Western Notes: Lakers, Faried, Corbin, Wolves
It is certainly no surprise that, after we rounded up the Lakers’ exit interviews earlier tonight, there is already more buzz coming out of Los Angeles. This is the Lakers, after all. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports is reporting that Pau Gasol would consider reuniting with former coach Phil Jackson, now running things with the Knicks. Citing a source, Spears hears that the interest is mutual.
Meanwhile, Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report mentions both Van Gundys, Stan and Jeff, as names that stand out to him should the Lakers part ways with Mike D’Antoni. Within the same story, Ding breaks down the team’s draft lottery odds as well as maps out the complicated status of their draft picks beyond this season. Here is what else is going on in the Western Conference:
- Earlier this month it was Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly that had some kind words to say about Kenneth Faried. On Thursday, it was Brian Shaw’s turn. As Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post writes, the head coach wants and expects to have Faried in a Nuggets uniform next season. Faried was frequently mentioned in trade rumors this season.
- The fate of Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin will hang in the balance just a little longer, according to Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune, who writes that the team will take a “decompression period” before making a decision on whether or not to bring the coach back. Luhm reports that a decision could come down as soon as this weekend.
- With Rick Adelman’s departure imminent, the Wolves head coaching wish list includes Tom Izzo, Fred Hoiberg and Stan Van Gundy, reports Spears in his final power rankings column.
- It’s a small silver lining in an otherwise ugly season in Minnesota, but ESPN’s Marc Stein tweets that the Wolves can take solace in the fact that they refused to deal rookie Gorgui Dieng at the trade deadline before they knew what they had (Twitter links). The Louisville product was a bright spot in Minnesota down the stretch and figures to be a key contributor in his second season.
No Chance Adelman Returns As Wolves Coach
There is no chance that Rick Adelman will be back as coach of the Timberwolves next season, one of the team’s decision-makers tells Sid Hartman of the Star Tribune. It’s certainly not a surprise, given that many around the Wolves have believed that the 67-year-old would retire after the season. Fellow Star Tribune scribe Jerry Zgoda said last month that if Adelman didn’t leave, the Wolves would turn down their mutual option to retain him. Still, it seemed at the time that there was at least a remote chance the longtime coach would be back with the team.
Adelman is set to meet today with owner Glen Taylor and president of basketball operations Flip Saunders, with a final decision on the coach’s future to come as soon as this week. Both the team and Adelman have two weeks to exercise the mutual option. The Wolves have reportedly discussed him staying on with the club as a consultant, though it’s unclear if that will happen. Adelman’s wife has suffered from seizures over the past few years, and her health weighed on his mind before he decided to coach this season.
The Wolves haven’t made the playoffs in three seasons under Adelman, even though they made a nine-game improvement this year. He’s otherwise been a successful NBA coach, compiling a 1,042-749 record and winning raves for his offensive innovations.
The Wolves had apparently envisioned a strong pursuit of Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg, but he’s unlikely to join the Wolves, and while Taylor and Saunders like Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, too, he’s also a longshot, Hartman writes. Taylor doesn’t want Saunders to coach because he’d prefer his top basketball executive and his coach not to be the same person, Hartman writes. Saunders reportedly would like to return to the bench, and Hartman thinks Saunders can convince his boss to let him do so.
And-Ones: Izzo, Harrison Twins
Most people close to Tom Izzo think the coach would entertain NBA offers, but wouldn’t leave Michigan State in the vulnerable situation they face next year, per ESPN Insider Jeff Goodman [subscription only]. Here’s a roundup of the rest of the night’s notes:
- Kentucky coach John Calipari has previously indicated that Andrew Harrison and Aaron Harrison would return for their sophomore seasons, but a source close to the process tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that the twins have not made their decision.
- NBA GMs and scouts tell Deveney they expect the Harrisons to declare for the draft, and think their performance in the NCAA tournament has significantly bolstered their value.
- Many league executives tell Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com [subscription only] that their opinions of the Harrisons have changed for the better over the course of the tournament, but most still have them ranked in the 20-40 range of the 2014 draft.
- Goodman says that the twins are polarizing for talent evaluators, and quotes some executives who are more pessimistic about drafting the brothers due to doubts of whether they could play well apart from each other.
And-Ones: Cauley-Stein, Draft, Izzo
When Kentucky squares off against Michigan in Sunday’s Midwest Regional final, the Wildcats may be looking for their 16th Final Four appearance without a big part of their lineup, center Willie Cauley-Stein, who is doubtful to play because of a sprained ankle. Even if Cauley-Stein is done for the season, it is unlikely to affect his draft stock, writes Josh Newman of SNY.tv. He is currently slotted No. 12 in June’s NBA Draft by Draft Express. “An ankle sprain, it’s nothing. He will be a top-20 pick regardless of him playing another college game. He could be a Lottery pick if he stayed another year at Kentucky,” a former NBA executive told SNY.tv per the article.
More from around the league:
- The staff at Basketball Insiders takes a look at the three teams, the Bulls, Magic, and Bucks, they believe are poised to make a significant jump in the standings next season.
- Louisville’s Russ Smith is most likely going to be a second-round pick in the 2014 NBA draft. He could find a niche on a bench somewhere and maybe even land a starting job over time, if he continues to progress as a point guard, writes Adi Joseph of USA Today.
- Drew Sharp of The Detroit Free Press examines what factors in the college game might influence Michigan State coach Tom Izzo to consider a move to the NBA. Sharp cites the increasing frequency of one-and done players, which Izzo isn’t big on recruiting, the rise of rival Michigan, and several rule changes that are negating the Spartans defensive strategies as the main reasons.
- Tom Izzo has never stated he wouldn’t leave Michigan State, just that he wasn’t thinking about it, writes Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun. Wolstat points to a lack of strong recruits coming in next year and to three top MSU players leaving this summer, as reasons Izzo might leave. He thinks Izzo has geared up for “one last run” and will strongly consider the Pistons head coaching position.
Coaching Rumors: Jackson, T’Wolves, Adelman
The topic of Mark Jackson’s job security with the Warriors is riddled with complexity, and ESPN’s Israel Gutierrez and J.A. Adande discuss how this year’s struggles may affect the third-year head coach’s future in Oakland. Gutierrez suggests that Jackson bears some responsibility for Golden State’s frustrating play at times this year, while Adande surmises that Jackson will be in big trouble if the Warriors fail to improve on their six playoff wins from last season. Adande adds that ownership has spent nearly half of a billion dollars to purchase the team and upgrade the arena, and doesn’t think that patience accompanies those types of expenditures.
You can find additional coaching-related links below, including more from the above piece:
- Adande believes that a contract extension for Jackson would imply a significant vouch of support from management; however, the fact that there hasn’t been one yet makes him wonder if anyone within the organization’s hierarchy has Jackson’s back.
- Gutierrez thinks the Warriors are hastily trying to figure out Jackson’s potential as a head coach, and that Jackson could be heading into the postseason with his future in Golden State on the line.
- Timberwolves executive Flip Saunders is close to college coaches Fred Hoiberg and Tom Izzo, both of whom owner Glen Taylor admires, notes Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Walters senses that the chances of Rick Adelman returning to coach the Wolves are “remote” and points to the team’s coaching search from six years ago, when the team was willing to give the job to Izzo. Still, Izzo was strident in saying this week that he has no interest in coaching the Pistons. Saunders will be in New York to watch both Hoiberg and Izzo coach in the NCAA tournament this week, Walters adds via Twitter.
- Aside from Mark Jackson, there are many other coaches are in worse situations, notes Sean Deveney of the Sporting News. Toronto’s Dwane Casey, Washington’s Randy Wittman , Portland’s Terry Stotts, and Utah’s Tyrone Corbin are all finishing up their contracts this year and have yet to receive extensions.
- Deveney also groups Knicks coach Mike Woodson with Corbin as two contract-year coaches who are on “ice that is thin as ice can get”, though it’s worth mentioning that Woodson actually had his 2014/15 contract option picked up last September.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Pistons Expected To Pursue Tom Izzo
WEDNESDAY, 10:00am: Izzo said in a radio appearance on the Dan Patrick Show today that he’s not eyeing the Detroit gig, as Kevin Gehl of WLNS-TV tweets (hat tip to MLive’s David Mayo). Izzo added that he’s never spoken with Gores (Twitter link).
“I have no interest in the #Pistons job right now… 150% no,” Izzo said.
TUESDAY, 4:06pm: Izzo made it clear during an appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter today that he’s content at Michigan State, but he stopped short of dismissing the notion that he’d head to the NBA (transcription via ESPN.com).
“There’s been so many rumors over the years,” Izzo said. “I look at people I used to recruit against years ago [that] said that I’d be gone, but I’m still here and some of those schools have had three different coaches. I’ve always said I’d never say never to anything because you never know what it brings. But I got so much more work to do here. I have a great president, a great [athletics director] and a football coach that I really get along [with]. So this is a pretty good place for me right now. We’re in a pretty good spot. [The] program’s in pretty good shape. [It] ain’t broke, so why fix it?”
8:40am: Pistons owner Tom Gores is expected to pursue Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo to take over permanent head coaching duties on Detroit’s bench, USA Today’s Sam Amick reports (video link). John Loyer is serving as interim coach in place of Maurice Cheeks, whom Gores fired in February. Lionel Hollins is also rumored to be a candidate for the job.
Gores is a graduate of Michigan State, just like Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, who attempted to woo Izzo to Cleveland in 2010. Izzo spoke with the Cavs then, Amick points out, but they were unable to lure him from the college ranks, where he’s established himself as one of the premier sideline bosses, guiding the Spartans to six Final Four appearances and the 2000 national championship.
Izzo, 59, spoke about his recruiting frustrations recently with Michael Rosenberg of SI.com, and while he said he’ll remain at Michigan State, he admits that the question of whether he’d be better off leaving for a job in broadcasting or the NBA is a fair one. A report last summer suggested the Timberwolves were eyeing Izzo as a possible replacement for Rick Adelman, who instead decided to return for another season. There’s speculation that Adelman will step aside this summer, so the Pistons might have NBA competition for Izzo.
Gores, and not president of basketball operations Joe Dumars, appeared to be the one to make the call to fire Cheeks. Dumars is in the final year of his contract and on shaky ground. Teams usually identify a primary front office executive before hiring a coach, but occasionally a coach comes aboard first, as was the case last summer with the Kings, who brought on coach Michael Malone before GM Pete D’Alessandro.
Wolves Rumors: Saunders, Ownership, Pekovic
In addition to taking over as the Timberwolves' president of basketball ops, Flip Saunders will invest about $8MM into the team, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. We heard earlier today that owner Glen Taylor is no longer interested in selling the franchise, but instead figures to try to buy out minority owners' stakes, or find local buyers for those shares. Wolfson has a few more T-Wolves updates in his latest piece, so let's dive in and check them out….
- When he was fielding calls about possibly selling the franchise, Taylor was approached by Chris Hansen's Seattle group, former Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley, St. Louis businessman Dr. Richard Chaifetz, and a group headed by former coach Mike Dunleavy Sr. However, none of those potential suitors had interest in keeping the team in Minnesota long-term, says Wolfson.
- Rick Adelman appears very likely to return as the Wolves' head coach in 2013/14, but if Saunders hires a new coach down the road, Michigan State's Tom Izzo and Rockets assistant J.B. Bickerstaff figure to be among the candidates, sources inform Wolfson.
- Nikola Pekovic's camp isn't upset with David Kahn's dismissal, but it will be Taylor who ultimately makes the final call on how high the Wolves are willing to go on a new deal for the restricted free agent.
- Wolfson also questions the validity of a number of the comments Kahn made after being let go, suggesting there may be some revisionist history at work.
- According to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (Twitter link), Taylor had a list of eight candidates to call about replacing Kahn, including Phil Jackson, but ultimately hired Saunders before even getting to his list.