Draft Notes: Wiggins, Exum, Anderson
Andrew Wiggins has auditions for the Sixers and Bucks on his agenda in the next couple of weeks, but the Cavs will work him out closer to the draft, preferring to hire a coach before taking a look at key prospects, reports Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Ford and others have plenty more as draft prospects criss-cross North America to put themselves on display for teams, as we detail below:
- Ford adds the Sixers to the list of teams working out Dante Exum, but it looks like he won’t be headed to any team that doesn’t possess a top-four pick, Ford adds (Twitter links). The Cavs are the only top-four team without a workout on Exum’s docket.
- Kyle Anderson will work out for the Jazz, according to Anderson’s Twitter account (hat tip to Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune).
- Roscoe Smith is auditioning for the Rockets and Warriors, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
- Travel issues prevented Jordan Adams, Markel Brown and Joe Harris from attending today’s workout with the Hornets as planned, prompting the team to add former University of North Carolina shooting guard Leslie McDonald as a substitute. Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer has the details via Twitter.
- The Hornets will also take a look at Cory Jefferson this week, as Boston Globe correspondent Jake Fischer reports, adding that the power forward from Baylor will perform for the Wolves and Wizards, too (Twitter link).
- The Wizards, Pacers and Heat are on Keith Appling‘s workout schedule, Fischer also tweets. Fischer adds the Cavs and Wizards to the teams working out Bryce Cotton (Twitter link).
- Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Sam Dower and Markel Starks will join Jefferson and Appling in working out for the Wizards today, the team announced. Jamil Wilson will also take part, confirming an earlier report indicating that he was expected to work out for Washington.
- Chaz Williams will show off for the Jazz, Warriors, Bucks and Cavs over the next eight days, sources tell Josh Newman of SNY.tv (Twitter link).
And-Ones: Calipari, Izzo, Miller, Wizards
John Calipari wasn’t the only star college coach the Cavs reached out to, reveals Jason Lloyd of the Beacon Journal, who hears Kevin Ollie, Fred Hoiberg, Billy Donovan and Mike Krzyzewski all were contacted by Cleveland. Lloyd’s source adds that the Cavs offered Tom Izzo a coaching position that also would have given him total control of the franchise’s basketball operations, much like the role that the team proposed to Coach Cal. Here’s more from around the league:
- The Cavs have contacted around 11 candidates in an attempt to fill their coaching vacancy, writes Lloyd in the same piece.
- The decision on whether or not to bring back Andre Miller will probably be an easy one for the Wizards, opines J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Washington holds a $4.6MM option on his deal for 2014/15 or could buy him out for $2MM.
- Former Marquette University forward Jamil Wilson, who had to cancel workouts with the Bucks and Pistons due to a sprained ankle, is expected to audition for the Wizards on Tuesday, tweets Gery Woelfel of the Journal Sentinel.
- Tim Bontemps of the New York Post looked back at the performance of Nets‘ midseason acquisition Marcus Thornton. Thornton turned into a key rotation player for Brooklyn down the stretch of the season and will earn ~$8.58MM in his walk year.
- The Thunder are the NBA’s smartest spenders as they have gotten more success out of less money than anyone else in the league, writes Glenn Davis of USA Today. OKC owns a 271-123 record over the last five seasons combined all while having payrolls that ranked in the bottom half of the league on average.
- Sean Meagher of The Oregonian wonders if the Trail Blazers should hold on to Wesley Matthews, a free agent after the 2014/15 season. Matthews is coming off of the best season of his career as a pro and is entering the final year of his five-year, $33MM deal.
- Former UNC standout Sean May will attend mini-camps with the Spurs and Warriors this month, according to HoopsHype (via Twitter).
- The Clippers will bring in Jordan Clarkson, Nick Johnson, Deonte Burton, and Sean Kilpatrick for workouts, reports Dan Woike of the Orange County Register.
- The Celtics could eye offense in this month’s draft, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com explains.
Charlie Adams contributed to this post.
Central Notes: Love, Wiggins, Parker, Calipari
The Bulls are in a long line of teams with interest in Kevin Love, writes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. Johnson suggests that a deal involving Taj Gibson, Jimmy Butler, draft picks and/or the rights to Nikola Mirotic, and expiring deals could get it done. The question, however, is whether the Bulls could win with a core of Love, Rose, and Joakim Noah supported by minimum contracts and rookie scale deals. More out of the Central Division..
- Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (on Twitter) is now getting a strong vibe that the Cavs will take Kansas’ Andrew Wiggins with the No. 1 overall pick.
- Former Duke assistant and current Marquette head coach Steve Wojciehowski says that he would love to see Jabari Parker with Milwaukee, writes Michael Hunt of the Journal Sentinel. “With the Bucks and Jabari, that would be an amazing situation for both parties,” he said. “He’d be a slam dunk, a grand slam, whatever you want to call it. He’d be a great, great pick for the Bucks.” The Bucks, of course, own the No. 2 pick.
- Kentucky coach John Calipari reportedly turned down the Cavs‘ massive offer in part because the Harrison twins decided to stay at UK rather than go pro. Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv finds such news interesting since there was speculation Calipari was pushing the twins out of Kentucky (Twitter link).
Cavs Offered John Calipari Prez/Coach Position
2:42pm: ESPN.com’s Marc Stein (on Twitter) hears that the Cavs’ pitch to Calipari was actually closer to $80MM over ten years. The Cavs’ thought process, unsurprisingly, was that Calipari would give them a much better chance at bringing LeBron James back home (link). Still, Calipari, like Kevin Ollie before him, resisted Cleveland’s overtures. Billy Donovan and Tom Izzo have also turned the Cavs away (link).
Meanwhile, Wojnarowski hears (Twitter link) that the proposal called for Calipari to serve as coach/president for seven years and then transition to a president-only role. Still, he says the offer was a seven-year, $60MM+ contract. Calipari, he adds (link), didn’t use the Cavs job as leverage with UK as he already had his $52MM offer in hand back in April. He also opines that the idea that Calipari could be a bigger draw for James than his current coach, Erik Spoelstra, is laughable (link).
8:50am: John Calipari signed a long, lucrative deal with the University of Kentucky last week but that almost didn’t happen. Sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski and Brett Dawson of Yahoo Sports that Coach Cal and the Cavs were deep in discussions on a seven-year, $60MM+ contract that would have made him the team’s head coach and president of operations.
Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert was persistent in his pursuit and sources say it wasn’t until midweek that Calipari finally rejected Cleveland and fully committed to his seven-year, $52MM extension at Kentucky. If Calipari had gone to Cleveland, the plan would’ve been for new general manager David Griffin to work with Calipari in the front office, but with the UK coach having final say.
Calipari was tempted by the length of the deal and the money but was also intrigued about the possibility of coaching Kyrie Irving and the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft. Calipari has shown some interest in a return to the NBA in the right situation, but as Wojnarowski and Dawson point out, he may not have meshed too well with the hands-on Gilbert.
Sources also said that the return of Andrew Harrison and Aaron Harrison made it a more difficult proposition for anyone to lure Calipari away from Kentucky. WIth the rising sophomores back in the fold, Kentucky will retain much of its offense from last season, despite losing Julius Randle and James Young.
Reported candidates for the Cavs job include Clippers assistants Alvin Gentry and Tyronn Lue, Bulls assistant Adrian Griffin, former Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins, ex-Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro, and Maccabi Tel Aviv coach David Blatt.
Tyronn Lue Gets Second Interview With Cavs
Along with Alvin Gentry, Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue will get a second interview for the Cavs’ head coaching job, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). For both men, this second round of interviews will include meeting with owner Dan Gilbert (link).
As we learned this morning, the Cavs tried to bring John Calipari aboard to serve as their coach and president with a mammoth seven-year, $60MM deal. They were rebuffed, but they are apparently still keeping an eye on the college ranks. Wojnarowski tweets that Billy Donovan has remained in contact with the Cavs, though no one connected to the process believes that he has the comfort level to make the leap. The Florida coach agreed to coach the Magic in June of 2007 but changed his mind the day after his introductory press conference and went back to Gainesville. Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (on Twitter) hears that a Donovan hire is unlikely but the possibility is not 100% dead.
While Donovan and others could get in the mix, the main pool of candidates appears to consist of Gentry, Lue, Bulls assistant Adrian Griffin, former Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins, former Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro, and Maccabi Tel Aviv coach David Blatt.
And-Ones: Williams, McDermott, Draft
Chaz Williams wants to be part of the new trend of undersized guards becoming successful in the NBA, writes Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald. The 5’9″ Williams has been in contact with Kings guard Isaiah Thomas for advice, notes Murphy. Of his conversation with Thomas, Williams said, “It’s great to know another small guy out there is successful, and is a fan of mine as well. He gave me a lot of encouraging words, and told me what to look for in these workouts. He told me to be myself and go out there and play hard. We spoke via text and communicated for a little while on Twitter. We’re with the same agency. I approached him. I’m a fan of his, and I wanted to pick his brain and learn. I’m a student of the game and can learn more every day. If I can learn more in a situation where people say I can’t, then that will help me a lot.”
More from around the association:
- NBA.com published their full prospect profile for Doug McDermott. McDermott is projected as a mid-to-late lottery pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
- Johnny O’Bryant has workouts scheduled next week with the Cavaliers and the Timberwolves, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
- The crew at Basketball Insiders (video link) spoke with a number of the prospects in the 2014 NBA Draft about what facets of their games they are working on to improve.
Latest On Cavs Coaching Search
The Cavs hope to have a head coach in place before draft day, reports Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer. Cleveland has met with a several candidates, including coaching veterans Vinny Del Negro, Lionel Hollins, and Alvin Gentry, as well as two candidates without any head coaching experience in Adrian Griffin and Tyronn Lue.
Pluto throws cold water on reports indicating Lue and Griffin impressed management during their interviews, suggesting that such narrative is likely originating from each candidate’s respective circle of friends, family, agents, etc. in an attempt to make the candidate appear worthy of serious consideration to other potential suitors. The Knicks and Lakers are also actively searching for a coach.
While Pluto doesn’t completely rule out the notion of the Cavs hiring a rookie head coach, he thinks the pressure being placed on GM David Griffin to make the playoffs next season will lead the team to hire a candidate who has experience in a leading role. This morning we learned that the Cavs will bring in Gentry for another interview, and Pluto hears Del Negro, Hollins, and “some others” will meet with owner Dan Gilbert in the near future as well.
Eastern Rumors: Seraphin, Knicks
Kevin Seraphin tells Brandon Parker of The Washington Post he would “for sure” like to re-sign with the Wizards, but wants an opportunity to play more. “I love this game so if I don’t play I’m frustrated,” Seraphin said. The power forward took a step back in his fourth season, with his minutes and production nearly cut in half across the board. Seraphin will either become a restricted or unrestricted free agent, depending on whether Washington extends his $3.9MM qualifying offer. Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Phil Jackson explained to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com why he is committed to finding a Knicks coach with which he is familiar. “I’d like to have a prior relationship with a coach so that we know that we’ve gone through some kind of issues together,” said Jackson. “We’ve had conflicts, we’ve had disagreements and we know how to work things out. Those, I think, are part and parcel I think to having a relationship with people that can work together that can still disagree and come to terms.”
- Jackson revealed that there are college coaches that intrigue him for the job, and confirmed that he sees a benefit in hiring a younger coach for the position. Jackson said he is looking for a coach to last for the long-term, not just as a one or two year stop gap.
- We learned earlier today that the Cavs plan to offer Kyrie Irving a max extension this summer.
Cavs Will Offer Max Extension To Kyrie Irving
The Cavaliers will offer the full 5-year maximum extension to star point guard Kyrie Irving, reports Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer. Sources tell Pluto that, contrary to rumblings of Cleveland’s hesitancy to extend the offer, there has never been any doubt in the Cavs front office about trying to lock up Irving. The Cavs will extend their offer as soon as the negotiation window allows on July 1, when players and teams are first permitted to begin talking.
The Plain Dealer scribe says that the Cavs hope to have a coach in place to discuss the future with Irving at that time, hoping the 20.7 PPG career scorer will commit to the team for the long haul. The Cavs plan to continue to build toward a plan for the future centered on Irving unless he demands out of Cleveland or declines signing the extension.
Irving has had a tumultuous first three years in the NBA after being selected No. 1 overall by Cleveland in the 2011 draft. While he has exhibited the offensive talent that made him worth that selection, the team has failed to make the playoffs or even finish with a .500 winning percentage. Last year’s disappointing 33-win Cavs team was actually the best of the Irving era, and the fallout from a disastrous Andrew Bynum signing, a historically bad rookie year for 2013’s No. 1 pick Anthony Bennett, and continued losing resulted in the mid-season firing of former GM Chris Grant and ex-coach Mike Brown’s dismissal after the season.
Despite the ugly season, Irving is reportedly pleased with the decision to make GM David Griffin the permanent executive after Griffin’s strong run as interim GM during the season. Irving has publicly refuted persistent rumors that he wanted out of Cleveland, but he has stopped short of guaranteeing he will re-sign for the years ahead. Griffin is a believer in the backcourt pairing of Irving and Dion Waiters, and the team experienced a relative turnaround once Griffin took the reigns to foster a positive culture around the two ball-dominant guards.
Alvin Gentry Gets Another Interview With Cavs
Alvin Gentry will interview again with the Cavs, sources tell Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times. The Clippers assistant will meet with Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert (Twitter links). Gentry recently lost out on the Jazz head coaching job, where he was one of four finalists including the eventual hire Quin Snyder. Gentry first interviewed with Cleveland in mid-May.
Gentry might be distancing himself from some of the other candidates including Adrian Griffin, Vinny Del Negro, Lionel Hollins, and Tyronn Lue, among a wider pool of potential names. None of his rumored competitors have been ruled out, but it is possible that reaching this stage to get an in-person sit down with Gilbert could mean Gentry moved beyond a round of cuts, although that’s just my speculation. Gentry has been linked with the Cleveland opening dating back well into last month, and the veteran coach worked with Cavs GM David Griffin when both were with the Suns.
Gentry is also still in the running for the Lakers coaching vacancy, and they recently decided to move in the direction of finding an experienced head coach. That would also bode well for Gentry, who has a 355-370 career record as an NBA head coach.