Atlantic Notes: Scariolo, Bridges, Knicks, Cassell
Sergio Scariolo, the head coach of Virtus Bologna in Italy, has interviewed for the Raptors’ head coaching opening a second time, according to Repubblica-Bologna (hat tip to BasketNews.com). The interview reportedly took place via Skype on Monday.
Scariolo has a contract with Virtus until the end of the 2023/24 season. He initially interviewed with the Raptors in Italy last month. He was an assistant with the Raptors for three seasons and is also the head coach of the Spanish national team.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- In response to a fan’s proposal of trading Mikal Bridges to the Trail Blazers for Anfernee Simons or Shaedon Sharpe and the No. 3 overall pick, Alex Schiffer of The Athletic said the Nets aren’t interested in dealing the top player they received in Kevin Durant blockbuster with Phoenix. Schiffer notes the Nets turned down a proposal of four first-rounders from the Grizzlies for Bridges. If they considered trading Bridges, they’d want more than two assets for him, especially since they owe their 2024 first-round pick to Houston.
- Jalen Brunson turned into a star after signing with the Knicks, justifying his four-year, $104MM contract. Now the Knicks need to pursue another star, Fred Katz of The Athletic argues. Brunson can thrive in any system, so the Knicks can cast a wide net and they have enough quality young players and extra draft picks to dangle in trade talks for an All-Star talent.
- The Sixers are losing top assistant Sam Cassell to the Celtics and it’s a big blow, Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com writes. Cassell was the only member of his coaching staff to sit in for coaching meetings on offense and defense. He was also instrumental in player development and was a highly respected leader.
Draft Notes: Black, Whitehead, Henderson, Hornets, Porter
In an interview with Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), Arkansas guard Anthony Black describes himself as an unselfish player who’s willing to do whatever it takes to help his team win. Black displayed impressive passing skills during his freshman year with the Razorbacks, but he said he can defend, rebound and score as well.
Black, who grew up admiring Gilbert Arenas and Kobe Bryant, compares himself to Oklahoma City’s Josh Giddey among current players. Like Giddey, Black is exceptionally tall for a point guard and he uses his 6’7″ height to his advantage.
“I think it helps in my reads,” Black said. “I watch a lot of film, so I’m watching some of the film from the season and some of my reads I’m making just looking straight. There’s a defender, but he’s not tall enough to block it. I can read the back line of the defense a lot easier, I feel like, than a smaller guard who could be guarded by someone with some length and disrupt the passing lane.”
There’s more on the draft:
- The second surgery needed by Duke forward Dariq Whitehead wasn’t caused by a re-fracture of his right foot, tweets Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report. A source tells Wasserman that Whitehead has met with several teams picking late in the lottery as well as teams with multiple first-round selections. He hasn’t been able to work out, but he’s gone through film sessions and met with head coaches, executives and medical personnel.
- The Hornets haven’t set a date for their workout with Scoot Henderson, according to Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. The G League Ignite guard visited the Trail Blazers over the weekend and indicated that he will only work out for Portland and Charlotte. Boone notes that workout days usually aren’t publicized far in advance, and Henderson lives in Georgia so it wouldn’t take him long to get to the Hornets’ facility.
- The Hornets are hosting a workout today with Texas’ Timmy Allen, Baylor’s Adam Flagler, Florida’s Alex Fudge, Michigan State’s Joey Hauser, Southern Utah’s Tevian Jones and North Carolina State’s Terquavion Smith (Twitter link).
- Craig Porter Jr. has already conducted workouts with the Mavericks, Warriors, Celtics, Pistons, Magic and Cavaliers, and he has upcoming sessions with the Clippers, Wizards, Nuggets and Knicks, according to a tweet from Global Scouting. The Wichita State guard is a potential late second-round pick.
Heat Notes: Vincent, Lillard, Robinson, Undrafted Players
Gabe Vincent showed Heat teammate Bam Adebayo that he could handle a starring role during an exhibition game in the summer of 2021, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. In what was expected to be an easy tune-up for Team USA as it prepared for the Olympics, Vincent scored 21 points as Nigeria surprised the Americans.
“Man, when he torched us in the Olympics, in the exhibition game facing Nigeria,” Adebayo said. “He came out with that type of energy, that type of voracity and that type of anger. I felt like, from there, he’s one of us.”
It took a while for Vincent to make his breakthrough in Miami, but it happened when Kyle Lowry was sidelined for a few games with knee soreness earlier this season. Vincent stepped into the starting point guard role and has kept it through the NBA Finals.
“Our stars, Jimmy (Butler), Kyle, Bam, they have just been in my ear and telling me just to play, play basketball,” he said. “They trust my IQ of the game, and they want me just to go out there and play hard.”
There’s more from Miami:
- In an appearance on Showtime’s “The Last Stand,” Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard names the Heat as one of the teams he would consider if he ever decides to ask for a trade, relays Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. “Miami obviously,” Lillard said. “Miami is the obvious one. And Bam is my dog. Bam is my dog for real. Miami is the obvious one. Brooklyn is another obvious one, because Mikal Bridges is my dog too.”
- Duncan Robinson has been able to salvage his season after falling out of the rotation for a while, notes William Guillory of The Athletic. Robinson said he had to focus on incremental improvement every day as he tried to regain coach Erik Spoelstra’s trust. He provided a huge momentum shift in Miami’s Game 2 win with 10 points in a little over two minutes at the start of the fourth quarter. “We knew they were a really good team and we just needed to come out with a sense of urgency in that fourth,” Robinson said. “It was kind of like a now or never sort of thing.”
- John Hollinger of The Athletic is the latest analyst to examine the Heat’s penchant for finding productive undrafted players. He notes that many of Miami’s G League finds began their careers with other organizations, adding that team president Pat Riley showed the same ability to uncover undrafted gems in New York.
Dariq Whitehead Has Second Foot Surgery
Projected first-round pick Dariq Whitehead underwent a second surgical procedure on his right foot this week, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who adds that the Duke forward is expected to be ready when training camps open in late September.
Whitehead’s first foot surgery was performed last August, and Dr. Martin O’Malley of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York called the latest procedure a “revision operation with bone grafting for a fifth metatarsal Jones fracture,” according to Wojnarowski.
“He will begin his rehab process in two weeks and should be ready for full participation at the start of NBA training camp,” O’Malley told ESPN.
Whitehead was considered a 10-top draft prospect when he committed to Duke, and he was able to recover from the first surgery to play 28 games. He averaged 8.3 PPG and shot 43% from three-point range as a freshman with the Blue Devils.
Whitehead, who is projected at No. 26 in ESPN’s latest mock draft, has met with several teams during the pre-draft process, including some in the lottery, sources tell Wojnarowski.
Damian Lillard: “I Want To Have An Opportunity To Win”
Damian Lillard talked more about whether he wants to finish his career in Portland in an interview with Erick Savage on Showtime’s “The Last Stand” (video link).
Lillard has said numerous times that he prefers to remain with the Trail Blazers, but only if the team is able to compete for a title. He noted the good fortune that the organization received by landing the No. 3 pick in this year’s lottery and seemed to send a message to Blazers management to use it wisely.
“I want to have an opportunity to win in Portland,” Lillard said. “… We got an opportunity, asset-wise, to build a team that can compete. If we can’t do that … then it’s a separate conversation we would have to have.”
Lillard made a statement after the end of the regular season that he’s “not interested” in rebuilding and wants the front office to seek out veterans rather than add more young talent in the draft. The Blazers are widely reported to be doing just that, shopping their first-rounder to see what they can get in return.
While Lillard has never directly asked Portland’s management for a trade, rumors that’s he’s unhappy with the direction of the organization have persisted for a long time. The team has missed the playoffs the past two years, even though Lillard is coming off the highest-scoring season of his career.
In the interview, Savage asks Lillard if it’s time for the Blazers to move him to a contender.
“I think that’s a loaded question,” Lillard responded, “because they could trade me to somewhere that we all say, you know, ‘This is a contender.’ But what is it going to cost for me to get there? What is it going to cost that team that we’re saying is a contender for me to get there? And how is it a guarantee that we’re gonna be playing in June when I get there? How do we know if everybody’s gonna be healthy? How do we know if it’s gonna work out?”
Lillard stated that he doesn’t want to end up in a situation like Russell Westbrook did with the Lakers. Although there was optimism when Westbrook arrived, he quickly became an outcast in L.A. and Lillard said the team “had him coming off the bench like he’s not a Hall of Famer.”
Lillard admits nothing is guaranteed no matter where he goes, but added that he has made his wishes clear to Blazers management.
Heat Notes: Herro, Martin, Spoelstra, Butler
Tyler Herro has been listed as out for Game 3 of the Finals on Wednesday, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald relays. Herro, who is recovering from a broken hand, said over the weekend he’s still experiencing soreness when he shoots. The Heat guard hasn’t received full medical clearance to play, though he’s practicing with the team.
“He has not been cleared [by doctors to return to game action] yet, so that’s where we are,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But we’re encouraged by the work that he has been doing.”
We have more on the Heat:
- Eastern Conference Finals standout Caleb Martin said he’s feeling much better after battling an illness in the first two games of the series, Jackson reports in the same story. The forward said his condition affected his play. “Cold chills, body aches, heavy, heavy migraine,” Martin said of his symptoms. “I was just laying down pretty much in the dark.” He only scored three points in each game.
- After guiding the underdog Heat to the Finals, Spoelstra has positioned himself to receive a lucrative extension, according to the Herald duo of Jackson and Anthony Chiang. Spoelstra reportedly has one year remaining on his contract and now has six Finals appearances on his resume in 15 seasons. The Pistons gave Monty Williams a contract averaging $13MM per season, driving up the market for proven head coaches. Spoelstra’s current salary is believed to be in the $8MM range.
- Jimmy Butler is averaging 17 points in the series after posting 24.7 points per game in the conference finals. Butler says he’s “done great” in the series, contributing in other ways, Joe Vardon of The Athletic writes. “I’m not a scorer. Just because I score a lot of points one game, that doesn’t make you a scorer. I’m not a volume shooter. I don’t do any of that,” he said. “I don’t press to score. I only press to win. If I pass the ball every possession, if we win, I don’t care. If I shoot the ball every possession and we win, I don’t care.”
Pacers Notes: Walker, Hendricks, Clowney, Jackson-Davis, Forwards
The Pacers hold the No. 7 pick in the lottery and they’ll host two high-level prospects for solo workouts on Wednesday. Houston Cougars forward Jarace Walker and UCF forward Taylor Hendricks will visit separately, the team’s PR department tweets (Twitter links). Walker is listed right at No. 7 on ESPN’s Best Available list; Hendricks sits at No. 9.
We have more on the Pacers:
- Alabama’s Noah Clowney, who visited the Pacers in a six-player workout on Tuesday, said he can be a defensive force in the NBA, Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star writes. “I can guard, but I want people to know I can guard multiple ways,” Clowney said. “I can contain people, but I can also push people a certain way, guard multiple people, guard multiple positions. … I’d imagine when I first start practicing, I’m going to struggle guarding smaller guys. … As far as protecting the rim, that doesn’t really change.” Clowney is ranked No. 20 by ESPN; the Pacers also own picks No. 26, No. 29, No. 32 and No. 55.
- Marcus Bagley (Arizona State), Josh Bannan (Montana), Alex Gross (Morehead State), G.G. Jackson (South Carolina), and JT Shumate (Toledo) also visited the Pacers on Tuesday, according to a team press release.
- Indiana University star forward Trayce Jackson-Davis visited on Monday and said he’s been working on his perimeter shooting, according to Dopirak. “I’ve been in Los Angeles working on my game, working on my 3-point shot,” Jackson-Davis said. “It’s something that I’ve showcased in these workouts. The hard work that I’ve put in is paying off. I’ve been able to shoot 3s and hit them in live settings and that’s something I’m going to have to do at the next level. … They’ve never seen me do it. No one could know if I could shoot the ball.” He’s ranked No. 28 by ESPN.
- The Pacers will likely look to upgrade at forward via either free agency or trade this offseason. Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype believes they could target either Jerami Grant or Kyle Kuzma in unrestricted free agency or put together an offer sheet for either Cameron Johnson and Rui Hachimura. On the trade front, they could make a run at either of the Raptors’ starters, Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby.
Southeast Notes: Magic, Trent, Hawks, Sanogo, Wizards
The Magic hold a pair of lottery picks and an early second-round selection in this month’s draft. What picks would be ideal at those spots? Jeremy Woo of ESPN weighs in on that subject and believes Overtime Elite shooting guard Ausar Thompson and Kansas shooting guard Gradey Dick would make nice fits at No. 6 and No. 11, respectively. Belmont small forward Ben Sheppard would give the Magic another shooting option if they chose him at No. 36, Woo adds.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- The Magic have their eyes on shooting guard Gary Trent Jr. in free agency, according to Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney. Trent is planning to decline his option so that he can enter the market. Fellow Raptors guard Fred VanVleet is doing the same but the Magic would rather develop Cole Anthony and Jalen Suggs for another season before addressing the point guard spot, Deveney writes.
- UConn big man Adama Sanogo is among six prospects who will visit the Hawks on Wednesday, Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. Miami guard Isaiah Wong, Virginia Tech forward Justyn Mutts, Kentucky forward Chris Livingston, Santa Clara forward Keshawn Justice and Gonzaga guard Rasir Bolton will also work out for Atlanta.
- The Wizards are hosting Morgan State guard Isaiah Burke, Detroit-Mercy guard Antoine Davis, Texas A&M guard Dexter Dennis, George Washington forward Ricky Lindo Jr., Texas Tech forward Kevin Obanor and West Virginia guard Erik Stevenson on Wednesday, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets.
Nuggets Notes: Defense, Porter Jr., Malone, Pace, Green, Smith
Nuggets coach Michael Malone ripped into his team’s defensive effort in Game 2. During the team’s film session on Tuesday, Malone encouraged his players to talk through their mistakes and take responsibility for their assignments. Forward Michael Porter Jr. didn’t mind the tone, he told Mike Singer of the Denver Post.
“You definitely gotta own it,” he said. “You can’t be sensitive. Me personally, I know I gotta play better. If my teammates tell me that, I’m not going to be sensitive. If I tell that to someone else, like, ‘Yo, you gotta tell me if we need to work on switches.’ They’re not going to be sensitive.”
Porter knows he has to ramp up his game. He is shooting just 3-for-17 beyond the arc during the series, along with some defensive lapses.
“I think intensity and energy wasn’t where it needed to be from me personally or really the team as a whole,” he said. “We can talk about the mistakes that we had defensively, but really, it’s about intensity.”
We have more on the Nuggets:
- Malone wants to see his team increase the tempo in Game 3 on Wednesday but they have to play better defensively to make that happen, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN writes. “We want to play fast; they want to play slow,” he said. “When you’re not getting stops, advantage Miami Heat because now they have their 2-2-1 press back to the zone. We’re playing way too slow to try to attack that, which is forcing a lot of late-clock situations for us.”
- Veteran forward Jeff Green, who will be a free agent after the series, said he made a point of taking Aaron Gordon and Bruce Brown under his wing. “I’m here to push them to be better,” Green told Rob Mahoney of The Ringer. “Make sure that they’re doing what they need to do for us to win, but also for their career to go to the next level. Together we’ve been great, and that’s just a culmination of our relationship and trying to understand each other.”
- Ish Smith has barely played in the postseason but the journeyman point guard, who is on his 13th team, could win his first championship ring if Denver takes the series. Smith will be a free agent after the season and hopes to get another opportunity. “Until they cut off the lights and say don’t come back, I’m going to be out here playing,” he told Ryan McFadden of the Denver Post. “You’re still going to see No. 14 running fast.”
Atlantic Notes: Harden, Nash, Fernandez, Raptors’ Draft, Simmons
James Harden‘s free agency will likely come down to re-signing with the Sixers or signing up for a second stint with the Rockets, Shams Charania of The Athletic said on the Ryen Russillo podcast (hat tip to RealGM). Harden is expected to decline his $35.64MM option.
“I really think he’s torn with the prospect of staying in Philadelphia or moving on to Houston potentially and returning back to his home,” Charania said. “That’s where his roots are and his family there, of course. They (the Rockets) have got upwards of $60 million (in cap space). They can make even more money available. Close to $70 million in cap space.”
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- As of Monday, neither former Nets coach Steve Nash nor Kings associate head coach Jordi Fernandez had been invited for a second interview for the Raptors head coaching job, according to Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. However, the front office is taking its time on hiring Nick Nurse’s replacement, so they could eventually be called in for another interview. There’s no immediate need to fill the position, since assistant GM and VP of player personnel Dan Tolzman and his staff are handling draft preparations.
- Speaking of the Raptors’ draft, they hold the No. 13 pick in the first round. Eric Koreen of The Athletic discusses a handful of candidates they could consider at that spot, with Michigan’s Kobe Bufkin and Kansas’ Gradey Dick viewed as the best fits if they’re still available, since the shooting guard position is in flux.
- The Nets’ Ben Simmons posted a couple of workout images on social media, indicating that he has moved from rehab and recovery to getting back on the court, Nets Daily relays. Simmons didn’t play after Feb. 15 due to a nerve impingement in his back. He could be added to Australia’s roster for the FIBA World Cup if he’s healthy enough to play later this summer.