Grizzlies Offer Coaching Post To David Fizdale
The Grizzlies have officially offered their vacant head coaching post to David Fizdale, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (on Twitter). The two sides are currently negotiating contract details with an agreement likely to be reached shortly, Wojnarowski adds.
Fizdale, who turns 42 next month, has been a part of the Heat’s coaching staff since 2008, with the club earning two NBA Championship teams during his tenure. Fizdale previously served as an assistant coach for the Warriors (2003/04) and the Hawks (2004-2008).
The Heat assistant is one of several candidates who have reportedly spoken to the Grizzlies, with Spurs assistants James Borrego and Ettore Messina, Hornets assistant Patrick Ewing, Grizzlies assistant Jeff Bzdelik and Trail Blazers assistant Nate Tibbetts also believed to have been under consideration. Fizdale is the only one of the candidates to score an interview with team owner Robert Pera, who was present during Fizdale’s second meeting with Memphis.
The Grizzlies have been seeking a replacement for former coach Dave Joerger, who was fired after requesting permission to interview for other coaching jobs. The Kings hired him last week, giving him a four-year deal worth $16MM.
David Fizdale Gets Second Interview With Grizzlies
Heat assistant David Fizdale, who interviewed last week for the Grizzlies’ head coaching job, has progressed to a second meeting with the team, sources tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). According to Stein, team owner Robert Pera will be involved in the second sit-down with Fizdale.
Fizdale, who turns 42 next month, has been a part of the Heat’s coaching staff since 2008, with the club earning two NBA Championship teams during his tenure. Fizdale previously served as an assistant coach for the Warriors (2003/04) and the Hawks (2004-2008).
Fizdale is one of several candidates who have reportedly spoken to the Grizzlies, with Spurs assistants James Borrego and Ettore Messina, Hornets assistant Patrick Ewing, and Trail Blazers assistant Nate Tibbetts also believed to be under consideration. However, there have been no indications that any of those interviewees have met with Memphis more than once, or that their interviews have involved Pera.
One candidate that did meet with Pera was Frank Vogel, who ultimately landed in Orlando, tweets Stein. Based on Stein’s report, it’s not clear whether the Magic’s new coach interviewed with Memphis twice, or whether the Grizzlies owner was present for the first interview. Either way though, Vogel had been considered the frontrunner for the Grizzlies’ job before he accepted Orlando’s offer, so the fact that Pera is now meeting with Fizdale looks like a positive development for the Miami assistant.
Rockets Consider Silas-Hollins Pairing
12:52pm: The Rockets don’t expect to hire a coach this weekend, tweets Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com. The front office wants to take more time to consider its decision.
11:39am: Stephen Silas is getting serious consideration for the Rockets’ head coaching job, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. The Hornets assistant was in Houston for a second interview Thursday and met with team owner Leslie Alexander. If the Rockets hire Silas, they would like to add former Nets coach Lionel Hollins as his top assistant, Feigen reports.
Silas “crushed” his interviews, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, and a Silas-Hollins team is being weighed against a possible pairing of Mike D’Antoni and current Grizzlies assistant Jeff Bzdelik (Twitter link). Raptors assistant Rex Kalamian is a candidate to join the coaching staffs in both Houston and Washington, Wojnarowski adds.
Only 42, Silas already has 16 years of experience as an assistant coach. The son of former NBA player and coach Paul Silas was hired by the Charlotte Hornets in 2000 and has also spent time with the Cavaliers and Warriors. The Rockets have liked Hollins for years and had hoped to add him to Kevin McHale’s staff when Kelvin Sampson left, Feigen tweets, but he was hired in Brooklyn before that could happen.
Grizzlies Interview Jeff Bzdelik
The Grizzlies have interviewed Jeff Bzdelik for their head coaching position, Marc. J Spears of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). Spears adds that Bzdelik recently turned down an assistant coaching position on the Kings’ staff for personal reasons (Twitter link).
Bzdelik interviewed with the Rockets today in Cleveland and Spears indicates that the interview with Memphis happened before that meeting. The 63-year-old coach has been an assistant coach with Memphis since the 2014/15 season.
Bzdelik was the head coach of the Nuggets for three seasons, starting in the 2002/03 campaign and compiled a record of 73-119 with the team. He also spent 11 years as a head coach in the college ranks with stops at UMBC, Air Force, Colorado and Wake Forest. He only made the NCAA Tournament once.
Southwest Notes: Grizzlies, Anderson, Terry
The Grizzlies spoke with at least two candidates today as their search for a new coach heats up. Heat assistant David Fizdale came to Memphis for an interview, tweets Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com., as did Portland assistant Nate Tibbetts, according to Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). Both had been previously named as candidates for the job.
Spurs assistant James Borrego impressed Grizzlies officials during his interview earlier this week, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Memphis has also held interviews with Spurs assistant Ettore Messina, Hornets assistant Patrick Ewing and recently fired Pacers coach Frank Vogel (Twitter link). The Grizzlies have significant interest in Vogel, according to ESPN, but so does Orlando (Twitter link).
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- Pelicans free agent Ryan Anderson says he was nearly traded to Cleveland at the deadline, relays Brett Dawson of The Advocate. Appearing on “The Vertical Podcast,” Anderson contends the Cavaliers were trying to work out a deal for him before they picked up Channing Frye from Orlando. “There was a very last-minute phone call that I could have gone to Cleveland,” Anderson said. “I would be playing for the Cavs right now.” Anderson said he didn’t ask the Pelicans to trade him because he wants to have the option in free agency of staying in New Orleans. Anderson’s last experience as a free agent came in 2012 when he was restricted and Orlando swung a deal to send him to the Pelicans. This time, he likes the feeling of being in complete control. “I want to enjoy this process and see where New Orleans is at this summer,” Anderson said. “I want to see where, I don’t know, Houston is at or Sacramento or Washington.”
- The Spurs could be interested in power forward Thomas Robinson if he opts out of his deal with the Nets, according to Jabari Young of The San Antonio Express-News. Robinson would give up a little more than $980K by opting out, but he stands to make much more on the open market with the expected jump in the salary cap. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has talked about the need to rebuild the bench with younger players, and the 25-year-old Robinson, a former teammate of LaMarcus Aldridge in Portland, could be a possibility.
- Rockets point guard Jason Terry thinks Dwight Howard would be a “great fit” with the Mavericks, but only if he adapts to coach Rick Carlisle, according to The Dallas Morning News. “Whatever [Howard’s] role is, he would have to be the one to buy in first, and then you go from there,” Terry said on ESPN Radio’s Cowlishaw and Mosley show. “But he and Dirk [Nowitzki] together? That’s a powerful combination.” The 38-year-old Terry adds that he hopes to play one more season before retiring.
2015/16 D-League Usage Report: Grizzlies
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 Memphis Grizzlies, whose D-League affiliate is the Iowa Energy:
The Grizzlies made 16 assignments for the 2015/16 season, sending three players to the D-League for a total of 86 days. Listed below are all the assignments and recalls made by Memphis for the 2015/16 campaign:
- December 4th: Assigned James Ennis (1st) — Recalled December 6th
- December 8th: Assigned James Ennis (2nd) — Recalled December 9th
- December 11th: Assigned James Ennis (3rd) — Recalled December 13th
- December 17th: Assigned Jarell Martin (1st) — Recalled December 17th
- December 17th: Assigned Russ Smith (1st) — Recalled December 17th
- December 17th: Assigned James Ennis (4th) — Recalled December 17th
- December 22nd: Assigned James Ennis (5th) — Recalled December 24th
- December 22nd: Assigned Jarell Martin (2nd) — Recalled December 24th
- December 22nd: Assigned Russ Smith (2nd) — Recalled December 24th
- December 27th: Assigned James Ennis (6th) — Recalled January 3rd
- December 28th: Assigned Jarell Martin (3rd) — Recalled January 3rd
- January 15th: Assigned James Ennis (7th) — Recalled February 3rd
- January 25th: Assigned Jarell Martin (4th) — Recalled February 3rd
- February 3rd: Assigned James Ennis (8th) — Recalled February 18th
- February 3rd Assigned Jarell Martin (5th) — Recalled February 9th
- February 25th: Assigned Jarell Martin (6th) — Recalled February 29th
Here is how the Grizzlies’ players performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:
- James Ennis: In 24 appearances Ennis averaged 18.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 33.3 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .454/.321/.697.
- Jarell Martin: In 10 appearances Martin averaged 15.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 28.9 minutes per contest. His shooting numbers were .492/.286/.565.
- Russ Smith: In 22 combined appearances with Iowa and Delaware (the Sixers’ affiliate), Smith averaged 27.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 7.8 assists in 37.0 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .460/.304/.778.
Dave Joerger Talks Memphis Exit; Grizz Work Out Wes Washpun
- Former Grizzlies head coach Dave Joerger – who is now the coach in Sacramento – spoke to Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal about the end of his tenure in Memphis, insisting that his relationship with team management was “excellent.” “I wanted to prove to them that I was the guy to go forward for many years. They didn’t feel so,” Joerger said. “But we move on with a lot of fond memories.”
- The Grizzlies brought in Northern Iowa guard Wes Washpun to participate in a group workout on Monday, per Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops (Twitter link). Washpun previously worked out for the Jazz and Hawks.
Grizzlies Talk To Spurs Assistant James Borrego
The Grizzlies met with Spurs assistant James Borrego today about their head coaching job, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Borrego spent 30 games as interim head coach in Orlando last season before joining the Spurs at the start of this season.
Wojnarowski notes that Borrego is among several assistants the Grizzlies are considering, along with Charlotte’s Patrick Ewing, Miami’s David Fizdale, Portland’s Nate Tibbetts and San Antonio’s Ettore Messina. A source says Memphis is going through initial meetings with candidates and the list could get even larger.
Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger was fired eight days ago after requesting permission to interview for other coaching jobs. The Kings hired him Monday, giving him a four-year deal worth $16MM.
Grizzlies Unlikely To Draft Power Forward
- The Grizzlies are unlikely to use their first-round pick on a power forward, Chris Herrington of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal opines. Memphis, which holds the No. 17 pick, drafted Jarell Martin last June and the team views him as their future starter at the position, though he underwent a foot procedure after the postseason, Herrington continues. Zach Randolph still has at least one more quality season in him and JaMychal Green can bridge the gap between Randolph and Martin, Herrington adds.
Latest On Grizzlies Coaching Search
8:00pm: The Grizzlies have received permission to interview Tibbetts, tweets Chris Haynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
10:04am: Memphis has been granted permission by San Antonio to interview Messina, Spears relays (via Twitter).
9:26am: The Grizzlies have requested and been granted permission by the Heat to interview assistant head coach David Fizdale for their vacant head coaching position, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated reports (Twitter links). The date of the sit down has yet to be determined, Spears adds. Miami is scheduled to square off against the Raptors on Sunday in the deciding game of their seven game playoff series. Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical was the first to relay that Memphis would have interest in speaking with Fizdale.
Fizdale, 41, has been on the Heat’s coaching staff since 2008 and has been a part of two NBA Championship teams during his tenure. He has also served as an assistant coach for the Warriors (2003/04) and Hawks (2004-2008).
Former Pacers coach Frank Vogel is widely believed to be the front-runner for the Memphis job, as Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal wrote in a story about a meeting that took place this week between GM Chris Wallace and former Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins. Wallace has downplayed the significance of that rendezvous. Memphis interviewed Hornets assistant Patrick Ewing on Thursday for the post. Ex-Suns coach Jeff Hornacek, Spurs assistant Ettore Messina, and Blazers assistant Nate Tibbetts are also among those on the team’s list of candidates, as Wojnarowski reported.