Poll: Steve Kerr’s 2014/15 Expectations?
It will presumably be baptism by fire for rookie head coach Steve Kerr next season, as he looks to lead a team coming off of 51 wins and an ultra-competitive seven-game series against the Clippers in the first round of the playoffs. Although Kerr’s strong relationship with Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob and team GM Bob Myers has been highly publicized, it’s interesting to note that not many of the players have publicly commented much on Kerr’s hiring, reportedly out of support for Mark Jackson. Thus, in addition to the challenge of winning the players over, Kerr understands that the team’s expectations will be high.
“I know I have big shoes to fill…Mark was very successful there and has done a great job with the players. They all appreciated him…But I look at that as a positive because I’m inheriting a good team. I’d rather inherit a good team with expectations than a bad team with a low bar. It’s not even close. So I’m aware there are going to be expectations. That comes with the territory. I would challenge anybody to find a job in the NBA that isn’t rife with challenges. They’re all just a little different,” Kerr recently told Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area.
When Jackson was hired by Golden State in 2011, he boldly predicted that the team would make the playoffs in his first year. Soon after the 2011/12 season began, he predicted that then-rookie Klay Thompson would win the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award. Kerr refrained from making his own bold predictions, choosing instead to focus on continuing the franchise’s improvement over the last two seasons.
“My view is not ‘we have to win 52 games next year’ or we have to get to the second round…My view is ‘What are we going to do the next decade?’ ‘What are we going to do the next five years?’ My goal is to continue this upward trend the organization is on.”
Though Kerr wouldn’t admit a specific goal for next season, it’s still an interesting topic worth discussing. With that in mind, what will signify that upward trend in his first season as a rookie head coach in Golden State?
What is a fair expectation for Steve Kerr's first season with the Warriors?
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Advancing to the second round of the playoffs. 42% (308)
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Securing a playoff berth. 23% (167)
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It's a process; He shouldn't be expected to immediately outdo Mark Jackson. 15% (109)
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51 Wins or more. 13% (98)
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Earning homecourt advantage. 8% (59)
Total votes: 741
Kyler’s Latest: Lee, Magic, Cavs, Bucks, Sixers
The Magic aren’t quite as high on David Lee as a report earlier this week made it appear, sources tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who suggests trading for him is one of a number of options the team is considering. Kyler concentrates most of the rest of his NBA AM piece on the draft, and we’ll round up some of the highlights here:
- The Cavs regard Jabari Parker as a notch below Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins, Kyler hears.
- Parker and Dante Exum are the top two prospects in the eyes of the Bucks, according to Kyler. That conflicts with Wednesday’s report from Chad Ford of ESPN.com, who identified Embiid, Wiggins and Exum as the first three on Milwaukee’s list.
- The Sixers are “lukewarm” on Embiid, sources tell Kyler, who notes that Philadelphia is high on Wiggins and Exum. Noah Vonleh and Aaron Gordon are players who intrigue the team, too, Kyler writes, though the Sixers would probably have to trade up from No. 10 or down from No. 3 if they were to draft either of those two.
- Wiggins, Parker and Exum seem like the Magic‘s top three targets, as Kyler indicates.
- The Jazz appear to be among the most flexible teams, willing to trade up, down or out of the draft altogether, according to Kyler.
Western Notes: Wolves, Fournier, Warriors
Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor says the team doesn’t intend to trade Kevin Love, reports Andy Greder of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “Actually, I haven’t had any offers. I’m waiting!” GM Milt Newton joked. According to the article, Newton also said that now that the draft lottery was completed it would accelerate the team’s search for a new head coach.
More from the west:
- Former NBA coach Scott Skiles has not been contacted by the Timberwolves for their coaching vacancy, writes Greder in a separate article. Skiles has a lifetime 443-433 record and six playoff appearances across tenures with the Suns, Bulls and Bucks.
- Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post takes a look back at the season that Nuggets shooting guard Evan Fournier had and what the player needs to work on this summer. In 76 games, Fournier averaged 8.4 PPG, 2.7 RPG, and 1.5 APG in 19.5 minutes per night.
- New Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is impressed with Michigan guard Nik Stauskus, tweets Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group. Golden State doesn’t currently hold any picks in this draft, and Stauskus is projected as a late lottery pick.
- With the Lakers coveting a top-three draft pick and instead ending up with the seventh overall pick, this puts the team in a difficult position as to whether or not they should trade the pick or retain it, writes Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report.
Magic To Pursue David Lee?
The Magic are a team “to watch out for” with the Warriors becoming more open to trading David Lee, reports Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group. New Warriors coach Steve Kerr has expressed a desire for a stretch power forward, and GM Bob Myers is also eyeing additional shooting, signaling a willingness to shed Lee, largely a traditional power forward.
Thompson suggests the Magic’s failure to land a top-three pick in the draft lottery will make the team more willing to take on Lee to solidify a frontcourt that lacks a marquee power forward. That rests largely on the supposition that the Magic don’t end up with a big man like Julius Randle or Noah Vonleh with the No. 4 overall pick next month, of course. Thompson casts doubt on Golden State’s ability to land Kevin Love, even in the wake of a report identifying the Warriors as a prime contender him, but Thompson asserts that Arron Afflalo, who like Love went to UCLA, would help attract the Timberwolves star.
It’s nonetheless unclear whether the Warriors are indeed interested in Afflalo or anyone in particular as they ponder a trade for Lee, who’s due more than $30.5MM over the next two seasons. The Magic are one of the few teams with the cap flexibility and the organizational patience to absorb that sort of contract attached to a player who’s not a superstar, so they make sense as a destination for Lee if Orlando has assets that intrigue the Warriors enough to motivate them into a move. The only real pressure on the Warriors to make a drastic change this summer would be self-created, as I wrote last week when I looked ahead at Golden State’s offseason.
And-Ones: Love, Celts, Cavs, Blatche, Clips, Grizz
Some thought tonight’s NBA Draft Lottery results could have major Kevin Love implications, though salary cap guru Larry Coon of ESPN doesn’t believe the Timberwolves star can be moved before the draft. According to Coon, such a deal would require cap room that teams will not have before July (Twitter links here).
The Celtics, who pick sixth, are a “sleeper” team in the Love sweepstakes, but owner Wyc Grousbeck says he isn’t hurrying the rebuilding effort, as he tells Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe. “That KG deal might be once in a lifetime, but I think over the next four or five years, we will get back to being contenders, if not three years,” he said. “I think we can get back there. I think this summer, one way or another, we’ll take positive steps, whether we just draft two players and continue to build, or whether we make a blockbuster deal.”
Here is what else is going on around the Association tonight, as the Heat and Pacers battle it out in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Finals:
- ESPN’s Chad Ford considers Andrew Wiggins the favorite to land in Cleveland after the Cavaliers won Tuesday night’s lottery (via Twitter). Ford tweeted before the results were in that the Cavs preferred Jabari Parker, however he indicated afterwards (also on Twitter) that he was a corrected by a trusted source in Cleveland.
- The admirable play of Andray Blatche down the stretch and into the postseason for the Nets could set him up for a decent pay day, writes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. Blatche has said he will opt out of his one-year player option for next season, though Brooklyn controls his Early Bird Rights according to Bontemps.
- Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News provides the transcript of today’s post-television interview session with new Warriors coach Steve Kerr, which is a bit juicier than what we relayed earlier on. Per Kawakami, Kerr covets a big man that can shoot. Meanwhile, Golden State GM Bob Myers also indicated the team will pursue shooting this summer, tweets Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group.
- Speaking before the lottery proceedings, commissioner Adam Silver detailed the process that comes with a forced sale of the Clippers. However, Silver did indicate that he will continue to urge owner Donald Sterling to sell the team on his own, writes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
- Though he hasn’t been assured that his role is permanent by Grizzlies owner Robert Pera, GM Chris Wallace said at a Thursday afternoon press conference that he believes Memphis can win the NBA title next season, writes Zack McMillin of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “We’re a very formidable team. We just have to find a way to make that next step. Is it easy? No, but it’s attainable and we’re not going to rest until we hang that championship banner and have this parage this town deserves,” Wallace said.
Steve Kerr On Warriors, Knicks, Mark Jackson
Steve Kerr turned the Warriors down the first time they asked him to interview, GM Bob Myers told reporters, including Antonio Gonzalez of The Associated Press, but when Stan Van Gundy took the Pistons job, agent Mike Tannenbaum called the Warriors to set up a meeting. That was the sit-down in Oklahoma City that led the Tannenbaum client and the Warriors to agree on a deal, and the team’s new coach covered plenty of topics in his introductory press conference today, as we detail:
- The coach made his preference for a team with high aspirations clear, signaling part of the reason why he chose Golden State over the Knicks, observes Kurt Helin of NBCSports.com. “I would much rather have talent and expectations than a low bar with a [rebuilding] process ahead,” Kerr said.
- A hectic postseason broadcasting schedule slowed what appeared to be a fast track to New York, Kerr admitted, as RealGM notes via Twitter.
- Kerr said he questioned the Warriors brass on why they fired Mark Jackson, and said that it was refreshing to hear Myers and co-owner Joe Lacob admit their mistakes regarding the former Warriors coach, tweets Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group.
- Kerr declined to answer whether he thinks the Warriors are a championship team, saying only that they’re a “very good team,” Thompson also notes (Twitter link).
- Former NBA head coaches will be among those Kerr said he’ll target for his coaching staff as he seeks an experienced hand to help him along in his first year on the bench, as Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle pass along (on Twitter).
And-Ones: Love, Sterling, Nets
Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck tells Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe that Boston won’t start any serious trade discussions until the lottery is over. “Nothing has been discussed until we see the pick,” Grousbeck said. “When we see what pick it is, the phones will start ringing and we’ll start answering the phones.” Here’s more from around the league:
- The Wolves “gently probed” trade options for Kevin Love last season, league executives tell Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.
- In the same piece, Windhorst outlines three strategies the Wolves can implement to either retain Love or retain leverage with trade partners.
- The Rockets think they will have a shot at Love with a package built around Omer Asik and Chandler Parsons, according to Sam Smith of Bulls.com.
- The Warriors don’t want to give up Klay Thompson in a trade package to land Love, a team source tells Marcus Thompson of Bay Area News Group.
- The NBA has released a summary of the charges against Donald Sterling announced earlier today (H/T Jeff Caplan of NBA.com).
- Donald Sterling’s attorney has demanded that the NBA give his client three months to respond to the charges, reports Michael McCann of SI.com. The league will reject the request and move forward with the deadline of May 27th for Sterling’s response.
- Shelly Sterling’s lawyer weighed in as well, decrying the move to strip her stake in the team along with her husband’s as unlawful, according to a transcription of the statement by Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times.
- Tim Bontemps of The New York Post looks at five questions facing the Nets this offseason.
- In a separate piece, Bontemps recaps Alan Anderson‘s season with the Nets, writing that he envisions Anderson remaining with Brooklyn regardless of whether he picks up his $1.1MM player option for next season.
Pacific Rumors: Warriors, Love, Suns
Monte Poole of CSNBayArea.com writes that the Warriors must be salivating over the idea of seeing Wolves star Kevin Love in blue and gold. A trade match is far from likely, but it’s no more inconceivable than the events of a last summer, when the Warriors found a way to dump the bloated salaries of Andris Biedrins and Richard Jefferson and came away with Andre Iguodala. Here’s more out of the Pacific Division..
- No surprise here – Mark Jackson‘s ESPN deal includes language that will allow him to discuss coaching vacancies with team and break his deal if he chooses to fill one, a source tells Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Warriors, of course, dismissed Jackson this offseason before hiring Steve Kerr.
- Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News is also tempted to dream, but he doesn’t believe that the Warriors are likely to land Love. To acquire Love, the Warriors either need the Wolves or a third team to be big fans of David Lee and his bloated contract.
- The Suns‘ best two players are point guards and the draft will have at least five first-round picks who are projected as eventual starting point guards. Still, the Suns won’t rule out a PG, writes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Eric Bledsoe is a restricted free agent and Goran Dragic can opt out of his contract next year. They could also use a third point guard for the short-term and a rookie point guard could spend significant time with the team’s new D-League affiliate, the Bakersfield Jam.
Warriors Hire Steve Kerr
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.
And-Ones: Jackson, Pistons, Izzo, Lakers
The playoffs haven’t been pretty for the Pacers so far, but they clawed their way to the Eastern Conference Finals and today they reminded the Heat that they’re ready to give them another tough fight. The Pacers took Game 1 107-96 behind 24 points and seven assists from Paul George and 19 points and seven boards from David West. Here’s tonight’s look around the NBA..
- Former Warriors coach Mark Jackson told Shams Charania of RealGM (on Twitter) that he’s yet to hear from an NBA team about a coaching job. He went on to say that he’s “relaxing and enjoying life.”
- Despite a report to the contrary, the Pistons never offered the head coaching job to Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, writes Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News. Michigan coach John Beilein was also on the list, but didn’t get much further. Of course, Stan Van Gundy wound up signing on as coach and president of basketball operations.
- With the Lakers season in the books, Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com looks at MarShon Brooks‘ time in L.A. Ever since breaking into the league as a promising rookie for the Nets, Brooks has played for three different teams in two seasons. While Kent Bazemore, the other asset coming over in the Steve Blake deal, hit it off with the Lakers, Brooks never found his groove.