Joe Dumars Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Demps On Williams, Coaching Search, Dumars

May 12th, 2015 at 4:26pm CST by Chuck Myron

Pelicans GM Dell Demps reportedly pushed for today’s ouster of coach Monty Williams, but Demps characterized the move to reporters today as an organizational decision, notes Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune (Twitter link). The GM also insisted that there was no disconnect between him and Williams, in spite of Smith’s earlier report, as Smith and fellow Times-Picayune scribe John Reid relay (Twitter links). Demps had much more to say this afternoon about the coaching change and other Pelicans issues, and we’ll pass along the highlights:

One point Demps didn’t address was the status of his own contract, which remains unclear, though executive vice president of basketball operations Mickey Loomis indicated that the GM was under contract for a few years, Smith tweets. Still, it’s not clear just how many years are left. The Pelicans apparently hadn’t exercised their option on Demps for next season as of last week, as Reid wrote then. In any case, Demps said he’ll be in charge of finding a replacement for Williams, as Jim Eichenhofer of Hornets.com relays (Twitter link). “We’re going to begin that process immediately after this,” Demps said. “I don’t have a timetable. I’m going to lead the search.”
Demps confirmed that Loomis told him that rumors regarding Joe Dumars and the Pelicans were untrue, according to Smith (Twitter link). The Pelicans last week denied that the team had talked to the former Pistons exec about a role in the organization, though it appears that if Dumars were to come aboard, it would be in a capacity that would oversee Demps but not replace him, as multiple reports have indicated.
The GM said that he spoke with a number of Pelicans players, including Anthony Davis, after the team announced the firing, Smith tweets.
Demps and Williams talked just about every day and spoke about all player personnel moves, the GM said, Smith notes (Twitter links). There wasn’t a specific loss or incident that precipitated the firing, Demps added, according to Reid (on Twitter).
The fate of the team’s assistant coaches depends on the team’s next head coach, Demps said, as Smith passes along (Twitter link).

Southwest Notes: Dumars, Rockets, Parsons

May 12th, 2015 at 11:05am CST by Chuck Myron

The top two centers on the Pelicans roster are both set for unrestricted free agency, and Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune argues that Alexis Ajinca would be a better value than Omer Asik. Ajinca showed more offensive capabilities and blocked shots at about twice the rate that Asik did, but Asik is likely to command the higher salary, Smith observes. I made a similar suggestion when I looked at the offseason ahead for the Pelicans, but New Orleans would prefer to bring back both Asik and Ajinca, along with all of their other free agents, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe wrote recently. There’s more on the Pelicans amid the latest from around the Southwest Division:

People around the NBA have believed for a while that Joe Dumars would at some point be likely to take over the responsibilities that Mickey Loomis has atop the Pelicans franchise, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, writing in his NBA AM column. The Pelicans issued a statement denying that the team has spoken with the former Pistons exec about a job in the New Orleans organization, but Loomis, who is a friend of Dumars, and other Pelicans higher-ups reportedly met multiple times with Dumars this past fall. Loomis serves as the team’s executive vice president of basketball operations, though Dell Demps runs the day-to-day affairs as GM. Grantland’s Zach Lowe recently suggested that Dumars remained in play for a supervisory role above Demps.
Rockets GM Daryl Morey is perhaps the most notorious practitioner of analytics among top NBA execs, but valuing numbers too highly over qualities that can’t easily be expressed in numbers, like leadership, may well be Houston’s downfall in the Clippers series, SB Nation’s Tom Ziller opines.
The Spurs scheduled a workout with draft prospect Pat Connaughton, trainer Erik Kaloyanides revealed via Twitter (hat tip to Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi). Connaughton, a shooting guard coming off his senior year at Notre Dame, is the 71st best prospect in the rankings that Chad Ford of ESPN.com compiles, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him 98th.
Mavs GM Donnie Nelson believes Chandler Parsons will someday become an NBA GM himself and says that he’d be glad to mentor the small forward toward a front office career once his playing days are over, as Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com relays.

Pelicans Met With Joe Dumars

May 6th, 2015 at 7:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

7:14pm: Pelicans spokesman Greg Bensel issued a statement saying that the team has not discussed a position with Dumars, nor has the franchise made him a job offer, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets.

1:06pm: Executive vice president of basketball operations Mickey Loomis and other Pelicans officials met with Joe Dumars multiple times this past fall to gauge the ex-Pistons executive’s thoughts on the Pelicans, a source told John Reid of The Times-Picayune. Reid confirms a report from Fletcher Mackel of WDSU-TV that the meetings took place during several road games for the NFL’s New Orleans Saints in 2014. It’s possible that the Pelicans will hire Dumars, but no such move is imminent, Reid and Mackel both write. Grantland’s Zach Lowe wrote Wednesday that Dumars remains in play for a supervisory role above GM Dell Demps.

Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher in January alluded to talk around the league that suggested owner Tom Benson was eyeing Dumars, a Louisiana native, but Bucher cautioned that there were no signs that Benson was definitively unsatisfied with Demps. The Pelicans have a team option on Demps for next season, but they’ve yet to exercise it, Reid notes. Benson sent a letter of congratulations last week to Demps, coach Monty Williams and their staffs after the end of a season that saw the franchise return to the playoffs for the first time since 2011. Demps denied a report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that the Pelicans gave him and Williams mandates to make the playoffs this year. Reid reported in March that the Pelicans planned to evaluate Demps and Williams at season’s end.

Dumars has long been friends with Loomis and Saints coach Sean Payton and has close ties to Pelicans officials, according to Reid. The Pistons said he would remain with the team as an adviser when his nearly 14-year tenure atop Detroit’s basketball operations ended last year, but his name isn’t listed among the basketball operations personnel in the Pistons media guide for this season.

Western Notes: Brooks, Dumars, Bonner, Draft

May 5th, 2015 at 12:41pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Nuggets are intensifying their search for a new coach this week after having spent the past few weeks focused on scouting and the draft, reports Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. They’ll likely chat with former Thunder coach Scott Brooks, among others, Dempsey writes amid a mailbag column, though it’s unclear if he’ll receive a formal interview. The hiring process is expected to last most if not all of May and GM Tim Connelly will collaborate with team president Josh Kroenke, son of owner Stan Kroenke, on the decision, as Dempsey details in his first piece. There’s more on the Nuggets amid the latest from around the Western Conference:

New rumors have surfaced suggesting that the possibility of the Pelicans hiring Joe Dumars remains in play for what would be a supervisory role above GM Dell Demps, Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes. Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher first linked the former Pistons exec to New Orleans in January.
Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News lists Matt Bonner among the Spurs contemplating retirement. Bonner, who turned 35 last month, signed a one-year deal for the minimum to return to San Antonio last summer.
Dempsey believes that if Nuggets end up with the No. 7 pick, their likeliest first-round position as the lottery odds show, they’d try to trade it for a pick higher in the order or attempt to deal for a second top-seven pick, as the Post scribe writes in the mailbag column linked above.
Former Michigan State swingman Russell Byrd will be among the draft prospects at a workout the Jazz will hold Wednesday, sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link). Byrd is unlisted in the rankings that Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and Chad Ford of ESPN.com compile.

Eastern Notes: Dudley, Monroe, Fisher

March 30th, 2015 at 10:04am CST by Chuck Myron

Jared Dudley didn’t really want to play for the Bucks after the Clippers traded him to Milwaukee this summer, but his new team’s training staff, Jason Kidd‘s coaching style, and Milwaukee’s competitiveness helped convince him otherwise, as Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel details. Dudley has a $4.25MM early termination option for next season, and while he hasn’t said what he’ll do with that, he told Nickel that he’d like a long-term deal with the Bucks and that he’s willing to take a discount to sign one, citing Kidd as his top reason why. Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Greg Monroe believes former Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars deserves another chance to run a team, as Terry Foster of The Detroit News relays. Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher wrote in January that Pelicans owner Tom Benson had some interest in Dumars, and Monroe, soon to be an unrestricted free agent, is a New Orleans native. “I mean, yeah,” Monroe said when asked if Dumars should have another shot at team building. “He put together a championship team. Obviously he knows what it takes to get it done. For a stretch he had one of the most successful teams in the league. Obviously he is good at that job. I don’t see how that would be a problem to get back.”
Derek Fisher says he doesn’t have regrets about taking on the Knicks coaching job even with the team in possession of the league’s worst record and added that he talks daily with team president Phil Jackson, notes Peter Botte of the New York Daily News. Coaching colleagues, like Tom Thibodeau, have no shortage of praise for Fisher, Botte adds.
Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers believes the Celtics almost had to trade Rajon Rondo this season with his contract running out this summer, as he told reporters, including Brian Robb of Boston.com. Rivers said a rebuilding team like the Celtics, whom he used to coach, can’t afford to risk that a soon-to-be free agent walks and added that he believes Rondo, and not the Celtics front office, was the catalyst for the move, as Robb passes along.

Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Parsons, Randolph

January 29th, 2015 at 1:48pm CST by Chuck Myron

There’s a perception around the NBA that GM Dell Demps and coach Monty Williams are on “thin ice” in New Orleans, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders wrote this week, corroborating an earlier report from Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher that linked the team to former Pistons exec Joe Dumars. Still, the Pelicans are hanging around the playoff race, sitting in ninth place in the Western Conference and two and a half games out of the final postseason spot. There’s more on the Pelicans amid the latest from the Southwest Division:

Chandler Parsons doesn’t have a role that’s expansive as he envisioned when he signed with the Mavs for three years and $46.085MM this past summer, but he’s not complaining, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com details.
It would be “crazy” for the Mavs to make an offer to Rajon Rondo that even approaches the maximum salary, MacMahon opines in a roundtable piece with other ESPNDallas.com writers, adding that he’d hesitate to give the point guard more than $10MM a year.
John Reid of The Times-Picayune chronicles the ascent of Dante Cunningham from languishing in free agency two months ago to starter for the Pelicans today. Cunningham signed with New Orleans in early December.
Zach Randolph would stand to draw offers this summer for more than the two-year, $20MM extension he signed with the Grizzlies last year if he had played out his contract instead, as Geoff Calkins of The Commercial Appeal speculates in a subscription-only piece. Still, the power forward believes the extension was worth signing. “It definitely is, man,” he said. “It’s about sacrificing. I sacrificed. This is what it’s all about, sacrificing for your team, your teammates and your organization.”
The Rockets have assigned Clint Capela to the D-League, the team announced (on Twitter). It’s the fourth time that Houston has sent the No. 25 pick from the 2014 draft to its affiliate.

Bucher’s Latest: Kings, Pelicans, Cavs

January 9th, 2015 at 1:10pm CST by Chuck Myron

It’s no secret that the Nets trio of Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson are available on the trade market, and they’re among a long list of players that GMs say teams are open to trading as the February 19th deadline approaches, according Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher. Jeff Green, Brandan Wright, Lance Stephenson, Greg Monroe, Brandon Jennings, Goran Dragic, Nik Stauskas, Ben McLemore, Jason Thompson, Arron Afflalo and most of the other Nuggets are also on that list, with Bucher, in many cases, confirming earlier reports. Still, Bucher hears plenty of new rumbles, as he passes along in his piece, and we’ll hit the highlights here:

Kings owner Vivek Ranadive unilaterally made the decision to fire former coach Michael Malone, sources tell Bucher, even though GM Pete D’Alessandro claimed the decision as his own. Most of the Kings organization was pleased with the direction the team was headed in and believed the team was overachieving, though there were doubts that Malone was the long-term solution, Bucher writes.
Ranadive wanted to make a splash with Malone’s successor, but Kings front office executives prevailed upon him to keep Tyrone Corbin as head coach, according to Bucher. Ranadive would relish the chance to turn the screws on the Warriors, of whom he used to be a part-owner, by hiring Mark Jackson, the ex-Warriors coach, a source tells Bucher, who nonetheless believes that the team won’t hire Jackson during this season.
Talk “circulating around the league” suggests that Pelicans owner Tom Benson is eyeing former Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars and former Mavs and Nets coach Avery Johnson if he decides to make changes, Bucher writes. Still, Pelicans sources tell Bucher that the club hasn’t contacted either Dumars or Johnson, and that there are no signs that Benson is definitively displeased with either GM Dell Demps or coach Monty Williams.
Several executives from around the league don’t believe the pair of trades the Cavs made this week assure the team of any more than a second-round appearance, according to Bucher. One exec tells Bucher that the Cavs “overinflated” the market with what they gave up for Timofey Mozgov.

Pistons Notes: Smith, Drummond, Van Gundy

December 23rd, 2014 at 10:34am CST by Chuck Myron

Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy spoke earlier this month of a four-day break in the team’s schedule as the point at which he’d examine where the team was and make changes, if necessary. Monday was the first of those four days, and Van Gundy wasted no time, waiving Josh Smith and using the stretch provision to somewhat ease the pain of the remainder of his four-year, $54MM contract. Here’s more on the upheaval in the Motor City:

The Kings offered weaker proposals to the Pistons for Smith in recent weeks than they had over the summer, as Sacramento began to insist on receiving a first-rounder in the near future instead of one that wouldn’t come until a few years from now, reports Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. The Pistons countered with second-round picks that would end up with Sacramento in the near term, but the Kings weren’t receptive to that, Ellis adds.
Jeff Schwartz, who recently became the agent for center Andre Drummond, will be keeping a close eye on how the Pistons’ situation develops to ensure his newest client has a bright future in Detroit, notes Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter links). Drummond will be up for a rookie scale extension this coming summer.
Former Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars approached owner Tom Gores a few years ago about using the stretch provision to rid the team of Ben Gordon instead of trading him, but Gores wasn’t willing to go along, Free Press scribe Drew Sharp writes. This time, Gores didn’t make the same mistake, as Sharp argues.
Releasing Smith is an expensive proposition and a painful admission of a mistake, but it’s the right decision for the Pistons, MLive’s David Mayo believes.
The passion and temerity that makes Van Gundy a successful coach didn’t serve him well in the way he handled Smith as an executive, SB Nation’s Tom Ziller believes.

Alex Lee contributed to this post.

Lowe’s Latest: Bucks, Knicks, Grizzlies, Pelicans

May 20th, 2014 at 10:17am CST by Chuck Myron

Grantland’s Zach Lowe looks at instability in the executive suite, profiling the NBA’s six most volatile front offices in the wake of yesterday’s shakeup in Memphis. As usual, Lowe’s work is required reading, but we’ll hit some highlights here:

Bucks owners Marc Lasry and Wesley Edens have held preliminary talks about potential replacements for GM John Hammond and assistant GM David Morway, but the more likely outcome appears to be that they stay for at least one more year, Lowe writes.
Former Raptors and Suns GM Bryan Colangelo is open to once more becoming an NBA GM, Lowe hears, but that’s no surprise, given that he was reportedly a candidate for the Cavs and Pistons front office searches. Lowe mentions him within his look at the Bucks, which is coincidental given an earlier report that linked him to an ownership group looking to buy the franchise when it was for sale. Still, it doesn’t appear as though there’s any particular link between the Bucks and Colangelo at this point.
The Knicks will likely hire someone within the next year to replace Steve Mills as general manager and shunt Mills off into some other role with the organization, according to Lowe.
Some high-level executives on teams around the league hadn’t heard about Grizzlies attorney David Mincberg, who’s reportedly assumed some power in the basketball operations department, Lowe hears.
The job of Memphis GM Chris Wallace, whom the team has restored to a prominent role after the departures of CEO Jason Levien and assistant GM Stu Lash, is safe “until he wants to leave,” Lowe writes.
There have been few reports alleging that GM Dell Demps is on shaky ground to return next year, but people around the league have been curious about whether the team would bring him back for 2014/15, according to Lowe. There have been disagreements between Demps and coach Monty Williams, and the team’s owners favor Williams, Lowe hears. In any case, he’ll probably return, though there will be pressure on him for the team to improve and perhaps make the playoffs next season, Lowe writes.
Louisiana native Joe Dumars is close to executives with the New Orleans Saints, the NFL franchise that Pelicans owner Tom Benson also owns. That would make him a likely candidate for Pelicans GM job should the team decide to oust Demps, Lowe asserts.
Pistons coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy says that the team’s ownership will have just as much say as he does in whom they hire as GM, as he tells Lowe.

Eastern Rumors: Sixers, Bucks, Bobcats

April 19th, 2014 at 9:23pm CST by Cray Allred

Al Jefferson and Kemba Walker tell Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer that Walker’s recruiting played a part in “Big Al” signing with the Bobcats last summer. Although Walker wasn’t optimistic, Jefferson says the point guard’s pitch made a difference. “Nothing feels better than knowing somebody wants you,” said Jefferson. “It made me feel special. And their top player had come to me in the offseason and really wanted me to come.” Here’s more from the East:

Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com looks at how the projected cap increase for next year could help teams like the Bulls and Rockets pursue Carmelo Anthony, should he opt out of his final contract year with the Knicks.
Joe Dumars has no interest in the Cavs GM opening, sources tell Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio.
Sixers coach Brett Brown tells Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer that he believes in the process Philadelphia’s front office has designed heading into the draft. “I will be led by [GM Sam Hinkie]. I have gone through a very system-oriented process for the past 12 years [as San Antonio Spurs assistant] with an organization that’s proven they’ve made way more good decisions than bad decisions,” said Brown. “I’m going to let him use me how he wants to use me. That’s my nature–to immerse myself into it all and be highly opinionated. Somewhere out there, analytics people and Sam as the architect of all of it and the coaches will share an opinion. And the club will roll with it.”
Tom Moore of Calkins Media says that Sixers owner Joshua Harris’s assessment of Philadelphia’s season as a “success” is premature, and ultimately will depend on how well Hinkie uses the team’s abundance of draft picks this summer.
Marc Lasry and Wesley Edens were interviewed for the first time since becoming the new Bucks owners by Don Walker of The Journal Sentinel. The pair emphasized the plans to bring a new arena to Milwaukee, and their commitment to building a winner. “Part of this for us, [is that] you can only go up. If you look at this, if we do the right things, if we pick the right players, if everything works the way hopefully it will and we can follow the model of San Antonio or the Thunder,” said Lasry. “I think everybody wants the same thing we do. Everybody just wants a winner.”