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Grizzlies OK Wolves To Interview Dave Joerger

May 21st, 2014 at 1:45pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:45pm: The Grizzlies will probably seek compensation if the Wolves decide to hire Joerger, but it wouldn’t be a first-round draft pick, Zgoda tweets, and Memphis isn’t looking to stand in the way, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

12:59pm: The Timberwolves spoke with Izzo last night, but there’s no chance now that he’ll take the Minnesota job, according to Dan Barreiro of KFAN (Twitter link; hat tip to Zgoda).

12:53pm: The Wolves made their request for permission to speak with Joerger prior to this week’s front office chaos in Memphis, though it’s unclear if the Grizzlies gave Minnesota the green light before the turmoil began, reports Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter links). Joerger is set to interview with the Wolves on Thursday, Amick adds.

12:19pm: Joerger is scheduled to interview with the Wolves within the next 24 hours, Wojnarowski tweets.

11:23am: It appears Joerger is at odds with Grizzlies scouting director David Mincberg, as they share mutual “hate,” tweets Geoff Calkins of The Commercial Appeal.

10:27am: Joerger appears to be the favorite at this point, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link), and his affection for the state of Minnesota runs deep, Stein tweets.

9:59am: The Grizzlies have granted the Wolves permission to interview coach Dave Joerger for their coaching vacancy, reports Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Joerger is eager to leave Memphis and Grizzlies ownership wants him out, too, but neither side wants to vacate his multiyear contract, according to Zgoda. Joerger has two years left on a three-year deal with Memphis that’s worth approximately $6MM. Joerger apparently received assurances from the attorney for Grizzlies owner Robert Pera that he would remain as coach of the team in the wake of the front office turmoil in Memphis, but it seems there’s mutual interest in a parting of ways. Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders has a longstanding relationship with Joerger, who grew up in Minnesota, and the interview will probably take place later this week, Zgoda hears.

Joerger just finished his first season as Grizzlies coach, overcoming concerns about his readiness for the job early in the season and an injury to Marc Gasol to complete a late run at 50 wins. Memphis pushed the Thunder to seven games in the opening round of the playoffs, but the success masked turmoil within the organization that’s come to light this week.

Marc Stein of ESPN.com first suggested earlier this week that Joerger would become a coaching candidate for the Wolves if the Grizzlies let him go.  The club had reportedly been waiting on Tuesday’s draft lottery for clarity, and with the No. 13 picked locked in, it seems Saunders and company are ready to move forward. The same weekend report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that noted openness toward trading Kevin Love identified Sam Mitchell as a coaching candidate. Saunders interviewed Lionel Hollins several weeks ago, and though a report two weeks ago indicated that the team was waiting on an answer from Michigan State coach Tom Izzo before proceeding, the team isn’t holding back from looking at others.

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Cavs Unlikely To Land LeBron Without Upgrades

May 21st, 2014 at 11:54am CST by Chuck Myron

LeBron James won’t consider signing with any team that isn’t ready to seriously contend for a title in 2014/15, and he’s unwilling to play for an inexperienced coach, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Windhorst casts doubt on the notion that landing a third No. 1 overall pick in four years will be enough to convince James to opt out of his contract with the Heat and sign with the Cavs this summer, unless Cleveland packages the pick or other assets in a trade for a star. To that end, the Cavs will most likely inquire with the Timberwolves about Kevin Love, according to Windhorst.

It would take a “dream scenario” to entice James to leave the Heat, Windhorst writes, and doing so would be virtually impossible if Miami were to win the title this year and set up a run at a fourth straight title next season, the ESPN.com scribe also says. Windhorst raises the idea that the Heat may also inquire about Love this summer in an effort to further enhance their odds of keeping the four-time MVP, but it’s unclear whether that’s truly in team president Pat Riley‘s plans or mere speculation.

Windhorst’s report seems to suggest that the Cavs must hire an experienced coach if they’re to have any chance at bringing James back to the franchise. Cavs GM David Griffin has indicated a desire to pivot from the team’s strategy of collecting high draft picks into a pursuit of veterans, so perhaps that philosophy will extend to the team’s coaching search, too.

The pressure is also seemingly on other would-be suitors for James to target additional stars in an effort to surround James with as strong a team as possible, just as the Heat added Chris Bosh to a team that already had Dwyane Wade when they signed James in 2010.

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Celts Willing To Trade For Star Without Extension

May 21st, 2014 at 11:16am CST by Chuck Myron

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has expressed a willingness to trade for a marquee player entering the final season of his contract with no assurances he would sign an extension with the team. Ainge made his comments to Fred Toucher and Rich Shertenlieb on 98.5 The Sports Hub radio in Boston (Twitter link), and while he didn’t mention anyone in specific, it would appear he was referring to Kevin Love, who’s set to become a free agent in 2015, when he can exercise an early termination option in his contract.

Love reportedly sees the Celtics as an intriguing destination as he pressures the Wolves, through his agents at Excel Sports Management, to trade him by the draft. Ainge’s choice of words is key, as it’s unlikely Love signs an extension with any team, given that he’d be able to sign a much more lucrative deal as a free agent. Love isn’t even eligible to sign an extension until January 25th, 2015, the three-year anniversary of the date he signed his most recent extension with the Timberwolves. Teams aren’t allowed to sign players to extensions for six months after they acquire them via trade, unless they pull off an extend-and-trade transaction, which would further limit Love’s earning power. Ainge may be more concerned with receiving promises that Love would re-sign with the team in free agency in 2015 if he were to trade for him.

The Celtics would have plenty of competition for Love, as the Warriors, Lakers, Suns and Knicks are also in the mix for the All-Star power forward. They also have to make decisions concerning Rajon Rondo, who like Love is set to hit free agency after next season.

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Magic To Pursue David Lee?

May 21st, 2014 at 9:12am CST by Chuck Myron

The Magic are a team “to watch out for” with the Warriors becoming more open to trading David Lee, reports Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group. New Warriors coach Steve Kerr has expressed a desire for a stretch power forward, and GM Bob Myers is also eyeing additional shooting, signaling a willingness to shed Lee, largely a traditional power forward.

Thompson suggests the Magic’s failure to land a top-three pick in the draft lottery will make the team more willing to take on Lee to solidify a frontcourt that lacks a marquee power forward. That rests largely on the supposition that the Magic don’t end up with a big man like Julius Randle or Noah Vonleh with the No. 4 overall pick next month, of course. Thompson casts doubt on Golden State’s ability to land Kevin Love, even in the wake of a report identifying the Warriors as a prime contender him, but Thompson asserts that Arron Afflalo, who like Love went to UCLA, would help attract the Timberwolves star.

It’s nonetheless unclear whether the Warriors are indeed interested in Afflalo or anyone in particular as they ponder a trade for Lee, who’s due more than $30.5MM over the next two seasons. The Magic are one of the few teams with the cap flexibility and the organizational patience to absorb that sort of contract attached to a player who’s not a superstar, so they make sense as a destination for Lee if Orlando has assets that intrigue the Warriors enough to motivate them into a move. The only real pressure on the Warriors to make a drastic change this summer would be self-created, as I wrote last week when I looked ahead at Golden State’s offseason.

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And-Ones: Love, Celts, Cavs, Blatche, Clips, Grizz

May 20th, 2014 at 9:02pm CST by Alex Lee

Some thought tonight’s NBA Draft Lottery results could have major Kevin Love implications, though salary cap guru Larry Coon of ESPN doesn’t believe the Timberwolves star can be moved before the draft. According to Coon, such a deal would require cap room that teams will not have before July (Twitter links here).

The Celtics, who pick sixth, are a “sleeper” team in the Love sweepstakes, but owner Wyc Grousbeck says he isn’t hurrying the rebuilding effort, as he tells Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe. “That KG deal might be once in a lifetime, but I think over the next four or five years, we will get back to being contenders, if not three years,” he said. “I think we can get back there. I think this summer, one way or another, we’ll take positive steps, whether we just draft two players and continue to build, or whether we make a blockbuster deal.”

Here is what else is going on around the Association tonight, as the Heat and Pacers battle it out in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Finals:

  • ESPN’s Chad Ford considers Andrew Wiggins the favorite to land in Cleveland after the Cavaliers won Tuesday night’s lottery (via Twitter). Ford tweeted before the results were in that the Cavs preferred Jabari Parker, however he indicated afterwards (also on Twitter) that he was a corrected by a trusted source in Cleveland.
  • The admirable play of Andray Blatche down the stretch and into the postseason for the Nets could set him up for a decent pay day, writes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. Blatche has said he will opt out of his one-year player option for next season, though Brooklyn controls his Early Bird Rights according to Bontemps.
  • Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News provides the transcript of today’s post-television interview session with new Warriors coach Steve Kerr, which is a bit juicier than what we relayed earlier on. Per Kawakami, Kerr covets a big man that can shoot. Meanwhile, Golden State GM Bob Myers also indicated the team will pursue shooting this summer, tweets Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group.
  • Speaking before the lottery proceedings, commissioner Adam Silver detailed the process that comes with a forced sale of the Clippers. However, Silver did indicate that he will continue to urge owner Donald Sterling to sell the team on his own, writes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
  • Though he hasn’t been assured that his role is permanent by Grizzlies owner Robert Pera, GM Chris Wallace said at a Thursday afternoon press conference that he believes Memphis can win the NBA title next season, writes Zack McMillin of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “We’re a very formidable team. We just have to find a way to make that next step. Is it easy? No, but it’s attainable and we’re not going to rest until we hang that championship banner and have this parage this town deserves,” Wallace said.
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And-Ones: Love, Sterling, Nets

May 19th, 2014 at 10:33pm CST by Cray Allred

Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck tells Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe that Boston won’t start any serious trade discussions until the lottery is over. “Nothing has been discussed until we see the pick,” Grousbeck said. “When we see what pick it is, the phones will start ringing and we’ll start answering the phones.” Here’s more from around the league:

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Coaching Rumors: Joerger, Scott, Lakers

May 19th, 2014 at 7:15pm CST by Cray Allred

The recently fired Mark Jackson returned to ESPN for the NBA playoffs and he’s not the only talker turned coach/GM turned talker again, the Detroit Free Press staff writes.  Longtime Bears coach Mike Ditka was fired in 1992, signed on with NBC, left to coach the Saints in 1997, and eventually came to ESPN.  Staying in the NBA, Doug Collins, now with ESPN, knows a thing or two about going back and forth from the booth to the sidelines as well.  Here’s more from around the league:

  • The sense in coaching circles is that Dave Joerger would become a head coaching candidate for the Wolves if he were to be let go by the Grizzlies, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. Stein notes that Joerger is a long-time associate of Minnesota president of basketball operations Flip Saunders.
  • Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times has heard that the Lakers haven’t and won’t open formal talks with any coaches before the lottery, but they have put out feelers for some (Twitter link).
  • In another tweet, Pincus says it’s safe to consider Byron Scott a fallback coaching option for the Lakers, presuming that Scott will be around no matter how lengthy L.A.’s process becomes.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

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Cavs Rumors: Love, D’Antoni, Hollins

May 19th, 2014 at 5:43pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cavs are in the lottery again, after declaring last year the end of their lottery run. While Cleveland is certainly disappointed to be watching ping pong balls yet again, they would still be thrilled in the unlikely case that they find themselves vaulted to the top-three in tomorrow’s lottery. Here’s more from Cleveland:

  • Bob Finnan of The Morning Journal looks at the likelihood that the Cavs join in on the Kevin Love sweepstakes.
  • Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio tweets that Cleveland will “undoubtedly” try to leverage their assets into trade discussions for Love.
  • Mike D’Antoni is not a candidate for the Cavs’ coaching job, tweets Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com.  D’Antoni and new GM David Griffin were together in Phoenix, but there are no reunion plans in the works.
  • An NBA source says there’s mutual interest between the Cavs and Lionel Hollins regarding the coaching vacancy, but there’s no interview scheduled yet, tweets Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer.
  • Earlier, we passed on news that Cavs coaching candidate Kevin Ollie won’t be leaving his college job this season.

Cray Allred contributed to this post.

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Wolves Won’t Trade Kevin Love Before Draft

May 19th, 2014 at 11:20am CST by Zachary Links

The Timberwolves won’t trade All-Star forward Kevin Love before the draft on June 26th, owner Glen Taylor tells Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.  Taylor went on to say that he hasn’t discussed trading Love recently with team president Flip Saunders and said Love has not asked for or told the team to trade him.

It was reported yesterday that Love hadn’t demanded a trade out of Minnesota but his unwillingness to sign an extension certainly makes that a possibility.  While Taylor is apparently holding on to hope that he can keep Love for the long term, it’s hard to see the club not exploring trade possibilities.

Meanwhile, since dealing Love would obviously signal a rebuilding process in Minnesota, one would imagine that the T’Wolves would look for a top pick in this year’s talent rich draft in return.  I would venture to say that Taylor’s statements are an attempt at a poker face in response to the rumors, but he is also probably holding out hope that he can make Love have a change of heart.

The Warriors, Lakers, Suns, Knicks, and Celtics have all been cited as possible landing spots for Love.

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Wolves Notes: Love, Draft, Coach

May 19th, 2014 at 10:15am CST by Zachary Links

Kevin Love has told the Timberwolves that he won’t sign an extension with them and teams are already circling the wagons.  The Warriors, Lakers, and Suns are among the teams with interest and the Celtics are said to be an increasingly intriguing destination for the All-Star.  Meanwhile, Knicks president Phil Jackson has been plotting to acquire Love via trade, so they can be added to the list of possibilities as well.  Here’s the latest out of Minnesota..

  • If the T’Wolves trade Love and rebuild, it could change their draft situation over the next couple of years, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.  The Wolves owe the Suns a first-round draft pick, but it’s top 13 protected in 2014 and top 12 protected in 2015 and 2016.  If that happens, the Suns wind up with the Wolves’ 2016 and 2017 second-round picks.
  • The Wolves are believed to have met with a number of 2014 NBA Draft prospects at the NBA Draft Combine that are out of their range with their expected 13th pick, writes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. This could be due diligence on the Wolves’ part, or this could be the beginning stages of accepting that it’s time to move Love while they can still return some value for him and somewhat control the process.
  • There’s a right way and a wrong way to trade Love, writes Michael Rand of the Star Tribune.  For starters, Minnesota shouldn’t move the forward before hiring their next coach.
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