Steve Kerr Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Phil Jackson Tells ‘Melo He Expects To Hire Kerr

May 2nd, 2014 at 8:40am CST by Chuck Myron

Knicks president Phil Jackson told Carmelo Anthony that he fully expects to hire Steve Kerr as the team’s coach, according to Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal. Herring hears that the newly minted executive never mentioned the idea of anyone else coaching the team during his meeting with the soon-to-be free agent this week. Jackson plans to be “visible and available” on the sidelines during training camp, as he told Anthony in an attempt to dispel any concerns the Knicks star might have had about Kerr’s inexperience as a coach, Herring writes.

The Lakers don’t view Kerr as a candidate for their coaching vacancy, believing he’s too far along with the Knicks, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Knicks have been wanting to close on a deal with Kerr shortly after the first round of the playoffs concludes this weekend, but Kerr reportedly doesn’t want to go so fast. The TNT broadcaster met with Jackson this past weekend, but he said that he and Jackson still had plenty more to discuss.

Multiple reports suggested that Kerr would prefer to work for a team on the West Coast, but more recently Lute Olson, Kerr’s college coach, said that he didn’t believe that was the case. Sources told Ken Berger of CBSSports.com this week that Kerr doesn’t intend to use other openings as leverage against the Knicks, or vice versa, and will either accept or reject the Knicks job on its own merits, given his loyalty to Jackson, who coached him on the Bulls in the 1990s.

Jackson also spoke with Anthony about his plans for free agency this summer, and Herring hears that Anthony wasn’t upset by Jackson’s recent remark that he hoped ‘Melo would be “true to his word” about accepting a discount to re-sign with the team. Still, the meeting suggests that Jackson is nonetheless planning a strong recruiting effort to keep the high-scoring forward in New York, Herring writes.

Coaching Rumors: Kerr, Messina, D’Antoni

May 1st, 2014 at 12:35pm CST by Chuck Myron

There are four head coaching vacancies in the NBA, or five, if you count the Pistons, for whom John Loyer finished the season as interim coach. Others may follow once the first round of the playoffs concludes in a few days, so the coaching market is in full gear. Here’s the latest:

Steve Kerr won’t use other openings as leverage against the Knicks and team president Phil Jackson, sources tell Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Lute Olson, Kerr’s former college coach, rejects the notion that Kerr prefers a West Coast job and thinks he’s more than likely to accept an offer from the Knicks, as Olson tells Marc Berman of the New York Post.
Sources tell Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops.net that Ettore Messina has already told CSKA Moscow that he’ll leave this summer, but Varlas hears Messina is more likely to wind up as a Spurs assistant than an NBA head coach next season. Messina has drawn mention as a candidate for head coaching jobs with the Lakers and Jazz this year.
Mike D’Antoni is still interested in coaching, a source tells Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. Bresnahan writes that the portion of next year’s $4MM salary that the Lakers agreed to pay him even though he resigned is less than $2MM, but Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com hears that it’s more than that (Twitter link).

Reports have indicated that Mark Jackson and the Warriors never engaged in extension talks, but Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group hears that they briefly discussed the subject this past summer. Jackson is set to enter the final year of his contract next season, though it’s unlikely he’ll return for 2014/15 barring a long playoff run.

Lakers Notes: D’Antoni, Kerr, Coaching Search

April 30th, 2014 at 9:40pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With the big news of the resignation of Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni, the rumors are already beginning as to who his replacement will be. Ben Higgins of San Diego’s Channel 10 News (Twitter link) is reporting that Steve Kerr said he would be interested in speaking to the team about the now vacant position.

‘Melo, Phil Jackson Talk Kerr, Free Agency

April 30th, 2014 at 4:08pm CST by Chuck Myron

Carmelo Anthony and Knicks president Phil Jackson met Tuesday to discuss the team’s coaching vacancy and Anthony’s plans for free agency this summer, a source tells Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Jackson told Anthony about primary coaching candidate Steve Kerr, whom the Zen Master coached with the Bulls, Begley writes.

Jackson expressed a desire last week for Anthony to be “true to his word” that he’d take a discount to sign with the Knicks, referencing ‘Melo’s comments at the All-Star break this year. It’s unclear if that subject came up, according to Begley.

The Knicks would reportedly like to hire Kerr soon after the first round of the playoffs, cognizant of apparent interest from the Warriors and perhaps others. Kerr, who met with Jackson this weekend, wants his negotiations with New York to move at a slower pace. Anthony, who plans to opt out of his contract to become a free agent this summer, publicly expressed support for former coach Mike Woodson before the Knicks fired him earlier this month.

Jackson and Anthony have spoken briefly a few times since the Zen Master joined the organization last month, but they hadn’t addressed his potential free agency. Anthony has maintained that the Knicks are his preference, but he’s said that he wants to hear Jackson’s plan for returning the team to contention before he decides where to sign this summer.

Eastern Notes: Kerr, Bobcats, Bulls

April 29th, 2014 at 10:02pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Here are a few links to pass along out of the Eastern Conference tonight:

As he continues to consider accepting the Knicks’ head coaching job, Steve Kerr is currently doing his own research on the organization to make sure there are no red flags, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post.
Josh McRoberts – who can opt out of his contract this summer – said his preference is to keep playing for Bobcats head coach Steve Clifford for many years, but money will likely be the biggest factor, opines Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.
Bonnell also writes that swingman Chris Douglas-Roberts seems the best fit to re-sign among the team’s soon-to-be free agents.
With the Bulls now eliminated from playoff contention, the team will presumably turn their attention toward addressing the future of Tom Thibodeau, opines Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (Twitter link).
Derrick Rose began taking some contact on his surgically repaired right knee on Monday, reports K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. He’s still expected to begin next season at full strength.
In addition to evaluating how certain prospects may transition into the NBA, the Pistons – equipped with their own D-League team in Grand Rapids starting next season – will also be scouring this year’s draft pool for prospects to develop in the NBDL, writes Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.

Lowe’s Latest: Rivers, Jackson, Kerr

April 29th, 2014 at 7:09pm CST by Ryan Raroque

If Doc Rivers were to get out of his contract with the Clippers, he would immediately emerge as the front-runner for any head coaching opening in the league this summer, writes Zach Lowe of Grantland. One potential opportunity is the Warriors, who are embroiled in a tumultuous situation with head coach Mark Jackson. As Lowe chronicles, tension between Jackson and the organization has been brewing for quite a while.

Multiple league sources confirmed to Lowe the gist of a report from ESPN’s Chris Broussard that explained how former Warriors assistant Darren Erman had been fired for secretly recording coaches’ conversations. Those same sources added that Erman was concerned that Jackson and those loyal to Jackson were insulting him to other players behind his back. Lowe also says that Golden State’s front office is fond of Erman and was upset at having to let him go. Nonetheless, Brian Scalabrine‘s recent demotion and Erman’s firing has only added to the chaos in Golden State.

As we relayed from Lowe earlier, the consensus around the league is that Jackson will not return to the Warriors next year unless he leads them on a longer-than-expected playoff run. Though Jackson could still save his job, Lowe says that it’d be smart to bet that the team will have a new head coach next year.

Here’s more from Lowe’s latest column:

Golden State still hasn’t made a final decision on Jackson and has not reached out directly to any potential candidates, sources tell Lowe.
Scalabrine’s demotion was a compromise between the front office and Jackson, who initially made a show of firing him in front of other players and coaches even though he had no real grounds to do so.
Jackson reportedly asked Warriors adviser Jerry West not to attend most practices and team activities.
If the Warriors decided to replace Jackson, they would still consider other big names beyond Rivers, which is why — according to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein — the Knicks tried to expedite their attempt to hire Steve Kerr this week. New York understands that two or three appealing opportunities could emerge after postseason eliminations, and that Kerr would be a potential candidate for some of those teams.
Front office and ownership sources around the league think there’s a decent chance the Clippers will be the first NBA franchise to sell for $1 billion, Lowe writes, echoing an earlier report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

And-Ones: Colangelo, Hoiberg, Warriors, Knicks

April 29th, 2014 at 4:41pm CST by Chuck Myron

Grantland’s Zach Lowe examines the value of players making between $5MM and $10MM a year, several of whom are having a significant effect in the playoffs. Sources in NBA front offices tell Lowe that they’re reluctant to sign players who command such salaries because they fear the criticism of reporters conditioned to believe such “middle class” players aren’t worth the money. Still, acting union executive director Ron Klempner tells Lowe that he’s observed no drastic change in the league’s willingness to pay players at that rate. Here’s more from around the league:

Bryan Colangelo‘s name has been linked to the Pistons‘ front office vacancy on multiple occasions of late, and SportsNet’s Michael Grange hears that he’s indeed a leading candidate for the job. Tim Leiweke, CEO of the Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment group that owns the Raptors, praised the former Toronto GM for his work with the team in an interview with Grange that’s included in the piece.
Fred Hoiberg would probably be ahead of Steve Kerr on the Warriors’ wish list if they were to seek a new head coach for next season, according to Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group. Hoiberg spoke this week on 1700 AM radio in Des Moines to express that while interest from NBA teams flatters him, he’s content as Iowa State’s head coach, as Nate Sandell of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities points out.
The Warriors aren’t pleased with Mark Jackson‘s depleted coaching staff, according to Kawakami, and if Jackson remains head coach, they’ll pressure him to upgrade it, Kawakami believes, pointing to the issue as a possible stumbling block for Jackson’s return next season.
The Knicks interviewed Bill Cartwright for an assistant coaching job, reports Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News, who points to Cartwright’s ties to Kerr as further indication that Kerr will be the team’s next head coach.

Knicks Want To Hire Steve Kerr After First Round

April 29th, 2014 at 12:24pm CST by Chuck Myron

12:24pm: Kerr’s timetable is different from that of the Knicks, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, who hears from a source who says Kerr and Jackson still have “lots to explore organizationally” (Twitter links). That echoes Kerr’s comments about a desire for more discussions with the Zen Master.

10:43am: The Knicks are attempting to complete a deal that would make Steve Kerr the coach of the team after the first round of the playoffs, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. In team president Phil Jackson‘s plan, Kerr would leave his job as a TNT broadcaster after the first round is complete, thus making it easier for the network, but it remains to be seen whether Kerr is willing to go along at this point.

Kerr has been the front-runner for the job for at least a month, and while Kerr has been “inching closer” to the Knicks job, according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, a source told Isola that a decision was not imminent. An earlier report indicated Kerr would have interest in talking to the Warriors if they wind up with a vacancy, but in spite of Golden State’s apparent interest in Kerr, the Knicks remain the favorite to land him, Stein writes, given his connection to Jackson. The former Suns GM counters widespread skepticism about Jackson’s chances for success in charge of the Knicks front office, believing that the Zen Master will succeed in New York, according to Stein.

Kerr reportedly has concerns about the Knicks’ inability to capitalize on their resources over the years, prompting a measured approach as he considers whether to join the team, even as he’s said that he would be “crazy not to look into” coaching the Knicks. Still, he told reporters this weekend that he and Jackson still had much to discuss, as Isola points out. Kerr and Jackson have both indicated that their conversations this weekend were the first they’d had about the job, which conflicts with a report from early last week that they were deep into discussions.

New York Notes: Knicks, Jackson, Kerr, Johnson

April 27th, 2014 at 9:22pm CST by Zachary Links

Longtime Phil Jackson assistant Frank Hambien says he would gladly work for the Zen Master again, writes Al Iannazzone of Newsday. “Absolutely,” Hamblen said when asked of the possibility. “I’m bored to death..Opportunity is an amazing thing. I know Phil was sitting in Playa Del Rey bored to death, itching to get back in. I don’t know if he’ll even call. I don’t know what’s going through his mind. But he has my number.” Hambien also gave a strong endorsement for Kerr as a possible coach of the Knicks. More from NYC..

Steve Kerr says that he met with Jackson on Friday to discuss the Knicks‘ head coaching vacancy and publicly stated his interest in the job, tweets Peter Botte of the New York Daily News. Kerr went on to say that there will be future meetings between himself and his former coach. The former guard turned TNT analyst has long been believed to be the frontrunner for the Knicks’ job.
“We share a lot of the same philosophies,” Kerr said when asked about Jackson’s triangle, according to Barbara Barker of Newsday. “I learned a lot of my basketball from him and Tex Winter. It is safe to say that we have a lot of the same ideas . . . Obviously, there’s a strong connection between us and our beliefs.“
Joe Johnson‘s contract was an albatross with the Hawks but he has transformed himself to the Nets‘ most consistent player, writes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. Tonight wasn’t a shining example of that, however, as Johnson went 2-7 for 7 points across 42 minutes of play.

And-Ones: Smith, Sterling, Kerr, Pressey

April 27th, 2014 at 11:25am CST by Eddie Scarito

Nolan Smith has received partially guaranteed offers from the Bulls and the Thunder for next season, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Smith played in Croatia this season and averaged 17.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 4.1 APG.