Southwest Notes: Cash, Rockets, Mavericks, Morant
WNBA Hall of Famer-turned-Pelicans executive Swin Cash is deftly juggling motherhood and her work with New Orleans, writes Rod Walker of NOLA.com (subscriber link).
“I’m not going to sit here and paint this rosy picture,” Cash said of her work-life balance. “Whenever I’m speaking or talking to other people, I tell them that it’s just about sacrificing. And if you’re willing to sacrifice, how much are you willing to sacrifice? My husband is an entrepreneur and we both played sports and understand teamwork, so we know what it’s like to be a team player and that helps us juggle it all.”
Now the Pelicans’ vice president of basketball operations and team development, Cash won three WNBA titles with the Detroit Shock and Seattle Storm while being named to four All-Star teams. She is the mother to two young sons.
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- The rebuilding Rockets will know just how high they’ll be picking in the first round after the NBA draft lottery on Tuesday. In the meantime, Kelly Iko of The Athletic takes stock of what some hypothetical Houston lineups would look like if the team is able to add one of 2023’s top prospects, including Victor Wembanyama, Scoot Henderson, and Brandon Miller.
- The Mavericks face an interesting offseason after falling from a 2022 Western Conference Finals berth to missing the 2023 playoffs entirely. In a new mailbag, Tim Cato of The Athletic wonders if Dallas might be best served by looking to build through the draft and retaining most of its free agents this summer, rather than undergoing a full roster teardown around All-Star Luka Doncic. He also addresses how he feels about the rest of the club’s personnel, Jason Kidd‘s top strengths as a coach, and more.
- By not being named to an All-NBA team, Grizzlies All-Star point guard Ja Morant could actually help his Memphis’ future roster construction, as Mark Giannotto of The Memphis Commercial Appeal details. By missing out on the accolade, Morant will also lose potentially up to $40MM over the five-year course of his current contract. That money could be allocated to other Memphis salaries, with several key players presently on rookie scale contracts.
Heat Notes: Butler, Adebayo, Spo, East Finals, Sixers
Heat stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo are grateful for their extended break between last Friday’s series-sealing victory over the Knicks and Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
Miami got to take Saturday and Sunday off before beginning its prep Monday, according to Chiang, who notes that Butler has an ankle sprain that kept him out of the Heat’s Game 2 loss to New York while Adebayo has been dealing with a left hamstring strain and left shoulder discomfort.
“When you want to win that bad, I feel like you’ll do anything,” Adebayo said. “You’ll put your body through a lot for wins and a series win.”
The Heat, who as the East’s eighth seed have been underdogs in both of their playoff rounds thus far, will face off against the winner of today’s Game 7 semifinals matchup between the Celtics and 76ers.
There’s more out of South Beach:
- Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra believes that the team’s improbable 2023 postseason run can be seen as a teachable moment for the future, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. “These are the kinds of lessons that hopefully that we impart on our children, that you can develop perseverance and grit when things are tough and when people are criticizing you,” Spoelstra said. A year removed from being the East’s top seed, the Heat started off with a 12-15 record before eventually finishing at 44-38. Even still, Miami barely snuck into the playoffs thanks to a fourth quarter play-in game rally. Now, the Heat find themselves just four wins away from a return to the NBA Finals. “I’ve said many times about our regular season, there was nothing easy about it,” Spoelstra said. “But the guys came in with a spirit every single day to try to get better and not make excuses for everything. “We were well aware of all the injuries and moving parts and changing lineups. I think we got better in a lot of areas, and finding different solutions. But we had to do a lot of things the hard way.”
- Although the Heat are returning to the Eastern Conference Finals for the third time in four seasons, the club’s circuitous route back has resonated in a new way, given Miami’s perennial underdog status this year, Chiang notes in a separate piece. “It’s a crazy story being written,” Adebayo said. “Through all the ups and downs of this season, a lot of people counting us out and saying we weren’t even going to make it past the first round and now we’re in the Eastern Conference finals. It just shows the determination and the will that this team has.”
- As the Heat wait to discover the identity of their opponent in the next round, one rival scout is convinced that Miami should hope to face the Sixers instead of the deeper, more consistent Celtics, Winderman writer in another Sun Sentinel article. “[MVP Philadelphia center Joel Embiid] is a given,” the scout said. “How is Bam going to do against him? As well as anybody. He’s going to get his 29. But [James] Harden is defensible. Miami’s got a bunch of guys who can guard him. And they’re too dependent on him. And then the rest, [Tyrese] Maxey is great. But you’re seeing what’s happening with Tobias Harris. When it counts, he’s a no-show.”
Bucks To Interview Mark Jackson For Coaching Job
Current ABC/ESPN broadcaster Mark Jackson will interview with the Bucks for a chance to take over as the team’s new head coach, sources inform Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Jackson, a longtime NBA point guard, served as the Warriors’ head coach from 2011-14. He improved Golden State from its lottery malaise into a solid playoff club.
Jackson owns a 121-109 (.526) regular season head coaching record. He led the Warriors to consecutive playoff appearances in 2012/13 and ’13/14. As a sixth seed after finishing 47-35 in 2013, Golden State upset the third-seeded Nuggets to advance to the second round, where the team fell in six games to the Spurs. The next year, the Warriors were eliminated in a hard-fought, seven-game first round series by the Clippers.
Given that the team struggled to break through in the postseason for two straight runs, Jackson was let go by the Warriors. Steve Kerr replaced him, leading the Warriors to their first of four NBA championships during the 2014/15 season.
As Charania notes, Jackson was one of the finalists for the Kings’ head coaching gig last summer before Mike Brown ultimately secured the role. Brown would go on to be named the 2023 Coach of the Year after he improved Sacramento’s record to 48-34 and help the club return to the playoffs for the first time in 17 years.
Milwaukee let go five-year head coach Mike Budenholzer earlier this offseason after his top-seeded Bucks were eliminated in five games by the No. 8 Heat. Budenholzer led Milwaukee to the 2021 title just two seasons ago.
Suns Notes: Ayton, Paul, Coaching Search, Front Office Changes
Following the end of the Suns‘ season, center Deandre Ayton, point guard Chris Paul, and head coach Monty Williams were the three names that came up most frequently in speculation about major changes, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.
The Suns have already parted ways with one of those three, announcing late on Saturday that that Williams had been let go from his position. While Ayton or Paul could be next, neither player suggested during Friday’s end-of-season exit interviews with the media that he’s seeking an exit ramp out of Phoenix.
“I love Phoenix, man,” Ayton said, per Rankin. “I’m going to continue playing hard for Phoenix and keep representing. I don’t listen to the outside noise. I’m here, I’m happy. We didn’t finish how we wanted to, but there’s always next year. This summer is just more work.”
Ayton is under contract for three more seasons, but is considered a possible trade candidate. Paul has a $30.8MM salary for 2023/24, but it’s only partially guaranteed for $15.8MM.
“My contract is not up,” Paul said when asked if he expected to remain with the Suns. “Unfortunately, I’m not the GM or anything like that. We’ll see.”
Here’s more on the Suns:
- Doug Haller of The Athletic takes a closer look at why Mat Ishbia and the Suns decided to move on from Williams, discussing the coach’s lineup and rotation decisions and his shaky relationship with Ayton, among other factors. Within his story, Haller observes that Ishbia’s involvement in the Williams’ dismissal signals that the new owner intends to be very involved in basketball operations and personnel decisions.
- Before firing Williams, the Suns had already started to make some organizational changes, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, who reports (via Twitter) that the team fired a front office executive and a pair of scouts on Friday.
- Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports profiles a handful of contenders to replace Williams on the Suns’ bench, including previously reported head coaching candidates like Mike Budenholzer, Nick Nurse, and Kevin Young. Bourguet thinks the team would be wise to consider Frank Vogel too, but views Tyronn Lue as the best fit if he’s attainable.
Grizzlies Suspend Ja Morant As NBA Investigates Social Media Video
A familiar scene is unfolding in Memphis, as the Grizzlies announced today that they’ve suspended Ja Morant from all team activities while the NBA investigates a social media video involving the star guard.
As Wynston Wilcox of The Memphis Commercial Appeal writes, Morant appeared to brandish a gun in a new Instagram Live video that went viral on Sunday morning (video link).
The incident comes less than two-and-a-half months after Morant flashed a gun at a Denver-area strip club while streaming on Instagram Live. That video, which immediately prompted an investigation from the NBA, eventually led to an eight-game suspension.
League spokesperson Mike Bass issued a statement today nearly identical the one he put out on March 4 when Morant’s video from Colorado surfaced: “We are aware of the social media post involving Ja Morant and are in the process of gathering more information.”
Morant’s live stream in March was part of a series of troubling off-court incidents allegedly involving the 23-year-old, who punched a 17-year-old during a pickup game last summer, was accused of threatening a security guard at a Memphis mall, and was reportedly involved in a confrontation with members of the Pacers’ traveling party after a January game.
Morant didn’t face any criminal charges for the March incident and almost certainly won’t face any for this video either, but the NBA has significant latitude to fine or suspend its players for conduct it deems detrimental to the league.
During Morant’s hiatus from the Grizzlies in March, he attended a counseling program in Florida and met with commissioner Adam Silver. When Silver eventually announced an eight-game suspension for the Memphis guard, he referred to Morant’s behavior as “irresponsible, reckless, and potentially very dangerous,” but said that Ja “expressed sincere contrition and remorse” and made it clear that he had learned from the incident.
It seems likely that Morant will face a harsher penalty from the league this time around, not only for repeating the behavior that earned him his previous suspension, but for making the league office look foolish for any lenience it may have shown last time.
On the court, Morant was his usual productive self for the Grizzlies in 2022/23, averaging 26.2 points, 8.1 assists, and 5.9 rebounds per game in 61 regular season contests (31.9 MPG).
Morant’s five-year, maximum-salary extension with Memphis, projected to be worth about $194MM, will go into effect beginning in ’23/24. That contract would have been worth a projected $233MM if the two-time All-Star had made an All-NBA team, but he missed out, finishing seventh in voting among guards. His All-NBA case was hurt by the time he missed due to that eight-game suspension.
The Grizzlies won 51 games and finished second in the Western Conference, but saw their season come to an abrupt, disappointing end with a first-round loss to the No. 7 Lakers. Following Memphis’ elimination, Morant spoke about a need to “be better with my decision-making” and to avoid “off-the-court issues.”
Budenholzer, Nurse, Young Among Suns’ HC Candidates
Following their dismissal of head coach Monty Williams on Saturday, the Suns are putting together a list of candidates for the vacancy that includes Mike Budenholzer, Nick Nurse, and Kevin Young, league sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links). According to Haynes, that list of candidates will continue to grow.
[RELATED: 2023 NBA Head Coaching Search Tracker]
It’s unclear whether Phoenix has lined up interviews yet with Budenholzer, Nurse, or Young, but the team won’t need to seek permission to speak to any of them. Budenholzer and Nurse were recently let go by their teams, while Young is the associate head coach on the Suns’ own staff, having served as Williams’ top assistant.
Budenholzer has a career regular season record 484-317 (.604) as a head coach, with a 56-48 (.538) mark in the playoffs. He coached the Hawks from 2013-18 and the Bucks from 2018-23, winning a title in Milwaukee in 2021 and earning Coach of the Year honors in both 2015 and 2019.
Nurse, who is coming off a five-year stint as head coach of the Raptors, won a championship in 2019 and was named Coach of the Year in 2020. He had a 227-163 (.582) regular season record and a 25-16 (.610) postseason mark in Toronto.
Young coached multiple G League teams and was an assistant coach with the Sixers before joining the Suns in 2020.
Marc Stein reported on Saturday that the Suns will also look into the possibility of trying to lure Tyronn Lue away to the Clippers, but it’s unclear if Phoenix will have any success on that front, Stein writes in his latest Substack story.
Lue remains under contract with Los Angeles and reportedly has the support of team owner Steve Ballmer, according to Stein. As such, it seems unlikely that the Clippers would let him leave for a division rival without receiving some form of compensation. For what it’s worth though, there has been chatter in league circles about the Suns’ interest in Lue for several days, tweets Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times.
Poll: Who Will Win Game 7 Of Celtics/Sixers?
For just the second time this spring and the first time in the conference semifinals, we’re getting a Game 7.
The Celtics and Sixers will square off on Sunday afternoon for the right to face Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals. It’s the first Game 7 on the East’s side of the playoff bracket — the Kings and Warriors battled to seven games in the first round in the West.
It has been a back-and-forth series between Boston and Philadelphia, with the Sixers unexpectedly stealing Game 1 in Boston despite missing MVP center Joel Embiid. The Celtics responded by claiming the next two games to take a 2-1 lead, but Philadelphia fought back to go up 3-2 before dropping Game 6 at home.
As the higher seed and the home team, the Celtics are 6.5-point favorites on Sunday, according to BetOnline.ag. But the fact that the game will be played in Boston offers no guarantees for the C’s. The home team in the series has gone just 2-4 so far, with each club losing multiple games in its own arena.
While the Sixers probably know what they can expect from Embiid, who has averaged 30.8 PPG and 10.8 RPG in his last four appearances after a shaky first game back from a knee injury, what they get from the big man’s co-star may go a long way toward determining whether they can pull off the upset win in Game 7. James Harden has put up 34.7 PPG on 60.7% shooting in Philadelphia’s three victories over Boston, but has averaged just 13.7 PPG and made 20.5% of his shots from the floor in the team’s three losses.
The Celtics, meanwhile, got a boost in Game 6 when they inserted center Robert Williams into their starting lineup for the first time in the series. Williams had 10 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks in one of his best games of the postseason. The Celtics, who won the game by nine points, outscored Philadelphia by 18 points during Williams’ 28 minutes. It’s probably safe to assume he’ll start again on Sunday.
Boston will also be hoping to see the version of Jayson Tatum who showed up during the final few minutes of Thursday’s game, helping the team overcome a late deficit and secure the victory. With the Celtics down by two points with under five minutes to play, Tatum made four of his final seven shots, all three-pointers, after having hit just 1-of-14 field goal attempts up until that point.
The Celtics were the deeper, more well-rounded team during the regular season and have shown off that depth in the postseason, but the Sixers have proven in the playoffs that they’re capable of winning any game when Embiid, Harden, and Tyrese Maxey – who has averaged 23.3 PPG in Philadelphia’s victories – are firing on all cylinders.
We want to know what you think. Who are you picking to win Game 7 this afternoon?
Which team will win Game 7?
-
Boston Celtics 62% (655)
-
Philadelphia 76ers 38% (404)
Total votes: 1,059
Monty Williams Out As Suns’ Head Coach
MAY 14: The Suns made it official, announcing in a press release that they’ve parted ways with Williams. Jones issued a statement accepting responsibility for the decision, despite reporting indicating that it was Ishbia’s call (as detailed below).
“Monty has been foundational to our success over the past four seasons,” Jones said in a statement. “We are filled with gratitude for everything Monty has contributed to the Suns and to the Valley community. While it was difficult for me to make this decision, I look forward to continuing the work to build a championship team.”
Williams could become a “prominent candidate” in the Raptors‘ coaching search, Wojnarowski writes in a full story.
MAY 13: The Suns have decided to make a coaching change after their second-round loss to Denver, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The team has dismissed Monty Williams, who had served as head coach since 2019.
New owner Mat Ishbia made the decision to fire Williams, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). As first reported by John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 and confirmed by Wojnarowski, Williams still had three years and more than $20MM left on his contract.
Williams compiled a 194-115 record in his four years in Phoenix and took the team to the 2021 NBA Finals. He also earned Coach of the Year honors in 2022.
However, Ishbia opted to go in a different direction after the team was eliminated from the playoffs in embarrassing fashion in back-to-back second rounds. The Suns lost their last game of the season at home by 25 points this spring and by 33 points last year.
With Kevin Durant and Devin Booker under long-term contracts, Charania believes the Suns’ vacancy instantly becomes the most attractive in the league (Twitter link). Ishbia and general manager James Jones are focused on building a championship roster this summer, and they want to find the right leader to guide it.
The Suns will explore whether it’s possible to land current Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue, tweets Marc Stein. Lue stated that he wants to return as the team’s head coach after L.A. was knocked out of the playoffs last month, and the organization hasn’t indicated that it’s considering a change. Lue signed a five-year deal when he joined the Clippers in 2020, so he’s under contract for two more years.
One potential candidate to replace Williams is Mike Budenholzer, who was dismissed by the Bucks earlier this month after his team’s first-round loss, tweets Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports. A report on Friday from Jake Fischer indicated that Milwaukee was closely monitoring Williams’ status in Phoenix, so it’s possible that the two NBA Finals coaches from 2021 will end up exchanging teams.
Toronto and Detroit are the other franchises currently in the market for a head coach, and Williams may emerge as a candidate for those jobs as well. The Pistons reportedly scheduled interviews with their three finalists this week, but James L. Edwards of The Athletic suggests that the team may reach out to Williams before making a decision (Twitter link).
Warriors Notes: DiVincenzo, Kuminga, Myers, Green, Thompson
There are questions about whether the Warriors can make it work financially, but Donte DiVincenzo would like to remain with the team, writes C.J. Holmes of The San Francisco Chronicle. Speaking to reporters Saturday, DiVincenzo said he hasn’t decided whether to pick up his $4.7MM player option for next season or decline it and seek a long-term deal, either with Golden State or another team. The Warriors are limited to a new offer starting at $5.4MM, which would be 120% of this year’s salary.
The team signed DiVincenzo last summer to fortify its bench, which was his role for most of the season. He was inserted into the starting lineup during Andrew Wiggins‘ late-season absence, and he started the playoff opener. However, once Wiggins showed he was ready to contribute, DiVincenzo went back to the bench and struggled to find his shooting rhythm for the rest of the postseason.
“What I will say is I absolutely love being a Golden State Warrior,” he said. “The guys in the locker room, the coaching staff, the training staff, from day one, it’s felt like home. … My goal this summer is to just get better. You know, to be able to take a step next year for the Warriors and try to expand even more; to be in a system I’m familiar with and just grow from there and get better as a player and as a man.”
There’s more on the Warriors:
- A report after Friday’s loss indicated that Jonathan Kuminga‘s representatives might consider seeking a change of scenery for their client this summer, but the second-year forward said his exit interview with management went well, Holmes adds. “(The Warriors are) just happy with the way I have grown,” Kuminga said. “Pretty much they want me to keep adding on what I did this year, keep learning the game and just growing more, figuring out how I can impact even more on winning. And I think that’s been my goal, to just figure out how I can impact on winning.”
- President of basketball operations Bob Myers plans to take some time to decide on his future, sources tell Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. Owner Joe Lacob made several extension offers to Myers during the season that would have given him one of the highest salaries among league executives, along with an option to take some time off if he wanted to, Shelburne’s sources add. Myers’ current contract will expire June 30, and Shelburne hears that he’s not sure if he wants to stay in his job.
- Myers’ decision may affect the Warriors’ ability to reach extension agreements with Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, Shelburne adds. The organization’s financial status means both players will likely have to accept team-friendly contracts, and Myers is known for his ability to handle those type of delicate negotiations. Green said Myers’ future will definitely be a factor he considers as he weighs his own decision, according to Mark Medina of Sportsnaut.
Knicks Notes: Offseason Plans, Randle, Hart, Exit Interviews
Finding some shooters should be the Knicks‘ top offseason priority, writes Steve Popper of Newsday, who notes that the lack of reliable shot-makers contributed heavily to Friday’s Game 6 loss in Miami. On a night when Jalen Brunson scored 41 points and shot 14-of-22 from the field, the rest of the starters were just 5-of-32.
New York spent several weeks last summer trying to work out a trade for Donovan Mitchell, and Popper expects the front office to be aggressive again in pursuit of another star. Brunson has established himself as the cornerstone of the franchise, but Popper states that decisions have to be made on whether RJ Barrett and Julius Randle are part of the team’s core. He adds that Obi Toppin and Immanuel Quickley should be considered trade assets, along with the team’s deep collection of draft picks.
“Everybody is going back to zero,” coach Tom Thibodeau said after Friday’s loss. “We have to start all over. You have to work crazy all offseason to get ready for next season. Yeah, we would still like to be playing, that’s why you do it, if you’re a competitive person, that’s what you want. We fell short. There’s disappointment, but I think to look at it and say we learned a lot, let’s use this as motivation and get better. That’s what you have to do.”
There’s more on the Knicks:
- Management has to face some “uncomfortable realities” in its offseason evaluation of Randle, states Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. For the second time in three years, Randle has followed an outstanding regular season performance with a flameout in the playoffs. Bondy doesn’t believe Randle can be one of the two best players on a legitimate contender, adding that his moodiness and his tendency to snap at teammates, officials, and coaches can be a distraction.
- Although Josh Hart was a valuable midseason addition who’s likely to be re-signed, he and Barrett didn’t work well together in playoff lineups, observes Chris Herring of Sports Illustrated. Herring believes Thibodeau made a mistake by starting Hart against Miami because it clogged the lane as defenders dared Barrett and Hart to shoot from the outside and it eliminated the lift that Hart normally provides off the bench.
- The Knicks won’t make Thibodeau or their players available for end-of-season exit interviews with the media, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic.