Pacific Notes: Gasol, Bledsoe, Lakers, Gay
As expected, Suns point guard Eric Bledsoe tells Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic that he will likely return to the court this Wednesday (Twitter link). How well Bledsoe plays following a two month absence will impact both the Suns hopes for the playoffs as well as what kind of offers he will field during restricted free agency this summer. Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Rudy Gay has been having the best stretch of his career with the Kings, but it’s a bittersweet accomplishment considering he’s doing it for a losing team in Sacramento. For the second season in a row, Gay has been traded from a playoff team to a non-contender, and he spoke with reporters including James Herbert of SB Nation about being moved from the Raptors, only to see them turn around and contend for the Eastern Conference’s third seed. “They’re a playoff team,” Gay said. “Of course I’d like to be a part of that. I’m in Sacramento now and I have to build this team. We don’t know if that would have happened if I were there, too. It happened early in the season. Nobody knows.”
- Prior to Thursday night’s games against the Clippers game on TNT, Kobe Bryant told Ric Bucher he believes there’s an 80% chance Pau Gasol will return to the Lakers next season, per a broadcast transcription from Matthew Moreno of Lakers Nation. (H/T Serena Winters)
- In a series of tweets, Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com laments the fact that Phil Jackson is likely headed to the Knicks instead of becoming a more influential part of the Lakers. The legendary coach was spurned by the Lakers in favor of Mike D’Antoni early last season, and it appears the complicated relationship he has with the Buss family will ultimately prevent a front office reunion.
Latest on Knicks, Phil Jackson
4:55pm: Jackson is leaning toward taking the Knicks job offer to become president of basketball operations, per Stephen A. Smith of ESPN.com. Smith’s source says it’s unclear if the role would include coaching the team next season. It was earlier reported that Jackson turned down a coaching offer with New York before the front office gig was extended.
12:40pm: In an update from a previous piece, Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com reports that Phil Jackson would be open to coaching for a short transition period, if it went along with the kind of front office role similar to Pat Riley‘s in Miami that Jackson is interested in. Jackson has managed to work the story on the Knicks job offer overwhelmingly to his benefit. He has everyone talking, with the media essentially negotiating on his behalf in public.
Mitch Lawrence of The New York Daily News believes the Knicks should give Jackson complete control over basketball activities, despite some potential pitfalls with Jackson’s disposition and lack of experience. Lawrence says having Jackson at the helm would be a better gamble than leaving it in the hands of current team executives. Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com makes the same plea, saying that giving Jackson the keys to the franchise would provide hope to a fan base dealing with a disappointing season and bracing for another.
Before Friday night’s game, Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire, and J.R. Smith told reporters they weren’t in the loop on the Jackson talks, including Fred Kerber of The New York Post. Smith added that he thinks coach Mike Woodson is being treated unfairly. “I think he’s done a great job since he’s taken over. To have a bad year, I don’t think he should take the blame for everything. The players should take the blame for that and we should move on as a unit instead of singling people out,” said Smith.
While most are excited about Jackson’s return to the league, New York’s awkward steps up to this point are not being forgotten. Scott Cacciola of The New York Times writes that GM Steve Mills was planning on being more open with the media when the season began, but hasn’t publicly addressed anything about the team since October. With a dive to the bottom of the standings, trade speculation for multiple players, hot seat rumors regarding Woodson, and now the buzz around Jackson, the Knicks have remained silent while their players and coach take the brunt of the media’s questions.
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.
Knicks Notes: ‘Melo, Jackson, Woodson
Over the last two days, we’ve heard about Joakim Noah recruiting Carmelo Anthony for the Bulls and the Knicks offering Phil Jackson a front office position. The news continues to have trickle effects–let’s take a look at the latest from New York:
- A person with knowledge of the ‘Melo/Noah discussion tells Sam Amick of USA Today that the talk has been overblown, and suggested that Anthony’s camp might have leaked the discussion as an attempt to remind the Knicks that his departure in the offseason is a legitimate possibility.
- Anthony denied to reporters, including Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, that the alleged conversation occurred (Twitter link). Anthony said he “can’t” have those kinds of discussions, alluding to league tampering restrictions.
- A source with knowledge of Jackson’s thinking tells Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com that he’s “ready to go back to work.”
- In the same piece, Shelburne quotes Mike Woodson‘s comments to reporters about the Phil Jackson news: “I really don’t have an opinion on it. I really don’t. Again, as I sit here today, I am the coach of the New York Knicks. I am not going to entertain anything about Phil. I have a great deal of respect for Phil, but I am not going to entertain anything about Phil Jackson.”
- Jackson has made it clear that he wants a Pat Riley-esque role with a team, tweets Shelburne. Riley has more power as team president of the Heat than a typical general manager, and built the behemoth that Miami has become after luring LeBron James and Chris Bosh to join Dwyane Wade.
- Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders thinks that the Knicks talks with Jackson are early signs that they will make a splash and replace Mike Woodson this offseason. Jeff Van Gundy, Lionel Hollins, and Tom Thibodeau are some high profile names that have already been linked to the potential vacancy.
- Nuggets coach Brian Shaw isn’t surprised to hear Jackson’s name as a front office candidate, telling Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com that the legend is more suited for that kind of role now. “I don’t think at this point that he would really have the energy to [coach],” Shaw said. “I think he would be more inclined to–in terms of constructing a team from top to bottom–be in more of an advisory role or a front-office role, where he can put his imprint on a team in that way.”
Eastern Notes: Sixers, Price, Free Agency
Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer spoke with the Sixers marketing firm that has been tasked with selling Philly fans optimism in the midst of a miserable season. The “Together We Build” campaign has tried to convince fans that enduring short term on-the-court sacrifices will make future, more competitive Sixers rosters even more sweet. The message hasn’t landed with many fans, as attendance has dropped by more than 3,000 per game compared to last year. Here’s more from around the East:
- Sixers coach Brett Brown said his gut feeling is that Jason Richardson will not play this year, he tells Christopher A. Vito of The Delaware County Daily Times (via Twitter). Richardson has been out all season while recovering from knee surgery, and owns a player option for next year at $6.6MM.
- Magic point guard Ronnie Price has embraced his role as a veteran mentor to younger players in Orlando, he tells John Denton on the team’s site. “I think it is part of my responsibility and part of my respecting the game and respecting the people who mentored me when I was a rookie and a young guy in this league. I would be selfish to not try to mentor some of these guys and share what I’ve learned in this league.” The 30-year-old has another $1.3MM non-guaranteed year left on his contract, but is aware that his playing career could be over soon. “I like my role right now as a player and I still think of myself as a player. What I do as far as talking to guys on and off the court, that just comes naturally to me. I don’t consider myself a player-coach or anything like that; I love the game of basketball so I know that I will always be around the game.”
- In a 5-on-5 post for ESPN, J.A. Adande, Chris Broussard, Israel Gutierrez, Marc Stein, and Ethan Sherwood Strauss weigh in on whether stars for the Heat and Knicks will become free agents this off-season. Their consensus is that LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade will opt out of their player options this off-season.
And-Ones: Lakers, Jackson, Bulls, ‘Melo
The Lakers are privately concerned about the quality of the free agent market this summer, and they’re worried about the prospect of a third straight season outside of the title picture next year, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports. Stein’s note comes within a piece in which he and other ESPN.com writers examine the early-termination option decisions facing LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. Most of them believe the quartet of stars, all of whom are in the top 10 of our Free Agent Power Rankings, will indeed become free agents. While we look forward to the summer, here’s the latest from around the league:
- Phil Jackson “went out of his way” to clarify in an interview with Sam Amick of USA Today that Joe Dumars made the decision last summer to hire Maurice Cheeks as Pistons coach, Amick writes. Jackson served as a consultant during the team’s coaching search last year, and Amick wonders if the Pistons would make a play to replace Dumars with Jackson, who reportedly has an offer to join the Knicks front office.
- The Bulls haven’t begun to seriously crunch the numbers for a pursuit of Carmelo Anthony, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, downplaying the idea that Chicago is gearing up to chase the Knicks star.
- League sources tell Berger that Nikola Mirotic will be seeking salaries worth $3-4MM from the Bulls this summer, as Berger writes in the same piece. That’s a surprise, since an earlier report indicated that Mirotic would probably ask for significantly more than the mid-level exception, worth a starting salary of $5.305MM next season.
- The Wolves were in deadline talks about trading J.J. Barea, but they aren’t so eager to get rid of him that they’d waive him this summer and use the stretch provision on his more than $4.5MM salary for next season, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cites.
Knicks Offer Front Office Gig To Phil Jackson
The Knicks have offered Phil Jackson a job in their front office and he’s expected to make his decision next week, reports Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Jackson has met with Knicks owner James Dolan about rejoining the franchise for which he won two championships during his playing career. The position would entail more than just consulting, a source tells Isola, though it’s unclear exactly what sort of role Jackson would play.
Knicks GM Steve Mills reportedly met with Jackson a couple of weeks ago about the team’s head coaching position, which Mike Woodson continues to occupy, but Jackson said he wasn’t interested in returning to the sidelines. Jackson was anxious to instead meet with Dolan, though apparently there are concerns about how the outspoken Jackson would mesh with the Knicks owner, who typically muzzles his front office employees. The 68-year-old Jackson is also set to undergo another knee replacement surgery, so his health is a concern.
Jackson has said on multiple occasions of late that a front office position would be more appealing to him than a coaching job, and he was apparently in line to run the basketball operations for the Kings if they had moved to Seattle last season. He also served as a consultant to the Pistons last summer when they chose Maurice Cheeks as coach, whom Detroit fired a month ago. Jackson says he’s remained an unpaid adviser to Pistons owner Tom Gores. He’s also engaged to Lakers co-owner Jeanie Buss, and he’s never worked in a formal capacity for any organization other than the Lakers since his relationship with Buss began more than a decade ago.
Jackson would be “handsomely compensated” in his job with the Knicks, Isola writes, though he doesn’t indicate just how much money would be on the table. Jackson signed for the highest coaching salary in NBA history when the Lakers lured him out of retirement in 2005, so it could take a significant outlay for the Knicks to do the same to bring him to their front office.
The hiring of Jackson could affect the team’s plans with Carmelo Anthony. Jackson pointed to Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire when he called the team’s roster “clumsy” last year, Isola notes.
Knicks Rumors: Anthony, Noah, Love
Carmelo Anthony isn’t changing his mind about his desire to opt out of his contract this summer, a source tells Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, who adds that the Knicks, long confident about keeping their star, are starting to worry. Windhorst nonetheless believes Anthony would be better served opting in for 2014/15 and testing free agency next year, when a more attractive list of teams will have cap flexibility. Here’s more on a Knicks franchise producing more news than victories these days:
- Joakim Noah calls the report that he attempted to recruit Anthony to the Bulls “gossip,” but when asked whether it’s accurate, he said the answer doesn’t matter, observes Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com. Sam hears that Anthony also had a conversation with Kevin Love, though Sam doesn’t make it entirely clear if they spoke about teaming up.
- The Knicks will place their D-League affiliate in Westchester, New York, Jonah Ballow of Knicks.com confirms via Twitter. A formal announcement is due Monday. A report late last month indicated a Knicks-owned affiliate in Westchester was in the works to replace New York’s relationship with the Erie BayHawks, who will remain but have a different NBA affiliation next season.
- The “general consensus” when the Knicks hired GM Steve Mills was that they would eventually seek a talent evaluator to complement him, according to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com, who wonders if that’s the role the team is considering for Phil Jackson.
Coaching Rumors: D’Antoni, Corbin, Woodson
Doc Rivers has quickly become the singular voice of authority for the Clippers, but what Lakers counterpart Mike D’Antoni says carries no such weight, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com examines. D’Antoni, who’ll be in the final year of his contract next season, doesn’t seem to have much of a future with the team, Shelburne writes. It’s been nearly a year since the start of the most prolific offseason coaching purge in NBA history, and while it’s unlikely there will be 13 new sideline bosses next season, there will probably be at least a few. Here’s more on where a couple of other coaches stand:
- Tyrone Corbin said he hasn’t had discussions with the Jazz about a new contract to replace the one that expires at the end of the season, tweets Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. Corbin casts the decision to hold off on talks as his, as Genessy also notes, and the coach insists that his uncertain future hasn’t affected the team’s performance. Corbin said he isn’t feeling any extra pressure, either (Twitter links).
- Mike Woodson has been mistrustful of the Knicks front office, according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, who wonders what GM Steve Mills‘ chat with Phil Jackson about the coaching job will do to Woodson’s relationship with his bosses (Twitter link).
- There was more than a year between the end of Woodson’s tenure with the Hawks and the start of his time with the Knicks, but he didn’t receive any NBA head coaching offers during that period, a source tells Marc Berman of the New York Post.
Knicks GM, Phil Jackson Met About Coaching Job
12:36pm: Jackson had wanted to meet with Knicks owner James Dolan instead of Mills, as Broussard noted in his report, but Jackson would be leery of working for Dolan, a source tells Marc Berman of the New York Post. Berman also hears that Jackson needs another knee replacement surgery and raises the specter that he could serve the team as a consultant on its coaching search, as he did with the Pistons last summer.
12:05pm: The Knicks would consider offering Jackson a front office position, a source tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.
10:35am: Knicks GM Steve Mills and Phil Jackson had a meeting about two weeks ago about the possibility of the Zen Master taking over as Knicks coach, reports Stephen A. Smith of ESPN.com. Jackson told Mills he wasn’t interested, Smith hears. Jackson recently issued yet another denial of the notion that he’ll ever come back to coach in an interview with Sam Amick of USA Today. The Knicks are reportedly planning to keep coach Mike Woodson until the end of the season and make an offseason search for a marquee coach part of its pitch to Carmelo Anthony, who can opt out of his contract and leave as a free agent this summer.
Jackson, 68, has repeatedly downplayed the idea that he would return to coaching, leaving a degree of wiggle room in those statements but making it clear that he prefers a front office role. The Knicks have Mills and assistant GM Allan Houston, whom they’re reportedly grooming as a future GM, already in the front office, so it’s unlikely there’d be room for Jackson to have much of a say in the team’s personnel decisions.
The team is reportedly eyeing Tom Thibodeau, Jeff Van Gundy and Stan Van Gundy, too, though Thibodeau will still be under contract with the Bulls this summer, and it doesn’t appear as though he’s going to force his way out of that deal. Stan Van Gundy won’t rule out coaching next season if there’s an overwhelming opportunity, but he’s unlikely to come back to the sidelines. Jeff Van Gundy would probably be interested in returning to his old job, but if he insists on having any control over personnel matters, that could complicate the team’s pursuit.
Latest On Carmelo Anthony, Mike Woodson
Carmelo Anthony is looking for reasons to stay in New York, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, who hears from people close to the superstar that he doesn’t want to make it seem as though he’s tacitly admitting that he needs to find a better team to win. Knicks owner James Dolan is planning to try to convince Anthony that one reason to stay is the notion that the team’s disaster of a season is Mike Woodson‘s fault, Stein hears.
Sources tell Stein that Dolan is only keeping Woodson around this year so that Knicks brass can make the case to Anthony that the team’s problems are almost entirely because of Woodson. Making a coaching change now would give the Knicks a chance to fail without Woodson, opening up the potential for Anthony to conclude that his teammates are the main issue. The Knicks are 22-40, in 11th place in the Eastern Conference and five and a half games out of the playoffs.
In addition to pinning the blame on Woodson, Dolan plans to sell Anthony on his financial incentive to re-sign with the Knicks, promise to bring in another superstar no later than 2015, and vow that he’ll hire a marquee coach this summer, Stein hears. Anthony is reportedly more interested in what the Knicks can tell him about the reinforcements they can bring in this year rather than 2015, which lends credence to the significance of a coaching change. There’s been some sentiment within the organization since Christmas that Woodson should be fired, but the team isn’t hesitating to make a move now just because it doesn’t feel it has a qualified assistant coach ready to take over, Stein writes.