Latest On Kings, Dave Joerger
12:48pm: The deal would indeed be a four-year arrangement with a team option on the fourth season, sources tell Wojnarowski, so the reports on contract length now align (Twitter link).
11:29am: The Kings hope they’ll finalize a deal with Joerger today, Stein hears (Twitter link).
MONDAY, 7:56am: Joerger is just one of three finalists, Divac said, according to Voisin (Twitter link). The identity of the other finalists is unclear. The Kings plan to meet with each of the finalists in the coming days and hope to make a decision by the end of the week, reports Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee.
The deal the Kings and Joerger are discussing involves a team option on the fourth season, Stein writes. That would seem to account for the difference between the three- and four-year offers Stein and Wojnarowski referred to earlier.
SUNDAY, 11:55pm: A meeting with owner Vivek Ranadive set for Monday is the last obstacle between Dave Joerger and a deal to become Kings coach, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. The team flew Joerger and his family to Sacramento, and the sides have made significant progress toward a three-year deal worth about $4MM a year, Wojnarowski hears, though sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com that they’ve been discussing a four-year arrangement for the same annual salary (Twitter link).
Regardless, GM Vlade Divac still plans to compose a list of finalists, and that’s the message that the team has communicated to its candidates even since Joerger’s arrival for today’s face-to-face with Divac, reports Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee, (Twitter links). That suggests Sacramento hasn’t ruled out hiring someone other than Joerger just yet. Joerger, too, has held mutual interest with the Rockets, as USA Today’s Sam Amick noted earlier, and his plan was to wait to hear from Houston before making a decision, according to TNT’s David Aldridge, but whether the Rockets are still in the picture for him after today’s meeting with Divac is unknown.
Joerger spoke at length with Divac today and would have the authority to hire his own assistants, though doubt exists about whether he wants to bring his Grizzlies staff with him, as Wojnarowski details. Still, it’s expected that Joerger would hire Grizzlies assistant Elston Turner, and he’d also likely to bring aboard Bill Bayno, a longtime college and NBA assistant who wasn’t with the Grizzlies, according to Wojnarowski. Turner has already interviewed with the Kings, as Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee noted earlier, but it’s unclear if that was for an assistant job or the head coaching job.
Rockets Interview David Blatt
MAY 9TH, 12:23pm: The interview is taking place today, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
MAY 2ND, 9:28am: The Rockets are expected to interview David Blatt, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post, who hears from a source who says Blatt is still in the mix for the Knicks head coaching position. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported late Sunday that Blatt has an interview scheduled with the Kings, the other NBA team looking for a head coach. The Lakers had reportedly planned to interview Blatt before they instead moved quickly to hire Luke Walton.
Jeff Van Gundy appears to be the favorite for the job in Houston, where the Rockets will also consider removing the interim tag from J.B. Bickerstaff‘s head coaching title. The Warriors granted the Rockets permission to interview Walton before he took the Lakers job. Houston was the only team among those currently seeking a head coach to make the postseason this year, though uncertainty surrounds Frank Vogel‘s status as Pacers coach after Indiana’s first-round playoff ouster Sunday.
The Knicks believe the 56-year-old Blatt will be a head coach somewhere next season, be it in the NBA or overseas, and they aren’t considering the 56-year-old Blatt for a job as an assistant to Kurt Rambis, as previous reports suggested they were, Berman hears. Blatt interviewed a week ago with Knicks team president Phil Jackson and GM Steve Mills, but Rambis remains the front-runner, according to Berman, who adds that if the Knicks pass on Rambis for the head coaching job, they’d likely offer to make him an assistant to Blatt.
If you were Blatt, which head coaching job would appeal the most to you? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
Latest on Dave Joerger
Dave Joerger was let go by the Grizzlies earlier today, but it doesn’t appear as if he will have to wait long to find another coaching opportunity in the league. Here’s the latest:
- There is mutual interest between the Kings and Joerger, although the team isn’t altering its methodical search, according to Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link).
- While the Kings are strongly pursing Joerger, he plans to wait on making any sort of decision until he hears from the Rockets, David Aldridge of NBA.com tweets. The Pacers are a possible landing spot as well, Aldridge adds.
- The Wolves didn’t anticipate Joerger being available and the team believed it would have taken a trade to get him from Memphis, Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press tweets. Krawczynski adds that he doesn’t believe Joerger would be interested in becoming a top assistant on Tom Thibodeau’s staff (Twitter link).
- The topic of tonight’s reader-driven Community Shootaround is which coaching gig should Joerger take next. Click here to join the discussion.
2015/16 D-League Usage Report: Rockets
The NBA’s relationship with the D-League continues to grow, and this season a total of 19 NBA teams had one-to-one affiliations with D-League clubs. Those NBA organizations without their own affiliates were required to assign players to D-League clubs associated with other NBA franchises. D-League teams could volunteer to take on the assigned players, and if no volunteers emerged, the players were assigned at random.
This significant change from the 2014/15 season came about after the Pacers purchased the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and turned them into their one-to-one partner for the 2015/16 campaign. Other NBA teams have interest in following suit in the years ahead, and the NBA’s ultimate goal for the D-League is for all 30 NBA franchises to have their own D-League squads. You can view the complete list of D-League affiliates here.
We at Hoops Rumors are recapping the D-League-related activity for the 2015/16 campaign for each team and we’ll continue with the Houston Rockets, whose D-League affiliate is the Rio Grande Valley Vipers:
The Rockets made 18 assignments for the 2015/16 season, sending four players to the D-League for a total of 89 days. Listed below are all the assignments and recalls made by Houston for the 2015/16 campaign:
- November 11th: Assigned K.J. McDaniels (1st) — Recalled November 16th
- Decembe4th: Assigned K.J. McDaniels (2nd) — Recalled December 9th
- December 6th: Assigned Montrezl Harrell (1st) — Recalled December 9th
- December 26th: Assigned K.J. McDaniels (3rd) — Recalled December 28th
- December 26th: Assigned Montrezl Harrell (2nd) — Recalled December 28th
- January 7th: Assigned K.J. McDaniels (4th) — Recalled January 15th
- January 23rd: Assigned Montrezl Harrell (3rd) — Recalled January 30th
- January 23rd: Assigned K.J. McDaniels (5th) — Recalled January 30th
- January 30th: Assigned Donatas Motiejunas (1st) — Recalled February 1st
- January 30th: Assigned K.J. McDaniels (6th) — Recalled February 1st
- February 3rd: Assigned Donatas Motiejunas (2nd) — Recalled February 4th
- February 4th: Assigned Donatas Motiejunas (3rd) — Recalled February 9th
- February 6th: Assigned K.J. McDaniels (7th) — Recalled February 9th
- February 19th: Assigned Sam Dekker (2nd) — Recalled February 22nd
- March 1st: Assigned Sam Dekker (3rd) — Recalled March 5th
- March 4th: Assigned K.J. McDaniels (8th) — Recalled March 5th
- March 4th: Assigned Montrezl Harrell (4th) — Recalled March 5th
- March 23rd: Assigned Montrezl Harrell (5th) — Recalled April 10th
Here is how the Rockets’ players performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:
- Sam Dekker: In seven appearances, Dekker averaged 11.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 23.2 minutes. His shooting numbers were .418/.237/.667.
- Montrezl Harrell: In 12 games, Harrell averaged 24.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 38.9 minutes. His shooting line was .533/.240/.654.
- K.J. McDaniels: In 16 appearances, McDaniels averaged 15.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 36.1 minutes. His shooting numbers were .469/.353/.780.
- Donatas Motiejunas: In four games, Motiejunas averaged 13.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 25 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .525/.467/.500.
Grizzlies Fire Dave Joerger
The Grizzlies parted ways with head coach Dave Joerger this morning, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (Twitter links). Joerger had asked Memphis for permission to speak with other teams regarding their coaching vacancies and Memphis decided to cut its ties with him, Wojnarowski adds. Memphis is still on the hook for Joerger’s $2MM salary for 2016/17, the scribe notes, adding that the coach’s deal included a team option for the 2017/18 season. The Grizzlies intend to pursue former Pacers coach Frank Vogel, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Sacramento had been pushing hard to gain permission from the Grizzlies to speak with Joerger regarding its coaching vacancy, Wojnarowski relays (via Twitter), and Joerger is now at the top of the Kings’ wish list as they seek a replacement for George Karl. Joerger had requested permission to speak with the Kings and Rockets about their coaching vacancies, as Wojnarowski writes in a full-length post. Sacramento’s willingness to give him a long-range deal with annual salaries likely around $4MM made the Kings attractive to Joerger despite their reputation for dysfunction, Wojnarowski notes.
Memphis confirmed that Joerger was let go in an official announcement. “After careful consideration, I concluded that a change was needed to foster the strong culture required to achieve sustainable, long-term success for this organization, the city and our fans,” said GM Chris Wallace. “On behalf of the Grizzlies organization I would like to thank Dave for his work and time in Memphis. We wish Dave and his family all the best and success as he moves forward in his career.”
The trust between Joerger and the front office had eroded over the past several months, Wojnarowski notes, and tensions escalated between the coach and team management. The organization was frustrated with Joerger publicly making disparaging comments about the roster and his own limited role in player personnel, a league source told the Vertical scribe. Joerger had reportedly grown increasingly belligerent to many within the organization, believing the team was setting him up to fail in 2016/17, Wojnarowski adds.
The Grizzlies are quite high on Joerger’s coaching ability, but they failed to see eye-to-eye on personnel matters, with Joerger believing the team didn’t take his opinions seriously and the team convinced otherwise, as Wojnarowski details. Joerger was pushing for either a long-term deal from the Grizzlies or a way out, and that’s what led to his dismissal, according to Wojnarowski.
In three seasons as the Grizzlies’ head coach, Joerger’s record was 147-99 (.598), including a mark of 9-13 in the playoffs. Memphis reached the conference semifinals in 2015, losing to the eventual champion Warriors. The coach arguably did his best work this season, leading a patchwork roster that had been decimated by injuries to a record of 42-40 and the seventh playoff seed in the Western Conference.
Latest On Kevin Durant
The theory among the teams eager to pursue Kevin Durant this summer is that the Thunder’s second-round series against the Spurs will decide whether he leaves Oklahoma City, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Durant would stay if the Thunder win and leave if they lose, Stein relays, stressing that it’s merely an assumption among the front offices. The Spurs, with the series tied 1-1, indeed have designs on luring Durant to San Antonio, Stein hears, echoing what several rival executives suggested to Chris Mannix of The Vertical in March.
Zach Lowe of ESPN.com recently compared the talk about Durant joining the Spurs as “eerily similar” to the early rumblings that connected LaMarcus Aldridge to San Antonio last year. Still, the Warriors loom as another powerful suitor, and The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported in February at that they would be significant front-runners for Durant if he were to leave the Thunder. Golden State is optimistic about its chances, and chatter has gone on since the Warriors’ record 24-0 start about the kinship Durant formed on Team USA with Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala, Stein writes. The Wizards, Heat, Celtics, Rockets, Lakers and Clippers are planning hard pushes for Durant, too, according to Stein, who cautions that it’s premature to peg any team aside from the Thunder as the favorite to land him.
Neither the Warriors nor the Spurs have the cap flexibility to sign Durant for his max of an estimated $26MM for next season without making trades, waiving players via the stretch provision, or both. The Vertical’s Bobby Marks illustrated a scenario involving maneuvers that would give the Warriors enough room to sign Durant, and Danny Leroux of The Sporting News laid out San Antonio’s path. The Clippers would have to offload either Chris Paul, Blake Griffin or DeAndre Jordan, as I noted in our offseason outlook for the team earlier today.
The teams who assume Durant will stay with the Thunder if Oklahoma City advances to the next round of the playoffs suggest he’d go for a two-year contract with a player option on year two, the same sort of contract LeBron James favors, according to Stein. That would allow Durant the flexibility for him to hit free agency again next summer, when Russell Westbrook‘s contract expires, and it would represent the most lucrative path for the former MVP, as I examined. Still, Durant told Stein at the All-Star break that he hadn’t considered such a contract structure.
Rockets To Interview Jeff Hornacek, Stephen Silas
The Rockets have interviews scheduled with former Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek and Hornets assistant coach Stephen Silas for their vacant head coaching position, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Calvin Watkins report (ESPN Now link). The specific dates and times of the meetings are not yet known.
Hornacek was fired by the Suns in February and replaced by Earl Watson, who recently had his interim tag removed and will lead Phoenix next season. The 53-year-old has a career regular season mark of 101-112, including a record of 14-35 in 2015/16. He failed to guide the Suns to the postseason during his tenure with the franchise. Hornacek has also been mentioned as a potential head coaching candidate for the Pacers, Kings, and Lakers.
Silas, 43, is the son of longtime NBA coach Paul Silas. He has served as an assistant for the Hornets, Pelicans (prior to the team being re-named), Warriors and Cavaliers, as well as serving a brief stint as an advance scout for the Wizards.
Houston is also reportedly considering Lionel Hollins, Mike D’Antoni, Kenny Smith, Sam Cassell, David Blatt, and Chris Finch for the vacant post, though, Jeff Van Gundy appears to be the favorite for the job. The Rockets are also said to be intrigued by college coaches Shaka Smart (Texas) and Bill Self (Kansas).
Latest On Rockets Coaching Search
- Lionel Hollins is among the coaches in whom the Rockets have expressed interest, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, who writes in a piece examining Vogel’s candidacy for the job.
- Mike D’Antoni has already interviewed for the Rockets head coaching job, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com, advancing an earlier report that he would do so this week.
- TNT broadcaster Kenny Smith, whom Stein heard may interview for the Rockets vacancy, said on “Inside the NBA” Wednesday that he’d like to coach under the right circumstances but made it clear that he enjoys his television job, as Stein relays.
- The Rockets are focused on proven NBA head coaches and up-and-coming assistants, sources emphasized Wednesday as they spoke with Stein. That casts doubt on the viability of Smith and college coaches Shaka Smart and Bill Self, who also reportedly intrigue the Rockets.
- It became apparent to former Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff that the team wouldn’t formally make him its head coach, and that’s what prompted him to withdraw from consideration for the post, Stein also writes.
Latest On Rockets Coaching Search
9:46pm: The Rockets are intrigued by college coaches Shaka Smart (Texas) and Bill Self (Kansas), and also may seek to interview former Rocket and current broadcaster Kenny Smith, Stein relays (Twitter links).
9:08pm: Sixers associate head coach Mike D’Antoni will interview for the vacant post this week, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter links). Houston will also desire an interview with Frank Vogel if he is let go by the Pacers, Stein adds.
8:00pm: Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff has withdrawn from consideration for the team’s head coaching position after meeting with team ownership and front office personnel on Monday, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports. Other NBA teams have now begun reaching out to Bickerstaff about available lead assistant positions, which is what he is now focusing on, the Vertical scribe adds, though Wojnarowski makes no mention of which teams have been in contact with the coach.
Houston intends to conduct a wide-ranging search for its next head coach, Wojnarowski relays. GM Daryl Morey and team owner Les Alexander met with Bickerstaff on Monday, as well as with Clippers assistant coach Sam Cassell and Rockets assistant Chris Finch, league sources informed Wojnarowski. The Rockets are trying to arrange interviews with Jeff Hornacek and Hornets assistant Stephen Silas, league sources told Wojnarowski. The franchise also reportedly plans to interview former Cavs coach David Blatt, though reports peg former Rockets and Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy as the front-runner for the vacant post.
Bickerstaff posted a mark of 37-34 after taking over for the fired Kevin McHale, who got off to a 4-7 start to the campaign. Houston indicated that Bickerstaff would receive consideration to have his interim tag removed, but apparently guiding the team to the playoffs wasn’t enough to sell ownership on him as a viable long-term option.
Rockets Work Out Alec Peters
- Valparaiso power forward Alec Peters is working out with the Rockets today and the Celtics on Friday, according to Goodman (Twitter link).