Brian Keefe Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Magic, Keefe, Giannis, Embiid, Dinwiddie, Wizards

August 1st, 2021 at 9:41pm CST by JD Shaw

The Magic intend on targeting veterans once free agency begins this week, president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said, as relayed by Josh Robbins of The Athletic.

Orlando currently has a roster filled with younger players — including Markelle Fultz, Jalen Suggs, Jonathan Isaac and Wendell Carter Jr. — making it imperative that the team also has some veterans by the time next season starts.

“Our goal would be to add experience to the roster,” Weltman said. “But it has to come in the right form and fashion. It has to be guys that we feel will help move our team forward, help our young guys navigate the early stages of their careers and can also help us on the court and show what hard work and preparation leads to.”

One veteran who spent time with Orlando the past two seasons, James Ennis, is set to reach the open market, though he recently told Hoops Rumors that his top priority will be finding a winning situation. The Magic finished with just a 21-51 record last season.

Here are some other notes from the East tonight:

The Nets are hiring Brian Keefe as an assistant coach, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Keefe, a veteran NBA assistant, was a finalist for the Thunder’s head coaching job one year ago, Wojnarowski notes. Keefe will replace Mike D’Antoni on Steve Nash‘s staff.
Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo won’t need surgery on the knee he hyperextended during the playoffs, according to general manager Jon Horst. “He’s fine,” Horst said, as relayed by The Associated Press. “I can’t explain it, but he’s fine.”
The Sixers are refusing to address questions about Joel Embiid‘s lingering knee injury, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Embiid sustained the injury in Game 4 of the team’s first-round series against the Wizards, though he still went on to average 28.1 points and 10.5 rebounds in 32.5 minutes per game during the postseason.
A potential sign-and-trade for Spencer Dinwiddie won’t be easy to figure out for the Wizards, as detailed by Fred Katz of The Athletic. Washington is operating over the salary cap, meaning Dinwiddie could only join the team via a sign-and-trade, and the Nets won’t be eager to take on any significant salary for a player they don’t love. Dinwiddie missed most of last season after suffering a partially torn ACL. He averaged a career-high 20.6 points and 6.8 assists per game the season before, however, shooting 41.5% from the field.

Northwest Notes: Favors, Thunder, KAT, Nnaji

November 29th, 2020 at 1:14pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Jazz reserve center Derrick Favors didn’t need much convincing around before deciding to return to Utah, per Eric Walden of the Salt Lake City Tribune.

“I just came to the decision: ‘You know what, man? It feels better going back to Utah,’” Favors said in a Wednesday afternoon Zoom conversation. “Utah is like a second home to me — I’ve been there since I was 19, [since] around 2010. It just felt right. So once they came with the opportunity, I jumped on it.”

Favors inked a three-year, $27MM contract with the Jazz to back up All-Star center Rudy Gobert at the start of free agency. Favors previously spent 8.5 seasons with Utah before being dealt to the Pelicans last season. He averaged 9.0 PPG, 9.8 RPG, and 0.9 BPG in 24.4 MPG during the 2019/20 season.

There’s more out of the Northwest Division:

Besides Maurice Cheeks, who already left for a job with the Bulls, Brian Keefe and Vin Bhavnani are the only Thunder assistants not returning to be part of Mark Daigneault‘s new coaching staff, notes Joe Mussatto of the Oklahoman. The Thunder previously announced Daigneault’s group, which will include former Knicks interim coach Mike Miller.
The Timberwolves are playing a delicate balancing act, as they strive to keep star center Karl-Anthony Towns happy while taking pains to improve the team’s roster long-term, as Jim Souhan of the Minnesota Star Tribune details.
New Nuggets rookie forward Zeke Nnaji hopes to become a lockdown defender in Denver, Sean Keeler of the Denver Post reports. “My ultimate goal is to be able to guard one through five consistently,” the 19-year-old out of Arizona said. “I want to be a lockdown defender no matter who I’m guarding. But the biggest thing right now is working on that three through five and just being versatile, no matter what role I’m playing.”

Charania’s Latest: Grant, Mavs, Pelicans, Thunder, Pacers

October 15th, 2020 at 12:28pm CST by Luke Adams

Denver forward Jerami Grant intends to decline his player option for 2020/21, and he and the Nuggets have “significant mutual interest” in negotiating a new contract, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic. With Grant’s Bird rights in hand, the Nuggets are probably the favorites to sign him this offseason, but they’ll face competition from rival suitors.

A previous report singled out the Pistons, Suns, and Hawks as teams that will have interest in Grant. Charania adds a new club to that list today, writing that the Mavericks are also expected to show interest in the versatile forward.

Dallas likely won’t have much cap flexibility this offseason and is believed to be preserving its 2021 cap room in order to make a run at a star who can complement Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis. However, if the Mavericks can acquire that third star in a trade, preserving cap room for next year wouldn’t be necessary. According to Charania, Dallas is willing to absorb larger salaries in order to land a star.

Here are a few more items of interest from Charania:

We know that Stan Van Gundy and Tyronn Lue are two of four finalists for the Pelicans‘ head coaching job. Charania says that the two other finalists are expected to interview with the club next week. While the identities of those two candidates is unknown for now, Jason Kidd – who has previously been linked to the position – isn’t part of the process for now, per Charania..
Spurs assistant Will Hardy and Thunder assistant Brian Keefe are receiving consideration for Oklahoma City’s head coaching vacancy, sources tell The Athletic.
The Pacers are expected to narrow their pool of coaching candidates and will conduct in-person interviews with a few finalists next week, according to Charania. Indiana will zero in on a decision after that, he adds.
Charania’s rumors round-up includes several more items, many of which we’ve already turned into full stories. Those include Anthony Davis and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope being expected to turn down their player options, the Bucks’ possible pursuit of Bogdan Bogdanovic, and the Warriors’ potential interest in Dwight Howard.

Coaching Rumors: Gentry, Vanterpool, Rockets, Pelicans, More

October 2nd, 2020 at 10:18am CST by Luke Adams

After being dismissed by New Orleans in August, Alvin Gentry hasn’t been linked to any head coaching openings, but he’s reportedly drawing interest from multiple teams for a potential assistant role.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Thursday evening (via Twitter) that Gentry has emerged as a “serious possibility” to join Doc Rivers‘ staff with the Sixers. The two veteran coaches have a pre-existing relationship, as Gentry was the associate head coach under Rivers during his first year with the Clippers in 2013/14.

While Philadelphia is one possibility for Gentry, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link) hears that New Orleans’ former head coach is also in the running to become the Kings‘ associate head coach under Luke Walton. Gentry and Walton were previously members of Golden State’s coaching staff during the 2014/15 season.

Here are a few more coaching rumors and notes from around the NBA:

Timberwolves associate head coach David Vanterpool will be among the candidates interviewing for the Rockets‘ head coaching job, reports Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Vanterpool is also believed to be a candidate for Indiana and Oklahoma City, and was considered by Chicago before the club hired Billy Donovan.
Confirming a previous report from The Philadelphia Inquirer, Wojnarowski confirms (via Twitter) that Tyronn Lue has meetings lined up with the Pelicans and Rockets. Lue is also a leading candidate for the Clippers‘ job, and Woj notes that L.A. is expected to begin meeting with candidates soon.
The Pelicans‘ head coaching search process is underway, according to Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link), who hears that the plan is to eventually bring in two or three finalists for formal in-person interviews. It’s not clear when those face-to-face meetings will happen though, Lopez adds. A previous report on Lue’s meeting with New Orleans on Friday suggested it would be an “informal” discussion.
Some people with the Nets view Oklahoma City assistant Brian Keefe as a good fit for Steve Nash‘s staff in Brooklyn, writes Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Keefe was in OKC with Kevin Durant from 2007-15 and returned to the team last year, but isn’t a lock to be back with the Thunder after the club’s head coaching change.

The Latest On Kenny Atkinson

March 8th, 2020 at 10:29am CST by Arthur Hill

Kenny Atkinson‘s surprising departure as coach of the Nets on Saturday may have been instigated by his players, but it was a mutual decision, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Sources tell Lewis that Kyrie Irving bears much of the responsibility for the move, but Atkinson has understood for months that a change might be necessary.

“Kenny and I had these pretty frank conversations. And it wasn’t last night, 24 hours; there wasn’t one game,” general manager Sean Marks said. “This was a culmination of events over the course of the year. Kenny’s brutally honest, and the humility he showed to admit ‘My voice is not what it once was here. It’s time.’ This is a compromise that Kenny and I and ownership came up with; it was time. Kenny grinded and did everything he could, but it was time for another voice in that locker room, and it’s our job to find it.”

Marks and owner Joe Tsai gave Atkinson credit for helping to turn around a franchise that was among the league’s worst when he took over in 2016. He has the Nets on track for their second straight playoff appearance, but what the organization wants in a coach apparently shifted after last summer’s free agency bonanza that brought in Irving and Kevin Durant. Neither of them offered comment on Atkinson’s departure, but the players who did insist that they weren’t involved in the decision.

“I absolutely [had] no ‘Fire Kenny’ conversations with Sean, so I don’t know, not a part of that,” Spencer Dinwiddie said. “It’s not like I called Joe on the phone and was like, ‘Hey you making any moves?’ I like to think we’re cool, but not that cool.”

Lewis adds that one of the first actions from interim coach Jacque Vaughn was to talk to Irving and other players about what changes they would like to see.

“It’s a service business. I’m serving these guys. I’m just a vessel,” Vaughn said. “It’s today’s game and being able to adjust to that, getting the most out of talent on your roster, but also listening and hearing the voices of the No. 1, 2, 3, 4 guys on your roster. It’s crucial, and having that relationship is a must in today’s game.”

There’s more fallout from this season’s most surprising coaching change:

Irving would like to see the Nets hire Tyronn Lue, his former head coach in Cleveland, reports Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. Currently an assistant with the Clippers, Lue took the Cavaliers to three straight NBA Finals, including two with Irving as his point guard. Irving didn’t like Atkinson’s “rigid” coaching methods and clashed with him almost immediately, sources tell Goodwill. Multiple sources also say Atkinson didn’t mesh with his two new stars and wasn’t looking forward to coaching them next season when both will presumably be healthy. “Oh, it was definitely mutual,” a league source said.
Alex Schiffer of The Athletic talked to sources around the league and compiled a list of candidates to potentially become the Nets’ next head coach. Vaughn’s name is on the list along with some familiar candidates such as Jeff Van Gundy, Tom Thibodeau, Mark Jackson and former Nets star Jason Kidd. A few possibilities without head coaching experience are Darvin Ham, Ime Udoka, Brian Keefe and Adam Harrington.
Atkinson may be the perfect choice to take over the cross-town Knicks, suggests Greg Joyce of The New York Post. New York is trying to rebuild with a collection of unproven young talent, much like Brooklyn was when Atkinson was hired there, and he is represented by Creative Artists Agency, which was run by new Knicks president Leon Rose. “It seems like he’s very well respected within players, within the league — players he coached and players he didn’t coach,” said Knicks forward Julius Randle. “I know I respected him.”

Pacific Notes: Keefe, Farmar, Damian Jones

September 13th, 2016 at 10:22pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Brian Keefe, the Lakers‘ new player development coach, has experience with young rosters, having been a member of the Sonics staff beginning the year Kevin Durant was drafted, Joey Ramirez of NBA.com writes in his profile of the coach. Keefe understands there will be growing pains for L.A.’s young roster, but he believes in the end that the team will reap the rewards, Ramirez adds. “We started off a little slow, didn’t have a lot of success right away,” Keefe said of his time with the Sonics/Thunder. “Those guys kind of created an organization, because it was really a new organization when it went to Oklahoma City. They really put an imprint on the whole thing. … Obviously it was an unbelievable experience. We had a lot of success, a lot of deep playoff runs.”

Keefe isn’t afraid to call out players if they make errors, including the stars, with Durant telling David Aldridge of NBA.com back in March that he benefited from the coach’s discipline. “That was probably one of the most realest conversations I’ve had with a coach, ever,” Durant said regarding a chat he had with Keefe back in 2014 after the team had lost three straight home games. “He let me know how bad I was — my body language, my attitude. I just decided to look at myself and self-evaluate. And he was right. I had to change how I was thinking, how I was acting toward my teammates. Everything.”

Here’s more from out of the Pacific Division:

The development of 2016 first round pick, Damian Jones, is crucial for the Warriors given their aging big men and expanding payroll, Anthony Slater of the Mercury News writes. “If you look around the league, big guys are always at a premium,” GM Bob Myers said. “Especially athletic bigs. We sometimes demean them by going small. We’re probably one of the teams that do that. But they’re very necessary.” Jones, who is recovering from a torn pectoral muscle he suffered during a pre-draft workout, is expected to miss the entire preseason, which will set him back during his rookie campaign. “Besides the pectoral injury, he’s really healthy as far as knees, ankles, back,” Myers said of Jones. “Which is also another thing that’s hard to find with big guys.”
Jordan Farmar, who reportedly reached an agreement with the Kings earlier today, is likely just a short-term addition for Sacramento, Sean Cunningham of ABC 10 opines (Twitter link). The veteran was brought in for depth to start the season while Darren Collison serves whatever suspension the league doles out for his domestic violence incident, Cunningham notes. Collison was found guilty on one count of misdemeanor domestic violence as part of a plea deal to avoid jail time.
The crew over at Basketball Insiders weighed in on Lakers‘ chances this season, with the majority of the writers predicting the franchise would finish last in the Pacific Division in 2016/17.

Western Notes: Lakers, Jianlian, Singler

August 19th, 2016 at 9:21pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Lakers have hired Jud Buechler, Brian Keefe and Theo Robertson as player development coaches, BA Turner of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Casey Owens has also been hired as an assistant coach/advance professional scout, while Will Scott has been named a video coordinator to round out Luke Walton’s staff. Brian Shaw, Jesse Mermuys and Mark Madsen had previously been named as assistants by Walton.

In other news around the Western Conference:

Veteran coach Del Harris believes Yi Jianlian’s second foray into the NBA will go much more smoothly than his first one, Kevin Wang of ESPN.com reports. Jianlian signed a one-year deal with the Lakers this week that could be worth as much as $8MM. Yi bounced around the league for five seasons before returning to China in 2012. Harris, who is familiar with Yi after coaching the Chinese national team, said Yi’s style of play fits Walton’s offensive scheme. “I think that is the right team for him,” Harris told Wang. “He should be able to play for them and will really fit the style Luke employed so well last year [with the Warriors].”
Mavs guard Deron Williams believes LeBron James solidified his legacy by winning a championship with the Cavaliers, he said in an NBC Radio interview that was excerpted by the Dallas Morning News. James formed a “super team” with the Heat but proved he could win it all with an arguable lesser cast, according to Williams. “He went back to a team that won – what? – 20 games before he got there, and took them to the Finals, and now they won a championship,” Williams said. “And if you take him off that team, I don’t know where they’d be, they’d still be a good team, but they wouldn’t be competing for a championship.”
Thunder small forward Kyle Singler is preparing himself for a much larger role in the wake of Kevin Durant’s decision to join the Warriors, Erik Horne of The Oklahoman writes. Singler got in the gym right after the season and worked out with the summer league team, Horne continues. “When I was trying to think about how I want to maximize my summer, my first thing I wanted to do was play as much basketball as possible,” Singler told Horne. Oklahoma City doesn’t have another small forward with Singler’s combination of size, length and shooting ability, making him a prime candidate to receive the bulk of Durant’s minutes, Horne adds.

Latest On Kevin Durant’s Free Agency

May 31st, 2016 at 11:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

League insiders believe the second-round win over the Spurs was enough to keep Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City, according to Bobby Marks of The Vertical. In a video, Marks says the most likely scenario is for Durant to sign a one-year deal with the Thunder worth about $25.9MM that includes a player option for 2017/18.

Next summer, Durant will have 10 years of NBA experience and will become a Tier Three Max player, which means Oklahoma City could offer him more than $200MM over five seasons. If Durant opts for a long-term deal this offseason, OKC can offer five years at about $145MM. Risks involved in choosing a single-season deal are Durant’s injury history and the possibility of a new collective bargaining agreement next year that would shake up the league’s salary structure. Marks lists the Spurs, Heat, Celtics and Warriors as teams expected to make a run at Durant, while ESPN’s Marc Stein (via Twitter) adds the Rockets, Knicks, Lakers, and Wizards to that list.

Durant told Sam Amick of USA Today that he was able to push the free agency issue aside and concentrate fully on every playoff game. “If this would have happened four years ago, I would have been everywhere – my mind would have been everywhere,” he said. “So I’m happy that I was able to focus and lock in and give my all to my team every single night.” Whether it’s a clue to his decision or not, Durant later added, “I see bright things for this team. And it’s great to be a part of it.”

San Antonio, Miami and Golden State are the top contenders if Durant decides to go elsewhere, writes Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Isola contends the Knicks could be helped if Durant opts for a one-year contract because it gives them another season to improve, along with another year of growth for rookie Kristaps Porzingis.

The Knicks hurt their case when they fired coach Derek Fisher, Durant’s former teammate, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. Two advantages they have are that Carmelo Anthony, who has a good relationship with Durant, wants to be part of the recruitment process, and that Durant’s father is a longtime fan of the Knicks. However, New York assistant Brian Keefe, who was Durant’s workout partner in Oklahoma City, reportedly won’t be part of Jeff Hornacek’s new staff.

The odds against Durant signing with the Heat are even greater than they were against LeBron James coming to Miami in 2010, argues Ethan Skolnick of The Miami Herald. Skolnick writes that team president Pat Riley’s best chance is to sell Durant on the possibility of winning a championship with the Heat. However, the 55-win Thunder are also serious title contenders, Durant doesn’t have a close relationship with any of the Miami players like James did with Dwyane Wade and the new restrictions on sign-and-trade deals make it more difficult for players to recoup whatever money they give up to sign with another team.

Durant and the Clippers could both change their postseason fortunes if they unite, writes Dan Woike of The Orange County Register. Woike notes that L.A. won’t have the money to pursue the OKC star because two thirds of its cap room is tied up in Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, but he argues that it might be worth trading one of those three to create the room to sign Durant.

Durant’s friendship with James Harden and the addition of an offensive-minded coach in Mike D’Antoni give the Rockets a least a fighting chance of landing Durant, according to Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com. In addition, Rex Kalamian, who may join D’Antoni’s staff, coached both Harden and Durant when he was an assistant with the Thunder.

And-Ones: Knicks, D-League, Lauvergne

September 3rd, 2014 at 10:02pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Team USA improved to 4-0 in the FIBA World Cup with a 106-71 victory over the Dominican Republic tonight. Kenneth Faried led the way with 16 points and six rebounds, DeMarcus Cousins added 13 points, and DeMar DeRozan contributed 11. Next up for Team USA is a match-up against the Ukraine this Friday. Here’s the latest from around the league:

The Knicks made four new additions to their coaching staff today, the team announced. Joining Derek Fisher‘s staff as assistant coaches are Jim Cleamons, Rasheed Hazzard, and Brian Keefe, with Joshua Longstaff also coming aboard as assistant coach for player development.
The Pistons have officially named Otis Smith the coach of their NBA D-League franchise, the Grand Rapids Drive, the team announced (Twitter link).
Smith is interested in the player developmental aspects of coaching in the D-League, writes Peter J. Wallner of MLive. Smith said, “I like that ‘development’ is in the league’s name. This way I can spend more time in staff development and player development, both on and off the floor. Just being on the floor with guys, teaching them, that’s what excites me the most about coaching at this level. Helping guys get to the next level, and helping them be a professional is what’s intriguing to me.”
Joffrey Lauvergne told John Schuhmann of NBA.com (Twitter link) that the Nuggets offered him a minimum salary deal this summer. That wasn’t enough to entice the No. 55 pick in the 2013 NBA draft to head to the states, so Lauvergne signed with Khimki of the Russian League. His deal does have a buyout clause that could be used next summer, notes Schuhmann.

And-Ones: Love, Wiggins, Sterlings, Durant

July 21st, 2014 at 1:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavs aren’t dangling Andrew Wiggins in trade talks with the Wolves about Kevin Love, at least for the time being, a source tells Bob Finnan of The News-Herald, who was the first to report last week that Cleveland was open to the idea of parting with Wiggins. So, while no one involved would guarantee Finnan that Wiggins wouldn’t wind up in a Love deal, it sounds like that idea is on the backburner for now. Here’s more from around the Association:

Testimony has resumed today in the probate trial between Clippers owners Donald and Shelly Sterling after the judge made a pair of decisions Friday that appear to help Shelly Sterling’s case, as USA Today’s David Leon Moore details. The judge has the power to allow Shelly Sterling to go forward with her sale of the Clippers to Steve Ballmer, if he rules in her favor, even if Donald Sterling decides to appeal, according to Moore.
A member of the players association’s executive committee told TNT’s David Aldridge that the union will discuss the idea of taking action should the Sterlings continue to own the Clippers at the start of next season, as Aldridge writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com.
Thunder assistant coach Brian Keefe, whom Knicks head coach Derek Fisher has reportedly lured to serve as a Knicks assistant, was the member of the Oklahoma City staff whom Kevin Durant trusted the most, Aldridge notes in the same piece.
A source tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News that Knicks GM Steve Mills recently pulled his name from contention for the union’s executive director vacancy. Mills re-emerged as a candidate this spring after having been the apparent front-runner last summer prior to taking the Knicks job.
The final two seasons of the four-year contract between Devin Harris and the Mavs are a little more lucrative than previously reported. He’ll make nearly $4.728MM in year three and nearly $4.903MM in the final season, which is partially guaranteed for almost $1.34MM, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports details on his Mavs salary page.