David Vanterpool Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wolves Begin Head Coaching Search; Saunders Still ‘Prominent’ Candidate

May 14th, 2019 at 7:58am CST by Luke Adams

Having settled into his new role in Minnesota, Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas has decided to launch a search for the club’s head coaching position, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Interim coach Ryan Saunders, who had widely been viewed as a strong bet to keep the job, will remain a “prominent” candidate, according to Wojnarowski, but the team will interview outside candidates as well. League sources tell Woj that Heat assistant Juwan Howard and Trail Blazers assistant David Vanterpool are among those will meet with the Wolves about the position.

Howard and Vanterpool have been popular targets so far this spring for teams making head coaching changes. Howard interviewed with the Lakers and Cavaliers, while Vanterpool has met with the Cavs and Suns.

Wojnarowski reports that Howard is expected to meet with Rosas during this week’s draft combine, while Vanterpool will likely connect with Rosas later in the week.

As for Saunders, he has made a strong impression on team ownership since taking over for Tom Thibodeau on Minnesota’s bench during the 2018/19 season, according to Wojnarowski. Saunders has also impressed Rosas, having met with him for “a dozen or so hours” since the former Rockets exec was hired. Nonetheless, the Wolves want to consider all their options before simply handing the reins to Saunders on a permanent basis.

Cavaliers Interview More Coaching Candidates

May 11th, 2019 at 6:34pm CST by Arthur Hill

Members of the Cavaliers‘ front office are meeting with four candidates for their head coaching vacancy today in Denver, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

We told you earlier that Magic assistant coach Steve Hetzel had an interview, but GM Koby Altman and his staff also talked to Nuggets assistants Jordi Fernandez and Wes Unseld Jr.

Trail Blazers assistant David Vanterpool will interview tonight, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, while fellow Portland assistant Nate Tibbetts had a scheduling conflict and will hold his interview sometime after tomorrow’s Game 7. That will wrap up the first round of the coaching search, Fedor adds (Twitter link).

Cleveland has conducted the most wide-ranging interview process among the teams looking for a head coach. Spurs assistants Ime Udoka and Ettore Messina, former Grizzlies coach J.B. Bickerstaff, Jazz assistant Alex Jensen and Mavericks assistant Jamahl Mosley have all interviewed for the job.

Monty Williams Interviews With Suns

April 27th, 2019 at 10:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Suns met with Sixers assistant Monty Williams on Friday, but didn’t make a job offer, reports Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. The meeting was described as “very positive,” Rankin adds, and Williams remains a top contender for the position.

He was the first candidate the Suns have interviewed since firing first-year coach Igor Kokoskov on Monday. The meeting was held in Toronto because the Sixers are there for the first two games of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The Lakers also interviewed Williams this week, along with former Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue.

Williams, 47, has head coaching experience in New Orleans, where he worked for new Suns VP of basketball operations Jeff Bower. Williams compiled a 173-221 record in five seasons. Phoenix GM James Jones also has experience with Williams, who was an assistant coach with the Trail Blazers during the three seasons that Jones played there.

The Suns were scheduled to meet today with Portland assistants Nate Tibbetts and David Vanterpool.

Suns Get Permission To Interview Vanterpool, Tibbetts

April 24th, 2019 at 12:26pm CST by Luke Adams

A pair of Trail Blazers assistant coaches continue to receive interest from teams with head coaching vacancies. A day after word broke that Portland had granted permission to the Cavaliers to interview David Vanterpool and Nate Tibbetts, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports (via Twitter) that the Suns have also received permission to meet with the duo.

Vanterpool had previously been mentioned as a candidate to replace Igor Kokoskov in Phoenix, but this is the first we’ve heard of Tibbetts’ spot on the Suns’ list of potential targets.

According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), Sixers assistant Monty Williams remains the focus of the Suns’ coaching search, after the team received permission earlier this week to meet with him. However, both Vanterpool and Tibbetts are in position to become serious candidates for the head coaching openings around the NBA.

Vanterpool, who played basketball professionally up until 2007, became an assistant on CSKA Moscow’s staff following his retirement as a player. He joined the Blazers’ staff when Terry Stotts was hired in 2012.

As for Tibbetts, he joined Stotts’ staff in 2013 after spending two years as an assistant for the Cavaliers. Before his time in Cleveland, Tibbetts served as the head coach for the Tulsa 66ers and the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the G League.

Cavs To Interview Pair Of Blazers Assistants

April 23rd, 2019 at 6:57pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Cavaliers have received permission from the Trail Blazers to interview Nate Tibbetts and David Vanterpool in their search for a new head coach, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Both Tibbetts and Vanterpool were previously mentioned as potential targets for the role, as our Head Coaching Search Tracker shows.

Cleveland plans to conduct an interview with each candidate, but the franchise will be sensitive to Portland’s playoff run in the scheduling, writes Tom Withers of The Associated Press.

Tyronn Lue, who is in the running for the Lakers’ gig, began the season as the Cavs’ coach before the team fired him and handed duties over to Larry Drew. Drew was always seen as a stopgap coach, guiding the team through a season of injuries.

Heat assistant Juwan Howard and Mavs assistant Jamahl Mosley are among the candidates Cleveland is considering for the position. The franchise has no timetable to make a hire.

Suns Look To Interview David Vanterpool, Monty Williams

April 23rd, 2019 at 2:11pm CST by Luke Adams

2:11pm: The Sixers have granted the Suns permission to interview Williams, according to Wojnarowski, who adds that the former Pelicans coach is Phoenix’s top target (Twitter links).

8:37am: Having dismissed head coach Igor Kokoskov on Monday, the Suns will start their search for a new coach by requesting permission to interview a pair of veteran assistants, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). League sources tell Charania that Phoenix is eyeing Trail Blazers assistant David Vanterpool in addition to Sixers assistant Monty Williams.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the Suns’ interest in Williams shortly after Kokoskov’s dismissal on Monday. The former Pelicans head coach, who also served as an assistant in Portland and Oklahoma City, has emerged as one of the most popular targets this spring for teams in search of a head coach. The Lakers have interviewed him already, and the Kings were said to have him on their list before they hired Luke Walton.

As for Vanterpool, his name has been connected to multiple job openings in recent years, as he has long been viewed as one of the assistant coaches most prepared for a head coaching position. He reportedly met with the Magic and Hornets last spring, and the Cavaliers are expected to interview him after Portland’s playoff run ends.

I expect the Suns’ list of targets to continue to grow in the coming days, but the fact that Williams and Vanterpool have emerged as the first names on that list suggests that the club thinks highly of them.

Cavs To Interview Juwan Howard, Jamahl Mosley, Others

April 14th, 2019 at 12:55pm CST by Arthur Hill

1:32pm: The Cavs also plan to interview Utah’s Alex Jensen and Portland’s David Vanterpool when their teams are done with the playoffs, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link).

12:55pm: Heat assistant Juwan Howard and Mavericks assistant Jamahl Mosley will be the first two candidates to interview for the Cavaliers‘ head coaching job, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Both interviews are expected this week.

Cavs GM Koby Altman plans to go through a long list of candidates before hiring a replacement for Larry Drew, Woj adds. The team will start with assistant coaches on teams that didn’t reach the playoffs.

Howard has been part of Erik Spoelstra’s staff in Miami since retiring from the NBA in 2013. Mosley was an assistant in Cleveland for four seasons before leaving for Denver in 2014.

Hornets Interviewing Blazers’ David Vanterpool

May 1st, 2018 at 1:34pm CST by Luke Adams

Trail Blazers assistant coach David Vanterpool has received permission to interview for another head coaching job, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that Vanterpool is a candidate for the Hornets’ job. Charlotte is meeting with the Blazers assistant today, Wojnarowski adds.

It’s the second known interview for Vanterpool, as Portland also granted the Magic permission to speak to him about their open head coaching position.

Vanterpool, who has served as a Trail Blazers assistant for the last six seasons, was recently identified by executives around the NBA as one of the top candidates to receive consideration for a head coaching job this spring. Among NBA assistants, only Nick Nurse of the Raptors received more votes than Vanterpool in the survey, which was conducted by Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports.

For the Hornets, Vanterpool represents the latest in a growing list of candidates to replace Steve Clifford. Ettore Messina, David Fizdale, Ime Ukoda, and Jerry Stackhouse are also among the coaches who have interviewed – or plan to interview – with Charlotte.

The Hornets’ coaching search is being led by new general manager and president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak.

Magic Receive Permission To Interview David Vanterpool

April 28th, 2018 at 2:47pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Trail Blazers have granted permission for the Magic to interview assistant David Vanterpool about their head coaching job, as Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel details. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Chris Haynes (Twitter link).

Vanterpool, who has spent the past six years with Portland, was among four candidates to interview for the position in 2016 after Scott Skiles stepped down, Robbins notes. Orlando opted for Frank Vogel, who was fired after this season ended.

Vanterpool tied for third in a poll of GMs taken before the start of this season ranking the league’s top assistant coaches. The 45-year-old had brief NBA experience as a player, but spent most of his time overseas and in the Continental Basketball Association.

The news about Vanterpool makes him the first confirmed candidate for the Magic job, though a mid-April report indicated that the team intended to meet with Jerry Stackhouse. When Vogel was dismissed more than two weeks ago, team officials indicated they planned to take their time finding his replacement.

Robbins writes that president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman, who is running the coaching search, is expected to reach into his Toronto background and contact Raptors assistant Nick Nurse in addition to Stackhouse, who coaches Toronto’s G League affiliate.

Hawks Expected To Consider Fizdale, Tibbetts, Others

April 26th, 2018 at 2:13pm CST by Luke Adams

2:13pm: Vanterpool won’t be among the Hawks’ head coaching candidates after all, tweets Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

9:30am: The Hawks are the latest NBA team to embark on a search for a new head coach, having confirmed on Wednesday that they’ve parted ways with Mike Budenholzer, who had held the position since 2013. While there’s no presumed frontrunner to replace Budenholzer yet, a number of potential candidates have already emerged for Atlanta.

The Hawks are expected to talk to former Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale and current Trail Blazers assistant Nate Tibbetts about their head coaching position, a source tells Sam Amick and Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Fizdale has been one of this spring’s most popular head coaching candidates, having previously been linked to the Knicks, Suns, and Hornets. It’s the first time we’ve heard Tibbetts connected to one of the ongoing searches, however.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski adds a few more names to the Hawks’ list of candidates, reporting that the club is also expected to consider Hornets assistant Stephen Silas, Spurs assistants Ime Udoka and James Borrego, and another Trail Blazers assistant, David Vanterpool.

Borrego has been another assistant whose name has frequently popped up in coaching rumors this spring — he has been linked to the Knicks and Suns. Meanwhile, Silas was identified as a possible head coaching candidate in the wake of Steve Clifford‘s ouster in Charlotte. As Amick and Zillgitt note, Silas is “widely respected” around the NBA and was with the Warriors at the same time as current Hawks GM Travis Schlenk.

It’s no surprise that the initial group of candidates for the rebuilding Hawks includes a number of NBA assistants. Wojnarowski writes that the team wants to hire an up-and-coming coach who can evolve along with Atlanta’s young roster. Vanterpool, Silas, and Tibbetts all showed up near the top of a recent list of NBA assistants who should receive head coaching consideration — that list was voted on by about three dozen executives around the league.