Larry Bird was leaning toward a return as Pacers president, former Celtics teammates tell Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News, until owner Herb Simon nixed the idea of adding a scorer to the team during a meeting with Bird in late June, shortly before Bird resigned June 26th. Bird was considering an offer for Eric Gordon, Lawrence writes, but Simon, who has a net worth of $1.8 billion, doesn't want to pay the luxury tax. Though Indiana has only about $36MM in guaranteed salaries for next season, the Pacers likely couldn't have brought aboard Gordon, who's signed an offer sheet with the Suns for the maximum four years and $58MM, and retained all their free agents without becoming a tax team. Bird's concerns about his shoulder and back were also reasons he stepped down, but the 55-year-old NBA legend left the door open for a return to another team's front office. Lawrence has more from around the league, and we've got the highlights here:
The Thunder and coach Scott Brooks have finalized a new four-year deal with coach Scott Brooks, the team announced. It's a four-year deal worth about $18MM, reports Royce Young of DailyThunder.com. The team will hold a press conference to announce the signing Tuesday.
JUNE 29TH, 11:06pm: The Thunder and Brooks are finally "getting close" to a deal, ESPN.com's Marc Stein reports.
3:26pm: According to Ric Bucher of ESPN.com, the Thunder have increased their offer to roughly $16MM for four years. But a source familiar with the negotiations tells Bucher, "We're not close, and the clock is ticking."
On Friday, we provided an update on the latest rumblings in the Scott Brooks extension talks, in which apparently the Thunder and Brooks remain far apart. Within that post we heard from Marc Stein that should those talks reach an impasse, two names that have surfaced as back up plans are Phil Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy.
Earlier today, we heard that Oklahoma City GM Sam Presti addressed their draft position and luxury tax situation. According to Royce King from Daily Thunder, Presti also dismissed the Jackson/Van Gundy rumors pretty adamantly when he talked to the media. Presti insisted that settling Brooks' contract situation was at the top of the Thunder's offseason checklist:
When Patrick Mills returned from China this season, he signed a two-year deal with the Spurs that included a player option for the second year. Mills will have to make a decision soon, and tells Chris Dutton of The Age that he wants to finalize his NBA future before heading to the Olympics.
"I feel like I need to do my due diligence and really go and see what there is, to make sure I explore every option," Mills said. ''But in saying that, I really enjoy being in San Antonio and being part of that program."
Mills' decision could have an effect on whether or not the Spurs need to pursue a point guard in free agency, as I discussed in my preview of the team's offseason earlier this afternoon. Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA:
Thunder General Manager Sam Presti has offered head coach Scott Brooks a three-year deal worth just under $11MM in the past, but he and his agent weren't willing to accept it, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. The two sides have set aside talks for the playoffs and a guaranteed fourth year could make a new contract happen.
It was easy to miss in the midst of our flurry of draft updates on Wednesday, but Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times weighed in yesterday to discuss the Bucks' options with the 12th overall pick. According to Woelfel, Milwaukee has zeroed in on a short list of prospects, mostly big men, for pick No. 12 — Meyers Leonard, Tyler Zeller, John Henson, Perry Jones III, and Terrence Ross are among the team's targets.
Woelfel also shared a few more tidbits from around the NBA in his column, so let's dive in….
While Los Angeles residents may have loved to see a Clippers/Lakers Western Conference Final, it wasn't meant to be, given how strong the Spurs and Thunder look this season. As the L.A. clubs look to make roster improvements this summer to make another run in 2012/13, let's check in on the latest out of the city:
- A decision on Vinny Del Negro's job status will have to be made by next week, according to Marc Stein and Ramona Shelbourne of ESPN.com. The Clippers have until June 1st to decide whether or not to exercise the coach's option for next year, and the decision could rest largely in the hands of owner Donald Sterling. That's probably good news for Del Negro, given his positive relationship with Sterling.
- If Del Negro doesn't return, the Clippers may look to currently-employed coaches rather than the strong crop of free agent candidates. Two potential targets are Thunder coach Scott Brooks and Hornets coach Monty Williams, according to Stein and Shelbourne. However, Brooks is widely expected to re-up with Oklahoma City, and the Clips would have to get permission from New Orleans to talk to Williams, which is no sure thing.
- Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times proposes five potential roster moves for the Lakers. While the list includes the usual Andrew Bynum/Dwight Howard proposal, many of the other suggestions are new ones, such as trading for Al Harrington or Beno Udrih.
With Tuesday night's second playoff game winding down, let's take a quick break from the action and catch up on the latest stories and headlines from across the league…
- The Bulls will sit down with Luol Deng to discuss his intentions of playing for Team Great Britain during the Olympics this summer in London, writes Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com.
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel says the Magic's evaluation of general manager Otis Smith and head coach Stan Van Gundy is still ongoing as the organization has yet to make a decision about their fates for next season.
- Serge Ibaka continues to make impressive strides as the Thunder's starting power forward, reports Susan Bible of HoopsWorld.
- The Oklahoman's Berry Tramel says Metta World Peace and Thunder head coach Scott Brooks have forged an unlikely relationship over the years thanks to their time spent together in Sacramento.
- Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld offers his latest NBA mock draft where he has Austin Rivers cracking the top 10 and heading to the Big Easy.
The series between the Thunder and Mavericks has arguably been the most competitive playoff matchup in the first round, with both games coming down to the final possession. Game 3 is tomorrow night in Dallas, where the Mavericks enter with a 23-10 home record. The Thunder come in having won 21 games on the road this season, which is recognized as the third-best in the league. John Rohde of NewsOK tackled a few miscellaneous topics about an Oklahoma City team that appears primed to make another deep playoff run:
- The arrival of Kendrick Perkins in addition to the development and maturity of the team's younger players has solidified the Thunder's repuation as a tougher team.
- Derek Fisher spoke about the key to winning on the road and the team's mental toughness in a brief Q&A with Rohde.
- Head coach Scott Brooks touched on a variety of topics, including how much his team studied last year's conference finals matchup with Dallas in preparation of this series, the Thunder's success on the road, and the need for improvement in spacing the floor.