Western Notes: Love, Papanikolaou, Jazz
There are rumors circulating that the Lakers will attempt to use this year’s high lottery pick to assemble the sort of trade package that finally convinces the Timberwolves to part with Kevin Love and end the uncertainty that hangs over this franchise even before the 25-year-old enters the final year of his contract, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Many in NBA circles believe that Love will eventually end up in Los Angeles, either via trade or free agency. He grew up in California, attended UCLA and his father, Stan, played for the Lakers, notes Stein.
More from out west:
- Rockets GM Daryl Morey is in Barcelona scouting Kostas Papanikolaou, tweets Marc Berman of The New York Post. The rights to the former second round pick of the Knicks were acquired from the Trail Blazers as part of the Thomas Robinson deal. Berman believes Papanikolaou will be in the NBA next season.
- Jabari Davis of Basketball Insiders examines what the Jazz need to do in order to rebuild the franchise into a winner.
- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban believes that Samuel Dalembert was the “steal” of last year’s free agent class, writes Dwain Price of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Dalembert is averaging 6.5 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 1.17 BPG in 20.2 minutes per game.
- Holger Geschwindner, who has mentored Dirk Nowitzki since he was a teenager in Wurzburg, Germany, believes the 35-year-old Mavs star can play at a high level for “three or four more years easily,” barring serious injury, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. Nowitzki has stated on several occasions that he intends to re-sign with Dallas at a significantly reduced salary after he becomes a free agent this summer. The 16-year veteran, who is projected to finish the season among the top 10 scorers in NBA history, has repeatedly said that his next contract will be for two or three years, writes MacMahon.
Steve Kerr Front-Runner To Coach Knicks
Steve Kerr is indeed the favorite to coach the Knicks in 2014/15, a source tells Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Frank Isola of the New York Daily News first suggested earlier this month that there was a decent chance Kerr would replace Mike Woodson after the season, and there’s been plenty of speculation surrounding the TNT broadcaster and former Suns GM since. Many around the organization quickly came to believe that Kerr would take over on the bench with his former coach, Phil Jackson, installed as team president, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported.
The latest news is a further blow to Woodson, though there has long been little hope of him continuing to coach the team beyond 2013/14, even though the Knicks picked up his 2014/15 option before the season. New York is just a game and a half out of the playoffs, but Woodson’s charges have spent much of the season plumbing the depths of the Eastern Conference after a 54-win season and a trip to the conference semifinals last year.
Kerr hasn’t given his broadcasting colleagues the sense that he’s ready to leave his gig, and he’s refused to discuss the possibility of taking the Knicks job, but he said prior to the season that he could envision becoming a coach and he recently reiterated that point. Jackson, who would have run basketball operations for the Kings had they moved to Seattle last year, had reportedly convinced Kerr to coach the team in that circumstance. The Zen Master also strongly encouraged Pistons owner Tom Gores to hire Kerr last summer, though Detroit wound up picking the since-fired Maurice Cheeks instead.
The Warriors apparently would also target the 48-year-old Kerr, who’s never coached before, if they part ways with Mark Jackson this summer, so the Knicks may have some competition. Speculation has linked many other names to the New York job, so if Kerr decides against taking it, the team probably won’t be short on alternatives.
And-Ones: Williams, Carmelo, Leonard, Isiah
Jazz forward Marvin Williams hasn’t had any discussions with management about his future, writes Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune. However, Falk reminds that Utah rejected a deadline deal that would have sent Williams out in an exchange for a first round pick, hoping that the 6’9 forward would eventually re-sign this summer. Williams is finishing up the final year of a deal that will pay him $7.5MM this season, and based on glowing approbation from his teammates and coaches recently, it’d appear that Utah remains strongly interested in keeping him for the long-term.
Here are more of tonight’s miscellaneous news and notes:
- Carmelo Anthony finally had his first conversation with Phil Jackson before the Knicks‘ loss to the Lakers on Tuesday, though the 29-year-old forward tells Newsday’s Al Iannazzone that it was nothing more than small talk: “He told me to get ready, go out there and play, try to finish the season off strong, that’s it…We didn’t really talk about too much. Talked about him being in New York, him coming back out to L.A., the weather. Just generic. We really didn’t talk about nothing.”
- There’s an argument to be made that Kawhi Leonard is the most valuable player on the league’s best team, writes Sam Amick of USA today, who also thinks it’s safe to assume that securing Leonard’s services will be a top priority for the Spurs this summer. The 6’7 forward will be eligible for a contract extension in July.
- Isiah Thomas neither confirmed nor denied an interest in taking a job with the Pistons in the near future, but he did intimate his strong loyalty to the franchise: “My heart has never left this organization…I don’t think you will find a person on this earth that loves the Pistons more than I do” (Eric Lacy of MLive.com reports).
- Bill Laimbeer was also asked about a potential role with the Pistons but declined comment.
- At the recommendation of a Los Angeles-based ankle specialist, Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova will sit out the remainder of the 2013/14 season (Twitter links via the team’s official Twitter account).
- Some may contend that Taj Gibson is a strong candidate to win the Sixth Man of the Year title, but Sam Smith of Bulls.com argues that the Bulls forward exemplifies the NBA’s Most Improved award.
- Former 76ers swingman Rodney Carney is headed to Lebanon to play for Al Riyadi Beirut, reports Enea Trapani of Sportando.
Coaching Rumors: Jackson, T’Wolves, Adelman
The topic of Mark Jackson’s job security with the Warriors is riddled with complexity, and ESPN’s Israel Gutierrez and J.A. Adande discuss how this year’s struggles may affect the third-year head coach’s future in Oakland. Gutierrez suggests that Jackson bears some responsibility for Golden State’s frustrating play at times this year, while Adande surmises that Jackson will be in big trouble if the Warriors fail to improve on their six playoff wins from last season. Adande adds that ownership has spent nearly half of a billion dollars to purchase the team and upgrade the arena, and doesn’t think that patience accompanies those types of expenditures.
You can find additional coaching-related links below, including more from the above piece:
- Adande believes that a contract extension for Jackson would imply a significant vouch of support from management; however, the fact that there hasn’t been one yet makes him wonder if anyone within the organization’s hierarchy has Jackson’s back.
- Gutierrez thinks the Warriors are hastily trying to figure out Jackson’s potential as a head coach, and that Jackson could be heading into the postseason with his future in Golden State on the line.
- Timberwolves executive Flip Saunders is close to college coaches Fred Hoiberg and Tom Izzo, both of whom owner Glen Taylor admires, notes Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Walters senses that the chances of Rick Adelman returning to coach the Wolves are “remote” and points to the team’s coaching search from six years ago, when the team was willing to give the job to Izzo. Still, Izzo was strident in saying this week that he has no interest in coaching the Pistons. Saunders will be in New York to watch both Hoiberg and Izzo coach in the NCAA tournament this week, Walters adds via Twitter.
- Aside from Mark Jackson, there are many other coaches are in worse situations, notes Sean Deveney of the Sporting News. Toronto’s Dwane Casey, Washington’s Randy Wittman , Portland’s Terry Stotts, and Utah’s Tyrone Corbin are all finishing up their contracts this year and have yet to receive extensions.
- Deveney also groups Knicks coach Mike Woodson with Corbin as two contract-year coaches who are on “ice that is thin as ice can get”, though it’s worth mentioning that Woodson actually had his 2014/15 contract option picked up last September.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Atlantic Links: Sixers, Knicks, J.R. Smith, Celtics
The Sixers went most of last summer without signing a free agent, and that’s the plan again this time around, coach Brett Brown told reporters, including Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“No free agent is going to want to come to Philadelphia at this stage,” Brown said, explaining that the team is instead focused on developing young talent. “Why would a good free agent want to come in and be a part of a rebuild?”
The Sixers plan to wait another couple of years before attempting to make a splash on the market, Brown added, so it seems like they’ll be looking up at their Atlantic Division rivals for a while longer. Here’s the latest on a couple of them:
- James Dolan and Steve Mills have already concluded that the Knicks roster requires a shakeup, despite the team’s run at a playoff spot, observes Marc Berman of the New York Post, who believes Phil Jackson‘s recent comments suggest the Zen Master agrees.
- The desire for changes in New York doesn’t necessarily mean the Knicks will look to unload J.R. Smith, Berman writes in a separate piece.
- With the Celtics in line for the fifth overall pick, as our Reverse Standings show, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge shares insight on how he scouts prospects, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald details.
Metta World Peace Seeking Return To Knicks
Metta World Peace asked for and received a buyout from the Knicks last month, but he’s said he wouldn’t have done that if he knew Phil Jackson, who coached him with the Lakers, was going to become New York’s president of basketball operations. A source tells Marc Berman of the New York Post that World Peace yearns to return to the Knicks and would love to re-sign with the team. The Knicks have an open roster spot, though Berman makes it seem as though a reunion with World Peace is more likely in the offseason. World Peace met with Jackson during New York’s game with the Lakers on Tuesday, and it was tantamount to a job interview, Berman says.
Jackson is high on the former Ron Artest, and he’s praised the defensive-minded forward’s practice habits, Berman writes, while pointing out that the Zen Master was more critical of World Peace in his latest book. The Marc Cornstein client will be seeking a minimum-salary deal this summer, according to Berman. World Peace gets $250K from the Knicks as part of his buyout arrangement, Berman notes, though it’s not quite clear if that’s all he’s receiving or if the Knicks are paying his full salary for 2013/14, too. His contract with the team originally called for him to make $1.59MM this season with a player option worth more than $1.66MM for next year.
World Peace has said he requested his buyout when coach Mike Woodson apparently asked him not to attempt to become a locker room leader. There’s a strong chance Woodson will be let go in the offseason, so perhaps his replacement will find World Peace a better fit. The 34-year-old World Peace, who suffers from arthritis in his knees, said in December that he wanted to play through 2018/19, but he scaled that back to 2015/16 in recent comments to the Post.
Eastern Notes: Young, Rose, Murry
Former Bulls MVP Derrick Rose has begun practicing with the team in non-contract drills, coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters including K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. His progress puts him on track to participate in USA Basketball’s July minicamp, but doesn’t change his status as out for the season. Here’s more from the East:
- Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer told Andy Greder of Pioneer Press that frontcourt injuries spurred Atlanta to bring rookie Mike Muscala over from Europe sooner than planned, but the coach added that the big man is in their long term plans. “It is because of the injuries, but it’s also because he is somebody that we really think has a future with us,” said Budenholzer. “He is a smart player and he is picking things up quickly.” After selecting Muscala in the second round of the 2013 draft, the Hawks signed him mid-season to a four-year contract that isn’t fully guaranteed beyond 2013/14.
- The Sixers‘ Thaddeus Young would have embraced a trade to the Spurs, had rumors along those lines come to fruition at the deadline, he tells Jabari Young of The San Antonio Express-News. “You know, it’s a great opportunity … I want to play for a winning team, I want to win a championship. At the end day, right now, the trade deadline is over and I’m just trying to develop guys and rebuild the culture,” said Young, who sounded open to the possibility of joining the Spurs in the future. “It can happen. Like I said, I can play with anybody.”
- Toure’ Murry is living his dream, telling Jessica Camerato of Basketball Insiders that time spent in Summer League, overseas, and the D-League have all been worth it now that he has a spot at the end of the Knicks bench. “Everybody’s dream is to get to the NBA. It just makes me feel great to say I play in the NBA and (my family and peers are) basically living their dream through me,” Murry said. “It’s kind of like a real story when I look back on it. It just shows you never give up, never get sidetracked because there’s a lot of things that can do that, and just know you can do it if you have a strong mental state and always believe in yourself. Even when you’re short, you’re skinny, always believe in yourself.”
Lakers Notes: Kaman, Buss Family, Jackson
The Lakers set a franchise record for their largest margin of defeat earlier this season, but Tuesday they put up the first 51-point quarter in team history during a rout of the Knicks. All of it still adds up to a lottery appearance, and Tuesday’s win only makes the job of landing a top-five pick tougher. Here’s more on the purple-and-gold:
- Chris Kaman made it clear early in the season that he’s not pleased with his role on the Lakers, and the team’s efforts to trade him at the deadline came up short. He made a rare appearance in the starting lineup Tuesday, but he’s still frustrated and isn’t on speaking terms with coach Mike D’Antoni, as Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times details. The 11th-year center, a free agent at season’s end, told reporters that he regrets not “doing due diligence” to investigate the team before signing this past summer.
- A majority of the Buss family was at one point reportedly in favor of Phil Jackson returning to the Lakers, but the family didn’t strongly support him for a role that would have placed him above GM Mitch Kupchak, notes Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter links). The family was, at best, split on that idea, Shelburne says.
- The specter of Jackson is a frequent media talking point, but Lakers players have put the issue out of their minds, as Jodie Meeks told reporters, including fellow ESPNLosAngeles.com scribe Dave McMenamin.
Lakers Rumors: Jeanie Buss, Jackson, Kobe
The draft is the major story for most of the teams surrouding the Lakers in our Reverse Standings, but the drama is always multifaceted in L.A. Here’s the latest:
- Lakers co-owner Jeanie Buss is the team’s governor and ultimate decision-maker, and commissioner Adam Silver recently told her that she should be more assertive in exerting her authority over the team, according to Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding. That’s somewhat surprising, given that the league has also acknowledged concerns about a conflict of interest between Buss and her fiance, Knicks president Phil Jackson.
- Four of the six Buss siblings, each of whom owns a share of the Lakers, were in favor of bringing Jackson back to the organization, but Jim and Johnny Buss were not, Ding adds in the same piece. It’s unclear at what point the four siblings wanted Jackson to return.
- Privately, the Lakers, Jeanie Buss included, are relieved that Jackson is off to New York and that he no longer casts a shadow over the organization, Ding observes.
- Jackson never seemed to understand how much of an intimidating presence he is to the Buss family, helping forestall any reunion between Jackson and the Lakers, writes Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
- There was talk among the Buss family of bringing Jackson back to the Lakers in an informal role, but the team never approached Jackson with the idea, Shelburne reports in the same piece.
- Steve Nash “doesn’t disagree” that Kobe Bryant and Mike D’Antoni aren’t a good fit with each other, as the point guard told ESPN radio’s Colin Cowherd on Monday (transcription via Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News). Nash nonetheless added that he doesn’t think Bryant and D’Antoni have had enough of a chance to decide how they feel about each other.
- Amin Elhassan of ESPN.com, in an Insider-only piece, weighs the rebuilding jobs facing the Lakers and the Knicks, concluding that New York’s road is easier, given Jackson’s presence and superior existing talent.
Atlantic Rumors: World Peace, Fisher, Ainge
The Atlantic Division title race is shaping up to be fairly compelling, with the Raptors just two games up on the Nets as both teams battle the Bulls and Wizards for home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Yet most of the off-court chatter around the division involves the three clubs playing out the string or, in the case of the Knicks, trying to pull off a miracle run to the playoffs. Here’s the latest:
- Metta World Peace wouldn’t have agreed to a buyout deal to free himself from the Knicks last month if he knew Phil Jackson would join the franchise, as the former Ron Artest said during his appearance Monday on the “Max & Marcellus Show” on ESPNLA 710 Radio (transcription via Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com).
- Sam Amick of USA Today wouldn’t be surprised if the Knicks pursue Derek Fisher to coach the team next season, given the mutual respect between Jackson and the 39-year-old guard, who plans to retire at season’s end (video link).
- The Celtics are in line for a top-five pick this year, as our Reverse Standings show, but president of basketball operations Danny Ainge doesn’t think that he’ll draft a franchise player with the selection, as he tells Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe. “I think it’s maybe a little bit better [than last year’s draft] by comparison, but it’s not even close to one of the best draft classes in the last 10 years,” Ainge said.
- Sixers 10-day signee Casper Ware has a reputation for tough defense, but coach Brett Brown is also high on his scoring ability and calls him a “true point guard,” notes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.