And-Ones: Hunter, Draft, Hairston
Ousted players union executive director Billy Hunter has dropped his appeal of a civil ruling in a suit Hunter had brought against former union president Derek Fisher and Jamie Wior, Fisher’s business manager. Hunter must pay more than $200K to cover the legal fees for Fisher and Wior. A case in which Hunter alleges the union owes him $10.5MM remains active. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports has the details in three separate tweets.
More from around the league:
- There has been some speculation that Fisher is the favorite to land the Knicks head coaching position if he retires after this season. Another possibility being mentioned for Fisher is him being both a player and assistant coach for the Thunder next season, reports Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link). The collective bargaining agreement bars players from actively serving as a player and coach at the same time, but Fisher could perform the duties of an assistant coach while remaining on the active roster as a player.
- P.J. Hairston is drawing interest from the Lakers, Clippers, and Jazz, writes Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times. Hairston signed with the Texas Legends of the NBA D-League back on January 14th and averaged 21.8 PPG and 3.5 RPG.
- Chris Mannix of SI.com released his latest mock draft.
- A number of lottery teams have expressed a willingness to trade their picks, reports Mannix (Twitter link).
- Jonathan Tjarks of RealGM.com released his initial mock draft of the year.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Chad Ford On NBA Draft
With the draft order now set, the speculation can truly begin as to what each team will do in June’s NBA Draft. Chad Ford of ESPN.com held his weekly chat and here are some of the highlights:
- Though the Cavaliers currently have Jabari Parker at the top of their draft board, Ford believes they will end up selecting Andrew Wiggins with the first overall pick.
- The only way the Cavs trade the top pick is for a young, star-caliber player like Kevin Love, opines Ford.
- The top three players on the Bucks draft board are Joel Embiid, Wiggins, and Dante Exum, per Ford.
- The Magic are looking at taking a point guard with the number four overall pick, reports Ford. The team’s top two choices would be Exum and Marcus Smart. Ford also believes that with the 12th pick, the team will focus on acquiring outside shooting.
- Ford believes the Jazz are likely to select Noah Vonleh with the fifth selection, unless they attempt to trade up to snag Exum.
- Being slotted sixth makes the Celtics more likely to try and trade their pick for established talent, notes Ford. If they keep the pick, he believes that Aaron Gordon would be the choice of GM Danny Ainge.
- The Lakers are in a similar position to the Celtics in regard to trading their pick, opines Ford. If they keep the pick, he sees either Julius Randle, Smart, or Dario Saric being their favorites.
- Ford’s sleeper picks for the draft are Mitch McGary, Jarnell Stokes, and Elfrid Payton.
Lottery Fodder: Jazz, Kings, Hornets, Magic
With the order set for June’s NBA Draft, it’s only natural that we see an influx of mock drafts in the coming days. But Tuesday’s lottery tells us only the assets that most teams will start their draft process with, as plenty can happen between now and draft night on June 26th. After all, eight teams possess multiple first round picks with the Suns leading the way with three. The Sixers, meanwhile, have two picks in round one and five in round two, giving them plenty of ammo to pursue moves.
There’s a lot of draft fodder to come over the next five weeks, but let’s take a look at what is being said by the league’s decision-makers fresh off of Tuesday night’s lottery results:
- Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey, who owns picks five, 23 and 35, said that Utah may try to package those assets in a deal to move up, tweets Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune writes that it’s hard not to look at Tuesday night as a letdown, adding that the Utah front office extolled the depth of this year’s draft class.
- Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee spoke to Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro, whose team landed the eighth selection in the draft. D’Alessandro indicated that the Kings would be open to dealing the pick if a “game-changing” talent doesn’t fall to them. They could also trade up, Jones says, or looks to acquire a second round pick in what is a deep draft. (Twitter links)
- Citing the franchise’s history of executing draft-related trades, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer predicts the Hornets will attempt to turn picks nine, 24 and 45, along with $17MM in cap space, into something bigger. Now that they have a centerpiece in Al Jefferson and assets to deal, Bonnell speculates the team could kick the tires on Kevin Love or restricted free agents Greg Monroe and Gordon Hayward.
- The Magic will pick in the dreaded fourth position come June, presumably unable to land Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker or Joel Embiid unless something drastic changes by draft night. While there was plenty of disappointment in Orlando, Magic GM Rob Hennigan remained upbeat, writes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. “Certainly we would have liked to have seen the highest number possible for us. I think all the teams would. But we like where we’re sitting. We feel like we can get a good player, and we feel like we’ve got our work cut out for us here the next couple of weeks to figure out exactly who that is.”
Draft Notes: Ennis, Love, Sixers, Jazz
The draft lottery is just a day away, and in addition to finding out which teams have the best shot at a franchise-changing talent, the results could help foster a pre-draft trading spree. Here’s the latest on the draft front:
- Tyler Ennis has been invited to the NBA’s Draft Lottery Show, tweets Fran Fraschilla of ESPN.com (H/T Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv). The invitation reinforces the perception of Ennis as a lottery pick.
- Sean Deveney of The Sporting News looks at how favorable lottery results could help the Lakers, Celtics, and Suns boost their chances of landing Kevin Love.
- Bob Ford of The Philadelphia Inquirer looks at the strategy of Sixers GM Sam Hinkie, who has made a multitude of moves to tank the roster and acquire draft picks for the coming years. While the severe measures might not pay off and have raised some eyebrows in a league built on competition, Ford writes that Hinkie has been justified in his approach considering Philadelphia’s limitations and the league’s lottery system.
- The Jazz will work out Melvin Ejim and Niels Giffey, among other players, on Tuesday, according to Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune.
- Randy Hollis of Deseret News writes that the next few weeks could be the most critical time in the history of the Jazz, starting with how the team fares in the draft.
Western Notes: Suns, Lawson, Jazz
Despite the presence of Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic, the Suns might consider drafting a point guard this year, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Coro cites the uncertainty regarding the team re-signing Bledsoe, as well as Dragic being able to opt out of his contract next summer as the reasons the team could consider selecting another point guard. The team is seriously looking at Dante Exum and Marcus Smart, notes Coro.
More from out west:
- In a season filled with injuries, Ty Lawson was the Nuggets best player. Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post takes a look back at Lawson’s season, as well as where the player goes from here.
- The Timberwolves coaching search won’t really begin until after Tuesday night’s NBA Draft lottery, writes Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune. Once the team knows where it is selecting, it will have a better idea of what kind of roster the team will have as well as a better idea if they intend to keep Kevin Love or if the Wolves will attempt to trade him this summer, opines Zgoda.
- Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey is open to trading the team’s first-round draft pick, reports Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link). Lindsey said, “I don’t think with where we’re at anything is sacred. You have to listen to everything.“
- Dale Kasler, Ryan Lillis, and Tony Bizjak of The Sacramento Bee examine the risks and rewards of the Kings arena deal which is set to be voted on by the city this Tuesday.
Coaching Notes: Ollie, Kerr
Within the next couple days, Kevin Ollie plans to reject the advances of the only NBA team that has reached out to him this offseason, a league source familiar with Ollie’s thinking tells Mark Medina of Los Angeles Daily News. The team’s identity is unknown, but the source tells Medina is isn’t the Lakers or Knicks. The source says Ollie, who is also renegotiating his contract with UConn, never “got to first base” with an NBA team. Here are more coaching notes on a night without any playoff action:
- A league source told Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer the Cavs were not the team that had contacted Ollie, which would leave the Wolves and Jazz as the only other teams with head coaching vacancies that might have reached out.
- A source close to Ollie tells Boyer that the coach is indeed “strongly leaning” toward remaining at UConn.
- Steve Kerr’s agent told Diamond Leung of Bay Area News Group that two teams other than the Knicks and Warriors pursued Kerr as a head coach, but he didn’t engage in talks with either. The Jazz were one such interested team, but any other interested teams have not been revealed.
Draft Rumors: Harris, Smart, Jazz, Magic
With the Chicago predraft combine wrapping up, Jeremy Bauman of Sheridan Hoops looks at a number of prospects that increased their draft stock with their performances. These players include Zach LaVine, Kyle Anderson, Elfrid Payton, James Young, and Jordan Clarkson. More on the draft front:
- The athletic testing results from the combine are in and Draft Express runs them down.
- Gary Harris was invited to the Draft Lottery broadcast by the NBA as part of a 10-player group deemed the top-10 prospects, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets. The inviation, which Harris declined, could signify a boost in his draft stock. Some projections, including Jonathan Givony’s at DraftExpress, have had Harris well outside of the top 10.
- In a combine wrap-up, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes that Marcus Smart stood out as an exceptional physical specimen and hard worker among the point guards in attendance.
- Dante Exum fared well during interviews at the combine, a team official who met with the Aussie tells Chris Mannix of SI.com. “He seems like a really good kid,” the official said. “He’s confident, but not cocky. Now we have to see if he can play.” With far less exposure than the other prospects at the top of the draft, Exum hopes to impress teams during his individual workouts.
- If Joel Embiid doesn’t clear medically prior to the draft, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders tweets that the big man could drop out of the top five. Embiid sat out of combine activities as he recovers from a back injury suffered late in his season at Kansas.
- Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey told Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune that he “has to listen to everything” when asked about whether he was willing to trade Utah’s draft picks (Twitter link).
- The Magic aren’t trying to trade away their extra first round pick, according to Kyler (on Twitter).
- Tommy Dee of Sheridan Hoops looks at some of the older draft prospects, laying out why each could follow in Damian Lillard‘s footsteps in making an impact exceeding many of the younger, more well-known players from the same talent pool.
- Joe Kotoch of Sheridan Hoops released his second mock draft of the year.
- Earlier, we passed along word that we could be in for a busy pre-draft trade season.
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.
Western Notes: Lakers, Blazers, Jazz
Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak says the team might look to acquire an additional first-round pick in this year’s NBA Draft, reports Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. Kupchak said, “We may look to get a pick some other way because we have guys we interviewed who aren’t going to be gone before the second round, but they’ll be around after [our current pick]. You only get so many assets in this league. Draft picks are an asset. There’s cap room, draft picks and players. Those are assets you can use to rebuild a team.”
More from out west:
- Mike Tokito of The Oregonian looks at the busy summer a number of Trail Blazers have ahead of them. LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard will be occupied with Team USA, and at least six players on their current roster are expected to participate in the summer league.
- The biggest improvement in the Blazers roster needs to come from within, writes Jason Quick of The Oregonian. The team needs growth from players like C.J. McCollum, Thomas Robinson, and Will Barton if they are to become serious contenders, opines Quick.
- The Jazz will be looking to add a star with their lottery pick, but will look to add depth with their second pick in the first-round, as well as with their second-round pick, number 35 overall, writes Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune. Jazz VP of Player Personnel Walt Perrin said, “Franchise players. All-Stars. That’s what we’re looking to get. But we also understand that we need depth. We need rotation players. And we have a lot of needs in terms of shooting, in terms of defense and rebounding.”
And-Ones: Watson, Love, Seattle, Isiah, Draft
Earl Watson would like to coach the Jazz next season, and he’s picked up the endorsement of restricted free agent Gordon Hayward, as both Watson and Hayward tell Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. Watson, who played with the Blazers this year, hasn’t ruled out playing again next season, but if he becomes Jazz coach, he’ll target Hubie Brown as an assistant, he says. Here’s more from around the league with an altered title picture now that Serge Ibaka is expected to miss the rest of the playoffs.
- Kevin Love will have some say in who coaches him next season on the Wolves, owner Glen Taylor confirmed to Charley Walters of the Star Tribune. President of basketball operations Flip Saunders has spoken with eight candidates, but he hasn’t endorsed any of them to Taylor, Walters adds.
- Taylor also said the Wolves lost “a couple million” dollars this year, Walters notes in the same piece.
- Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who partnered with Chris Hansen on an ill-fated bid to buy the Kings and move them to Seattle, is open to purchasing any NBA team, but wouldn’t necessarily bring them to the Emerald City, as he tells Shira Ovide of The Wall Street Journal. He says he wouldn’t move the Clippers out of Los Angeles if he bought them.
- Isiah Thomas and the Pistons are in preliminary talks about a deal for him to purchase a minority share of the team, reports Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News.
- Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey and Cavs GM David Griffin have said they’re open to trading their respective first-round picks for players who can help immediately, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio.
- Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson has political aspirations that would make him reticent to accept the post of executive director of the players union, but the job increasingly appears to be his if he wants it, tweets Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times.
- Hawks and Cavs officials will meet with draft prospect Alessandro Gentile of the Italian league, Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia reports. The swingman is No. 66 in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and 100th with Chad Ford of ESPN.com.
Draft Combine Updates: Thursday
The Chicago draft combine is underway, and teams can meet with up to 18 players. With 30 teams, that means there could be as many as 540 interviews this week. We’ll try to keep track of as many as possible here, and we’ll update this post throughout the day as news filters in. Here’s the latest:
- Ennis will meet with the Bobcats and at least four other teams in addition to the organizations listed below, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer reports.
- Vonleh interviewed with the Wolves, Bucks, Lakers, and Blazers, tweets Robbins, who adds that the big man is scheduled to meet with the Sixers.
Earlier updates:
- LaVine shot very well, and Seth Davis of SI.com hears that he may have helped his stock more than any other prospect today (Twitter link; H/T Wolstat).
- In Exum’s extended quotes transcribed by Sean Deveney of The Sporting News regarding the point guard’s willingness to pressure certain teams not to draft him, Exum said he doesn’t see any of his potential destinations as a bad fit, and is willing to play behind an established point guard.
- LaQuinton Ross will work out for the Cavs on Monday, tweets Jason Lloyd of Akron Beacon Journal.
- The Raptors plan to meet with K.J. McDaniels, McDermott, Payton, Anderson, McDaniels, and possibly Hood, reports Wolstat (via Twitter).
- Hood will meet with the Bulls on Friday, tweets K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune.
- Randle interviewed with the Cavs and will do so with the Bucks, too, as the Plain Dealer and Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel note (Twitter links).
- Patric Young spoke with the Pelicans and has a sit-down with the Grizzlies scheduled, according to Robbins (Twitter links).
- Blakely adds Hood and Noah Vonleh to the Celtics interview list, while Randle and T.J. Warren are talking to Boston, too, according to Holmes (All Twitter links).
- Vonleh says he also has an interview scheduled with the Magic, Robbins notes, adding that Orlando wanted to interview Stauskas, but his meeting schedule is too full (Twitter links). The Magic sat down with Randle on Wednesday, Robbins adds (on Twitter).
- Aaron Gordon met with the Sixers on Wednesday, Pompey tweets.
- Exum will also interview with the Kings, according to Howard-Cooper (on Twitter).
- Julius Randle is meeting with the Sixers today, reports Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter).
- Doug McDermott said he met Wednesday with the Bulls, Hawks and Timberwolves, Robbins observes, and McDermott added that he’s looking forward to a meeting with the Cavs, as Robbins and the Plain Dealer observe (Twitter links).
- Rodney Hood is set to interview with the Wolves tonight, Zgoda tweets. Hood interviewed with the Bobcats on Wednesday, as Bonnell details (Twitter links).
- Kyle Anderson met with the Celtics and he’ll also see the Wolves tonight, Washburn and Zgoda note (Twitter links).
- The Pistons met with Glenn Robinson III on Wednesday, as he tells Langlois (Twitter link).
- Add the Celtics and the Bucks to Exum’s interview agenda, as Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe and Matt Velazquez of the Journal Sentinel report (Twitter links). Exum thinks he’ll sit down with the Cavs, too, the Plain Dealer notes (on Twitter).
- The Wolves will interview Lavine on Friday after having spoken with James Young on Wednesday, Zgoda tweets.
- The Bobcats have expressed interest in P.J. Hairston, as he tells Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).
- Dante Exum‘s wingspan measured out at nearly 6’10”, and he’ll draw consideration for the No. 1 overall pick from some teams, ESPN’s Chad Ford said on the network’s combine coverage today, as Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv notes (Twitter link). He denied that he’s angling for the Lakers in the draft, but he wouldn’t rule out pressuring some teams not to take him, tweets Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. Exum met with the Sixers, Pistons and Suns on Wednesday, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. The Celtics, Lakers, Magic and Jazz will also speak with him, report Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel and Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune (All four Twitter links).
- Marcus Smart has interviewed with the Rockets, Raptors, Lakers, Suns and Nuggets, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. The Cavs, Jazz and Bucks are also on his agenda, as the Plain Dealer, Falk and Gery Woelfel of the Journal Times report (All Twitter links). The Timberwolves won’t interview Smart in Chicago, but Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities hears the team is hoping to get him to come to Minnesota for a workout (Twitter link).
- Ontario native Tyler Ennis is excited about the idea of playing for the Raptors and has interviewed with them, tweets Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. He’s also met with the Bobcats, Kings, Suns, Thunder and Nuggets, according to Kennedy (on Twitter).
- Nik Stauskas has met with or will meet with the Kings, Pistons and Raptors, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com and Doug Smith of the Toronto Star (All Twitter links).
- The Nuggets, Spurs, Warriors and Nets have met with Shabazz Napier, Kennedy tweets.
- The Hawks, Spurs, Thunder, Raptors, Magic, Cavs and Timberwolves met Elfrid Payton, Kennedy reports (Twitter link).
- Zach LaVine interviewed with the Celtics, among others, Wednesday, he tells Blakely (Twitter link).
- Russ Smith sat down with the Suns, Celtics and Blazers, according to Kennedy (via Twitter).