Pelicans Await Clarity On Tom Thibodeau, Bulls
The Pelicans are waiting to see whether Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau becomes available as New Orleans approaches its coaching search, league sources tell John Reid of The Times-Picayune. That puts New Orleans in the same position as the Magic, who are also waiting on Thibodeau, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported last week. Thibodeau “could possibly” become a contender for the Pelicans job if he shakes free, Reid writes, but New Orleans has long regarded Thibs highly and made a play for him in 2010 before hiring Monty Williams instead. Indeed, TNT’s David Aldridge identified Thibodeau as a “clear and obvious candidate” for the Pelicans soon after Tuesday’s firing of Williams.
It’s “inevitable” that the Bulls and Thibodeau will part ways after the season, Wojnarowski wrote last week, while people close to the coach have been convinced Chicago will fire him, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe reported last month. Still, it seems more likely that the Bulls would seek compensation for letting Thibodeau out of his contract than that they would simply fire him, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. The Magic would likely be willing to give up one or two second-round picks for the right to hire Thibodeau, Kyler wrote, while Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times heard that the Magic’s job would be Thibodeau’s to turn down. It’s believed Thibodeau is also the front-runner for the Nuggets job, according to Kyler, though Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post has found it hard to envision Thibodeau on the sidelines in Denver, given the split between the coach’s defense-first philosophy and the Nuggets’ desire to run.
Still, the Pelicans are the only team with a coaching vacancy that possesses a star of the caliber of Anthony Davis, and New Orleans would be at the front of the line to hire Thibodeau if he becomes available, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Pelicans GM Dell Demps, who’s conducting the team’s coaching search, said Tuesday that the effort would begin immediately and that the team hadn’t established a short list yet, Reid notes. However, it appears New Orleans wants to hold off to gauge the circumstances surrounding the coach who would be perhaps the most sought-after on the market.
Pelicans Rumors: Calipari, Cole, Williams
A potential Pelicans coaching candidate appears close to coming off the market, as John Calipari is nearing a deal on extension that would tack an extra season worth $8MM onto his deal with the University of Kentucky, reports Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News. The amended contract would run through 2021/22, according tp DeCourcy. Calipari received a similar extension last year, though that didn’t stop NBA rumors. In any case, here’s more on the latest NBA team with a coaching vacancy:
- The Cavs sought to trade for Norris Cole when he was on the Heat prior to the deadline before the Pelicans were instead able to wrangle the point guard from Miami, as Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal writes within his Final Thoughts column. Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com spotted the Ohio native in Cleveland’s for last night’s Game 5 between the Cavs and the Bulls (Twitter link). Cole, a restricted free agent, is a client of Klutch Sports, the same Cleveland-based agency that represents LeBron James and Tristan Thompson.
- Monty Williams thought Tuesday’s meeting with Pelicans management would include discussion about a contract extension, league sources told John Reid of The Times-Picayune. Instead, it was in the meeting that the Pelicans told Williams they were firing him, and executive vice president of basketball operations Mickey Loomis admits the coach was surprised by the termination, Reid writes. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported Tuesday that the expectation was that the Pels would use the meeting to tell the coach that they would at least pick up his option for 2016/17.
- Williams regarded Loomis as his immediate supervisor rather than consulting with GM Dell Demps, and the coach last week admitted that he and Demps hadn’t always seen eye-to-eye about the roster, Reid writes in the same piece. Demps, who wasn’t in the meeting in which Williams learned of his firing, denied that there was a disconnect between him and the coach.
- Anthony Davis was close with Williams, as USA Today’s Sam Amick notes, but the star was cognizant that Williams probably wouldn’t be his coach for his entire career, and Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel posits that the Pelicans made the change in part to try and entice Davis to stay. Williams sits atop the market for rookie scale extensions, as I examined earlier today, and if New Orleans doesn’t sign him to one this offseason, he’d hit restricted free agency in 2016.
Western Notes: Kerr, D-League, Asik
Steve Kerr dished to Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group about the dynamics of the coaching staff he assembled after he took over as head coach of the Warriors last year. The group includes Alvin Gentry, in whom the Bulls reportedly have interest for their head coaching job should Tom Thibodeau no longer be there. The Nuggets and Magic are also reportedly eyeing Gentry.
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- Sacramento picked up its team option on D-League coach David Arseneault Jr., the Kings announced.
- Despite his ineffectiveness during the Pelicans‘ playoff series against the Warriors, Omer Asik remains in the organization’s plans, and the team still wishes to re-sign the unrestricted free agent, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. ”It’s not the time to talk about it right now,” Asik said about heading into free agency this summer. “But I think there is good stuff going on here. It’s a young team and the future is good.”
- If the Clippers advance to the conference finals it would be the first time in the history of the franchise, Robert Morales of the Long Beach Press Telegram writes. But coach/executive Doc Rivers refuses to look ahead, and is instead focused on notching one more victory over the Rockets to close out the series, Morales adds. “No, no, I think that’s a silly thought,” Rivers said. “We haven’t done it, so for us, we’ve gotta stay focused. We’ve gotta win the series, and that hasn’t happened yet. Honestly, they can say nine more wins and one more win. At the end of the day, that’s fine. But once you get to the individual game, to me that’s where you have to have your focus.”
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Demps On Williams, Coaching Search, Dumars
Pelicans GM Dell Demps reportedly pushed for today’s ouster of coach Monty Williams, but Demps characterized the move to reporters today as an organizational decision, notes Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune (Twitter link). The GM also insisted that there was no disconnect between him and Williams, in spite of Smith’s earlier report, as Smith and fellow Times-Picayune scribe John Reid relay (Twitter links). Demps had much more to say this afternoon about the coaching change and other Pelicans issues, and we’ll pass along the highlights:
- One point Demps didn’t address was the status of his own contract, which remains unclear, though executive vice president of basketball operations Mickey Loomis indicated that the GM was under contract for a few years, Smith tweets. Still, it’s not clear just how many years are left. The Pelicans apparently hadn’t exercised their option on Demps for next season as of last week, as Reid wrote then. In any case, Demps said he’ll be in charge of finding a replacement for Williams, as Jim Eichenhofer of Hornets.com relays (Twitter link). “We’re going to begin that process immediately after this,” Demps said. “I don’t have a timetable. I’m going to lead the search.”
- Demps confirmed that Loomis told him that rumors regarding Joe Dumars and the Pelicans were untrue, according to Smith (Twitter link). The Pelicans last week denied that the team had talked to the former Pistons exec about a role in the organization, though it appears that if Dumars were to come aboard, it would be in a capacity that would oversee Demps but not replace him, as multiple reports have indicated.
- The GM said that he spoke with a number of Pelicans players, including Anthony Davis, after the team announced the firing, Smith tweets.
- Demps and Williams talked just about every day and spoke about all player personnel moves, the GM said, Smith notes (Twitter links). There wasn’t a specific loss or incident that precipitated the firing, Demps added, according to Reid (on Twitter).
- The fate of the team’s assistant coaches depends on the team’s next head coach, Demps said, as Smith passes along (Twitter link).
Fallout From/Reaction To Monty Williams Firing
New Orleans faces its first turning point this summer with Anthony Davis, who becomes eligible for a rookie scale extension in July. So, the decision the Pelicans made to fire coach Monty Williams, one that GM Dell Demps reportedly pushed for, runs through the prism of significant negotiations with the team’s superstar on the horizon. Here’s the latest in the wake of the coaching change, with any new updates added to the top:
- Williams released a statement regarding his termination (hat tip to David Aldridge of NBA.com via TwitLonger). In his statement, Williams wrote, “I want to thank Mr. and Mrs. Benson and Mickey for this unique opportunity I’ve had. My focus today is to appreciate the great journey over the last few years to be the head coach of this team. New Orleans is a special city with very special fans. I appreciate all the support that my family has received from all the great people and organizations we have been affiliated with throughout the area over the years. I need to thank my coaches and players because we take pride in our accomplishments as a group in progressing in the right direction and making the playoffs through the challenges of a long season. I’ll always be grateful for the relationships and thankful that our players always gave everything we asked of them on the court. I only wish the best for this team to continue taking strides forward and providing success to this special city.”
2:38pm updates:
- Williams isn’t expected to become a candidate for the Nuggets vacancy, according to Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post.
- If the Pelicans lure Thibodeau and the Bulls replace him with Fred Hoiberg, there’s a growing belief that the Cyclones would go after Suns coach Jeff Hornacek, who played at the school and whose contract calls for a lower annual salary than Hoiberg’s, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. However, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders heard that Hoiberg, who underwent open heart surgery last month, might not jump to the NBA because of his health.
2:18pm updates:
- The Pelicans will be at the front of the line of suitors for Tom Thibodeau if indeed New Orleans decides to go after the Bulls coach, given the presence of Davis, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
- Those close to Thibodeau have long seen the Pelicans and the Magic as the teams he’d most likely end up with after his time with the Bulls, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick.
- John Reid of The Times-Picayune wouldn’t be surprised if the Pelicans made a run at former Thunder coach Scott Brooks (Twitter link), but for what it’s worth, the Pelicans didn’t reach out to Brooks before firing Williams, a person with knowledge of Brooks’ situation told Amick.
- There was an obvious disconnect between Williams and Demps from the very start of their working relationship in 2010, writes Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune, who argues that if the Pelicans wanted change, they should have looked at the front office instead.
Pelicans Fire Monty Williams
1:00pm: The Pelicans were expected to pick up their team option for 2016/17 on Williams when they met with him this morning, sources told Wojnarowski for an updated version of his full story. Of course, that’s not how it turned out.
12:33pm: Benson told those close to him of his affection for Williams during the playoffs, TNT’s David Aldridge tweets, calling Thibodeau a “clear and obvious candidate” for the freshly opened Pelicans job in a second tweet. The future of Benson’s control of the Pelicans is in some doubt as his family puts up a legal fight for the team.
12:26pm: Demps pushed out Williams, Wojnarowski writes in a full story. The GM has been angling for more control and Williams’ coaching staff sensed decreasing support from management, feeling as though there were “unnecessary obstacles” in their way, league sources told Wojnarowski.
11:56am: The Pelicans have parted ways with coach Monty Williams, the team announced via press release. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported minutes earlier that the team had fired him (Twitter link). Williams was under contract through next season. The futures of Williams and GM Dell Demps have been shrouded in uncertainty of late, though Wojnarowski seems to imply that Demps is safe, saying that the GM “has his way now” (Twitter link).
“Making a decision like this is never easy and is never done hastily, especially when you are dealing with a person of Monty Williams’ character. We thanked Monty for the tremendous work and commitment he made to our organization and the development of our young players, specifically Anthony Davis,” executive vice president of basketball operations Mickey Loomis said in the team’s statement. “While we continue to work towards improving our roster, we decided that now was the time to make this decision. We wish nothing but the best for Monty in the future.”
Demps and owner Tom Benson were also quoted in the statement. Benson sent Williams, Demps and their staffs a letter of congratulations following the end of the team’s season, one in which the franchise made the playoffs for the first time since 2011. The timing of the firing is curious, coming more than two weeks after the team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The sense around the NBA was that the playoff berth, clinched on the final night of the regular season, had saved Williams’ job, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link). John Reid of The Times-Picayune reported that the team planned evaluations of Demps and Williams at season’s end. Demps refuted another report that the organization had given him and Williams playoffs-or-else mandates before the season.
The job would appear to be attractive to potential replacements based on the presence of Davis alone. The Pelicans hold Tom Thibodeau in high regard, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders wrote earlier today, and the team has pursued Thibodeau in the past, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com, who also notes the close relationship between Davis and Thibodeau from their time working with Team USA. Of course, there’s the matter of Thibodeau’s contract with the Bulls, which runs for two more seasons. Turmoil has marked the coach’s relationship with the front office, but Chicago may prefer to seek compensation from another team for the right to hire him rather than simply letting him go after the season, as Kyler wrote.
New Orleans hired Williams before the 2010/11 season, the last one before the team traded Chris Paul to the Clippers. The then-Hornets made the playoffs in Williams’ first season but bottomed out the next year. New Orleans won the draft lottery in 2012, enabling the franchise to take Davis with the No. 1 overall pick, but even this year, the team has yet to finish outside of last place in the competitive Southwest Division since trading Paul. Williams went 173-221 with the Pelicans in his only NBA head coaching gig to date, compiling a playoff record of 2-8.
Southwest Notes: Dumars, Rockets, Parsons
The top two centers on the Pelicans roster are both set for unrestricted free agency, and Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune argues that Alexis Ajinca would be a better value than Omer Asik. Ajinca showed more offensive capabilities and blocked shots at about twice the rate that Asik did, but Asik is likely to command the higher salary, Smith observes. I made a similar suggestion when I looked at the offseason ahead for the Pelicans, but New Orleans would prefer to bring back both Asik and Ajinca, along with all of their other free agents, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe wrote recently. There’s more on the Pelicans amid the latest from around the Southwest Division:
- People around the NBA have believed for a while that Joe Dumars would at some point be likely to take over the responsibilities that Mickey Loomis has atop the Pelicans franchise, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, writing in his NBA AM column. The Pelicans issued a statement denying that the team has spoken with the former Pistons exec about a job in the New Orleans organization, but Loomis, who is a friend of Dumars, and other Pelicans higher-ups reportedly met multiple times with Dumars this past fall. Loomis serves as the team’s executive vice president of basketball operations, though Dell Demps runs the day-to-day affairs as GM. Grantland’s Zach Lowe recently suggested that Dumars remained in play for a supervisory role above Demps.
- Rockets GM Daryl Morey is perhaps the most notorious practitioner of analytics among top NBA execs, but valuing numbers too highly over qualities that can’t easily be expressed in numbers, like leadership, may well be Houston’s downfall in the Clippers series, SB Nation’s Tom Ziller opines.
- The Spurs scheduled a workout with draft prospect Pat Connaughton, trainer Erik Kaloyanides revealed via Twitter (hat tip to Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi). Connaughton, a shooting guard coming off his senior year at Notre Dame, is the 71st best prospect in the rankings that Chad Ford of ESPN.com compiles, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him 98th.
- Mavs GM Donnie Nelson believes Chandler Parsons will someday become an NBA GM himself and says that he’d be glad to mentor the small forward toward a front office career once his playing days are over, as Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com relays.
Woelfel On Thibodeau, Carter-Williams, Middleton
The Magic‘s coaching job would be Tom Thibodeau‘s if he wants it, as Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times hears. Others nonetheless speculate that Thibodeau would prefer to coach the Pelicans, Woelfel notes. Thibodeau still has two years left on his contract with the Bulls, the team he’s coaching in the conference semifinals, though there have been no shortage of rumors indicating that his time left in Chicago is short. The Magic have made little progress in their coaching search so far and haven’t begun formal interviews, while Monty Williams remains the coach in New Orleans. As we wait to see just how Thibodeau’s future plays out, Woelfel has more Bucks-centric rumors to go along with his news linking Brook Lopez to Milwaukee. We’ll pass along some highlights, though Woelfel’s entire piece is a must-read, especially for Bucks fans:
- Some higher-ups around the league tell Woelfel that the Bucks aren’t totally convinced Michael Carter-Williams is their guy at point guard, just as the team had its doubts about Brandon Knight before trading him in February as part of the deal that netted Carter-Williams. Still, there isn’t as much financial urgency with last year’s Rookie of the Year, who has two more seasons left on his rookie scale contract, as there was with Knight, who’s set for restricted free agency this summer.
- The Bucks had significant interest in University of Utah center Jakob Poeltl before he became the highest-profile prospect in this year’s draft to decide against entering, sources tell Woelfel. The 7-footer will be a sophomore next season.
- A front office official for an Eastern Conference team who spoke with Woelfel estimated that Bucks soon-to-be restricted free agent Khris Middleton would make salaries of around $9MM on his next deal, as Woelfel relays on the “Sports Junkies” video segment. The executive expressed doubt about the offer of a $15MM annual salary that another executive recently told Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that Middleton was in line to draw.
Pacific Notes: Rivers, Clippers, Warriors
Austin Rivers is picking the right time to play the best ball of his NBA career, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Considered a bust in New Orleans, Rivers was traded to the Celtics and then the Clippers during the season. He has responded with a stellar playoff performance, particularly in the second round against Houston. Kennedy reports that the Pelicans considered using their stretch provision on Rivers last summer to clear some cap room for the Omer Asik trade. New Orleans declined to pick up Rivers’ fourth-year option, deciding he wasn’t worth another season at $3.1MM. That decision should be a financial bonanza for Rivers, who will become an unrestricted free agent this summer in the wake of his playoff heroics.
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- The Clippers are in unfamiliar territory as a championship contender, according to Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Several roster moves have produced the turnaround, but bringing Doc Rivers and his championship pedigree to Los Angeles may have been the most important. “Doc has always been preaching about the way we need to play in order to win a championship, and I think we can finally see it,” said Glen Davis. “I think beating San Antonio woke us up. I think the Spurs woke up this sense of urgency we’ve always had inside of us, and now it’s paying off against the rest of these teams.”
- The Clippers have also benefited from a change in ownership, notes Robert Morales of the Long Beach Press-Telegram. During the 2014 playoffs, the team had a major distraction in the wake of racially charged remarks from former owner Donald Sterling. “Obviously, last year I thought I protected them from doing all the extra stuff,” Doc Rivers said. “But it was still, you know, they still had it. And so now this year they get to play basketball. I think that’s been big for them.”
- Vultures are starting to surround the Warriors, warns Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group, and that could lead to changes in the offseason. Golden State trails its series with Memphis, 2-1, heading into tonight’s game, and an early playoff exit could justify the team’s critics, even after a 67-win regular season. Thompson points to Andrew Bogut‘s lack of offense at center, the heavy scoring burden on Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and the difficulty free-agent-to-be Draymond Green is having with guarding larger opponents.
Southwest Notes: Davis, Gasol, Grizzlies
A max deal is waiting for Kawhi Leonard, but Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili hold the keys to the Spurs‘ summer, Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors wrote last week. If they retire, the Spurs will have the capacity to sign an elite free agent without moving anyone. If they stay, it may displace other key members of the team. While we wait to see how this pivotal offseason plays out for the Spurs, here’s a glance at the rest of the Southwest Division..
- The Pelicans have a lot of big decisions to make this summer, but nothing will carry more weight than trying to get Anthony Davis to sign a five-year extension, John Reid of The Times-Picayune writes. New Orleans is preparing a max money five-year offer and that’s no surprise given the year that he had. Davis ended the regular season with an eye-popping 30.8 PER, the eleventh highest for a single season in league history.
- The Grizzlies‘ trade of Pau Gasol to the Lakers in the deal that fetched them Marc Gasol was controversial at the time, but GM Chris Wallace felt that it was the right move, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com writes. “Our crowds were minuscule, and in our own market we were second but might as well have been 100th,” Wallace said. “We were nowhere near the Memphis Tigers in terms of capturing the imagination of the city. Pau’s candle had been doused; he wasn’t performing well and we weren’t performing well as a team.” Of course, that deal brought Pau’s brother, Marc Gasol, to Memphis.
- Gasol could be a franchise changer for the right team, Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders writes. Memphis officials have maintained that bringing Gasol back is their top priority this summer and all signs point to him staying put with the Grizzlies. However, he’s still expected to explore his options.