Pelicans To Pursue Kyle Lowry In Free Agency?
There’s rising buzz around the NBA that the Pelicans intend to enter the hunt for free agent point guard Kyle Lowry this offseason, league sources tell Marc Stein (Twitter link).
The Raptors are expected to make an effort to re-sign Lowry this summer, but figure to face competition from a number of teams, including some that tried to acquire the six-time All-Star at this year’s trade deadline, such as the Heat and Sixers.
The Pelicans don’t project to have the cap room necessary to make a serious bid for Lowry, but could pursue a sign-and-trade deal for the 35-year-old. New Orleans also could create some flexibility by letting one or both of their restricted free agents – Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart – walk, or by trading Eric Bledsoe and/or Steven Adams to reduce team salary.
The idea of the Pelicans going after Lowry may seem odd at first glance, since the veteran guard isn’t exactly on the same timeline as forwards Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, who are 21 and 23, respectively. But New Orleans’ young stars could benefit from the leadership and guidance of a vet like Lowry. The longtime Raptor’s ability to either run the offense or to play off the ball and space the floor (he made 39.6% of his three-pointers this past season) would make him a nice fit to play alongside Williamson and Ingram.
Whether Lowry would reciprocate the Pelicans’ interest remains to be seen. Adding a player of his caliber would certainly raise the team’s floor, but New Orleans didn’t even qualify for a play-in spot in 2020/21, and Lowry presumably wants to play for a club that can realistically compete for a championship in the short term.
If the Pelicans are unable to land Lowry, it will be interesting to see if they make it a priority to acquire another veteran point guard. One fallback option could be Thunder guard Kemba Walker, who would likely be available for a relatively modest trade package — that’s just my speculation though.
Omri Casspi Announces Retirement
1:54pm: Casspi announced his retirement decision in a press conference today, writes Ennio Terrasi Borghesan of Sportando.
1:31pm: Ten-year NBA veteran forward Omri Casspi will retire from professional basketball, tweets James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Casspi, now 33, was selected with the No. 23 pick in the 2009 NBA draft by the Kings. The first Israeli NBA player to be drafted in the first round, Casspi logged two tours of duty in Sacramento, playing with the Kings from 2009-11 and again from 2014-2017.
Casspi also had NBA stops with the Cavaliers, Rockets, Timberwolves, Pelicans, Warriors and Grizzlies. He most recent NBA season was 2018/19, Casspi’s lone year with Memphis.
A 6’9″ tweener who saw time at both forward positions, Casspi boasts NBA career averages of 7.9 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 1.1 APG. He will retire with an NBA shooting line of .454/.368/.678.
More recently, Casspi played the prior two professional seasons in Israel, where he also had started his pro career in 2005. He primarily played for Maccabi Tel Aviv during his two Israeli League tenures (2005-2009 and 2019-21), but was loaned to Hapoel Galil Elyon during the ’06/07 season.
COVID-19 Concerns Return Amid NBA Finals
An NBA season that began under the threat of COVID-19 appears to be ending the same way. In addition to Thanasis Antetokounmpo, who has been ruled out of tonight’s Game 5 after being placed in health and safety protocols, the Bucks will be without assistant coach Josh Oppenheimer, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
This will be the third straight game that Oppenheimer has been forced to miss, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link), but there’s hope he may be back for Game 6 (Twitter link).
The virus has also impacted the officiating crew for tonight, as the league announced (via Twitter) that referee Sean Wright has been placed in health and safety protocols. James Williams will take his place.
There has been growing concern that the league wouldn’t be able to crown a champion without COVID-19 becoming a factor again, writes Sam Amick of The Athletic. Cases are rising across the country, and the sports world is feeling the effects. Bradley Beal had to leave the U.S. Olympic team this week and Jerami Grant‘s status is uncertain as he remains in the health and safety protocols.
Amick points out that the league has taken great precautions since the season started in December to minimize the effects of the virus. Testing has been constant for players, coaches and staff members, and some teams have been shut down for a week or more after recording multiple positive tests.
“There’s a real push to stay safe, to stay healthy, to be vigilant,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said before today’s cases were reported. “Both teams, we’re very, very close to the finish. We’re excited about finishing this strong.”
There have been recent changes throughout the NBA landscape, Amick adds. Masks are once again required for media members after those policies had been relaxed, and staff members are being asked to stay away from public settings as much as possible. Suns guard Devin Booker told Amick that most players are choosing to stay inside and avoid potential risks.
Teammate Chris Paul had to sit out the first two games of the Western Conference Finals after returning a positive test. He’s concerned about his family in the Los Angeles area, which has experienced a recent surge in the virus.
“I pay close attention to it,” he said. “I have family just like everybody else. My parents (are) traveling to Milwaukee (for games), coming to this game (in Phoenix). My kids. L.A. just put a new mandate in where you wear a mask inside. My family is there. I pay attention to it just like everybody else. Try to control what I can control. Stay in the moment with the Finals, but health is a huge concern, not just for my family but for everybody.”
Will Barton To Decline Player Option
Nuggets swingman Will Barton will opt out of his $14.7MM salary for next season, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Both sides hope a new deal can be reached in free agency, Charania adds.
Today was the deadline for a decision from Barton, who has been in Denver since being acquired in a trade with Portland midway through the 2014/15 season. He is the longest-tenured player on the Nuggets’ roster and will be an offseason priority for president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Denver owns Bird rights on Barton and will be able to exceed the cap to re-sign him, notes Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). Even without Barton on the books, the Nuggets project to be over the cap for next season when taking into account the team’s first-round draft pick and a possible $7.6MM salary for JaMychal Green, whose player option decision is due by July 26.
[RELATED: 2021 NBA Offseason Preview: Denver Nuggets]
Barton, 30, suffered a late-season hamstring injury that limited his availability in the playoffs. He appeared in 56 regular season games and averaged 12.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists while shooting a career best 38.1% from three-point range.
Keep up with all the offseason decisions on player options here.
Wizards Hire Wes Unseld Jr. As Head Coach
The Wizards have formally agreed to a four-year deal with Wes Unseld Jr. that makes him the team’s new head coach, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The club put out a press release officially announcing the move.
“Wes is one of the most highly-regarded assistant coaches in the NBA and clearly separated himself from the large and diverse group of candidates we considered,” Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard said in a statement. “His strong record as an in-game tactician along with his attention to detail on both sides of the ball, combined with his reputation for player development and outstanding character during his 20+ years of coaching left no doubt that he was the best choice to guide our team to the next level.”
Unseld, who grew up in Maryland and attended Johns Hopkins from 1994-97, began his coaching career in 2005 in D.C. He spent six years as an assistant on the Wizards’ staff from 2005-11 before moving on to coaching roles with the Warriors (2011-12), Magic (2012-15), and Nuggets (2015-present).
After promoting him to the role of Michael Malone’s associate head coach a year ago, Denver reportedly made a significant push for Unseld to get his first head coaching job. He had been gaining steam as a candidate in Washington in recent weeks, and was reportedly offered the job by the Wizards on Friday, beating out Bucks assistants Charles Lee and Darvin Ham for the job.
Unseld Jr. is the son of Wes Unseld, who spent over 20 years as a Wizards coach and executive after playing for Washington/Baltimore for 13 seasons. The Hall-of-Famer passed away in 2020.
The younger Unseld will replace Scott Brooks on the sidelines for the Wizards. Brooks coached the team for five seasons, but didn’t reach an agreement on a new contract after Washington was eliminated from the playoffs in the first round this spring.
The Pelicans are now the only team making a coaching change this offseason that hasn’t yet announced its new head coach. However, Suns assistant Willie Green is on track to fill that vacancy.
A full breakdown of this year’s coaching searches can be found right here.
Pelicans Plan To Hire Willie Green As Head Coach
JULY 16: Green is expected to be officially hired after the Finals, Andrew Lopez of ESPN tweets.
JULY 13: The Pelicans plan to hire Green as their next head coach, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic. The two sides are working through the final stages of the process, Charania adds.
JULY 12: Current Suns assistant coach Willie Green appears to have become the strong favorite to nab the position of Pelicans head coach, writes Andrew Lopez of ESPN.
Lopez is the latest to name Green as the frontrunner for the job. Christian Clark of NOLA.com said the same thing over the weekend, as did Fletcher Mackel of WDSU (Twitter link).
Green, 39, has served as an assistant with Phoenix during the past two seasons under head coach Monty Williams. He is currently facing off in the NBA Finals against the Bucks. Bucks assistant coach Charles Lee had been floated along with Green last week as one of New Orleans’ preferred candidates.
Green was also a Warriors assistant coach under Steve Kerr from 2016-19, winning two titles with the club in 2017 and 2018. Green has appeared in four NBA Finals as an assistant coach.
Lopez writes that Green’s skill in building relationships with players has made him an especially appealing contender for a head coaching position. Green was a 12-year NBA pro, and actually suited up alongside current starting Pelicans guard Eric Bledsoe on the Clippers during the 2012/13 season. Green played for New Orleans during the lockout-abbreviated 2010/11 NBA season, prior to the club’s re-brand as the Pelicans.
JaVale McGee, Keldon Johnson Added To Team USA Roster
6:05pm: Those additions are now official, USA Basketball tweets.
11:58am: Nuggets center JaVale McGee has been added to the U.S. Olympic team, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Spurs forward Keldon Johnson will fill the other open roster spot, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
They will take the place of Bradley Beal, who isn’t able to play after being placed in health and safety protocols, and Kevin Love, who withdrew from the team earlier today over concerns about the calf injury that forced him to miss most of the season.
McGee, 33, is a 13-year veteran and a three-time NBA champion. He will provide frontcourt depth for an American team that is loaded with guards and wing players, but is short on rebounders and rim protectors.
Johnson, 21, is coming off a breakthrough season after appearing just 17 games as a rookie. He averaged 12.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists for San Antonio this year while starting 67 of the 69 games he played.
A member of the U.S. Select team that has scrimmaged against the Olympians, Johnson has the advantage of being very familiar with the system run by head coach Gregg Popovich. He had become a favorite of USA Basketball decision makers and staff, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Team USA was down to just six active players before today’s additions as Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton won’t join the team until after the NBA Finals. The Americans will open Olympic play July 25 against France.
Wes Unseld Jr. Offered Wizards’ Head Coaching Job
The Wizards have offered their head coaching job to Nuggets assistant Wes Unseld Jr., Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.
Contract negotiations are expected to begin on Saturday and the two parties are likely to come to terms, Wojnarowski adds in a separate tweet, Those talks could begin tonight, according to Mike Singer of the Denver Post (Twitter link).
Unseld will replace Scott Brooks after a lengthy search by Washington’s front office. Washington’s brass is confident an agreement will be reached this weekend, Ava Wallace of the Washington Post tweets.
The Nuggets made a hard push for Unseld to get a shot at his first head coaching job, including numerous calls from president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, Singer adds in a separate tweet.
Reports surfaced on Thursday that the Nuggets assistant was the frontrunner for the job. Bucks assistants Darvin Ham and Charles Lee were the other finalists.
Unseld, who grew up in Maryland and attended Johns Hopkins from 1994-97, began his coaching career in 2005 in D.C. He spent six years as an assistant on the Wizards’ staff from 2005-11 before moving on to coaching roles with the Warriors (2011-12), Magic (2012-15), and Nuggets (2015-present).
His father, Hall-of-Famer Wes Unseld Sr., was a D.C. legend. The elder Unseld, who passed away in 2020, earned five All-Star nods and an MVP award in Baltimore and Washington for the then-Bullets, then coached the team and later held a front office role.
All coaching searches around the league have now been completed. The Pelicans and Wizards were the last two teams seeking a head coach and New Orleans is on the verge of hiring Willie Green to fill their vacancy.
Lillard On Report He Plans To Request Trade: “It’s Not True”
Addressing a report that stated he plans to request a trade, Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard told reporters today that “it’s not true” (Twitter link via Mark Medina of USA Today).
Henry Abbott of TrueHoop reported this morning that Lillard intended to ask for a trade within the next few days, citing a source close to the player. However, according to the All-NBA guard, those rumors aren’t coming from him and he still hasn’t made any firm decisions about his future (Twitter link via Chris Mannix of SI.com).
Prior to Lillard’s media availability, Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian also disputed Abbott’s report.
Although Lillard denied that any trade request is imminent, he also made it clear he’s not fully satisfied with the situation in Portland and would like to see more urgency from the Blazers (Twitter link via Medina).
Lillard thinks new head coach Chauncey Billups can help the team improve, but doesn’t view Billups as the missing piece, telling reporters that he doesn’t believe the roster as constructed is championship-caliber (Twitter link via Sean Highkin of Bleacher Report).
Frank Isola of SiriusXM NBA Radio (Twitter link) reported this afternoon that Lillard will meet with Billups and Blazers president of basketball operations Neil Olshey in Las Vegas today, which the point guard confirmed. However, Lillard made it clear that Olshey and Billups were already in Vegas and that it won’t be a “big, crazy meeting” — just a conversation (Twitter links via Medina and Mannix).
According to Lillard, as long as the franchise is taking strides toward competing for a championship, his preference is still to be a Blazer for his entire career. When asked if he envisions himself in Portland next season, he said yes (Twitter links via Marc Spears of The Undefeated).
While the Blazers can perhaps breathe a little easier knowing that they won’t have to deal with a Lillard trade demand in the coming days, the 31-year-old’s comments will put a tremendous amount of pressure on Olshey to upgrade the roster this offseason. With limited cap flexibility and no 2021 draft picks available, Olshey may have to get creative and be willing to take a bigger swing on the trade market in the coming weeks to make sure Lillard is happy heading into 2021/22.
Damian Lillard To Address Report About His Future
Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard plans to discuss rumors about his future with the organization after today’s practice with Team USA, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
A report this morning by Henry Abbott of TrueHoop states that Lillard plans to ask for a trade within the next few days, citing a source close to the player. Lillard will presumably address that report at his session with the media. He risks a fine from the league for making a public trade request, so anything less than a full denial would set off alarms in Portland.
This isn’t the first time that rumors have emerged that Lillard might want to move on. He has been with the Trail Blazers throughout his nine years in the NBA and has talked in the past about wanting to spend his entire career with one organization. But Portland has been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in four of the past five seasons, including a loss to an undermanned Nuggets team this years, and recently underwent a coaching change, with Chauncey Billups replacing Terry Stotts.
Lillard, who has called the 2020/21 season the most frustrating year of his career, discussed why this is such an important time in his career during an interview with Haynes.
“There are few reasons: One being I’m not getting any younger. Our environment has always been great,” Lillard said. “We’re not losing a lot, but we were eliminated by a shorthanded Denver team that I felt we should have beat. I just walked away from that really disappointed. I was like, ‘Man, this just isn’t going to work.’ We’re not winning the championship, but we’ve got a successful organization. We’re not a franchise that’s just out here losing every year and getting divided. We have positive seasons; we just don’t end up with a championship.
“So I feel like at this point, I basically made the decision that if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll always be where you’ve always been. Just like I hold myself accountable for a bad performance or hold myself accountable to make sure that I work my ass off when I’m training, I must be accountable for saying what needs to be said even if it’s not popular. And that just comes with age. When I was younger, I felt like maybe I’ll be out of place, but I feel like I’ve earned the right to say we must do better. We must do better if we want to win on that level.”
Besides suggesting that Lillard intends to request a trade, Abbott also says within his report that Blazers owner Jody Allen may be looking to sell the franchise. If one or both of those claims are true, an already-eventful offseason in Portland will get even more interesting.
Lillard is expected to be available to reporters at about 2:30 pm CT this afternoon, as Chris Mannix of SI.com tweets.