the second most. Iguodala and James received an identical number of first-place votes (57), but Iguodala’s 34 second-team votes were better than the four-time MVP’s 20, allowing Golden State’s swingman to take the final position on the first team.
Clippers center DeAndre Jordan was the highest vote-getter who missed the cut for the second team, followed by Anthony Davis and Tony Allen. Tim Duncan and Dwight Howard were next, directly in front of Gibson.
Coaching Rumors: Griffin, Lue, Corbin
We learned earlier today that Adrian Griffin is being brought back for a second interview in Utah as part of a smaller group of candidates for the job, and a source tells Jody Genessy of Deseret News that Griffin has a “very, very good shot” at landing the Jazz head coaching job (Twitter link). Here’s more on the coaching front:
- Tyronn Lue made a strong impression with Cavs officials in his interview for the Cleveland head coaching job, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Lue is currently serving as an assistant with the Clippers.
- Tyrone Corbin will interview for an assistant coaching position with the Kings, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Another tweet from Genessy adds that Sacramento and Corbin are still in the early stages of the interviewing process. Corbin was fired by the Jazz after a rocky 2013/14 season.
- Corbin is also drawing interest as an assistant for the Warriors and Rockets, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
- Hubie Brown believes Derek Fisher, thought to be the front-runner for the Knicks head coaching job, can be successful in transitioning from an NBA player to head coach if he chooses to do so, Brown tells Marc Berman of The New York Post. “You’re not dealing with a typical basketball player. You’re dealing with a guy [in Fisher] with great intelligence,” said Brown. “And he displays leadership with a team that won championships where he was not a star player — just a guy who made the chemistry go and then had leadership in the union.”
- Warriors coach Steve Kerr denies Phil Jackson‘s assertion that he had given a verbal commitment to accept the Knicks head coaching position, telling Mitch Lawrence of the Daily News that his strong intimations probably gave Jackson the impression that he was virtually committed. “We didn’t have a handshake agreement or anything like that,” said Kerr. “I think Phil and I both thought it was going to happen…But in the end, Phil knew I wasn’t quite comfortable and he didn’t hold me to any of our conversations.”
Charlie Adams contributed to this post.
And-Ones: CBA, LeBron, Thompson, Anthony
Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel expects the $2 billion sale of the Clippers to have far-reaching effects on the next round of collective bargaining between the NBA and the players’ union. While the league has negotiated without recognizing appreciation values of franchises, the Clippers selling for so much will take away that luxury. Winderman anticipates the National Basketball Players Association will terminate the current CBA at its first opportunity in 2017, and thinks the players can and should fight to do away with maximum salary limitations for themselves. Here’s more from around the league:
- Winderman specifically looks to LeBron James as a player that could make immediate decisions based on the altered landscape following the Clippers sale. The Sun Sentinel scribe wouldn’t be surprised if James decides against opting out of his contract with the Heat in the coming seasons, taking a year-by-year approach until more lucrative contracts could become available.
- If Klay Thompson reaches free agency, he could field multiple offers at or near the max, NBA sources tell Tim Kawakami of Bay Area News Group. If the Warriors and Thompson can’t agree to an extension by the deadline early next season, he will become a restricted free agent in 2015/16.
- Joakim Noah hasn’t relented in his “consistent efforts” to recruit Carmelo Anthony to the Bulls, writes K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. Johnson says Chicago is sure to “get in the game” to pursue Anthony this summer, even though signing him remains a long shot.
- Mark Price has told Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer that he has long been interested in coming to Cleveland as a coach, but multiple Cavs regimes haven’t reciprocated the interest. Price played for Cleveland in nine of his 12 seasons, and is now working as an assistant with the Hornets.
- In addition to his candidacy for multiple head coaching jobs, Lionel Hollins is drawing interest as an associate head coach for the Warriors and Rockets, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
Pacific Notes: Thompson, Clippers, Kings
Warriors GM Bob Myers said that Klay Thompson is a “top-5 shooting who will be paid a lot of money in the future“, tweets Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group. Thompson has one more year remaining on his rookie deal, and has also been mentioned to possibly be included in trade discussions with the Timberwolves involving Kevin Love.
More from out of the Pacific Division:
- Jon Krawczynski of USA Today examines the Clippers worth and the factors that may have contributed to Steve Ballmer’s $2 Billion dollar bid for the team.
- The huge price that Steve Ballmer is willing to pay for the Clippers doesn’t make a lot of sense for someone who is such an astute businessman, writes Paul Newberry of USA Today. Newberry also believes that Ballmer will eventually try and move the team to Seattle.
- The Kings own the eighth overall pick in this June’s NBA Draft. Steven Wilson of NBA.com rounds up who the various mock drafts have Sacramento selecting.
Knicks Rumors: Kerr, Jackson, Shaw, Felton
Phil Jackson said Steve Kerr told him he’d take the Knicks coaching job the day before the Warriors fired Mark Jackson, notes Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal (Twitter links). Jackson acknowledged that he told Carmelo Anthony that Kerr would coach the team, Herring also tweets, so Kerr’s decision left the Zen Master in quite a spot. Anthony reportedly supports Mark Jackson as a would-be Knicks coach. However, the man Kerr replaced in Golden State wouldn’t fit Phil Jackson’s desire for a coach with whom he has a prior relationship, a quality which the Knicks president identified today as one he’ll look for, observes Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (on Twitter).
We passed along Jackson’s comments about Anthony’s contract situation earlier, and we’ll round up the rest from the Zen Master’s confab with reporters here:
- Jackson said he’d be interested in coaching the team himself, but he added that “unless the Lord heals me,” he wouldn’t be physically capable of doing so, as Herring and Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com pass along (Twitter links). Jackson added that the notion of coaching for just one season on a temporary basis “doesn’t sit right” with him, as Herring tweets.
- Some “unnamed people” have interviewed with Jackson for the coaching job, but none of them were Derek Fisher or Brian Shaw, the Zen Master said, as Newsday’s Al Iannazzone observes (Twitter link).
- Jackson isn’t interested in trying to pry Shaw from the Nuggets, Herring notes (on Twitter). “Denver has everything we’ve owned [already],” Jackson said.
- Jackson said he has yet to tell any players that they’ll be jettisoned this summer, contradicting a report that he’d informed Raymond Felton that he’s going to trade him, Herring tweets.
Bulls, Warriors, Nets Eye Toure’ Murry
Toure’ Murry is set to hit free agency in July, and even though he made barely a ripple for the Knicks this season after making the team out of training camp, he’s drawing interest from the Bulls, Warriors and Nets, among others, reports Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Murry would become a restricted free agent if the Knicks extend a qualifying offer worth more than $1MM, about $200K more than he would make on the minimum salary next season. Rival suitors are hoping Knicks president Phil Jackson, who wasn’t around when the team signed Murry and elected to keep him past the leaguewide guarantee date, finds the qualifying offer too high and allows Murry to become an unrestricted free agent, Begley notes.
Murry averaged 2.7 points in 7.3 minutes per game in 51 appearances this past season, his first in the NBA after going undrafted out of Wichita State in 2012. The guard spent his first year after turning pro in the D-League, notching just 8.3 PPG in 23.4 MPG for the Rockets affiliate. Still, Murry beat out a handful of veterans with NBA experience in Knicks training camp this fall as owner James Dolan pushed for more youth on the team. The Knicks chose in December to retain Murry instead of Chris Smith, the brother of J.R. Smith, angering the former Sixth Man of the Year.
The Bernie Lee client took home the rookie minimum salary of $490,180 this year, making him cheaper than veteran options, but his minimum would be $816,482 next season, a relatively significant jump. Chicago, Golden State and Brooklyn no doubt have Murry fairly low on their wish lists, but even a modicum of interest at this point in the offseason indicates that there’s a chance he’ll make more than the minimum next season. It appears at least that, unlike this past summer, he’ll receive offers for guaranteed salary. There’s probably a decent chance he’ll become sign-and-trade fodder should the Knicks attempt to construct a larger swap with one of the teams that likes his game.
Jazz, Warriors Eye James Nunnally
Former Hawks and Sixers small forward James Nunnally will work out for the Warriors and Jazz, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM. The 23-year-old who received four NBA 10-day contracts this past season has been playing for Cangrejeros de Santurce of the Puerto Rican league, and he’ll be leaving the club to audition for Golden State and Utah, according to Charania. Many of the free agents receiving NBA auditions at this point in the year are striving just to make summer league rosters, but Nunnally was one of the most sought-after training camp invitees last fall before winding up with the Suns, who carried him through the preseason.
Nunnally averaged 3.4 points in 12.7 minutes per game in 13 contests with Atlanta and Philly this past season, though he spent much of the year in the D-League, where he put up 18.1 PPG in 33.6 MPG to go along with 41.3% shooting from behind the arc. The performance earned him a trip to the D-League All-Star Game, and he’s put up remarkably similar numbers in Puerto Rico, notching 18.2 PPG in 31.4 MPG with 41.2% three-point shooting.
Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey typically casts a wide net, and he’ll also audition former Kings small forward Tyler Honeycutt. The Warriors have already had a busy offseason featuring a high-profile coaching search, and Steve Kerr, who emerged with the job, remains tied up with his broadcasting duties for TNT. Still, GM Bob Myers and company seem to remain engaged with the hunt for free agent talent, a need exacerbated by the team’s lack of draft picks in either the first or second round next month.
Jazz, Cavs Plan Interviews With Gentry, Griffin
MONDAY, 5:20pm: The Cavaliers have scheduled an interview with Adrian Griffin for Tuesday, reports Bob Finnan of The Morning Journal (hat tip to Sam Amick of USA Today). GM David Griffin will also be meeting with Vinny Del Negro, Lionel Hollins, Gentry, and Tyronn Lue later this week, the article notes.
SUNDAY, 9:40am: Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports that Gentry had interviewed with the Cavaliers and the Jazz earlier this month for their vacant head coaching positions.
THURSDAY, 7:41am: The Cavs have asked the Clippers for permission to interview Gentry, the Plain Dealer reports (Twitter link). I’d be surprised if it wasn’t granted, since it appears as though L.A. gave Utah the green light.
WEDNESDAY, 4:37pm: The Jazz are expected to interview Clippers assistant Alvin Gentry for their head coaching vacancy, sources tell Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The Cavs have made contact with Gentry, too, but they haven’t arranged for an interview, according to Spears. Utah has completed an interview with Bulls assistant Adrian Griffin after receiving permission from Chicago to speak with him last week, Spears adds.
Gentry hadn’t been among the candidates formally linked to Utah, which is planning an extensive search and more than 20 interviews. Lionel Hollins, John Stockton, Jim Boylen, Ettore Messina, Brad Jones and Quin Snyder are other names in the mix. The Jazz are reportedly unlikely to hire someone with NBA head coaching experience, which perhaps makes Gentry a darkhorse, given that he spent parts of 12 seasons as an NBA head coach with the Heat, Pistons, Clippers and Suns.
The Cavs appear to have Gentry high on their list, and he worked with Cavs GM David Griffin in Phoenix, as Spears points out. The Warriors and Kings have interest in Gentry as an assistant coach, according to Spears, who notes that Gentry remains under contract with the Clippers.
Coaching Rumors: Scott, Gentry, Grizzlies
Chip Scoggins of The Star Tribune thinks Dave Joerger, who is interviewing to leave the Grizzlies and become the Wolves head coach, could bring the defensive focus and toughness Minnesota has lacked. Scogging also opines that Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders could find an outlet for his lingering coaching energy by grooming a young coach like Joerger. Here’s more from the coaching movement around the league:
- Byron Scott said he thinks he’s the perfect guy for the Lakers job in an interview with ESPNLA 710 Radio (transcription via Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com). Scott invoked his relationships with Kobe Bryant and Dr. Jerry Buss to bolster his case. “It’s all about winning championships,” said Scott. “And [winning for Buss]…he was the first one to call me and tell me, ‘When you come to L.A., let me know so we can hang out and watch a game together,’ and things like that. Those two reasons alone is one big reason why I want the job so badly.”
- Scott also laid out what his first steps would be on the job, including getting on the same page with Bryant and emphasizing defense. “I think that’s the first thing [we’ve got] to get better at, the defensive part of basketball,” Scott said. In Scott’s most recent coaching stint in Cleveland, the Cavs never ranked better than 26th in defensive efficiency.
- Alvin Gentry is coveted by both Steve Kerr and Mike Malone as an assistant for their Warriors and Kings benches, tweets David Aldridge of NBA.com. The former head coach is currently an assistant with the Clippers, and is a head coaching candidate for the Cavs, Grizzlies, and Jazz.
- Ken Berger of CBSSports.com thinks that bringing Lionel Hollins back to coach the Grizzlies makes a lot of sense, considering the main difference between the team now and when he guided it to the Western Conference Finals is that the front office members that fired him are gone.
Draft Rumors: Embiid, Lavine, Gordon
BDA Sports Management held workouts today for NBA teams to view some of the top prospects in this year’s draft. Here’s a roundup of tonight’s draft notes:
- Joel Embiid took the first step in assuaging concerns about his back, working out for NBA scouts and executives to demonstrate his health, per Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Embiid impressed, leading one scout to tell Zagoria he belongs at the top of the draft. “He looks great. Running, jumping, dunking, bent up like a pretzel in warmups and stretching exercises,” the scout said. “He passed the eyeball test big time. Move him up.”
- The Warriors were well represented in watching Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon at the workouts, tweets Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times. Golden State was a notable presence, since they do not currently possess a first-round draft pick.
- Pincus relays in a separate tweet that the buzz around LaVine puts his floor in the 10-14 range of the lottery, and that he could get picked in the top 10.
- One executive told Pincus that he prefers Gordon over Noah Vonleh and Julius Randle, the Los Angeles Times scribe relays in another tweet.