Tornike Shengelia To Play In Spain
Former Nets and Bulls forward Tornike Shengelia has agreed to a three-year deal with Baskonia of Spain, Lefteris Moutis of Eurohoops.net reports. Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia confirms the deal, having noted earlier that the sides were in talks. It’s for the equivalent of about $2.855MM, according to Moutis, although it’s not clear what, if any, NBA escape clauses will be a part of the contract.
The Guy Zucker client was the 54th overall pick in the 2012 draft and wound up with a guaranteed two-year deal for the minimum salary from Brooklyn that summer. He played sparingly for the Nets, appearing in just 36 games over a season and a half before they sent him to the Bulls in a January trade. He saw even less playing time in Chicago, which waived him shortly before the season to accommodate multiyear contracts for Ronnie Brewer, Mike James and Louis Amundson that will help the Bulls assemble trade packages this summer.
Shengelia, a native of the Republic of Georgia, averaged 1.3 points in 5.5 minutes per game across 45 NBA appearances. His talent was on greater display while on D-League assignment, as he racked up 21.1 PPG in 33.9 MPG over 14 contests the past two years for the affiliate of the Nets.
Jason Kapono Retires
Nine-year NBA veteran Jason Kapono has decided to retire, as David Pick of Eurobasket.com reports (Twitter link). The 33-year-old last played professionally for Panathinaikos of Greece in 2012/13 after appearing in 27 games for the Lakers in 2011/12. The Cavs acquired him in a trade at the 2012 deadline, waiving him soon after, and a series of workouts the following September with the Spurs was his last brush with the NBA.
Kapono was one of the league’s elite sharpshooters, leading the NBA in three-point percentage in 2006/07 and 2007/08 with the Heat and Raptors, respectively. The Cavs drafted him in the second round in 2003, and he played in Cleveland, Charlotte and Philadelphia in addition to his time with the Lakers, Miami and Toronto. He won a championship with the Heat in 2006, but he played in only one playoff game that year. He had a much greater role in the postseason for the Raptors two years later, averaging 15.6 points per game in 30.4 minutes per contest in a five-game first-round defeat.
The former UCLA Bruin made nearly $28.5MM for his career, according to Basketball-Reference. He drew his highest annual salary of $6.6MM for the Sixers in 2010/11, but he averaged a career-low 4.7 MPG that season.
Grizzlies Sign Dave Joerger To Extension
4:51pm: The deal is official, the team announced on its website.
“Following an open and honest dialogue with Dave, it became clear that Dave was fully committed to Memphis and we are committed to him,” Pera said as part of the statement. “I look forward to seeing Dave build upon the foundation he helped establish over the last seven years, and we are both committed to bringing a championship to Memphis.”
4:04pm: The fifth-year team option includes a raise over his salaries in the first four seasons of the contract, as Sam Amick of USA Today reports (on Twitter). Joerger has been set to make close to $2MM a year.
4:00pm: Memphis agreed to guarantee what had been a fourth-year team option on Joerger’s deal and add a fifth-year team option, tweets Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal.
3:47pm: The Grizzlies and coach Dave Joerger have agreed to a two-year extension, reports Eric Hasseltine of SiriusXM NBA Radio, who spoke with with Joerger this afternoon on 92.9 ESPN Radio in Memphis (Twitter links). Joerger already had two seasons left at more than $2MM, but Grizzlies owner Robert Pera reportedly “improved” the deal this weekend amid a reconciliation that forestalled Joerger from leaving the team to take the Wolves head coaching job.
The deal is the latest outgrowth of Pera’s decision eight days ago to dismiss CEO Jason Levien and assistant GM Stu Lash. Memphis brass reportedly saw Joerger as a “Levien guy”, and Pera was prepared to fire the first-year coach earlier this season. There was supposedly mutual “hate” between Joerger and team attorney-turned-scouting director David Mincberg, whose role within the basketball operations department appeared to grow and just as quickly shrink within recent days.
Joerger, a Minnesota native, interviewed with Wolves president of basketball ops Flip Saunders, with whom the Grizzlies coach is close, as well as Wolves owner Glen Taylor. He appeared well on his way to filling their vacancy before he met with Pera this past weekend and, in a stunning turn, agreed to remain in Memphis. The Grizzlies went 50-32 and took the Thunder to seven games in the first round of the playoffs this past season, Joerger’s first as an NBA head coach.
Bobby Brown Signs Three-Year Chinese Deal
NBA prospect Bobby Brown has signed a three-year deal to remain with the Dongguan Leopards of China, but the contract includes NBA escape clauses, and he’ll play for the Blazers summer league team this year, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter links). The Chinese website Sohu.com originally reported the sides were close to an agreement. The Clippers appeared to show interest in Brown at multiple points this year, but though he seemed destined to return to the league this past season after a 74-point outburst for the Leopards in December, he didn’t wind up with an NBA deal.
Brown was the Chinese Basketball Association’s second leading scorer this past season with 30.7 points per game, and he also dished out 5.7 assists and grabbed 4.0 rebounds in 39.1 minutes per contest. He’s played in Italy and Germany, too, since last appearing in an NBA game in 2009/10. Still, he remained on the radar of NBA teams, playing in summer league for the Raptors in 2010 and 2012 and drawing interest from the Knicks this past summer. The 29-year-old played regular season games for four NBA teams in two seasons after going undrafted out of Cal State Fullerton in 2007.
It’s not clear how much the buyout attached to his new Chinese deal would run if he were to find NBA work. His summer league arrangement with Portland seems to indicate it’s less than $600K, which would allow an NBA team to pay the buyout without the money counting against the cap, but that’s just my speculation.
Francisco Garcia To Opt Out?
1:50pm: Garcia says he’s yet to make a final decision about his player option for next season, according to Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston (Twitter link).
9:37am: Francisco Garcia is planning to opt out of his contract with the Rockets and seek a new, multiyear deal, sources tell Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. The move would be no surprise, since Garcia, who played a significant role off the bench much of the season for Houston, was set to make the minimum salary on his player option next season. Still, Haynes hears from two more sources that Garcia will prioritize long-term security over a raise as he canvasses the market for a new deal.
The swingman averaged 5.7 points in 19.7 minutes per game over 55 regular season appearances for the Rockets, but his minutes dried up in the playoffs. He saw 18 minutes in Game 1 against the Blazers, four minutes in Game 2, and sat for the rest of the series as D-League refugee Troy Daniels seized much of his playing time.
The Rockets have full Bird rights on the Aaron Goodwin client, so they appear to have the inside track. Garcia is probably in line for more than the minimum, but securing a deal that lasts three or more seasons would require him to either find a team with cap space or a club willing to commit at least part of its mid-level exception to him if he were to leave the Rockets. There’s also a decent chance Houston will renounce its Bird Rights to Garcia to clear cap space in the pursuit of Carmelo Anthony or another marquee free agent. Garcia figures to sign later in July, once the more attractive free agents come off the board, but even if he settles for another two-year deal for the minimum, as he did last offseason, that would at least give him a bit more security than opting in for one more season would have.
Charlotte Officially Adopts Hornets Nickname
The Charlotte Bobcats have officially become the Charlotte Hornets, the team announced in a press conference today. The franchise will assume the statistical history of the original Charlotte Hornets from 1988 through 2002, when they moved to New Orleans, and those records will also encompass everything the Bobcats did from their inception in 2004. The franchise unveiled its new website and Twitter feed with the Hornets nickname.
So, Hoops Rumors will refer to the team as the Hornets from now on. You can find a link to our Hornets rumors page on the right sidebar, just as you can do with every NBA team, and we’ve updated our Facebook and Twitter feeds, too.
Blazers Sign Terry Stotts To Multiyear Deal
11:35pm: Portland picked up its 2014/15 option on Stotts and added two years to the deal, the last of which is a team option for the 2016/17 season, reports Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. That conflicts with Wojnarowski’s initial report that the team would decline next year’s option in favor of an entirely new contract.
5:08pm: The Blazers have signed Stotts to a multiyear contract extension, according to a team release. No terms of the deal have been released.
2:14pm: The Blazers have held off on exercising the 2014/15 option on their contract with coach Terry Stotts, but they’re close to an agreement on a new multiyear contract that will wipe out the option season, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. GM Neil Olshey opposes the idea of negotiating during the season, but as Portland made strides this year, concern grew among the Blazers staff and seemingly with Stotts himself as his fate for next season remained unresolved. There was speculation that his future would hinge on the team’s success in the playoffs, but an appearance in the second round left little doubt that Stotts would be sticking around, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote earlier today.
Stotts had a rough start in Portland after the Blazers hired him two years ago, inheriting a team that had taken a step back, and he managed just a 33-49 record in 2012/13. The Blazers used a strong start to surge to 54-28 this season, earning the fifth seed in the Western Conference playoffs and a first-round date with the Rockets, whom they dispatched in six games before falling to San Antonio in round two. The resurgence helped solidify the team’s shaky relationship with LaMarcus Aldridge, who’s considering an extension with the club as he nears his 2015 free agency.
The client of coaching super-agent Warren LeGarie has also overseen the development of Damian Lillard, who won Rookie of the Year last season and took a step forward in year two, with his series-clinching three-pointer against Houston a defining moment. This past season was by far the best in Stotts’ six-year head coaching career, as it was the first time he’d piloted a team to a winning record.
Pistons Hire Stan Van Gundy As Coach, President
The Pistons have officially hired Stan Van Gundy as head coach and president of basketball operations, the team announced. The deal is for $35MM over five years. Van Gundy had previously been considered the leading candidate for the Warriors’ head coaching position, though talks stalled when Golden State proved unwilling to grant him full autonomy over all basketball decisions. Van Gundy’s deal with Detroit is also significantly more lucrative than the reported $25-$30MM that the Warriors were willing to offer.
“Stan is a proven winner in our league. He instills his teams with passion, purpose and toughness. He is a great teacher who will help our players grow and develop,” Pistons owner Tom Gores said in a statement. “Stan is more than just a great coach, he’s a great leader. What I’m most excited about is how Stan can help us shape the franchise and instill what it means to be the best. He’s also a great communicator. My time with Stan has me convinced that he will bring our players, team and community to a very proud place.”
The Pistons reached out to Van Gundy about their coaching vacancy several weeks ago, but those talks ended after Van Gundy requested some degree of player personnel control. Detroit evidently had a change of heart as they warmed to the idea of hiring someone as both coach and primary front office executive.
Gores became determined to do whatever it took to land the former Heat and Magic coach, and while he outbid the Warriors, the opportunity to lead the Pistons basketball operations department was most appealing to Van Gundy. That led him to turn down the Warriors, even though they have a superior roster and they’re the team he’d grown up rooting for. Golden State’s front office is crowded with GM Bob Myers, adviser Jerry West and assistant general managers Kirk Lacob, son of co-owner Joe Lacob, and Travis Schlenk, a one-time candidate for the Pistons top front office job. Joe Lacob also takes a hands-on role.
“It is an honor to be chosen to help Tom Gores build the Pistons into a team that competes for championships,” Van Gundy said in the Pistons statement. “Tom’s vision of building for the future, while seeking immediate improvement is a challenge that I embrace. We will work to put a team on the floor that reflects the franchise’s rich tradition and embodies the toughness and work ethic of fans in the Detroit area.”
Van Gundy said earlier this year that he was highly unlikely to coach, but it appears as though the opportunity to take on player personnel duties for the first time in his career was too attractive to pass up. He spoke recently of his desire to have a strong working relationship with the front office in whatever coaching job he would take, and with the Pistons, he won’t have to worry about anyone other than owner Tom Gores looking over his shoulder. Former Magic GM Otis Smith is one of the candidates Van Gundy is considering as an assistant front office executive.
Van Gundy takes the reigns from assistant GM George David and director of basketball operations Ken Catanella, who’d been running the front office on an interim basis after longtime president of basketball operations Joe Dumars stepped aside last month. Today’s hiring also displaces interim coach John Loyer, who took over when the Pistons fired Maurice Cheeks in February. David, Catanella and Loyer were all candidates to have their interim tags removed.
Van Gundy’s name has come up frequently in regard to coaching vacancies ever since the Magic fired him in 2012. He took the Magic to the Finals in 2009 and won 50 games five times in his seven full seasons as an NBA head coach. He publicly feuded with then-Magic star Dwight Howard, but the two have since repaired their relationship.
In additon to Schlenk, the Pistons were also rumored to be considering former Raptors and Suns GM Bryan Colangelo and Celtics assistant GM Mike Zarren, who had appeared to be the front-runners for the job. Cavs GM David Griffin, NBA senior vice president of basketball operations Kiki Vandeweghe and Magic assistant GM Scott Perry were also candidates to replace Dumars, who remains with the organization in an advisory capacity. The Pistons were reportedly considering Michigan State coach Tom Izzo for their coaching job. Gores had retained Phil Norment and Bob Wentworth, partners in his private equity investment firm, to conduct the search for a new top basketball executive.
Ryan Raroque contributed to this post. Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press tweeted the news that Van Gundy and the Pistons had a signed contract. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported that Van Gundy and the Pistons had reached an agreement in principle, Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News was the first to report they were close to a deal, and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports originally had the story that the Pistons were pitching Van Gundy on the dual executive/coach role. Wojnarowski noted that the sides were working on a five-year, $35MM arrangement. He also tweeted that Van Gundy is considering Otis Smith for an assistant executive role, while Ellis clarified that Smith is one of several candidates for that position. Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News reported the initial talks between Van Gundy and the Pistons. Jeff Zillgitt and Sam Amick of USA Today and Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group provided additional detail.
Cavs Fire Mike Brown, Name Griffin Full-Time GM
The Cavs have fired coach Mike Brown and removed the interim tag from GM David Griffin‘s title, the team announced. Griffin appeared close to appointment as the team’s GM this weekend, just as doubts about Brown’s future lingered. It’s the second time that the Cavs have parted ways with Brown in the past four years. They hired him for a second stint last summer, but he didn’t last after compiling a 33-49 record in a season in which owner Dan Gilbert expected to make the playoffs.
“This is a very tough business. It pains all of us here that we needed to make the difficult decision of releasing Mike Brown,” Gilbert said in the team’s statement. “Mike worked hard over this last season to move our team in the right direction. Although, there was some progress from our finish over the few prior seasons, we believe we need to head in a different direction. We wish Mike and his family nothing but the best.”
Brown rejoined the Cavs last year on a five-year deal worth between $20-25MM, but it appears the team will have to shell out much of that money for a coach who won’t be on their sidelines. Gilbert was reportedly looking for feedback from the players and the front office staff on Brown as he made his decision about whether to retain the coach, and another report indicated that the players were in Brown’s corner, with Dion Waiters his loudest supporter. Brown was hired under former GM Chris Grant, whom Gilbert axed in February. Griffin has been serving in his place ever since.
The team responded well to the switch from Grant to Griffin, winning six in a row immediately after the change and going 17-16 overall. Griffin acquired Spencer Hawes at the trade deadline, and he meshed well with the team, giving it an outside shooter to balance the floor on the offensive end. Isiah Thomas and George Karl were among those who campaigned for the top front office job, and Gilbert considered other candidates, but Griffin gave the impression he’d be retained in a season-ending press conference last month.
“Our ownership group is looking forward to David Griffin leading the basketball side of our business. We interviewed several strong candidates for the GM position including Griff,” Gilbert said. “We chose David as our GM because we believe he is the best person to lead our franchise at this critical time and into the future. David brings over two decades of experience. He knows the ins and outs of this league as well as anyone and is also an outstanding talent evaluator.”
Griffin joined the Cavs as vice president of basketball operations in 2010, serving under Grant. He’d spent the previous 17 years with the Suns, rising from intern to senior vice president of basketball operations, a role in which he assisted Steve Kerr, now the primary coaching candidate for the Knicks.
NBA Taps Richard Parsons As Clips Interim CEO
2:20pm: The NBA has officially installed Parsons as interim CEO of the Clippers, the league announced.
“I believe the hiring of Dick Parsons will bring extraordinary leadership and immediate stability to the Clippers organization,” commissioner Adam Silver said. “Dick’s credentials as a proven chief executive speak for themselves and I am extremely grateful he accepted this responsibility.”
Parsons will control the business side of the team, leaving Doc Rivers to continue to lead the basketball operations department.
12:53pm: The NBA has chosen former Citicorp chairman and Time Warner chief Richard Parsons to run the Clippers, TNT’s David Aldridge reports (Twitter link). Team president Andy Roeser is on an indefinite leave of absence while the club has been searching for someone to lead in the team in the wake of owner Donald Sterling’s lifetime ban. Roeser was in charge immediately after the NBA meted out its punishment of Sterling, but the league said it wanted a “clean slate” for whomever would manage the team next. Parsons will run the team while the league seeks new ownership.
Parsons was the CEO of Time Warner from 2002 to 2007 and was Citigroup chairman from 2009 until 2012, when he retired. He nonetheless continues to serve on the board of directors for Madison Square Garden and other organizations. He was a member of President Barack Obama’s transition team in 2008 and a senior White House aide to President Gerald Ford.
The Clippers have remained in flux as Donald Sterling’s wife, Shelly, has sought to maintain 50% ownership of the club. The league reportedly hadn’t envisioned her desire to remain in the picture when it banned her husband and made plans to strip the team from his ownership. She also asserted that she was involved in the search for the new CEO, but it’s unclear whether that was the case. Donald Sterling is widely expected to mount a legal effort to stop the NBA from seizing control of the Clippers or forcing him to sell.