Kevin O’Connor

Latest On Bucks’ Coaching Situation

The Bucks have reached out to Doc Rivers to discuss having him take over their head coaching job, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski confirms.

As reported earlier in the day, Rivers is the top choice to replace first-year coach Adrian Griffin, who was abruptly fired on Tuesday.

CNN Sports, as relayed by the NBA on TNT, reported on Tuesday night that Rivers had accepted the position (video link). However, that report has yet to be corroborated by other media outlets.

Rivers already has a connection to the Bucks, having informally served as a consultant for Griffin this season at the behest of the club.

Here’s more on the Bucks’ coaching situation:

  • Griffin offered a diplomatic answer to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report regarding his dismissal: “I appreciate the opportunity the Bucks gave me. You can’t control everything,” Griffin said in a phone interview. “I feel good about the job we did. I appreciate my coaching staff for all their hard work. I always wanted to be a head coach in this league. I couldn’t have asked for a better roster. I got to coach Giannis (Antetokounpo), Dame (Lillard), Khris (Middleton), Brook (Lopez). Dream come true. Hopefully, I get another shot at it, but overall, I’m just thankful.”
  • Bucks general manager Jon Horst and assistant GM Milt Newton began closely observing practices and shootarounds in the last 10 days or so, Haynes reports in the same story.  That began raising the eyebrows of the coaching staff and players. If they don’t land Rivers, the Bucks also have Jeff Van Gundy and Nate McMillan on their short list of candidates, Haynes adds.
  • Griffin met with his top four players after the team’s loss to Indiana during the in-season tournament last month and they all spoke about what was working, what wasn’t working and how they could best be utilized. Griffin told the players that sacrifices were required, but bickering in the locker room continued shortly thereafter.
  • Griffin was hired at the endorsement of Antetokounmpo, but that endorsement had more to do with whom the two-time MVP didn’t want as head coach, writes Marc Stein at SubstackNick Nurse was high on the Bucks’ list of candidates before he was hired by the Sixers, according to Stein, who says Antetokounmpo wanted the franchise to go in a different direction and chose to back Griffin. Moving on from Griffin now was a far easier move than finding a difference-making trade, given Milwaukee’s limited assets, Stein adds.
  • When Lillard’s former head coach, Terry Stotts, chose to resign from the Bucks’ staff just prior to the season opener, the reason was that Griffin felt that he was being undermined by Stotts, according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. Stotts was brought in to mentor Griffin but they clashed on scheme and philosophy.

Kevin O’Connor Denies He’s Stepping Down

11:07am: Jazz president Randy Rigby has released a statement on the issue, refuting the report that O'Connor is stepping down from his current role:

"Media reports of Kevin O’Connor’s departure are inaccurate and he is not stepping down. He is fully engaged in Jazz preparations for draft season. The working relationship between Kevin and Dennis Lindsey is unchanged as both individuals provide valuable expertise, knowledge and perspective toward building a championship-caliber team. Kevin will be a member of the Jazz family for a long time. No further comment is needed."

10:05am: Jazz CEO Greg Miller tweets that O'Connor is not stepping down as executive VP of basketball operations.

8:36am: A KUTV report out of Utah last night suggested that Jazz executive vice president of basketball operations Kevin O'Connor will be stepping down from his current front office role to transition into a consulting role with the team. However, asked if he was stepping down, O'Connor told Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune, "Not true, and I have no comment."

Despite O'Connor's denial, we probably shouldn't dismiss the story entirely quite yet. As Oram notes (via Twitter), he asked O'Connor about stepping down, rather than moving to a consultant position, so the former Jazz general manager could be denying one but not the other. Oram and Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune both point out (Twitter links) that O'Connor hired Dennis Lindsey as Utah's new GM last summer with the intention of Lindsey eventually becoming the head of basketball operations. Change at some point in the not-so-distant future is inevitable, Luhm suggests.

Luhm also confirms KUTV's report that O'Connor sold his house in Holladay, Utah on April 17th, the same day the Jazz's season ended when they were eliminated from playoff contention by the Grizzlies. While that could be a further sign that O'Connor will assume a reduced role from his home in North Carolina, as KUTV reported, for now it appears nothing is official.

The Jazz are entering a crucial offseason, with many of the team's key veterans, including Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson, and Mo Williams, facing free agency. Armed with a pair of first round picks and plenty of potential cap space, whoever is running the team's basketball operations this summer will have plenty of work to do.

Eastern Notes: Magic, Sixers, Nets, Celtics

The biggest NBA news of the day so far has come out of Philadelphia, where the 76ers are announced Tony DiLeo's promotion to general manger. SI.com's Sam Amick has a few additional details on the move, including some other names that the Sixers pursued. According to Amick, the Sixers were turned down when they asked permission to speak to Jazz executive Kevin O'Connor and Thunder exec Troy Weaver. Here are a few more Friday notes out of the Eastern Conference:

  • Harkless' and Smith's injuries will not be healed in time for the regular season, keeping them out of the Magic lineup until mid-November, Schmitz writes, updating his earlier tweet (below).

Earlier updates:

  • Amick adds that the 76ers may still hire a more analytically-inclined executive to work alongside DiLeo in the Philadelphia front office.
  • Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov had praise for GM Billy King and coach Avery Johnson, whose contracts are set to expire at season's end. Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News passes along Prokhorov's quotes in a pair of tweets.
  • Al Harrington, Maurice Harkless, and Ish Smith, all recovering from offseason surgery, are expected to miss training camp, tweets Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. All three players were added by the Magic this summer.
  • J.J. Redick understands that the Magic are in a transition year, but says he loves playing in Orlando and that he and GM Rob Hennigan are "on the same page" when it comes to his future (Twitterlinks via John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com).
  • A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com looks into which Celtics on non-guaranteed contracts are the best bets to earn a roster spot, concluding that Dionte Christmas is a clear-cut favourite.
  • Raja Bell tells Andy Slater of 640 AM Sports in Miami that the Heat would be his first choice in free agency if he can work out a buyout with the Jazz (Sulia link via Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel).
  • In his latest mailbag for the Sun Sentinel, Winderman debates whether the Heat or Celtics had the better offseason and examines where Miami's roster stands.

Jazz Hire Dennis Lindsey As GM

The Jazz held a press conference this afternoon to formally announce the promotion of longtime General Manager Kevin O'Connor to Executive Vice President of basketball operations and the hiring of Dennis Lindsey as GM.  Lindsey previously served as the assistant GM of the Spurs.

At the presser, Jazz President and CEO Randy Rigby told reporters that Lindsey was the club's top choice for the position, tweets Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune.  O'Connor says that he has been pondering the move for some time but wanted to first help guide the club through the lockout-shortened season (Twitter link).  The 13-year GM says that he will still have an active role in day-to-day operations but will not be fielding calls from agents, Smith tweets.

Lindsey joined the Spurs in the summer of 2007 after spending the previous eleven years in the Rockets organization.  Smith tweets that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich gave O'Connor a sterling endorsement on Lindsey, saying that he is the person he'd hypothetically appoint as GM if R.C. Buford were to step away.