Thunder Notes: Durant, Free Agency, Adams
Kevin Durant, who is expected to be the most sought-after name on this summer’s free agent market, respects David West for passing up millions to pursue an NBA title, relays Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. West declined a $12.6MM option with the Pacers last year and signed with the Spurs for the $1.5MM veteran’s minimum. The move raised eyebrows around the league, but Durant found it admirable. “Money isn’t everything in this life,” Durant said. “I know we tend to think about taking care of your family and being financially stable, but from the outside looking in, it looked like he said, ‘I’ve been blessed enough to make X amount of dollars, and I want to be happy chasing something that is the grand prize in this league.’”
There’s more news from Oklahoma City:
- The Thunder are the favorites to keep Durant, but their chances would decline if they can’t get past the Spurs, writes Mark Heisler of The Los Angeles Daily News. That largely falls in with a Friday report from Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Heisler expects Durant to sign a one-year deal with Oklahoma City or possibly a two-year pact with an opt-out clause for next summer. That will enable him to earn about $40MM more and time his free agency with Russell Westbrook‘s. “I think he’s going to test the water,” said former Thunder teammate and current Connecticut coach Kevin Ollie, “but at the end of the day, Oklahoma City is something dear to his heart.” In order, Heisler lists the Spurs, Warriors, Wizards, Clippers, Knicks and Lakers as the top contenders if Durant does decide to leave OKC.
- Because he was drafted with a pick the Thunder received in the James Harden trade, Steven Adams has been dealing with huge expectations from the start of his NBA career, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Adams averaged 8.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game this year while splitting time at center with Enes Kanter. Before the start of last season, Oklahoma City picked up Adams’ $3,140,517 option for 2016/17. “He’s not easily impressed, he doesn’t take things too seriously,” said teammate Nick Collison. “I think that’s the culture from his background. He’s all about, ‘Get over yourself.’ He didn’t grow up with the dream to play in the NBA, and it shows.”
Latest on Dave Joerger, Kings
The sudden availability of Dave Joerger has shaken up the timing of the Kings’ coaching search, reports Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. Joerger, who will meet with Sacramento officials today, is among roughly two dozen candidates to formally interview or speak with GM/executive Vlade Divac about the position. Voisin writes that Divac plans to choose three or four finalists in the next few days and present that list to the Kings’ front office. Divac had hoped to fill the vacancy before leaving for the pre-draft camp in Chicago later this week, but the dismissals of Joerger in Memphis and Frank Vogel in Indiana forced him to alter the schedule to take a look at both candidates. According to Voisin, Divac has also been trying to schedule a meeting with Spurs assistant Ettore Messina during downtime in the San Antonio-Oklahoma City playoff series. She lists Joerger, Vogel and Messina among the front-runners to be the Kings’ next coach, along with Mike Woodson and Nate McMillan. Portland coach Terry Stotts is a possible darkhorse if the Blazers aren’t willing to extend his contract.
There’s more news this morning on the Joerger front:
- Dissension between Joerger and the Grizzlies had been building throughout the season, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Joerger, who had just one guaranteed year left on his Memphis contract, reportedly angered team officials when he called the roster “a little bit old” earlier this season. More recently, Joerger told Memphis-area reporters that he wouldn’t be talking them them until July because he wasn’t part of the group preparing for the draft. Joerger’s request to be allowed to interview for coaching positions in Sacramento and Houston apparently sealed his fate in Memphis.
- Joerger’s meeting with the Kings seems like a “mere formality,” tweets TNT’s David Aldridge, who hears that the team is prepared to make a three-year offer worth $12MM.
- The arrangement between Joerger and Sacramento is virtually a done deal, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer, who adds that it would take a “screeching halt” for Joerger not to get the job.
- Joerger made a wise career move by orchestrating his firing in Memphis, writes Tom Ziller of SB Nation. Owner Robert Pera never believed in Joerger and tried to undermine him from the time he replaced Lionel Hollins in 2013, according to Ziller. That’s why Joerger has been requesting permission to interview with other franchises, starting with the Wolves in 2014. Ziller points out that Joerger is now free to pursue an arrangement that will give him more money and security than he had with the Grizzlies.
Latest On Kevin Durant
The theory among the teams eager to pursue Kevin Durant this summer is that the Thunder’s second-round series against the Spurs will decide whether he leaves Oklahoma City, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Durant would stay if the Thunder win and leave if they lose, Stein relays, stressing that it’s merely an assumption among the front offices. The Spurs, with the series tied 1-1, indeed have designs on luring Durant to San Antonio, Stein hears, echoing what several rival executives suggested to Chris Mannix of The Vertical in March.
Zach Lowe of ESPN.com recently compared the talk about Durant joining the Spurs as “eerily similar” to the early rumblings that connected LaMarcus Aldridge to San Antonio last year. Still, the Warriors loom as another powerful suitor, and The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported in February at that they would be significant front-runners for Durant if he were to leave the Thunder. Golden State is optimistic about its chances, and chatter has gone on since the Warriors’ record 24-0 start about the kinship Durant formed on Team USA with Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala, Stein writes. The Wizards, Heat, Celtics, Rockets, Lakers and Clippers are planning hard pushes for Durant, too, according to Stein, who cautions that it’s premature to peg any team aside from the Thunder as the favorite to land him.
Neither the Warriors nor the Spurs have the cap flexibility to sign Durant for his max of an estimated $26MM for next season without making trades, waiving players via the stretch provision, or both. The Vertical’s Bobby Marks illustrated a scenario involving maneuvers that would give the Warriors enough room to sign Durant, and Danny Leroux of The Sporting News laid out San Antonio’s path. The Clippers would have to offload either Chris Paul, Blake Griffin or DeAndre Jordan, as I noted in our offseason outlook for the team earlier today.
The teams who assume Durant will stay with the Thunder if Oklahoma City advances to the next round of the playoffs suggest he’d go for a two-year contract with a player option on year two, the same sort of contract LeBron James favors, according to Stein. That would allow Durant the flexibility for him to hit free agency again next summer, when Russell Westbrook‘s contract expires, and it would represent the most lucrative path for the former MVP, as I examined. Still, Durant told Stein at the All-Star break that he hadn’t considered such a contract structure.
Spurs To Work Out Isaiah Briscoe
- Kentucky point guard Isaiah Briscoe worked out for the Spurs on Wednesday and has workouts scheduled with the Clippers this week and the Lakers after the scouting combine is complete, Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress tweets.
Spurs Lose Another Staffer To Nets
- The Nets have added several to their front office, including former No. 5 overall draft pick Shelden Williams, who’ll serve as a pro scout, and U.S. circuit court law clerk Natalie Jay, who’ll work as a cap and contract specialist, as the team details via press release. Spurs staffer Andrew Baker joins the Nets as strategic planning coordinator and Stanford assistant coach Charles Payne will be a pro and college scout for Brooklyn, the team announced. The Nets also said they promoted Ryan Gisriel to director of basketball administration. Gisriel has served the team as an intern, special projects coordinator and as assistant to the GM since his hiring in 2013.
Spurs Success Means Front Office Turnover
- The Spurs‘ success has made their personnel in high demand around the league, and while the team is happy for the success of its personnel, it does create more offseason work since the franchise needs to replace those it has lost, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. “Like right now we have a couple of guys we have got to replace,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “[GM] R.C. [Buford] and I will think about that at the end of the season. But it does cause some disruption and work to try to get it back.” San Antonio has lost front office staffers Sean Marks to the Nets and Scott Layden to the Wolves since February, with both men being named GM of their respective teams.
Kings Candidate Ettore Messina Happy With Spurs
Spurs assistant coach Ettore Messina declined comment Monday on a report that the Kings plan to speak with him this week about their head coaching vacancy, other than to make it clear that he’s content in San Antonio, as Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News relays. Sacramento has no shortage of other candidates for its vacancy, but Kings GM Vlade Divac is said to be especially fond of Messina. “There is nothing more I can tell you other than that I am very, very happy [with the Spurs],” Messina said.
And-Ones: Bosh, Hill, Carroll, Draft Workouts
Chris Bosh and his family are trying to get the players union involved as he pushes the Heat to allow him back in the lineup, but the doctors the Heat have consulted fear he could die on the court if plays this season, as ESPN Radio’s Dan Le Batard said on his show today and as Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post transcribes (audio link). Bosh feels fine, unlike the way he felt when he suffered from a similar blood clot issue last year, according to Le Batard, and a doctor the big man independently commissioned reportedly said Bosh would be OK if he plays. The 32-year-old will still have three years and more than $75.868MM remaining on his contract at the conclusion of this season.
See more from around the NBA:
- One NBA GM thinks Solomon Hill warrants between $7MM and $9MM a year on his next contract, reports Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (ESPN Now link). That would be a problem for Indiana if it wants to keep him. The Pacers can’t re-sign the combo forward for a salary greater than $2,306,019 next season because they declined the team option for that amount on his rookie scale contract.
- DeMarre Carroll indicated Sunday that his season was indeed in jeopardy a month ago as he recovered from right knee surgery. Carroll, Toronto’s prize free agent acquisition from this past summer, instead returned to play in three of the Raptors‘ final five games of the regular season and all seven games of the team’s first-round ouster of Indiana. “Words can’t even explain how big it is … ,” Carroll said after the victory Sunday, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter link). “A month ago I thought I wasn’t even going to be playing in the playoffs.”
- Draft prospect Jaron Blossomgame will work out for the Jazz on Thursday, the Celtics on Saturday and the Grizzlies on May 16th, as the former Clemson small forward tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
- Former Iona combo guard A.J. English went through a predraft workout Saturday with the Jazz and has workouts scheduled for Tuesday with the Spurs and Wednesday with the Rockets, he told Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link).
Kings Plan To Speak With Messina This Week
The Kings plan to speak with Spurs assistant Ettore Messina this week, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link). It’s not entirely clear whether it’ll be a formal interview, as San Antonio has just begun its second-round series against the Thunder, though the series will be in hiatus between tonight’s Game 2 and Friday’s Game 3. Sacramento reportedly reached out to Messina weeks ago, suggesting that the Spurs have granted Sacramento permission to at least contact their assistant. San Antonio granted the Lakers permission for an interview, and one was scheduled for the gap between Games 2 and 3 of the Spurs-Thunder series before the Lakers called it off and hired Luke Walton instead, a league source told Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. The European coaching legend apparently holds particular appeal to Kings GM Vlade Divac.
Durant Praises Popovich; Pitch To Aldridge Was Simple
The Thunder‘s horrible performance in Game 1 of the Western semifinals could lead to an even worse result this summer, writes Buck Harvey of The San Antonio Express-News. The 32-point blowout capped a day that began for Oklahoma City with impending free agent Kevin Durant showering praise on San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, calling him the reason the Spurs have been successful for so long. Durant added another comment that raised suspicions that he is ready to move on from Oklahoma City. “Having a very good coach is probably the most important thing in this league,” Durant said. “You can have all the great players you want, but you have to have somebody to orchestrate it. That’s what they have. They have great players, but they also have a great coach to put them in position to utilize all their strength as individuals and make it come together as a team.” Harvey writes that it’s now up to first-year Thunder coach Billy Donovan to convince Durant that he can win a title in Oklahoma City.
- The Spurs didn’t use an elaborate presentation to land LaMarcus Aldridge in free agency last summer, tweets Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. Aldridge was one of the difference makers Saturday, scoring 38 points as San Antonio pulled away early. “We didn’t give him a sales pitch,” Popovich said after Game 1. “We met with him. LaMarcus is a grown man. He makes his decisions based on facts that are important to him and his future, and he doesn’t need candles and cakes and all that sort of thing to try to convince him. That would be a little silly I think.”