Pacers Sign Frank Vogel To Extension
The Pacers have signed coach Frank Vogel to an extension, the team announced. The arrangement covers multiple seasons, but no other terms are immediately available. Vogel had been set to enter the final season of his existing deal.
The 41-year-old Vogel revealed last month that he and the team were in extension talks and said that he wanted to remain with the Pacers “forever.” It seemed an iffy proposition this spring that he would hold the job much longer, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported that the Pacers would dismiss him if the team performed poorly in the playoffs. GM Kevin Pritchard dismissed the notion, but Mark Jackson loomed as a potential replacement, as Stein wrote later. There even appeared to be an outside chance that president of basketball operations Larry Bird would oust Vogel and come down to the bench and coach in his place before the playoffs began. Bird nonetheless expressed confidence in Vogel during the final week of the regular season after making comments earlier in the season that seemed critical of Vogel’s coaching style.
Indiana reached the Eastern Conference Finals and took the Heat to six games before falling, nearly matching the team’s achievement the year before, when the Pacers extended the Heat to seven games in the same round. Still, the Pacers took a circuitous path back to that point, with a hot start to this past season and a disturbing post All-Star malaise. Indiana nonetheless held on to grab the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, but the franchise suffered a pair of painful losses in the offseason. Lance Stephenson rejected a five-year, $45MM offer to re-sign and bolted for the Hornets, while Paul George broke his leg during a Team USA scrimmage, likely knocking him out for the season.
Vogel’s tenure as Pacers coach dates to the 2010/11 season, when he took over on an interim basis for the final 38 games of the regular season and secured the team’s first playoff bid in five years. The Pacers removed the interim tag the following summer, and the Pacers went a round deeper into the playoffs the next two seasons before plateauing this spring. Vogel has compiled a 167-100 record in the regular season and a 28-26 mark in the playoffs over the course of his time as Indiana’s head coach.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Eastern Notes: Anthony, Pacers, Blatt
Despite his attempts at recruiting Carmelo Anthony to join the Bulls in free agency this summer falling short, Joakim Noah isn’t upset about the outcome, Michael Lee of The Washington Post writes. “I wasn’t disappointed at all,” Noah said. “I try to recruit everybody, not just Carmelo. Carmelo is a helluva player. If anybody is a free agent, usually I’m the one making the call. He made a decision that’s best for him and his family. I moved on right away. I love our team right now. If you look at all the talent we have, it’s going to be really interesting.”
Here’s what else is happening in the east:
- This might be the last season that the Pacers core remains intact, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com writes. With both David West and Roy Hibbert having player options at the end of this season, and what is shaping up to be a difficult year with the losses of Paul George and Lance Stephenson, it’s very likely that Indiana will look markedly different in 2015/16, opines Windhorst.
- David Blatt‘s versatility as a coach helped him win over GM David Griffin, and Blatt showed acumen in deal-making, too, as he and assistant coach Tyronn Lue played critical roles in convincing Kyrie Irving to sign his extension with the Cavs this summer, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com details.
- Former Knicks great Willis Reed believes that Phil Jackson is the right man to turn around the organization, and that New York will return to the playoffs this season under new coach Derek Fisher, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv writes. Reed also weighed in on Carmelo Anthony‘s free agency, saying, “I always thought that at the end of the day that Carmelo would come back to New York because of the years. I think he likes New York, I think the fans like him….I never thought he would actually leave. I really would have been upset, I really would have been surprised.”
Eastern Notes: George, West, Heat, Garnett
The Pacers and Heat have met the last two years for the Eastern Conference title, but chances are they’re not going to do so again this coming spring. The Nets, too, seem to have taken a step back, though there’s still a distinct possibility that all three will make the playoffs. We’ll touch on three Eastern mainstays amid our look around the conference:
- Paul George refuses to rule out the notion that he might return this season, even though the Pacers assume he’s out for the year, though he told reporters Monday that he’s “come to peace” with the idea that his broken leg will keep him out. Mark Montieth of Pacers.com has the details.
- David West said he considered retirement last year and suggested that the thought passed through his mind again after George broke his leg this summer, as he tells Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. The 34-year-old can opt out of his contract at season’s end.
- Shawne Williams made an impression on the Heat during the same workout in which Chris Douglas-Roberts and MarShon Brooks made bids to join the team, notes Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
- Kevin Garnett made it clear that he has no intention of coaching after he retires as a player, as Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News observes (Twitter link).
Central Rumors: Thompson, Marion, Turner
The Cavs haven’t spoken with agent Rich Paul about an extension for Tristan Thompson, as Chris Haynes of the Plain Dealer hears, but it’s not necessarily a sign that the sides don’t intend to strike a deal before the October 31st deadline to do so, Haynes indicates. Let’s wrap up more from the Cavs and the Central:
- Shawn Marion explains that the Cavs‘ acquisition of Kevin Love convinced him to spurn more lucrative offers from other clubs and sign with Cleveland, according to Jason Lloyd of the Beacon Journal.
- Cavs GM David Griffin admits LeBron James was critical in Cleveland’s success in recruiting other big name players this summer, as Lloyd details in the same piece. “You couldn’t have a better recruiter than LeBron James,” Griffin said. “When you cut LeBron loose in a free agency path, you tend to get results you don’t get otherwise. To say he’s been an amazing partner this offseason would be a gross understatement.”
- The Pacers and Evan Turner never attempted to negotiate a new deal that would have brought the former second overall pick back to Indiana for the 2014/15 season, reports Andrew Perna of RealGM (on Twitter). “We both just decided to go our separate ways,“ said Turner.
- Greg Monroe‘s decision to sign his qualifying offer means he will be an unrestricted free agent next summer, but he says that doesn’t necessarily mean that he wants to leave the Pistons, tweets Vince Ellis of the Detroit News. Monroe also dismissed the notion that he doesn’t like to play alongside Josh Smith, according to Ellis (Twitter link).
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Pacers, Vogel Discussing Extension
Frank Vogel and the Pacers have had talks about an extension, the coach said to Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. No deal has been worked out just yet, and when asked if he would like to have an agreement in place prior to the season beginning, Vogel said, “We just have to see how it goes. I want to be here forever. That’s my thing. I’m interested in being here long-term and when the right time comes, hopefully we can achieve that.”
Vogel is entering the last season of his deal, and one would think that a 167-100 record over four seasons, including four trips to the playoffs and two consecutive conference finals would be enough to guarantee job security. But last year’s Indiana squad that began 25-5 limped into the playoffs and the Pacers seemed badly overmatched by the Heat despite extending them to six games.
A big point of contention involving Vogel during the playoffs was his use of center Roy Hibbert. The big man didn’t match up well with the Pacers’ first round opponent, the Hawks, nor with the Heat in the conference finals. Both teams employed smaller lineups which made Hibbert a liability on defense when trying to match him up with smaller, quicker centers and stretch-fours. Vogel received quite a bit of criticism for not figuring out a way to use Hibbert’s size to his team’s advantage, and allowing their opponents to dictate the style of play that Indiana used.
The concern for the future is if Indiana’s collapse was a fluke, or if there are deeper concerns in the Pacers’ locker room. Vogel has always been considered a player’s coach, and is not a staunch disciplinarian. This was a role that was filled by former assistant Brian Shaw, who left prior to last season to become the head coach of the Nuggets. Chris Huberty of SI.com points out that Shaw frequently played “bad cop” with the Pacers players when it was required, and that new assistants Nate McMillan and Popeye Jones didn’t assist Vogel in that capacity.
If the Pacers and Vogel aren’t able to hammer out an extension prior to the season, it could only add to what looks to be a difficult year ahead for the franchise. They will be without the services of Paul George for what is likely the entire season after he broke his leg during a Team USA scrimmage. The Pacers will also be without Lance Stephenson, who signed a free agent deal with the Hornets this summer.
The Eastern Conference will be extremely top heavy this season with the Cavs, Bulls, and Wizards all looking extremely formidable as training camps begin. The Pacers aren’t in the discussion as a title contender without George, but still should have enough talent to compete for a playoff spot, even without their best player. But if being 4 for 4 in playoff appearances wasn’t necessarily enough to garner long-term job security, it will be interesting to see what the sentiments of Indiana’s front office are regarding Vogel if the Pacers struggle mightily without George and Stephenson this season.
Heat Notes: McRoberts, Deng, Haslem
The Heat enter next season without the talents of LeBron James who returned to Cleveland this summer. But Miami isn’t giving up on contending this season, and with a core of Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, and Luol Deng, GM Pat Riley hopes his offseason moves will pay off with a return to the playoffs. Here are some notes from Miami’s media day:
- Josh McRoberts said that he was drawn to Miami because the team pursued him so hard, Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post tweets. McRoberts also added that the deal now gives him multi-year stability.
- In keeping with the theme of being pursued, McRoberts said that he felt wanted in Miami, tweets Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald. Goodman wasn’t sure if the statement by McRoberts was a dig at the Hornets, his former team, but he believes it was notable given the context.
- When asked about sacrificing money for the sake of the team’s cap flexibility, Udonis Haslem said, “I never had that money. It was never in my bank account. It’s not about that. I don’t regret it,” Lieser tweets.
- The Pacers tried to entice Danny Granger to return this offseason, tweets Lieser, but Granger said, “It didn’t work out.”
- Deng told Lieser that he forgives Danny Ferry for the comments that he made (Twitter link). “It’s not something I want to hold onto… I believe he’s really sorry for what he said,” Deng relayed.
- Deng also said that he believes Ferry’s remorse is genuine, and added, “I do not think Danny is racist,” tweets Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
- The veteran small forward said that he was actually close to signing with the Hawks, notes Jackson (Twitter link). Deng also noted that Ferry should have read the offensive comments allegedly contained in the scouting report to himself before saying them out loud.
- Deng confirmed to Lieser that he was close to joining Atlanta and that he never got any sense of prejudice from them. Deng also said that he was totally surprised by what he heard when the story was made public, Lieser notes.
Eastern Notes: Garnett, Vogel, Heat, Walker
Kevin Garnett finally dismissed all doubt that he would return for the coming season, telling reporters that while he considered retirement, he’s once more decided to put it off, notes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). A report in June indicated that Garnett would be back with the Nets, but Garnett hadn’t spoken publicly about his plans. Retirement could be a ways off, as the 38-year-old said he won’t rule out playing beyond this season, the final year of his contract, as Bondy also relays (via Twitter). Still, Garnett’s comments gave Tim Bontemps of the New York Post the sense that he’s planning to hang it up next summer (Twitter link). There’s more from the player once known as The Kid as we detail the latest from the Eastern Conference:
- Garnett was in touch with Paul Pierce as the Wizards signee went through free agency and called his departure for Washington “bittersweet,” as Bontemps chronicles (Twitter links). KG said he was in the dark during former coach Jason Kidd‘s exit from the Nets, however, as Andy Vasquez of The Record tweets.
- Frank Vogel is entering the final year of his contract to coach the Pacers, but he tells Scott Agness of Vigilant Sports that he’d like to remain in the job “forever.” President of basketball operations Larry Bird has suggested that the team is open to negotiating an extension with Vogel before this season begins, as Agness points out.
- The Heat never made offers to veterans Andray Blatche, Ramon Sessions, Jordan Crawford, Wayne Ellington and others, team president Pat Riley and GM Andy Elisburg say, according to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. Winderman surmises that the frustration that many veterans stuck at the end of the Heat’s bench expressed last year made the team wary of adding too many players with expectations of playing time.
- The Hornets are just beginning extension talks with Kemba Walker, but GM Rich Cho indicated to reporters Thursday that he’s pleased with the point guard’s growing maturity, as Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders points out.
Eastern Notes: Ferry, Antetokounmpo, Raptors
With the racism scandal still fresh in Atlanta, Hawks GM Danny Ferry‘s former teammate Tim Duncan came to his defense, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News writes. Duncan acknowledged during a radio interview that Ferry made a mistake in his comments regarding Luol Deng, but denied Ferry had an issue with race. Duncan said, “Knowing Danny, he’s not what everybody’s saying about him. He’s not a racist.”
Here’s more from the east:
- Bucks second-year player Giannis Antetokounmpo is embracing the team’s experiment of moving him to point guard, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes. On Milwaukee asking him to change positions, Antetokounmpo said, “I’m not going to say I was shocked by it. It’s something that I feel comfortable with and I’ll play wherever Coach wants me to play, especially when it’s Coach Kidd who thinks that I can play point guard. That makes me feel like, ‘I can play it. I can play point guard.’ I’m going to try my best and just listen to Coach. I’ll do whatever Coach says to do and I’ll get more comfortable.”
- During an interview with Reggie Miller regarding injured Pacers swingman Paul George, team president Larry Bird said that despite his star player’s horrific injury, he would still like George to return to Team USA, Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star relays. “I hope so. That’s one of his goals,” Bird said. “He wants to play for Team USA. I think that any kid that gets the opportunity to do that and they want to play for their country, they should have that opportunity. And I think Paul will be there in Brazil (Olympics).”
- In their season preview the staff at HoopsHype predict that the Raptors will repeat as champs in the Atlantic Division.
- Despite last season ending with his potential game-winning shot being blocked by Paul Pierce in the playoffs, the Raptors‘ Kyle Lowry showed significant growth on and off the court, writes Jonathan Abrams of Grantland in his profile of the player and his career.
Latest On Zoran Dragic
FRIDAY, 8:36pm: Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic adds the Cavs to the list of teams interested in Dragic, and reports that Dragic’s current salary is approximately $1.4MM. It would take upwards of $2MM in annual salary to pry the younger Dragic guard from his current club in Coro’s estimation, considering the earnings and covered living expenses provided by his current team. The Arizona Republic scribe pegs Dragic’s NBA escape clause at $1.1MM, which lines up with an earlier report that the buyout exceeds $971K.
WEDNESDAY, 7:49am: The Suns, Pacers and Kings are the teams most aggressively going after Dragic, Stein tweets, expanding on his report about Phoenix’s heavy pursuit from a few days ago. Talks are expected to intensity now that Dragic’s World Cup obligations are over, Stein adds (Twitter links). Phoenix, Indiana and Sacramento all have the capacity to exceed the minimum salary.
TUESDAY, 4:51pm: The Heat, Magic, Spurs and Mavs are maintaining dialogues with Spanish-league shooting guard Zoran Dragic, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote earlier this week that the Suns were one of the three teams with the most interest in signing the 25-year-old, but it’s not clear if they remain in the running. The Pacers, too, have appeared to be in pursuit of Dragic of late, while the Rockets were reportedly the leading contender for him in May.
Several NBA teams scouted Dragic in the World Cup the past couple of weeks, Charania writes, a run that ended when his Slovenian team lost this afternoon to Team USA. New teams are inquiring about him with each passing day, the RealGM scribe adds. Dragic is the younger brother of Goran Dragic, who appears poised to opt out his deal next summer and hit free agency, and teams are already lining up to try to poach Goran from the Suns.
Zoran Dragic averaged 10.6 points in 20.3 minutes per game for Unicaja Malaga this past season but he reportedly possesses a strong desire to come to the NBA. He’d have to sign with an NBA team by Oct. 5th, according to Charania, and cover a buyout greater than the equivalent of $971K to break free from Unicaja Malaga this year, as Stein wrote in his report this week. That would appear to give the Spurs and Magic an edge on the Heat and Mavs, since Miami and Dallas can’t exceed the minimum salary and thus can’t give him more than the Excluded International Player Payment Amount of $600K toward his buyout.
Shawn Marion Signs With Cavs
SEPTEMBER 9TH: The signing is finally official, the team announced.
“Shawn brings great versatility, talent and championship experience to the team,” Cavs GM David Griffin said in the club’s statement. “He will impact both ends of the floor and his ability to guard multiple positions will be particularly important for us. Shawn is an accomplished, high-caliber veteran that will help with leadership on and off the court and we’re very happy to welcome him to the Cavaliers family.”
AUGUST 17TH: Shawn Marion has decided to join the Cavaliers, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Cleveland can only offer Marion the veteran’s minimum salary, but the opportunity to play with LeBron James and to contend for an NBA Championship was the deciding factor, notes Stein. The Clippers, Pacers, and the Heat had also pursued the 15-year veteran.
Indiana could have offered Marion a larger role and more playing time, with Paul George most likely being lost for the season. The Pacers could have also offered a larger salary as well, with the league already approving the disabled player exception the franchise had applied for. But with James’ arrival, and Kevin Love set to be added as soon as Andrew Wiggins can be traded on August 23rd, the Cavs became too appealing an option for Marion.
Marion’s career averages are 15.8 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 1.9 APG, and 1.6 SPG. His career slash line is .485/.332/.811. Last season with the Mavericks, he averaged 10.4 PPG and 6.5 RPG, while appearing in 76 contests.