Sam Smith On Howard, Bulls, Gasol, Lowry
Bulls.com scribe Sam Smith has a new column up today, which includes plenty of news, notes, and rumors from around the NBA. Let's dive in….
- Brooklyn is still considered the likeliest destination for Dwight Howard, though teams like the Rockets, Trail Blazers, and Warriors may be willing to risk renting D12 for a year. The Magic are expected to make another run at retaining Howard once the team has a new GM in place.
- Smith hears from "Lakers insiders" that Pau Gasol would be interested in playing for the Bulls. He adds that Gasol and Kobe Bryant were "constantly at odds" in Los Angeles this season.
- If the Bulls and Lakers were to discuss a Gasol deal, Luol Deng would have to be the centerpiece rather than Carlos Boozer, says Smith.
- NBA general managers previously rejected a rule that would allow players to touch the ball on the rim, but that idea could be revisited now that the league has introduced a new competition comittee.
- Kyle Lowry appears on his way out of Houston, according to Smith, who says the Rockets were "quietly shopping" the point guard before his injury this season. The Rockets would like to re-sign Goran Dragic, who isn't interested in returning as a backup.
Warriors, Jazz Working On Draft Pick Trade
MONDAY, 3:25pm: The trade discussions between the two teams don't include a player, Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group confirms (via Twitter).
SATURDAY, 3:24pm: The Warriors are seeking a deal that would wipe out any possibility of having to cede their first-round pick to the Jazz, ESPN.com's Marc Stein reports. Currently, Golden State is in line to pick seventh, but the selection goes to Utah if Wednesday's draft lottery bumps the pick down to No. 8 or lower. Stein says the Warriors would like to get the deal done before Wednesday, but are reluctant to trade players, offering cash and future draft considerations instead.
The Warriors originally traded the pick, with protection, to the Nets for Marcus Williams in 2008. The Nets sent their shot at the pick to the Jazz in the Deron Williams trade last year. As it stands now, even if the Jazz misses out on the pick this year, Utah would get Golden State's first-round pick in 2013 or 2014 if the Warriors don't have continued lottery luck.
Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob first expressed an interest in March about making sure that pick didn't go to the Jazz, and we heard at the same time that talks surrounding that pick had been going on for months. That was long before the season ended and the Warriors won a tiebreaker for the seventh slot in the lottery, meaning there's just a 28 percent chance the Jazz gets the draft choice this year. Still, one source tells Stein a deal is likely to go through before Wednesday, and one reason is because the Warriors would have a hard time trading for another pick in the top 10 if they were to lose their own selection, Stein says.
Barring a trade, the only way the Warriors lose this year's first-rounder is if they miss out on one of the top three picks and one of the seven teams slotted behind them in the lottery — the Raptors, Pistons, Hornets, Blazers, Bucks, Suns and Rockets — wins one of the top three picks instead. It seems like the Warriors are too eager to prevent a situation that probably wouldn't happen. The Warriors will have at least one first-round pick no matter what happens in the lottery, since they have the rights to San Antonio's choice at No. 30.
Odds & Ends: Warriors, Spurs, Green, Malone
Let's catch up on the latest news and happenings from around the NBA…
- NewsOk.com's Berry Tramel writes about how the Spurs and Thunder are so similar in their foundation.
- In a tweet, NBA.com's Scott Howard-Cooper says the Warriors will be conducting a workout on Monday. Some players expected to participate are Tony Wroten, Draymond Green, Royce White, and others. The Warriors currently hold the 30th pick from their trade deadline deal to acquire Richard Jefferson.
- Danny Green is enjoying a dream season with the Spurs after once wondering if he'd ever make it in the NBA, writes Al Iannazzone of Newsday. The former North Carolina star has gone from being cut by the Cavaliers after his rookie season to starting at shooting guard for the Spurs.
- Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com wonders what the Warriors will do next if assistant head coach Michael Malone leaves the franchise for a head coaching job this offseason. Malone has been a major part of head coach Mark Jackson's coaching staff as the former point guard has only 66 games of coaching experience to draw from as he enters his second season guiding the Warriors.
- The Bulls are exploring leaving their suburban practice facility, the Berto Center, in favor of a downtown location to cut down on commuting before home games, reports K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. A move downtown would save the Bulls money as they currently provide players free access to a hotel room prior to home games so that they can avoid rush hour traffic.
- Matt Moore of CBSSports.com wonders where the Sixers go from here now that they've been eliminated from by the playoffs by the Celtics. The team will continue to look for a star player to add to the roster while facing many decisions about its current roster heading into next season.
- USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo is ready to field the most competitive roster for the 2012 Summer Olympics, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. While most of the players from the 2008 squad should be back on this year's roster, the team will be without Dwight Howard as he is currently rehabbing from back surgery in Los Angeles.
Pacific Notes: Clippers, Paul, Malone, Warriors
Items out of the Pacific as the Clippers decide whether to exercise Vinny Del Negro's option for next season..
- Clippers guard Chris Paul has Warriors assistant Mike Malone on his short-list of preferred replacements for Del Negro, a source told Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld. Malone was a part of the Hornets' staff during Paul's time in New Orleans.
- Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com wonders what the Warriors will do if Malone lands a head coaching job elsewhere.
- Even though many have speculated that Suns swingman Josh Childress could be an amnesty candidate, the 29-year-old is hopeful that there could still be a role for him with the club, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Childress is set to earn $21MM across the next three seasons, including his 2014/15 player option.
Reactions To Warriors’ San Francisco Move
This morning, the Golden State Warriors made official their planned move to San Francisco for the 2017/18 season. Here's a roundup of reactions from around the league and media to the announcement:
- NBA commissioner David Stern praised the move (transcript via Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News), pointing to the Warriors' need to play in a more modern facility than Oakland's Oracle Arena.
- Stern also mentioned that there are no territorial-rights issues in the NBA, meaning it would be possible for the Bay Area to have two teams in the future.
- Warriors owner Joe Lacob talked to reporters (transcript also courtesy of Kawakami) following the announcement and highlighted plans to make the new facility enviromentally sustainable.
- Kawakami raised questions in a column about the lack of specifics given by Lacob in the press conference.
Warriors Officially Announce San Francisco Move
San Francisco mayor Ed Lee and members of the Golden State Warriors spoke to media on the San Francisco waterfront today, making official the announcement we knew was coming: The Warriors intend to move across the bay in time for the 2017/18 season.
"We are working with the Warriors to get a state-of-the-art, multi-purpose arena built on the waterfront in San Francisco and completed in 2017," Lee said in a statement released by the team. "The Warriors have been the Bay Area’s basketball team for 50 years, and today sets the stage for the Warriors to be the Bay Area’s team for another 50."
As we outlined yesterday, there are a number of challenges facing Warriors ownership before the new, privately-funded San Francisco arena becomes a reality, but owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber are adamant that those obstacles will be overcome and that the move will be made by 2017, tweets Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group.
The Warriors were previously known as the San Francisco Warriors from 1962 to 1971, but became the Golden State Warriors when they moved to Oakland in '71, making their home there ever since.
Draft Updates: Cunningham, Ross, Jenkins
The latest draft news as we count the days to next Wednesday's lottery:
- Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com unveiled his latest prospect rankings by position. Here are the links to the point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward and center lists.
- Oregon State shooting guard Jared Cunningham, currently 35th on the Draft Express ranking of the top 100 prospects, impressed at a workout for low-level draft prospects held by the Warriors, writes Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group. A list of the participants is on Warriors.com.
- Washington swingman Terrence Ross, ranked 16th on the Draft Express list, and Vanderbilt shooting guard John Jenkins, the No. 32 prospect, top the list of players working out for the Nuggets tomorrow, the team announced.
- St. Bonaventure big man Andrew Nicholson, the 30th ranked prospect by Draft Express, headlines the list of prospects who will work out for the Celtics tomorrow, Goodman reports via Twitter.
Latest On Warriors, San Francisco
The Warriors will hold a press conference tomorrow to announce the team's intention to move across the bay from Oakland to San Francisco, according to Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com. Last night we passed along a report that the Warriors have finalized plans for a new arena to be ready in time for the 2017/18 season. Still, Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News cautions that owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber face an uphill battle in their pursuit.
The reported location of the arena, between Piers 30 and 32, brings into play a number of obstacles, as Purdy writes. Those include traffic, parking, and the concern that the building would block the shoreline view for the public and residents in nearby neighborhoods. The Twitter account of the Mercury News fan blog, which first reported the arena plan last night, noted that it included room for only 1,000 parking spaces, not enough for NBA arenas, which usually seat close to 20,000 people.
Purdy also cites San Francisco arena efforts dating back to the 1940s that have run up against a hostile local political climate. Steinmetz noted today that Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, who once had interest in buying the Warriors, scrapped plans to build on the site for the 2013 America's Cup yacht race rather than fight through regulations.
Still, San Francisco mayor Ed Lee and all 11 city supervisors sent a letter to the Warriors last week pledging their cooperation. Purdy says there's been little doubt from the time they bought the team that Lacob and Guber wanted to make the crossbay move. There's a long way to go before the Warriors play a game in The City, but ownership seems determined to see just how far they can get.
Magic Rumors: Malone, Shaw, Morway, Bower
Big news out of Orlando today as the club has fired coach Stan Van Gundy and agreed to part ways with GM Otis Smith. The latest on the Magic..
- Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld tweets that plenty of executives are interested in the Magic GM job, and they aren't scared away by the Dwight Howard saga.
- David Baumann of Bright House Sports Network says that Lakers assistant Chuck Person is on Howard's list of preferred coaches, noting D12's preference for candidates with no head coaching experience (Twitter links, and a hat tip to Sam Amick of SI.com). That might be moot, however, if Howard still wants to leave the Magic.
- Warriors assistant Michael Malone and Pacers assistant Brian Shaw are candidates to replace Van Gundy, tweets Sam Amick of SI.com.
- Amick also tweets that many of the same candidates for the Blazers GM job will be in the running for the same post in Orlando, and links to a story from earlier this month specifying Pacers GM David Morway and former Hornets GM Jeff Bower as candidates for the Portland gig.
- Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio says that the Magic had interest in signing Greg Oden, but that's likely changed in the wake of today's news (Twitter link).
- Orlando Sentinel columnist George Diaz encourages the Magic to be "creative, aggressive and different" with their GM and coaching hires.
Warriors To Move To San Francisco
The Golden State Warriors have finalized plans for a new arena in San Francisco and hope to move by 2017, reports the San Jose Mercury News (all Twitter links).
According to the report, the arena will be paid for with private funds, and an official announcement could come as soon as Tuesday. The arena will be a state-of-the-art facility that can be used for concerts and other events, outside of replacing Oakland's aging Oracle Arena as the home of the Warriors.