Pacers Rumors: Stephenson, Vogel, Hill, Rondo
Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird today reiterated a stance he took early in the season, telling reporters, including Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star, that he wants soon-to-be free agent Lance Stephenson back in a Pacers uniform (Twitter link). A report late last week indicated that some within the Pacers had begun to question whether re-signing the mercurial guard was the right idea.
“When it comes down to it, it’s up to him whether he wants to be here or not. … I always want him back,” Bird said, as Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today notes (Twitter link).
There’s much more from the team’s exit interviews today, much of it coming from Bird, via Buckner, who live-tweeted his remarks. Here are the highlights:
- Coach Frank Vogel also offered his support for re-signing Stephenson, as Buckner passes along via Twitter.
- Bird confirmed that Vogel will return and that his job was never in jeopardy, pinning rumors to the contrary on far-flung reporters, Buckner tweets.
- There appears to be less certainty about the future of George Hill, in spite of three more seasons on his contract, Bird indicated. “Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot about our point guard situation,” Bird said, according to Buckner (Twitter link). “I like George. But you never know what’s going to happen this summer.”
- Bird also cast an eye toward Rajon Rondo, as Buckner notes in a pair of tweets. “He’s a very good player,” Bird said of Rondo, who’ll be a free agent next summer. “Been great for a long time. It’s always good to daydream and wish for these guys, but everything we do has to be through trades.”
- The Pacers have only one pick, at No. 57, in this month’s draft, but Bird suggested there’s a decent chance the team will move up, either into the first round or the early part of the second, according to Buckner (Twitter links).
- Bird also offered support for Evan Turner, Indiana’s major trade deadline acquisition and another soon-to-be free agent, saying that he loves the swingman’s game and predicting that he’ll average 17 points per game wherever he ends up, Buckner tweets.
- Ex-Pacer Danny Granger helped in the locker room, but he “was never this leader that everybody thought he was,” Bird said, according to Buckner (on Twitter).
- Bird refused to say whether anyone on the roster was an untouchable, and hedged about the idea of altering the team’s core, as Buckner passes along (Twitter links). “They’re young, I don’t want to make major changes … but we’re open, we’re going to listen and we’re going to see what’s out there,” Bird said.
Pacers To Keep Frank Vogel
The Pacers will bring back head coach Frank Vogel next season, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Vogel has one year remaining on the extension he signed before this season. The Pacers just bowed out of the playoffs after reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the second consecutive year.
Normally, a coach with a 267-167 career record wouldn’t be on the hot seat after losing to the league’s two-time defending champion in six games, but poor play and locker room conflict marked Indiana following the All-Star break. Despite ascending the standings and finishing as the one seed, the team struggled to close the season, and was a game away from elimination at the hands of the eighth-seeded Hawks in the first round. It’s believed that Vogel essentially saved his job by surviving that first round matchup, but there were lingering whispers until now that he could still get replaced.
Vogel received his extension while team president Larry Bird was on a year-long hiatus. The offseason and in-season moves that Bird worked to bolster a roster that pushed Miami to a seventh game in last year’s conference finals didn’t pay off, as the additions of Luis Scola, Evan Turner, and Andrew Bynum didn’t significantly improve the production from Vogel’s rotations, still marked by stagnant offense and stifling defense. While many coaches advancing in the playoffs receive extensions after elimination, it’s a distinct possibility that Vogel will be coaching on a contract year next season, as disappointment is still running high in Indiana.
Stein’s Latest On Pacers
Now that the Pacers season is in the books, it’s time to look ahead to the offseason. After re-tooling this year, Indiana didn’t put up any better of a fight against the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, and had a tumultuous run to end the season. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported on a team he doesn’t think has any positives to show for the 2013/14 campaign. Some of the highlights:
- NBA coaching circles still believe Frank Vogel was coaching for his job in the first round of the playoffs, and perhaps second round, too, but the situation is less cut and dry now that the Pacers made it to a Game 6 in the conference finals.
- The ESPN scribe hears whispers in Indiana about Mark Jackson as a potential replacement of Vogel, should Vogel get fired. Jackson has history with both president Larry Bird and front office consultant Donnie Walsh.
- The personnel grapevine is indicating to Stein that Lance Stephenson‘s free agency market is already drying up, and he suspects Stephenson is more likely to return to Indiana because of it. While Bird has been committed to sticking with Stephenson until at least last week, a team like the Mavericks–normally open to bringing in risky players–has shown no interest in pursuing the guard as a free agent.
- Roy Hibbert would be open to a trade if the Pacers decided to try and move him, sources tell Stein. Hibbert hasn’t asked for a trade, and his contract could be difficult to move if Indiana decided to try and do so.
- The Pacers covet a more natural ballhandler to add to a roster that didn’t feature a point guard averaging even 5 assists per game this season.
- Paul George is still considered untouchable by the Pacers, but Stein wonders if he will be able to live up to growing expectations and pressures next season.
Eastern Notes: Pistons, Woodson, Celtics
Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press thinks that the Pistons should focus on finding a GM before concentrating on filling their vacant head coaching position. By waiting until after the playoffs, the franchise could see the pool of available coaches grow. Ellis notes that if their teams get bounced out of the playoffs in the first round, Pacers coach Frank Vogel, Thunder coach Scott Brooks and Warriors coach Mark Jackson could get lose their jobs and become possibilities for Detroit.
More from the Eastern Conference:
- Former Knicks coach Mike Woodson said things didn’t work out for him this year, but he still wants to coach, writes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Woodson said, “The last two years, prior to coming into this season, was a good two seasons for our ball club and for our fans, and this year things just didn’t work out. Sometimes in life, things just don’t work out according to plan. But I look at it, overall it was a good run and it was a great experience for me from a coaching standpoint. I’ve got to move on and close the chapter in this book and get ready for a new chapter because I still want to coach, and I love what I do.”
- Jeff Van Gundy believes that Steve Kerr should be the next coach of the Knicks, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Van Gundy said, “I think [Kerr] has every quality you need to be an outstanding head coach. I see the combination of he and Jackson having the type of relationship that would bring unity to the organization that is necessary to have a chance to win big consistently.’’
- Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald examines the Celtics draft options in what GM Danny Ainge calls, “a top heavy draft.”
Frank Vogel’s Job On Line In Playoffs?
THURSDAY, 10:35am: Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard took a poke at Stein’s report, saying on Twitter that Bird’s “sources say” Vogel’s job is safe.
WEDNESDAY, 11:01am: Sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com that Pacers coach Frank Vogel is “coaching for his job” in the playoffs, even with a year left on his contract. A first-round series victory against the Hawks wouldn’t necessarily be enough for Vogel to ensure his return for next season, Stein hears.
Dissension has marked Vogel’s locker room during the team’s second half slide. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports wrote overnight of a fight in practice last week between Lance Stephenson and Evan Turner, and Stephenson has drawn the ire of other teammates lately, as Stein documents. The soon-to-be free agent and George Hill had to be separated on the bench during a loss late last month, while Stein hears that Roy Hibbert‘s recent remarks about selfish play were essentially directed at Stephenson. Still, Stephenson is a favorite of president of basketball operations Larry Bird, and Bird and Stephenson have indicated they have mutual interest in a new contract.
There appeared to be a slight chance that Bird would replace Vogel before the playoffs and take over the coaching duties himself, though Bird expressed full confidence in Vogel during the last week of the regular season. Bird was somewhat critical of Vogel’s style in March, but he added that he was beginning to warm to the coach’s more positive approach. Stein passes along reporting from ESPN’s Chris Broussard, who hears from sources who point to the absence of former assistant coach Brian Shaw, now the Nuggets head coach, who often played the “bad cop” in the Pacers locker room, pushing players when Vogel wouldn’t.
And-Ones: Pacers, Izzo, Donovan, Kings
With a trio of Game Threes on the schedule, let’s take a look at what is going on around the league on Wednesday night:
- With Frank Vogel‘s job reportedly on the line in Indiana, Sean Deveney of Sporting News examines the caveats of the recent NBA trend of hiring younger, cheaper and less experienced head coaches in the mold of the Pacers’ front man. Speaking with several veteran coaches, Deveney writes that policing an NBA locker room is all the more difficult without extensive NBA experience, be it as a coach or a player.
- There has never been more NBA-centric buzz about Tom Izzo, though the Michigan State head coach remains a long shot to leave East Lansing for a gig in the professional ranks. However should the Michigan-born Izzo need to hire an agent, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets that it would likely be Minneapolis-based Gary O’Hagan. Wolfson confirms reports we’ve heard that the Timberwolves would love to land Izzo as their next head coach.
- We know the Wolves are also interested in Florida’s Billy Donovan, who flirted with the NBA seven years ago before eventually backing out. Louisville head coach Rick Pitino, who coached Donovan at Providence, said Wednesday morning on ESPN’s Mike & Mike that Donovan would make an excellent NBA head coach, though Pitino suspects his protege might again get cold feet before making the leap to the next level, writes Adam Zagoria of SNY.
- Heading into an important offseason in Sacramento, Ailene Voison of the Bee puts the microscope on the Kings‘ front office hierarchy, led by first-year general manager Pete D’Alessandro. As Voison opines, D’Alessandro is challenged with employing an effective small- to mid-market approach in the mold of the Spurs and Pacers, something the previous regime in Sacramento failed to do.
Pacers Mull Replacing Vogel With Larry Bird?
There’s a chance, albeit a small one, that Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird takes over the coaching duties from Frank Vogel before the playoffs begin, as Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star tells Bleacher Report’s Adam Lefkoe in a video interview. Kravitz pegs it as a 5% chance, and cautions that the notion doesn’t come from Bird himself.
Bird told Kravitz nearly a month ago that he thought Vogel wasn’t pushing his players hard enough, and the Pacers have continued their surprising downturn. Indiana was 42-10 before the All-Star break, but the team has gone just 13-13 since and fallen behind the Heat for the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The decline has been mystifying, and Bird’s midseason acquisitions of Evan Turner and Andrew Bynum haven’t panned out.
Vogel has turned the Pacers around after taking over the team for the final 38 games of the 2010/11 season, guiding them to the playoffs that season and every year since. Indiana was a game short of the NBA Finals last season, when Bird took a one-year hiatus from his job in the front office. Bird also coached the franchise within a game of the Finals in 1998, the first of his three-year tenure on the bench. His final season as coach ended with a trip to the 2000 Finals, which Indiana lost to the Lakers.
It would be surprising if the Pacers were to bring Bird back to the sidelines for the postseason, as Kravitz suggests. Even if such a move doesn’t happen, it looks as though Vogel’s job security will be in doubt unless Indiana makes a deep run in the playoffs.
Central Notes: Cavs, Granger, Zeller
The Cavs went through their Wine & Gold scrimmage today and it appears No. 1 pick Anthony Bennett is struggling with his conditioning, reports the Akron Beacon Journal's Jason Lloyd. He was winded after playing just four minutes in the scrimmage.
The scrimmage ended early after second-year center Tyler Zeller took a nasty fall and Anderson Varejao landed him on, adds Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Zeller suffered a strained left hip, which is not considered serious, but he was impressing coach Mike Brown before the scary fall.
Here's more on the Cavs and some notes on the Pacers' possible new sixth man while most fans are taking in all the early preseason action tonight…
- Kyrie Irving dominated the Wine & Gold game writes Boyer, with some flashy moves on his way to scoring a game-high 17 points during the intra-squad scrimmage.
- Bennett looks to be 10-15 pounds overweight writes the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto, echoing Lloyd's report from above. But Pluto also relays Brown's belief that Bennett has NBA 3-point range; although, he still needs to work on his defense.
- Pacers coach Frank Vogel alluded to James Harden and Manu Ginobili when talking about the possibility of Danny Granger coming off the bench, tweets the Indianapolis Star's Candace Buckner. But she adds, via Twitter, that Granger would share starters' minutes with Lance Stephenson.
Vogel On East, Offseason, Granger, Hibbert
Pacers head coach Frank Vogel was a guest on ESPN Radio in Indianapolis today and Scott Agness of Pacers.com transcribed much of the interview for us. Vogel hits on a number of topics, but specifically discussed the offseason developments at the top of the Eastern Conference, including those within his own team. Here are a few key points from Vogel:
- Vogel mentioned the Bulls and Nets as the two teams that have taken big steps forward this offseason; Chicago with the return of Derrick Rose and Brooklyn with their bevy of additions. Vogel lauded the bench additions of Jason Terry and Andrei Kirilenko in Brooklyn, and said he expects good things from Jason Kidd as an NBA coach.
- The Pacers' addition of Luis Scola will really help the team's bench, Vogel said, adding that Scola is one of smartest and most creative players in the league. Vogel said that Solomon Hill, drafted 23rd by Indiana in June, is "ready to contribute right away" and also mentioned C.J. Watson and Chris Copeland as useful additions to his squad.
- Of course, the piece most likely to elevate the Pacers to the next level is the return of Danny Granger, who missed all but five games last season with knee issues. On Granger, Vogel said, "It’s really exciting. Danny is on schedule, looks really good, he’s making progress each week and we’re hoping that we're going to be having a full-strength Danny Granger this year to add to this team that made a lot of noise last year."
- Roy Hibbert has concentrated on bulking up this summer, according to Vogel. Hibbert, who established himself as an elite physical presence in last season's playoffs, is adding bulk mainly in hopes of improving on the offensive end, Vogel said.
Eastern Notes: Pierce, Sixers, Bynum, Vogel
It’s more than reasonable for the Celtics to consider cashing out on an aging Paul Pierce for young assets to be used towards rebuilding, opines Joel Brigham of HoopsWorld. In another season and a half, the veteran could retire or walk away from Boston with no compensation. His trade value may never be as high as it will be now through the 2013 draft, and this may be the time to act, according to Brigham. Here's more from around the Eastern Conference.
- Sixers GM Tony DiLeo told reporters, including Tom Moore of PhillyBurbs.com, that the team will try to stay in contention for a playoff spot until Andrew Bynum gets back, and may make short-term upgrades that don't cut into next summer's cap space.
- DiLeo also said the Sixers "are still looking at Andrew as a long-term solution," indicating they still plan on trying to re-sign him this summer.
- The extension Frank Vogel signed with the Pacers this week runs through 2014/15, and will pay the coach $2MM per season, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
- J.J. Redick doesn’t want to be traded away from the Magic, but after hearing from GM Rob Hennigan that several teams have expressed interest, he's girding himself for the possibility, writes John Denton of Magic.com.
- The Heat signed Josh Harrellson and Jarvis Varnado to ten-day contracts simply to stall for time until something better comes along, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. The Heat can get a better sense of what might be available to add at either the trading deadline or buyout deadline.
- Anderson Varejao's injury isn't devastating to his long-term trade value, as The Plain Dealer's Mary Schmitt Boyer examines.
Zach Links of Hoops Rumors also contributed to this post.