Marlon Garnett

Southeast Notes: Oladipo, Beal, Dinwiddie, Hornets

Heat guard Victor Oladipo is determined to regain the status of being one of the league’s top wings, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes.

Oladipo went under the knife in May, undergoing surgery to repair his right quad tendon. Once considered a top name entering the free agent market, he signed a minimum contract to rebuild his value.

“It’s been really tough. It’s been hard. This is another battle in the books for me,” he said. “I want to show my resiliency and have one of the best comeback stories ever. I want to make the most of my situation. It’s easy to quit and say ‘woe is me,’ but that doesn’t solve the problem. I know there are a lot of eyes watching. Hopefully, I can be a vessel for them and show them they can get through anything if they really put their mind to it.”

We have more from the Southeast Division:

  • Wizards star Bradley Beal won’t share his “personal reasons” why he hasn’t been vaccinated, Ava Wallace of the Washington Post tweets. However, Beal was a little more open about the possibility of signing an extension, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington tweets. Beal said that he’ll let his agent handle those negotiations: “I’ve got all year to sign it, so I’m not in a rush.”
  • Wizards guard Spencer Dinwiddie said he tried to buy the Wizards‘ jersey patch before this season to advertise crypto currency, Hughes adds in a separate tweet. According to Dinwiddie, he was willing to meet the $12MM asking price but the league wouldn’t allow it.
  • The Hornets officially announced Marlon Garnett, Nick Friedman and Norman Richardson as assistant coaches under head coach James Borrego in a press release. The team also promoted Jackson Simmons to head video coordinator.
  • Borrego expects the Hornets to be fully vaccinated by the beginning of the season, Rod Boone of the Charlotte Observer tweets.

Southeast Notes: Nunn, Rozier, Wagner, Garnett

New NBPA president CJ McCollum is unhappy with how the Heat handled Kendrick Nunn during free agency. On August 3, Miami pulled its qualifying offer for Nunn, making him an unrestricted free agent. Appearing on a podcast with Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, McCollum charged that the Heat made the decision after most teams with cap space had already allocated their free agent money (hat tip to Brad Sullivan of Heat Nation).

“The Kendrick Nunn situation,” McCollum said. “He was gonna be a free agent. They basically waited until the money dried up, right? You correct me if I’m wrong. Have you (Wojnarowski) seen this happening in the league and not being discussed at all? Where they talk about players forcing their way out, player movement. But then what about the manipulation that goes into some of these situations where teams are waiting for the market to dry up before they release a player’s rights.”

Nunn wound up signing a two-year, $10MM contract with the Lakers that includes a player option for the second season. L.A. used its taxpayer mid-level exception for the deal.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

  • Terry Rozier‘s four-year extension with the Hornets is an indication of the weakness of next summer’s free agent class, writes Dan Devine of The Ringer. Several big names that could have been on the market in 2022 have already signed extensions, and Charlotte doesn’t have a strong history of attracting free agents. Devine points out that Rozier’s new contract, which could be worth more than $96MM, only ranks 19th among NBA guards, which is in line with his recent production. It also provides some continuity for a team that lost Devonte’ Graham, Cody Zeller and Malik Monk.
  • The Magic got what they expected from Franz Wagner during Summer League, according to Josh Cohen of NBA.com. The No. 8 pick averaged 8.0 points and 3.8 rebounds in four games and showed good instincts that make up for his limited athleticism.
  • Assistant coach Marlon Garnett has left the Hawks‘ staff to join the Hornets, tweets Chris Kirschner of The Athletic.

Southeast Notes: Hornets, Wade, Simons

If the Hornets are going to turn the fate of their franchise around, they’ll have to improve how they handle lottery picks. Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes that only one of their seven different top-11 picks since 2011 has been an All-Star.

Bonnell breaks down ex-general manager Rich Cho‘s underwhelming draft portfolio noting that beyond Walker, only one of the remaining six players they’ve drafted in the top-11 has even gone on to be a consistent starter (Michael Kidd-Gilchrist).

To Cho’s credit, Cody Zeller, Frank Kaminsky and Malik Monk can all be valuable rotation pieces for the foreseeable future but it’s hard to justify the selections of Bismack Biyombo and Noah Vonleh.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

  • Pending free agent Dwyane Wade has not decided if he’s going to retire or not. If he returns, Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports tweets, he’d want to return with the Heat.
  • Not surprisingly, Anfernee Simons was particularly excited to work out for the Magic, the franchise with whom his namesake made his mark. John Denton of the team’s official site writes about the Florida native’s connection to the team and his decision to enter the draft directly out of prep school.
  • It’s official, the Hawks have made Melvin Hunt, Chris Jent, Greg Foster, Marlon Garnett and Matt Hill assistant coaches under new head coach Lloyd Pierce, the team announced on its website.

Coaching Notes: Hornets, Hawks, Bucks, Blatt

After reaching an agreement to hire former Suns head coach Jay Triano as a top assistant, the Hornets are adding another coach to James Borrego‘s new staff in Charlotte. According to Michael Scotto of The Athletic (Twitter link), former Magic assistant Jay Hernandez has agreed to a deal with the Hornets.

Hernandez, who had been working under Frank Vogel in Orlando, was let go at the same time Vogel was fired by the Magic last month. Hernandez’s name surfaced as one to watch in New York when David Fizdale was hired, but he’ll land in Charlotte instead, teaming up with Borrego and Triano on the Hornets’ new-look bench.

Here are a few more coaching-related updates from around the basketball world:

  • Lloyd Pierce has begun to fill out his coaching staff in Atlanta, with Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated reporting that former Mavericks assistant Melvin Hunt will join the Hawks at Pierce’s lead assistant, while former Suns assistant Marlon Garnett will also be part of the team’s staff. Marc Stein of The New York Times first reported (via Twitter) that the Hawks were in advanced discussions with Hunt.
  • Many of the Hawks‘ former assistants are preparing to relocate to Milwaukee along with Mike Budenholzer, leaving the Bucks‘ old staff in the lurch. Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times looks at what’s next for those Bucks assistants.
  • Darussafaka head coach David Blatt is receiving some interest from EuroLeague powerhouse CSKA Moscow, according to a report from La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). Blatt, who interviewed for multiple NBA coaching jobs this spring, has an extensive international résumé that includes a stint as head coach of the Russian national team.
  • At Sportando, Carchia passes along another La Gazzetta dello Sport story, as the Italian outlet reports that Sergio Scariolo – the coach of Spain’s national team – is pursuing an opportunity to become an assistant in the NBA.