Odds & Ends: West, Dwight, Drew, Malone, Spurs
- Dwight Howard offered few hints about his next destination in an interview with T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times, though Howard said he'll prioritize winning and, for what it's worth, referred to his time with Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni in the past tense. "He's a great person and I'm glad we had the opportunity to be together," Howard said.
- Lester Conner, who served as Larry Drew's lead assistant with the Hawks, tells Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel what the Bucks can expect from their new head coach. Conner will likely follow Drew to Milwaukee, according to Gardner.
- Michael Malone hasn't officially been hired as coach of the Kings, but an agreement with the team is in place, and he spoke with Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee and fellow Bee scribe Ailene Voisin about his background and his plans for the club.
- There's plenty of reason for Peter Holt to sell the Spurs, with the franchise value surging, but he has no intention of doing so, even as executive Rick Pych assumes more of Holt's duties, writes Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News.
- Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post provides a brief sketch of Pete D'Allesandro, the vice president of basketball operations for the Nuggets who's rumored as a candidate for the team's vacant GM job, as well as a role in the Kings front office.
- The Post's Christopher Dempsey runs down the issues surrounding the Nuggets in the wake of Ujiri's departure, including the notion that D'Allesandro could follow Ujiri to the Raptors. He also wonders if the changes could irk coach George Karl, though it appears the team may not be so high on Karl, either.
Draft Rumors: Thomas, Cavs, Porter, Wizards
There are three teams still alive in the NBA playoffs, but draft season is already upon us, with news of potential trades, players jockeying for the top pick, and fringe prospects simply hoping to hear their name called on June 27th. Here's the latest:
- Bob Finnan of The News-Herald hears the Kings have offered Isaiah Thomas to the Cavs in exchange for the No. 19 pick, though he hasn't confirmed that rumor. Thomas, a starter in Sacramento, would back up Kyrie Irving in Cleveland.
- Finnan unveils the latest version of his mock draft, writing that the Wizards hope the Cavs pass on Otto Porter.
- John Wall tells Eric Detweiler of the Washington Post that he thinks the team should use the No. 3 pick on "a four man that can pick and pop," leading Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com to point to Anthony Bennett as Wall's likely favorite (Twitter link).
- The Timberwolves will work out several big men later this month, including Steven Adams and Mike Muscala, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (Twitter link).
- The Wizards are giving second-round hopeful Travon Woodall his first pre-draft workout, reports Josh Newman of SNY.tv.
- Zeke Marshall, another second-round prospect, has worked out for the Mavs and will also do so for the Pistons, Rockets, Suns, Lakers, Bulls and Pacers, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. Agent Dino Pergola said other teams could be in the mix, too.
- Brandon Triche will work out with nine teams, including the Lakers, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Mike Waters of The Post-Standard identifies the Blazers, Kings and Knicks as three of those clubs.
- The Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto makes the case that the Cavs should take Ben McLemore first overall.
Pacific Rumors: Clippers, Paul, Warriors, Kings
Mark Jackson, having just completed his second year on the Warriors' bench, is the longest-tenured coach in the Pacific Division. Mike D'Antoni, whom the Lakers hired at midseason, is next, while the division's other three teams are making offseason changes. Jeff Hornacek is the new Suns coach, and Michael Malone is poised to take over the bench in Sacramento. It's unclear who'll lead the Clippers, but there's news on that among the items out of the Pacific this evening:
- Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game counts Alvin Gentry and Jeff Van Gundy as the leading candidates for the Clippers coaching job. A source tells Bucher that Nate McMillan and Byron Scott probably won't end up with the gig. The Clippers want a proven head coach, making Brian Shaw another unlikely choice, particularly given his reputation for interviewing poorly (Sulia link).
- The idea that Chris Paul didn't have anything to do with Vinny Del Negro's ouster as Clippers coach is preposterous, according to Bucher, who hears that Paul is telling team management who he wouldn't want to have as the next coach, rather than giving them his preferred choices. That way he can retain an air of removal from the team's decisions, as Bucher explains (Sulia link).
- Michael Malone, set to become head coach of the Kings, might not be the only Warriors assistant coach headed out of town. Bob Beyer is a candidate to wind up on Malone's staff or with new Bobcats coach Steve Clifford, Bucher reports (Sulia link). The Warriors might not rush to fill those vacancies, Bucher says, but Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer notes that the W's have prior interest in 'Cats assistant Stephen Silas (Twitter link).
- With Malone perhaps just the first of many Warriors to make the jump up the road to Sacramento, the new Kings owners are concerned about the perception they're poaching from Golden State, tweets USA Today's Sam Amick. Sacramento principal owner Vivek Ranadive has yet to formally divest himself of his Warriors share.
Latest On DeMarcus Cousins
Despite reports and rumors to the contrary, the Cavs have zero interest in Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, a source tells Sam Amico of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The Bobcats, on the other hand, have interest in the troubled big man. However, the Kings preference at this time is to keep him.
The source went on to tell Amico (link) that plenty of teams have or will ask about Cousins, but clubs like the Cavs are staying away from him due to “consistent issues with structure.” A report earlier this week indicated that the new regime in Sacramento is intent on moving Cousins, but that may have been floated out there by rival teams.
Kings Could Make Run At Larry Bird
While Chris Wallace is viewed as the frontrunner for the Kings GM job, owner Vivek Ranadive still has his eye on other potential candidates including Larry Bird, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Ranadive would like to make a splash and has already felt out the former Pacers executive about his willingness to return to front-office work in Sacramento.
However, the assumption in league circles is that Bird would return to the Pacers if he were to get back into a full-time position in the NBA. After all, he had a great deal to do with the roster that is still alive in the Eastern Conference finals against the Heat. But sources say the Kings owner has let it be known that he isn't afraid to spend major coin on a GM.
Sacramento's ability to lure someone like Bird could be a longshot after they already installed a coach rather than letting the incoming GM handle the process. Ranadive has already been shot down once after Spurs GM R.C. Buford publicly said that he isn't interested in the Kings job.
Odds & Ends: West, Cousins, Ginobili, Celtics
- Rival teams may have been behind a report that the Kings are ready to trade DeMarcus Cousins, Deveney hears, adding that the team's new owners have yet to decide what they want to do with the turbulent big man. Deveney wonders if the Kings might do some message-management of their own and have incoming coach Michael Malone talk up Cousins to increase his value.
- As for Cousins, sources tell Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee that he isn't looking for a trade (Twitter link).
- Manu Ginobili's contract is up June 30th, but he told Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News that he has no plans to retire. The 35-year-old seems likely to return to the Spurs and expects to take a paycut to do so, though he and agent Herb Rudoy aren't starting negotiations with the team until July 1st.
- The Celtics attempted to acquire either Paul Millsap or Al Jefferson at the trade deadline, but couldn't work out a deal with the Jazz for one of their big men, tweets Greg Dickerson of CSNNE.com. Boston is reportedly interested in Millsap as a free agent.
- The Rockets plan to pursue Dwight Howard and Chris Paul, but with the league telling teams to expect a $58.5 million salary cap and $71.5MM tax line next season, squeezing both onto the team will be nearly impossible, as HoopsWorld's Bill Ingram examines.
- Kelvin Sampson would have been Brandon Jennings' choice to coach the Bucks, reports Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times. The team hired Larry Drew instead, a choice that was definitely GM John Hammond's call, unlike the team's hiring of former coach Scott Skiles (Twitter links).
NBA Imposes Deadline For New Sacramento Arena
The NBA has the right to arrange for sale to another ownership group and move the Kings out of Sacramento if the team isn't playing in a new arena by 2017, Dale Kasler, Tony Bizjak and Ryan Lillis of The Sacramento Bee report. Vivek Ranadive and his partners, who officially assumed control of the team earlier today, have said they can have a new arena in place by 2016, but commissioner David Stern insisted the Ranadive group agree in writing to the deadline based on his misgivings about "very rosy predictions by both Seattle and Sacramento about the ease with which this building could take place."
Ranadive's spokesman said the owners are "absolutely confident" about their ability to deliver the arena on time. The league will force the Kings to meet several other benchmarks in the process of building the arena as well, including the completion of environmental reviews. If the team misses any of these deadlines, the league can engineer the team's move to another city. The group of Seattle investors that was competing to buy the team from the Maloof family agreed to a similar set of deadlines with the league.
The new Kings owners have plans for a $448MM downtown arena. The city will provide $258MM worth of funding, though that contribution could be subject to a public vote if an opposition group's petition drive is successful.
Ranadive and company own 65% of the team, and will soon own 72%, as Kasler reports. Ranadive is purchasing a 7% share that's being held in bankruptcy. Chris Hansen, the leader of the Seattle bidders, has canceled his deal to assume that share. Ranadive's $15MM price for the share is the same amount as Hansen's offer.
Kings Dismiss Keith Smart
FRIDAY, 7:18pm: The Kings have officially announced that Smart won't be back, via press release. The team has reportedly already reached an agreement with Malone to succeed Smart as coach, and the official word on his hiring is expected to take place on Monday, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
THURSDAY, 7:49pm: According to Sam Amick of USA Today, Keith Smart will not be retained as the head coach of the Kings. It isn't much of a surprise considering that team ownership has apparently had their sights set on Warriors assistant Michael Malone, and Amick writes that Malone could be officially hired as early as this Monday. While there hasn't been an official press release yet, Amick clarifies that majority owner Vivek Ranadive had notified Smart of the franchise's plans to part ways with him shortly after the NBA Board of Governors approved the Sacramento-based investment group's purchase of the Kings just a few days ago (Twitter link).
Ironically, this is the second time that Smart has been relieved of his head coaching duties after a change in team ownership, as Amick looked back at the time when the 48-year-old coach was let go in Golden State shortly after Joe Lacob, Peter Gruber, and Ranadive had purchased the Warriors. Smart is confident that he'll find another opportunity in the NBA next season.
Several Candidates Emerge For Nuggets GM Job
Nuggets team president Josh Kroenke's strong relationship with Masai Ujiri was the primary force behind the outgoing Denver GM's hesitation to accept Toronto's five-year, $15MM offer to jump to the Raptors front office, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Nuggets were willing to give Ujiri a deal worth $1.2MM a year, according to USA Today's Sam Amick. Still, none of it was enough to convince Ujiri to stay, and now the Nuggets are the team looking for a new GM. There's early talk about several who could eventually get the job, as we detail below:
- Nuggets assistant GM Pete D'Alessandro and director of player personnel Mike Bratz are viable options, sources tell Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).
- Wojnarowski speculates that the Nuggets could promote D'Alessandro or go after Cavaliers assistant GM David Griffin. The Nuggets offered Griffin the job in 2010, but he turned them down, leading Denver to turn to Ujiri.
- Other executives who figure to be top candidates include Gersson Rosas of the Rockets, Bobby Marks of the Nets, Tim Connelly of the Pelicans, Wes Wilcox of the Hawks and Scott Perry of the Magic, according to Wojnarowski.
- The Nuggets could have some competition if they want to go with D'Alessandro, since Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace, the leading candidate to take the GM job in Sacramento, would like to hire him to work in the Kings front office, Amick reports (Twitter link).
- Warriors assistant GM Travis Schlenk interviewed well with the Kings, Amick tweets, arguing that Schlenk could be a fit in Denver if it doesn't work out for him in Sacramento.
- Assistant GMs Tommy Sheppard of the Wizards and Jeff Weltman of the Bucks have ties to the Nuggets and bear watching as the Nuggets' search takes place, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
Kings Sale To Sacramento Group Finalized
FRIDAY, 11:17am: The Maloof family has announced in a press release that escrow has closed on the sale of the Kings, putting Ranadive's group in control of the franchise and arena, tweets Howard Beck of the New York Times. Beck adds in a second tweet that the franchise valuation, according to the Maloofs, was over $534MM, an NBA record.
TUESDAY, 1:36pm: The NBA's Board of Governors has officially and unanimously approved the sale of the Sacramento Kings to a group of investors led by Vivek Ranadive, the league announced today. After the league denied the club's relocation bid and the Maloofs reached a sale agreement with Ranadive's group, approval from the Board of Governors was considered merely a formality.
Now that the sale has been approved, Ranadive and Co. are prepared to officially assume control of the franchise, taking the reins from the Maloof family. A Monday report from Sam Amick of USA Today indicated that the new ownership group had already begun the process of seeking out a new head of basketball operations to replace Geoff Petrie. Spurs president R.C. Buford, Warriors assistant GM Travis Schlenk, Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace, and former Pacers GM David Morway are among the names expected to be considered.
Meanwhile, with Keith Smart's future as the Kings' head coach uncertain, Peter Vecsey tweets that Warriors assistant Michael Malone is a "living lock" to become the next head coach in Sacramento. Typically, the team president and/or GM have input in the hiring of a coach, so it'd be a little surprising if the Kings decide on Malone before landing on a head of basketball operations, but we'll have to wait and see how that situation plays out.
With the sale of the Kings approved, Ranadive's group assumes control of 65% of the franchise, having paid an NBA-record valuation of $535MM.