Atlantic Links: Sixers, Ujiri, Wayns, White, Nets
Before the 76ers promoted Tony DiLeo to general manager last month, we heard a report that the Sixers had made a run at Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri. However, Nuggets president Josh Kroenke said on Monday that Philadelphia's interest in Ujiri didn't get the Sixers far. According to Kroenke, the Nuggets didn't allow the Sixers to even talk to their GM, as Adrian Dater of the Denver Post writes.
"You hire good people for a reason, and sometimes other people take notice of that," Kroenke said. "But we never gave permission to Philly to talk to Masai."
Here are a few more Tuesday updates out of the Atlantic Division:
- 76ers backcourt mainstays Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner both had praise for Maalik Wayns, who grew up a Sixer fan and is excited to be in Philadelphia. Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News has the details.
- Even though the offseason didn't play out exactly how the Celtics anticipated, team president Danny Ainge feels like "the things that we lost we were able to replace in a big way" (link via CSNNE.com).
- James White tells Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside that he doesn't expect to play in the D-League if he fails to earn a roster spot with the Knicks.
- According to Nets GM Billy King, the Magic were "determined to send [Dwight Howard] west" when Brooklyn was trying to land D12. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports writes that King has done well to build a contender in the East without acquiring Howard.
- Nets forward Kris Humphries has hired Arn Tellem of Wasserman Media as his agent, according to Bloomberg's Scott Soshnick.
Sixers Made Run At Denver GM Masai Ujiri
Before broadening the parameters of their search for a general manager, the 76ers made an aggressive attempt to land current Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri, says Adrian Wojnarowski. The report confirms that Tony DiLeo is currently the front runner to replace Rod Thorn, but this is the first time that news of Ujiri's involvement has surfaced.
Ujiri is well respected in NBA circles despite being one of the lowest paid general managers in the league. After losing the franchise centerpiece in Carmelo Anthony, Ujiri molded the Nuggets into an instant winner. Apparently, the Sixers attempted to lure him to Philly with big bucks but his loyalty to Denver ownership (and presumably big money from the Nuggets in the near future) allowed him to resist.
Ujiri only has one year left on his deal. The Nuggets will need to extend him to prevent other teams from poaching their architect. Although Wojnarowski mentions the Dwight Howard blockbuster that both teams were involved in, it is unclear where this report fits in from a time perspective.