Brian Scalabrine

BIG3 Notes: Calendar, Locations, Scalabrine

Important dates for the upcoming BIG3 league have been revealed, with the eight-team draft lottery scheduled for April 28, followed by the draft combine the next day and the formal three-on-three draft on April 30. The organization revealed as much to the Associated Press earlier this week.

The league will tip off on June 25 and has now published its full calendar, including game locations, on its website terminating with a championship game in Las Vegas on August 26.

Although it hasn’t been formally reported, the schedule post provides the name for the final club, the Ball Hogs. The other seven teams had been previously announced and are outlined in our BIG3 Roster Database.

In addition, the schedule announcement lists Brian Scalabrine as the Ball Hog’s team captain. They’ll be coached by Rick Barry and co-captained by a player to be named later. Scalabrine’s inclusion had already been made public but this is the first time he’s been linked to a captaincy.

Also worth noting is that this, the most recent press release published, mentions how games will be decided. Rather than being based on a typical game clock, the winner will be the first team to reach 60 points. The full list of game rules, however, had been published previously.

For a complete, updated, list of all the players expected to be in the draft pool, check out our BIG3 Roster Database.

And-Ones: Officiating Changes, BIG3, D-League

David Aldridge of TNT explored changes NBA referees will face in the future, as well as modifications that have already been implemented. One change that has been met with praise, Aldridge writes, is postgame feedback coaches can write regarding a referee’s performance. Mavs coach Rick Carlisle called the addition “very valuable,” adding “Constant feedback in essentially real time throughout the season keeps everyone current.” Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry concurred: “I have used it, and it’s good to be able to send in comments about the game so quickly.”

The league has also used four (or five) man referee crews at the D-League level, citing the benefits of “having an extra set of eyes on the floor.” Long Island Nets coach Ronald Nored was neutral toward having extra officials.

“It gave us a very open and low-pressure environment to experiment with it,” Nored said. “From a coaching standpoint, to be honest, there was nothing that stuck out in my mind where I would say it was a bad system or there was something negative.”

More from around the game…

  • Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau appreciates the NBA’s efforts to improve officiating. “Ours is a hard game to officiate, it really is,” Thibodeau told Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. “Our players are so good, it’s hard to see in real time. A lot of it is judgment. … It’s a tough job. We feel the game is in a great place, but you’re always looking for ways to improve the game.”
  • Chris Reichert of The Step Back listed the top prospects still available in the D-League. Reichert excluded prospects still under team control, such as Dakari Johnson and Abdel Nader. Reichert names Pierre Jackson the most “electric” player of the season, and compared Jalen Jones to JaMychal Green of the Grizzlies. Reichert’s #9 pick, Jordan Crawford, was signed to a 10-day contract by the Pelicans today.
  • The BIG3 announced their next round of players set to enter the draft: Josh Childress, Reggie Evans, Larry Hughes, Ivan Johnson, and Brian Scalabrine (press release). Of the recent additions, Evans holds the most recent NBA experience; appearing in 47 games for the 2014/15 Kings. Childress played recent NBA basketball as well, playing four games with the Pelicans in 2013/14.
  • The NBA won’t discipline J.R. Smith for getting into a verbal altercation with Rodney McGruder and Dion Waiters after a recent loss. What’s more, the Cavaliers won’t fine Smith for the post-game incident. Per Dave McMenamin of ESPN, Smith “took umbrage with a late dunk by McGruder over Channing Frye that McGruder punctuated by pushing Frye in the back.”

And-Ones: Prigioni, Scalabrine, Celtics

The Knicks are trying to trade Wayne Ellington and Pablo Prigioni in order to create roster room and alleviate the overcrowding in their backcourt, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). New York was originally trying to trade Ellington on his own, notes Stein, but have been weighing adding Prigioni to any deal in order to create more interest.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/08/05/6021232/cubans-comments-gets-colangelos.html?storylink=addthis#.U-GIdVAPews.twitter&rh=1#storylink=cpy

Here’s more from around the league:

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/08/05/6021232/cubans-comments-gets-colangelos.html?storylink=addthis#.U-GIdVAPews.twitter&rh=1#storylink=cpy
  • The Warriors offered Brian Scalabrine the chance to rejoin the team as an assistant coach this summer after hiring Steve Kerr as head coach, as Scalabrine said today in a radio appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston (transcription via Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group). Scalabrine, whom the team demoted after a high-profile clash with former head man Mark Jackson, turned Golden State down to instead take a broadcasting gig with the Celtics.
  • Agent Marc Cornstein doesn’t foresee having to find a new deal soon for client Chris Johnson, who’s on a non-guaranteed contract with the Celtics. “So far, everything has been positive,” Cornstein told A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. “We’re well aware of the roster additions. He has a great relationship with the Celtics organization and the coaching staff and as I said, everything we have heard thus far as been positive so we’re cautiously optimistic about his future with the Celtics.
  • Blakely casts the possibility that Chris Babb remains with the Celtics as unlikely, given the guard’s poor summer league showing. Babb is also on a non-guaranteed deal.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Renounced Players: Thursday

We may be no longer in the early stages of free agency, but teams continue to clear cap space by renouncing their Non-Bird, Early Bird or full Bird rights to their own free agents to remove their cap holds from the books. Teams that renounce those rights no longer have the ability to exceed the cap to re-sign those players unless they use an exception like the mid-level or the biannual. Some of those decisions are more notable than others, but for completion’s sake, we’ll track the latest of these cap-clearing moves right here:

  • The Bulls have renounced their rights to Daequan Cook, Vladimir Radmanovic, Nazr Mohammed, Brian Scalabrine and Jimmer Fredette, reports Mark Deeks of Sham Sports (via Twitter).
  • The Mavericks have expunged the cap hold of Petteri Koponen and renounced their rights to Bernard James, reports Deeks (via Twitter).
  • The Lakers have renounced their rights to MarShon Brooks and Andrew Goudelock, according to Deeks (via Twitter).
  • The Lakers have also renounced the rights to John Salley, Karl Malone, Brian Shaw and other players not on the team last season, according to ESPN salary cap guru Larry Coon (via Twitter).
  • As Coon explains, the old CBA allowed Bird rights of players not on a team the previous year to be used in sign-and-trades. With that no longer the case under the current CBA, the rights to players like Salley, Malone and Shaw are no longer useful. The teams must still go through the formality of renouncing the rights, but tend not to do so until they actually need the cap space which, like in this case, could be years later (Twitter links are here).
  • With Salley’s rights renounced, Coon believes the oldest Bird rights still on the books might be Roshown McLeod with the Celtics (Twitter link).

And-Ones: Clippers, Afflalo, Duncan

The Clippers engaged the Magic in discussions about trading for Arron Afflalo this past spring, but were rebuffed after Orlando didn’t find L.A.’s trade offers enticing enough, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. However, there was some sense that the two clubs could later re-visit talks if they managed to get a third team involved in discussions. The Clips have been eyeing Afflalo for quite some time and came close to landing the former UCLA shooting guard last summer, according to Shelburne, who also mentions that Donald Sterling eventually nixed the negotiations.

You can find more of tonight’s miscellaneous news and notes below:

  • Spurs icon Tim Duncan revealed on “The Late Show with David Letterman” that he had briefly considered retirement shortly after winning his fifth NBA championship. “I thought about calling it a career…But I felt I could at least do one more year. I felt I was still effective. I felt I could still play and help the team” (transcription via Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News). 
  • Some NBA executives believe that the Cavaliers’ reported interest in Jabari Parker could just be a smokescreen to get other teams to ante up their trade offers for the No. 1 pick, tweets Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. Among those teams is the Jazz, who are said to covet Parker if they acquired the top pick.
  • Both Howard Eisley and Brian Scalabrine are candidates to become assistant coaches for Doc Rivers, according to Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter links). Eisley has been serving as a players skills coach for the Clippers, while Scalabrine spent the latter portion of last season as a coach for the Warriors’ D-League affiliate.
  • Timberwolves president/head coach Flip Saunders said he’s in contact with other NBA teams on a daily basis, but was coy when specifically asked if those discussions involved Kevin Love, writes Andy Greder of the Pioneer Press. As Greder points out, Saunders said he’s comfortable with the current roster, including Love. “I don’t know about the prospects of us trading anybody by Thursday night…I feel comfortable with the guys that we have. If we can get something that makes our team better, we’ll do it. If we don’t, we’ll stay pat and move forward and enter into free agency on July 1.”

Coaching Rumors: Jackson, Kerr, Karl, Izzo

Mark Jackson addressed the circumstances regarding his former Warriors assistant coaches Brian Scalabrine and Darren Erman in an interview with the NBA’s Sirius XM radio station earlier today (hat tip to Ben Golliver of SI.com). Of Scalabrine, Jackson said, “The one that was demoted [Scalabrine], I would have had handled it six weeks, a month, two months earlier. The things that took place from his side, I would have nipped it in the bud initially. That’s my fault for allowing it to go on. I’m pretty much a guy, just like ministry, I try to show you a different way of handling it. Hope that seeing me handle your disrespect, you’ll come around and realize this isn’t the way to handle it. Fortunately for me, it works for a lot of folks, there are some folks that just won’t get it and you have to handle them differently. I would do that differently.”

In regards to Erman, Jackson said, “As far as assistants, you have to pick people who are loyal and dedicated. It’s inexcusable what the second assistant [Erman] did. That cannot be tolerated. For folks to say, two situations, it’s obviously documented that they both were 100 percent wrong. The only fault I got is hiring those guys. I would use wisdom in who is around me.”

More from around the league:

  • Steve Kerr is only focusing on the Knicks and Warriors and isn’t thinking about the Jazz, who reportedly have interest, or other openings, according to Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck, who also reiterates his earlier report that Kerr prefers to stay close to his home on the West Coast.
  • George Karl said he felt bad about what happened to Jackson with the Warriors, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. Karl said he’s interested in any other team with an opening, and mentioned the Pistons and Knicks specifically, according to Amico’s tweet.
  • Karl was roommates with Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak in college, and though he hasn’t heard from the team yet, he expects to, reports Amico (Twitter link).
  • The Timberwolves first choice to become their next head coach is Tom Izzo, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. The team is waiting for a definitive no from Izzo before looking at other candidates, reports Wolfson.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Coaching Rumors: Jackson, Warriors, Kerr

The Warriors cut ties with Mark Jackson today, and rumors have already started swirling about potential fits for the now vacant coaching spot in Golden State. Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders rounds up the situation and discusses possible candidates and also suggests a few teams that might be wise to seek out Jackson’s services. Here’s the latest on Jackson, Kerr, and the Lakers coaching search:

  • Brian Scalabrine was also dismissed from Warriors, reports Matt Steinmetz of CSN Bay Area (via Twitter). Scalabrine had been an assistant coach with Golden State under Jackson before a mid-season demotion sent him to their D-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors.
  • Kerr was expected to begin talks with the Knicks about a coaching role yesterday, but there have still been no contact between the two sides, a source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. There’s a strong chance Kerr has a conversation with the Warriors about taking on the head coaching role in Golden State, but his preference remains New York, says Wojnarowski (Twitter links).

Earlier updates:

  • The Knicks haven’t called Jackson about their head coaching position, tweets Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.
  • It’s very unlikely the Timberwolves have any interest in bringing Jackson aboard, passes along Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (on Twitter).
  • The Pistons should consider hiring Jackson in Detroit, even though it wouldn’t be a cheap acquisition, writes Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News. Goodwill points to Jackson’s ability to earn his players’ respect as a particularly valuable trait.
  • Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com discusses the likelihood that Steve Kerr chooses to take on head coaching duties for the Warriors rather than the Knicks. Both teams are reportedly interested in Kerr, but Begley concludes that Phil Jackson‘s presence in New York will give the Knicks an edge in their pursuit.
  • Kerr’s college coach, Lute Olson, also sees the Knicks as the front-runner to land Kerr, even after Jackson’s dismissal in Golden State, reports Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
  • Lakers management is taking a slow approach to its coaching search, but Kobe Bryant and Byron Scott have talked in the past few weeks, notes Chris Broussard of ESPN during an interview on the Mike & Mike Show (Audio link).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Warriors Rumors: Jackson, Erman, Scalabrine

The consensus around the league is that it’s “very unlikely” that Mark Jackson will remain as coach of the Warriors next season unless he leads the team on a long playoff run, Grantland’s Zach Lowe tweets. That’s consistent with the widely held belief that Jackson’s future with the team depends on the postseason. Still, a source tells Chris Broussard of ESPN.com that Jackson’s relationship with co-owner Joe Lacob and GM Bob Myers is fine. Here’s more from Golden State:

  • The Warriors aren’t holding Jackson responsible for what Erman and Scalabrine did, tweets Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group.

Earlier reports:

  • Former Warriors assistant Darren Erman has landed a job as director of NBA scouting for the Celtics, as Danny Ainge tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Clippers, among other teams, had been interested in him after his ouster from Golden State earlier this month.
  • Lowe lauds Boston’s hiring of a keen basketball mind in Erman (via Twitter), but the timing of the news is odd, considering the revelations about Erman’s departure from Golden State in Broussard’s piece. Erman was secretly recording conversations between Warriors coaches and players, sources tell Broussard. It’s unclear what he did with the recordings, and Broussard’s sources aren’t sure whether he shared them with Warriors management and owners.
  • Sources tell Broussard that Brian Scalabrine, who was reassigned in March from assistant coach to a job with the Warriors D-League team, exhibited a “consistent pattern of disrespect” for Jackson and the other coaches. At one point, Scalabrine went five weeks without speaking to Jackson, Broussard hears.

Western Notes: Warriors, Young, Lakers

Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob told reporters that he, coach Mark Jackson and GM Bob Myers all get along, refuting reported dysfunction within the team, as Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group transcribes. Lacob referred to the re-assignment of assistant coach Brian Scalabrine and the firing of fellow assistant Darren Erman as “minor setbacks.” A little over a week ago, Myers gave Jackson a public vote of support, saying that he’s done a tremendous job; however, we’ve also relayed the belief from some writers who think that Jackson’s future in Golden State could be tied to how the team fares in this year’s postseason.

Here are a few other notes to pass along out of the Western Conference this evening:

  • Lakers swingman Nick Young is “very confident” that he’ll reach an agreement to remain with the team beyond this summer, reports Mark Medina of the L.A. Daily News. This isn’t the first time that the Los Angeles native has gone on record saying he’d like to stay, but he also hinted that it could be difficult to pass up a hefty pay raise somewhere else if the opportunity presented itself.
  • Some members of Lakers brass are high on the idea of bringing in a young, up-and-coming head coach who wouldn’t command too much money, making him cheap to get rid of if he doesn’t pan out, according to Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding.
  • In addition to making the argument that Dirk Nowitzki ranks among one of the NBA’s 12 greatest players, Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle thinks that Dirk – currently the 10th highest scorer in NBA history – has plenty left in the tank to surpass a few more names on that list: “He’s got a lot more good basketball left in him…A lot more great basketball. So I think he’s going to pick off a few more guys going up the ladder” (ESPN’s Marc Stein reports).
  • The Kings have assigned Willie Reed to their D-League affiliate in Reno, according to GM Pete D’Alessandro
  • Former Spurs training camp invitee Courtney Fells has signed a deal with Bucaneiros de la Guaira in Venezuela, reports Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Fells played in 47 games for the Spurs’ D-League affiliate in 2013/14, averaging 20.5 PPG, 6.1 RPG, and 40.4 MPG.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post. 

Western Notes: Scalabrine, D’Antoni, McLemore

Brandon Rush says he’s still not 100% after tearing his ACL a year and a half ago, and he expects to have to work out in front of executives from interested teams this summer when he’s a free agent, tweets Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune. In any case, Jody Genessy of the Deseret News can’t envision the swingman re-signing with the Jazz (Twitter link).

More from the Western Conference: