L.A. Notes: Jackson, Bryant, Howard
One effect of the Phil Jackson signing in New York has been some fallout on the other coast. Jackson’s estrangement from the Lakers organization he guided to five championships will be permanent, at least professionally, for another five years. As we learned yesterday, the Lakers did have interest in bringing Jackson back to their front office, but weren’t willing to offer the kind of control he could obtain in New York. Here’s more from Los Angeles:
- Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com details how the Lakers ownership structure made the potential to bring in Jackson a virtual impossibility. Former owner Jerry Buss intentionally handed the franchise over to be shared between his six children, preferring for the family to stay at the forefront instead of giving the keys to a basketball legend like Jackson or Jerry West.
- Shelburne says the Buss family considered a return from Jackson for several months leading up to his signing with the Knicks.
- Mike D’Antoni, who won the Lakers coaching job over Jackson last season, told reporters including Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times that the signing is a good move for the Knicks.
- D’Antoni, who often hears “We want Phil!” chants from the home crowd when the Lakers struggle, added that he feels no relief over his job now that Jackson is signed elsewhere.
- Sam Amick of USA Today says that the Lakers decision to let Jackson go to New York without a fight shows that Kobe Bryant has lost his clout with L.A. brass. Bryant recently spoke openly about his disappointment at missing out on Jackson’s return to the league for a second time.
- Pau Gasol and Jordan Farmar think that Jackson will do a great job in New York, per Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News.
- Steve Nash told Bill Simmons of Grantland on a recent podcast he knew Dwight Howard wouldn’t work out with the Lakers early on last season (transcription via Sean Highkin of USA Today). “I think everyone could see it was going to be tough from the start. As the season went on, I think Dwight didn’t hide the fact that he didn’t like it,” Nash said.
Phil Jackson Revelations and Reactions
We learned earlier that Phil Jackson has signed an agreement to become the Knicks president of basketball operations. Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com tweeted that the contract being finalized is a five-year arrangement without any stake in ownership, to pay the coaching legend $12MM a year. The press conference announced by the Knicks for next Tuesday will indeed be the official introduction of Jackson as the new head of New York’s front office, a source tells Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Now that the news is more or less final, reactions to the deal are flooding in around the league.
Jackson’s discussions with the Knicks had been going on for several months before becoming a reality, reports Shelburne. Shelburne says that the Lakers had multiple internal discussions on the prospect of hiring Jackson, but never contacted his representatives because they knew they wouldn’t be willing to offer the amount of power that the Knicks were. A source tells Scott Cacciola of The New York Times that it was current Knicks GM Steve Mills who first met with Jackson to discuss him joining New York.
Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire, and J.R. Smith all expressed different levels of excitement and anticipation to meet Jackson and hear about his vision for the future of the team, per Peter Botte of The New York Daily News. Anthony says Jackson’s arrival won’t “have any effect” on his looming free agency decisions this summer, but Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com thinks ‘Melo should stick around since Jackson has shown himself capable of unlocking greatness in stars.
Some people are puzzled over the signing. One NBA executive told J.A. Adande of ESPN that Jackson’s relationship with Knicks owner James Dolan is doomed. “Phil and Dolan will not work. Like, never,” the exec said. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports thinks the Jackson signing is a confusing move for the Knicks. In a video segment, Spears predicts that there will be similarities to Larry Bird‘s setup in Indiana, where Jackson provides the final yes or no on team activities, but other team employees do the bulk of the front office “grunt work.” Spears doesn’t think Jackson will return to coach at any point, but he does think there will be constant pressure from Knicks fans to do just that, similar to the constant speculation of Pat Riley‘s return to the bench during Erik Spoelstra’s first seasons with the Heat.
Others are more optimistic about the deal. Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post thinks that characterizations of Jackson as successful only due to coaching the best talent are wrong, and that he has turned around imperfect teams like New York before. Zach Lowe of Grantland argues that the Knicks don’t actually need a complete overhaul in their front office because there are already good, progressive basketball minds in New York. Rather, Lowe says the Knicks need Jackson to add a calming personality to the team and put an end to their pattern of caving in to agents and making knee-jerk moves that undermine their otherwise smart team-building decisions. Lowe doesn’t think Jackson will relax his emphasis on the triangle offense in building the Knicks, pointing out that the system goes beyond Xs and Os for Jackson, connecting to his deepest philosophical beliefs. Howard Beck of Bleacher Report agrees with Lowe’s take, seeing this as the “Zen Master’s” opportunity to mentor an entire, unstable franchise, not just a handful of players.
Draft Notes: Wiggins, Embiid, Lakers
An NBA executive told Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (via Twitter) that how college players perform in the NCAA tournament plays a large role in how NBA scouts view them leading up to the draft. As more teams secure their spots in March Madness this weekend, let’s take a look at the rumors surrounding this year’s draft class:
- The same exec told Amico that junior LaQuinton Ross and senior Aaron Craft of Ohio State are both on his draft board in the early second round (Twitter link).
- As Jonathan Givony of Draft Express tweets, Andrew Wiggins has surpassed his Kansas teammate Joel Embiid atop his latest mock draft. As we learned last night, Embiid’s back issues will undoubtedly put the microscope on the talented center when it comes time for medical testing at the draft combine.
- Scouts agree with Givony’s projection according to Adam Zagoria, as the SNY insider cites ESPN’s Chad Ford and NBA scouts in a tweet indicating that Wiggins has risen back to the top of many draft boards in light of his 71 combined points in the Jayhawks’ last two games.
- One executive that likely saw Wiggins hang 30 on Oklahoma State yesterday was Lakers’ GM Mitch Kupchak, who is in Kansas City this week for the Big 12 tournament according to Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report. Along with Wiggins and Embiid, Ding mentions the Cowboys’ Marcus Smart as a potential target, also adding that scouting director Jesse Buss (youngest son of Jerry) and assistant scouting director Ryan West (son of Jerry) aid Kupchak in the team’s draft process.
Cray Allred contributed to this post.
Lakers Rumors: D’Antoni, Gasol, Jackson
The latest out of Los Angeles..
- The Lakers lost 131-102 to the Thunder last night, but bigger problems are looming for L.A., writes Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. Kobe Bryant reportedly isn’t wild about coach Mike D’Antoni, but the Lakers are reluctant to part ways for a number of reasons. First, they think he’s a capable coach and they don’t want to be known as a franchise without coach stability. Perhaps more importantly, the club doesn’t want to pay him $4MM to not coach them after making a similar move with Mike Brown. In another interesting wrinkle, many of the club’s younger players enjoy playing in D’Antoni’s offense because their inflated scoring totals give them more value as they look ahead to their next contract.
- Pau Gasol supports Kobe’s open criticism of the Lakers, writes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. “I’m glad that he spoke his mind,” Gasol said. “He wants to win. He’s got two years under contract with the franchise. He wants to be in the best possible position to win. Whether you do that publicly or internally, that’s totally up to you. He spoke his mind and you have to respect him for that.” The big man reportedly isn’t a fan of D’Antoni’s either.
- On Wednesday, both Kobe and Magic Johnson made public pleas to Lakers management to hire Phil Jackson, but a Lakers source tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News that team VP Jim Buss has little interest in bringing back the Hall of Fame coach.
Western Notes: Lakers, Faried, Butler, Ledo
After Kobe Bryant‘s news conference on Wednesday, the Lakers may have to abandon any strategy not aimed at an immediate turnaround, writes Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times. Pincus has an intricate plan in mind for the purple-and-gold that entails trading their 2014 first rounder for Kevin Love, waiving Steve Nash, re-signing Pau Gasol and much more, all designed at arming the aging Bryant with running mates capable of staging one last run at a title.
Let’s take a look at what is going on elsewhere in the Western Conference:
- Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried is happy that the trade speculation is behind him, writes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Faried is having an impressive March, scoring 21.1 points per game and grabbing 10.1 rebounds on 64.5% shooting from the field. Teammate Ty Lawson also believes that the trade talk was hurting his play somewhat, noting that he has been more aggressive since the trade deadline came and went.
- Thunder trainer Joe Sharpe had a lot to do with Caron Butler‘s decision to sign with Oklahoma City this season, Jeff Caplan of NBA.com writes. Sharpe held a similar position at UConn when Butler was there.
- While we pointed out a pair of D-League success stories earlier tonight, Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram opines (via Twitter) that Ricky Ledo may have become a high lottery pick with the proper collegiate seasoning. Ledo, who has bounced between the Mavericks and the Texas Legends in his rookie season, attended Providence College though he never played for the Friars. He was selected 43rd overall by the Bucks last June.
Pacific Rumors: Nash, D’Antoni, Thompson
No one can accuse Steve Nash of not being honest. When asked by reporters today why he won’t retire, the Lakers guard said, “It’s just a reality. I’m not going to retire because I want the money. It’s honest,” according to Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com (via Twitter links). “You’re going to have people say he’s so greedy he’s got to take this last little bit…Yes, I do. I have to take this last little bit. I’m sorry if that’s frustrating to some but if they were in my shoes they would do the exact same thing.”
- Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni says that he doesn’t think about his job status, despite the constant speculation, tweets Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. “My job is to finish up as good as we can. Then everybody huddles…and we’ll see what happens,” the coach said.
- D’Antoni also downplayed Kobe Bryant‘s recent criticism of the Lakers organization, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News tweets. There was also a report that Bryant is unhappy with D’Antoni and has no interest in playing for him next season.
- Jason Thompson, the subject of trade talk before February’s deadline, is trying to make the most of his benching by Kings coach Michael Malone, writes the Sacramento Bee’s Jason Jones.
Lakers Rumors: Kobe, D’Antoni, Kupchak
The Lakers made plenty of news Wednesday, and Kobe Bryant was at the center of it, as usual. The team announced he was out for the season, and the Black Mamba was sharply critical of management at an afternoon press conference. The story that Bryant wants the team to get rid of coach Mike D’Antoni emerged later. There’s still more on the purple-and-gold, as we detail:
- Bryant has yet to meet with management to express his feelings about D’Antoni, notes Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com, who adds that those talks with happen after the season (Twitter links).
- Bryant wants aggressive moves, but GM Mitch Kupchak isn’t sure he’ll use all of the cap space the Lakers can open up this summer, telling David Leon Moore of USA Today that he’s wary of signing the wrong players and locking the team into mediocrity. “Patience is the key,” Kupchak said. “With the new collective bargaining agreement, there are no quick fixes. You cannot outbid teams for star players.”
- Lakers co-owners and siblings Jeanie and Jim Buss aren’t much closer than when they weren’t speaking to each other before the death of their father, according to Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding, who examines the Lakers as they reach a nadir in their storied history.
Manny Harris To Play In Turkey
Former Lakers and Cavs shooting guard Manny Harris is leaving the Lakers D-League affiliate to play in Turkey with Turk Telekom Ankara, reports Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The deal likely means the 24-year-old who scored 19 points in his final game with the Lakers last month will spend the rest of the season overseas.
Harris was with the Lakers on a pair of 10-day contracts this year, and he spent parts of 2010/11 and 2011/12 with Cleveland. The former Michigan Wolverine has averaged 6.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and 17.6 assists per contest over his NBA career, which spans 89 games.
It’s the second straight year the Henry Thomas client will spend time in international ball, having played in Ukraine last season. The Turkish team is no doubt giving him a raise on his salary in the D-League, where he had a strong performance this year, pouring in 31.6 PPG and grabbing 7.9 RPG for the Los Angeles D-Fenders.
Western Notes: Mavs, Lakers, Presti
It doesn’t matter whether the Mavericks go one-and-done, miss the playoffs or end up in the conference finals, the offseason game plan is the same, writes Eddie Sefko of Dallas Morning News. He says they are going to figure out a way to use the $34MM dollars of cap space they anticipate having to try and add a premier small forward and/or center. Sefko floats the possibility of Luol Deng and Marcin Gortat being their prime free-agent targets. The article also mentions that the deeper the team goes in the playoffs, the more appealing they will become to any free agent, including LeBron James, though Sefko admits that landing LeBron is a long shot at best.
Here’s some more from out west:
- With the news from earlier that Kobe Bryant wants Mike D’Antoni gone, it seems that he’s not the only Lakers player that would feel that way, tweets Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. He mentions that Pau Gasol and Jordan Hill would also like to see a new coach next season.
- Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times supports Bryant calling out Lakers management. He hopes the star player’s comments bring about the needed changes in the organization. Plaschke also thinks that it’s a good thing for the team that Kobe is done for the year as it will help them secure a higher lottery pick. The article also questions the decision to re-sign Bryant when they did. Plaschke believes that Bryant would have signed for less now in order to free up cap space to help the team sign players to make a run during his final years.
- Thunder GM Sam Presti shared his thoughts on tanking with Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. Presti said, “Oddly enough, I think it’s a narrative that was created to tweak the league office, and they are showing to be quite reflexive to it. I’m actually a bit surprised they have fed into it and devoted so much public energy to it given the lack of evidence. The records of the teams in the bottom four of the league are in line with those over the last 20 seasons. If anything, they are actually slightly above those averages. I’m missing the epidemic on this, really. I would hope we’d focus our attention on a lot of the great things our players are ding and that the league has in place now.“
Kobe Bryant Wants Mike D’Antoni Fired
Kobe Bryant has “no interest” in playing for Mike D’Antoni next season, and the Lakers star wants the team to change coaches, sources tell Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Bryant took several shots at Lakers management during a press conference today, but apparently his greatest frustration is with D’Antoni, whose contract runs through 2014/15. Bryant said today that he can’t understand why the Lakers haven’t brought former coach and soon-to-be Knicks executive Phil Jackson back to the franchise.
Bryant would like to see the Lakers re-sign Pau Gasol, who’s openly feuded with D’Antoni at times since the coach came aboard early last season. D’Antoni also never clicked with Carmelo Anthony when they were together with the Knicks, as Deveney points out, and Bryant wants the team to make significant improvements in the offseason, when Anthony figures to be the best free agent available.
The Lakers have long appeared deferential to Bryant, bidding against themselves when they granted him a $48.5MM extension in November. Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com wrote recently that D’Antoni didn’t seem to have much of a future in L.A., and D’Antoni met last week with GM Mitch Kupchak to discuss the state of the team after a blowout loss to the Clippers. Bryant’s most recent comments suggest he doesn’t exactly see eye-to-eye with the team’s brass, but his wishes are nonetheless an ominous sign for D’Antoni, who’s gone 62-74 in his time with the Lakers.