Draft Rumors: No. 1 Pick, Blazers, Kings
The draft is right around the corner and Chad Ford and Marc Stein of ESPN.com have the latest rumblings as we approach Thursday..
- The Cavaliers reached out to the Trail Blazers in an attempt to land LaMarcus Aldridge for the Nos. 1 and 19 picks but the Blazers quickly rebuffed them, sources say. Late Monday night, we heard that the Blazers, Thunder, and T-Wolves have been the most proactive in trying to deal for the No. 1 pick.
- The Kings want a second first-round pick and are using Jimmer Fredette as bait. Sources say Sacramento has reached out to several teams in the mid-to-late first round in an attempt to secure another pick and the Pacers and Jazz are potential destinations for the guard. Kings coach Mike Malone is high on Tim Hardaway Jr. and Tony Snell, but the Kings feel that they can get them much lower in the draft.
- In addition to the Pacers' Fredette discussions, sources say Indiana has made the No. 23 pick available in hopes that they can unload Gerald Green's contract.
- The Nets are shopping MarShon Brooks and sources say they want a first-round pick in return. If the T-Wolves give up the No. 26 pick, they'll probably have a deal on draft night. Yesterday it was reported that the two sides have discussed Brooks.
- The Wolves want to move higher up in the draft to select Victor Oladipo. They're offering Derrick Williams, the No. 9 and the No. 26 pick to move up, but so far haven't found a taker.
- The Rockets badly want to move Aaron Brooks or Carlos Delfino in conjunction with the draft before they have to just let them go in order to create as much cap space as possible for Dwight Howard.
Odds & Ends: Rivers, Granger, Ellis, Muhammad
Doc Rivers is sold on the "new" Clippers, but still isn't sold on owner Donald Sterling. That could be part of the delay in the two sides hammering out the final details of his contract. A source close to Rivers told Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald he was getting pulled hard in different directions last week as the Celtics and Clippers were negotiating a deal.
On one hand, Doc had coaching types telling him he had to jump at the opportunity to coach Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. However, others told him he would be crazy to step into the asylum that has been the Clippers over the years. Regardless, the contract seems like nothing but a formality at this point and we should see Rivers introduced as the new head man in L.A. this week. Here's more from around the Association..
- Chad Ford of ESPN.com hears that the Cavs are engaged in trade talks with a number of teams and sources say the Thunder, Timberwolves, and Blazers have been the most proactive in trying to get the No. 1 pick. Meanwhile, Ford still believes that Cleveland will go with Nerlens Noel if they keep the top selection.
- Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (via Twitter) asked an NBA executive for some names that are hot-and-heavy in trade talks. The names he got back were the Pacers' Danny Granger, the Bucks' Monta Ellis (sign and trade), the Rockets' Thomas Robinson, and the Wizards' Jan Vesely.
- Brian Shaw's deal with the Nuggets will be either three years or four years, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. The Nuggets hired the Indiana assistant earlier this evening.
- A source tells Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link) that UCLA product Shabazz Muhammad worked out for the Pistons today. The source said that the audition went well for the guard/forward.
- The Wolves are still offering Derrick Williams around the league to see what they can get for him, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. The T-Wolves reportedly believe that Williams and the No. 9 pick can vault them into the top three.
- Recently appointed Kings assistant GM Mike Bratz said he's more of a see and "feel" guy in evaluating talent, but does use stats and analytics, tweets Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.
- Former Celtics standout Antoine Walker told Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (on Twitter) that he is "serious" about becoming an NBA coach.
Cavs Rumors: Marion, Pierce, Varejao, Deng, Clark
Armed with four of the top 33 picks in the draft, plenty of cap space, and young talent, no team has the potential to be more active over the next week than the Cavaliers, who also hold the first overall pick in Thursday's draft. The team is at the subject of several rumors today, so let's round up the highlights….
- Previous reports have suggested that the Mavericks are looking to shed Shawn Marion's salary and have talked to the Cavaliers about a possible deal. However, sources tell ESPN.com's Marc Stein that while Cleveland is interested in Marion, the Mavs aren't necessarily eager to deal him, and Dallas hasn't had any trade discussions involving Marion.
- The Marion situation is an odd once, since the veteran forward still hasn't officially exercised his player option for next season, and would have to do so if he were to be traded this week. Marion has until Friday to make a decision on the option. I would guess if he's dealt, it will happen in July, when that option has already been picked up and teams like the Cavs will be able to absorb his salary in their cap space.
- Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio has different details on Marion than Stein's, writing that the Cavs have talked to Dallas about Marion and are debating whether or not they'd want to take on his salary. Based on where Stein and Amico are located, I'd guess Stein's sources are connected to the Mavs and Amico's to the Cavs, so there could be some level of posturing happening from those sources on one or both sides.
- At least ten teams have been in contact with the Cavs about the No. 1 pick, according to Amico, who says the Pelicans and Kings are among the most recent calls. Amico echoes what we've heard in the last several weeks, noting that Cleveland's asking price is high.
- According to Amico, the Cavs' talks with the Celtics about Paul Pierce aren't as serious as they've been portrayed elsewhere, and Cleveland's reported offer of the 31st and 33rd picks isn't necessarily "the entire truth."
- One team has inquired about Anderson Varejao, but the Cavs haven't been too receptive so far, says Amico.
- Amico also reports that the Cavs have talked to the Timberwolves about a draft trade, but that Cleveland isn't too keen on moving down to ninth — the Cavs would rather stay in the top five or six if they trade down.
- Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game wrote yesterday (via Sulia) that the Cavs have some level of interest in Luol Deng. Amico hears from sources that the Cavs "may have floated" the idea of a package that would include the No. 19 pick and a young player like Tyler Zeller.
- One general manager tells Sean Deveney of the Sporting News that the Cavs haven't been "aggressively" shopping the first overall pick, but "it's been out there."
- According to Deveney, the Cavs figure to pursue power forwards in free agency, and one source says Earl Clark will be among the club's top targets.
Draft Notes: 2003 Draft, Adams, Centers
A few notes regarding the NBA draft, which approaches this week.
- ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst gives an exhaustive take on the 2003 NBA draft, a day that changed the NBA forever, and ushered in a whole new generation of franchise-dependent talent. Windhorst's take shows just how important the NBA draft is, and why teams are wise to value their picks.
- The News-Herald's Bob Finnan ranks the top centers available in this year's draft.
- USAToday's Adi Joseph looks forward to this week's draft by breaking down the various needs of each team in the league.
- NBA.com's Scott Howard-Cooper tweets that former Pittsburgh center Steven Adams will work out with the Kings on Monday. Sacramento has the number seven pick, which is slightly higher than where Adams was originally projected to go.
Kings Rumors: Cousins, Evans, Execs, Muhammad
New Kings GM Pete D'Alessandro provided the media with plenty of information today about the issues facing the team as it turns its focus away from ownership and management changes and toward typical NBA offseason business. Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee passed along several highlights, as we round up here:
- Dan Fegan, the agent for Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, appears to be going after a maximum-salary extension for his client this summer, and D'Alessandro says he has a good relationship with Fegan and plans to meet with Cousins in person. Fegan has advised Cousins to stay quiet about the Kings, but his silence doesn't mean he wants to be traded, Jones writes.
- D'Alessandro has already met with soon-to-be restricted free agent Tyreke Evans.
- Former Nuggets executive Mike Bratz will be D'Alessandro's assistant GM with the Kings, and Shareef Abdur-Rahim, a holdover from the previous regime in Sacramento, is in talks to join them in the front office, as Cowbell Kingdom's Jonathan Santiago tweets. If D'Alessandro had wound up with the Nuggets GM job, he said he would have tried to keep Bratz in Denver and recruit Abdur-Rahim.
- An ankle injury kept Shabazz Muhammad from working out as scheduled with the Kings today, but he met D'Alessandro for lunch.
- D'Alessandro also spoke about new scout George McCloud, who worked for D'Alessandro when they were both with the Warriors.
Draft Workout Updates: Friday
With just six days left until the 2013 draft, NBA teams continue to bring in prospects to work them out and gather as much information as they can. Here are the latest updates on workouts taking place today, over the weekend, and early next week:
- Allen Crabbe will work out Tuesday with the Bucks and Wednesday for the Nets, reports Scott Howard Cooper of NBA.com. Crabbe, widely projected as a late first-rounder at best, made it a priority to visit the Bucks, who have the No. 15 pick (Twitter links).
- Mason Plumlee wasn't on the list the Pistons released of players with whom the team has met, but he was scheduled to work out for Detroit on Friday, according to MLive's David Mayo.
- We heard about Vander Blue's workout with the Bucks today (below), and Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel notes that Blue has also auditioned for the Mavs, Spurs, Hawks, Sixers, Pistons and Magic, with another workout on tap for Monday with the Grizzlies.
Earlier updates:
- Anthony Bennett will visit the Bobcats on Saturday, though his injured rotator cuff will prevent him from working out, tweets Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.
- Pelicans GM Dell Demps traveled Friday to get a close look at Victor Oladipo, sources confirmed to John Reid of The Times Picayune.
- Keith Langlois of Pistons.com passed along a list of players who met with the Pistons this past week: Trey Burke, Michael Carter-Williams, C.J. McCollum, Cody Zeller, Derrick Nix, Dexter Strickland, Augusto Cesar Lima, Jared Berggren, Kenny Boynton and Karron Johnson (All Twitter links).
- The Kings updated the workout schedule on their website, which shows Shabazz Muhammad, Doug Anderson, A.J. Davis, John Dickson, Mfon Udofia and Kwame Vaughn coming in Saturday. McCollum will be in for a workout on Monday, Cowbell Kingdom's James Ham tweets.
- Today's workout for the Timberwolves is expected to be the last one for the team, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, adding that Mason Plumlee, Kelly Olynyk, Colton Iverson, and Christian Watford were in attendance.
- Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution passes along a couple tweets from Gorgui Dieng, surmising that the big man appears to be in Atlanta for a workout with the Hawks.
- The Suns' workout today is headlined by Glen Rice Jr., according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic, who has the full list of participants in a pair of tweets.
- Vander Blue, Grant Jerrett, Brock Motum, Dejan Musli, Nemanja Nedovic, and Andrew Smith are working out for the Bucks today, according to the team's PR Twitter feed.
- Tim Hardaway Jr. and Erick Green will be among the prospects working out for the Nets on Monday, the team announced in a press release.
- Hardaway Jr. was also among the prospects who worked out for the Clippers today, along with Tony Snell, Ricky Ledo, and Reggie Bullock (link via Eric Patten of Clippers.com).
- The Pacers announced today that they'll work out a a handful of prospects tomorrow: Matt Dellavedova, Angel Sharpless, Jamaal Franklin, Zeke Marshall, and Jeff Withey.
Nuggets To Interview Vinny Del Negro
The Nuggets will interview Vinny Del Negro this weekend for their coaching vacancy, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Del Negro is the third coaching candidate to sit down this week with Tim Connelly, the Nuggets new executive vice president of basketball operations. Lionel Hollins did so on Wednesday, while Brian Shaw had his interview Tuesday.
Del Negro has been out of work for exactly a month, after he and the Clippers parted ways. A client of well-respected agent Lonnie Cooper, Del Negro has also been linked to the Celtics, who could be seeking a head coach if Doc Rivers doesn't return.
When the Clippers let go of Del Negro, they told him they'd do whatever they could to help him find his next job. It appears that policy may wind up benefiting the Clippers as much as Del Negro, since blocking Hollins and Shaw from the Nuggets job could leave them available for the Clippers, who've interviewed the two of them along with Byron Scott. The Clippers are reportedly using the availability of all three candidates as leverage in their negotiations with the Celtics over Rivers.
The Nuggets have suffered from an exodus of coaches and executives in the past month. Former GM Masai Ujiri left to take over the Raptors front office, and Denver forced out coach George Karl. Pete D'Alessandro, who had been serving as an assistant to Ujiri in Denver, became GM of the Kings, bringing another Nuggets executive with him. Today the Kings officially hired Nuggets director of player personnel Mike Bratz as assistant GM, as Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee notes.
Odds & Ends: Rivers, Nuggets, Roc Nation
Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald refers to a source that says Doc Rivers had no intention of being a part of an eventual rebuilding process with the Celtics, and that the team knew he felt that way when he signed his latest contract. The same source also said that Rivers did not intitiate the process that led to talks between Boston and the Clippers, adding that he had been contemplating between returning to coach the Celtics and stepping away from the game before team brass asked him if he was interested in any of the coaching opportunities around the league.
According to Bulpett's source, Rivers then learned that the front office had already held preliminary discussions with the Clippers about making him available (by releasing him from his contract) and seeing what they could get in return. At that point, Rivers was reportedly intrigued at the prospect of moving west and allowed Danny Ainge to try to work out the best possible deal. In the meantime, the 51-year-old coach was given permission to see if he could reach a separate agreement with the Clippers, which he eventually did (most notably, it would allow him to have control over player personnel).
With the deal now slowed by the fact that the agreement doesn't exactly comply with the rules of the CBA, Bulpett writes that Rivers could choose to do television work for the next one to two years rather than decide between coaching the Celtics or stepping away from the game altogether – that is, if the deal with the Clippers falls through. Interestingly enough, on the notion that Rivers had once said he'd be willing to continue coaching in Boston during a rebuilding process, some sources have called it an obligatory statement that was meant to preserve the stability of the team at the time, all while the front office would work to find pieces to complement Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce accordingly.
As we gear up for the seventh and deciding game of the NBA Finals, here are more of tonight's miscellaneous notes from around the Association:
- Mike Bratz, currently the director of player personnel for the Nuggets and former Kings backup point guard, has reached an agreement with Sacramento to become the team's assistant general manager (Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee reports).
- Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that shortly after firing George Karl, the Nuggets had offered the Celtics a first round draft pick as compensation to pry Rivers out of his contract. Once Denver's offer was rebuffed by Danny Ainge, they quickly moved their focus onto Brian Shaw and Lionel Hollins, who both are said to have made strong impressions on team president Josh Kroenke and general manager Tim Connelly. Sources have said that at the time Kroenke had made his bid for Rivers about ten days ago, Boston was not ready to start the process of letting Rivers leave, and the negotiations never went beyond one brief conversation between Kroenke and Ainge.
- There has been growing confusion (as well as anger, in some cases) among outside agents about who exactly the Roc Nation Sports agency represents and which athletes are part of its partnership with CAA Sports, writes Liz Mullen of SportsBusinessDaily.com. Some agents have privately expressed anger that Roc Nation has been reported to represent athletes who are still clients of other firms.
- Janis Carr of the OC Register writes that Dwight Howard is still undecided on his future (subscribers only).
- Mark Medina of the L.A. Daily News tweets that Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni will be continuing interviews to fill out the rest of his coaching staff through next week, and that much of it will depend on how the head coaching hires around the league turn out.
- The city of Sacramento is being asked to write its first big check toward the development of a downtown sports arena, says Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee. City development staff is expected to ask the council for $6.5MM in city funds, of which some will be used to hire a team of financial, design, and legal consultants. The team of consultants are said to be needed as the city begins negotiations on "definitive agreements" of an arena financing and construction plan with the private investment team that owns the Kings.
- The Grizzlies should strongly consider selecting D.J. Stephens on draft night, opines Geoff Calkins of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
Kings Notes: Cousins, Snell, Bratz
Although many of our stories on the Kings so far this year have been related to Chris Hansen's attempt to buy the franchise and Sacramento's fight to keep the club in the city, the focus is beginning to shift. With a new ownership group in place, and a GM and head coach hired, the Kings can now turn their attention to figuring out how to transform a team that hasn't won more than 28 games since 2007/08 into a contender. Here's the latest out of Sacramento:
- Asked about the Kings' new regime by Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee, DeMarcus Cousins replied with a "no comment." As Jones writes, Cousins has been instructed by agent Dan Fegan to stay quiet on the subject of the Kings team, management, and ownership.
- Fegan "wants a maximum deal for his client with the threat of a trade demand looming if a deal isn't reached," according to Jones. It's not clear based on the wording if Jones is speculating about a potential trade demand or if that's coming from Fegan himself. Needless to say though, if Cousins and the Kings don't reach an agreement this offseason when the big man is extension-eligible, trade rumors will pick up in earnest.
- In a separate piece for the Bee, Jones writes about the rising draft stock of New Mexico guard Tony Snell, and the impression Snell has made on the Kings.
- Mike Bratz of the Nuggets is flying to Sacramento today to finalize an agreement as Pete D'Alessandro's assistant GM with the Kings, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Bratz had been serving as the director of player personnel in Denver, and becomes the latest Nuggets executive to jump ship for another team.
Pacific Notes: Clippers, Suns, Lakers, Petrie
According to ESPN.com's Chad Ford, there's very little consensus on this year's draft class beyond the top six prospects — Nerlens Noel, Ben McLemore, Victor Oladipo, Alex Len, Anthony Bennett, and Otto Porter. It seems likely those six players will be selected in some order to start the draft, which means the Kings, picking 7th overall, could be the draft's first real wild card. As we look forward to see what the new regime in Sacramento decides to do with that pick, let's round up a few items out of the Pacific Division….
- While some fans and onlookers may be surprised to see the Clippers pull away from trade talks with the Celtics, Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com explains why it makes some sense for Los Angeles. As Arnovitz writes, there's no real rush for the Clippers, since they could theoretically still work out a deal for Kevin Garnett and Doc Rivers after July 1st. Arnovitz also thinks the Clippers are right to be protective of their first-round picks, since those selections are more valuable under the new CBA.
- For years, the Suns have employed general managers who didn't get to hire a head coach of their choosing, or coaches who weren't hired by the current GM. But having hired Ryan McDonough and Jeff Hornacek this offseason, there's a feeling of synergy and energy in Phoenix, as president Lon Babby tells Bob Young of the Arizona Republic. "It’s palpable," Babby said. "You can feel it through the whole organization. We always envisioned it working this way, and we have a chance now to make it work."
- Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times explains in detail why the Lakers are extremely unlikely to acquire a player via sign-and-trade this summer.
- Although his lengthy run as the Kings' head of basketball operations came to an end this year, Geoff Petrie is happy to see the franchise stay in Sacramento, writes Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. "That's where my heart was in the whole thing," Petrie said. "In spite of being grateful to the Maloofs and working for them all those years, I had really strong feelings that the team needed to stay here. My hat's off to those people." Petrie also spoke to Jones about sticking around the team helping with draft preparation over the last several weeks, even as his contract is set to expire on June 30th.