Nets GM Billy King tells reporters, including Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (via Twitter) that the team hasn’t had any discussions with Paul Pierce about an extension. Pierce will become a free agent this summer if he doesn’t reach an extension agreement with Brooklyn by June 30. Here’s more from New York:
- King also said he has no idea if Kevin Garnett may be planning to retire this offseason or after his current contract expires following the 2014/15 season, per Washburn (Twitter link).
- In a recap of the Knicks close victory over the Sixers last night, The New York Post’s Marc Berman notes how some of the Knicks culture hasn’t changed yet following Phil Jackson‘s hiring as team president. GM Steve Mills is still traveling with the team while Jackson stays home in Los Angeles, and the team’s standoffish attitude toward the media is still in effect.
- Sources are split on whether Jackson will play a deciding role in Carmelo Anthony‘s free agent decision this summer, as Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops reports.
- For his part, Jim Boeheim thinks the addition of Jackson adds credibility to a team with limited possibilities for roster improvement next season, telling Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that Anthony always wanted to stay with the Knicks.
- Bill Parcells tells Gary Myers of New York Daily News that the hardest part of Jackson’s new job might be watching Knicks games without the ability to jump in and coach. Parcells also took on a personnel role with the Dolphins after establishing himself as a great coach in the NFL, and eventually resigned due to the frustration of lacking hands-on control. “These are things not directly related to personnel acquisitions. Putting the right kind of player on the team — he will know what to do with all that,” says Parcells. “The ancillary issue is he’s not going to be coaching. So his vision for what might be done in certain situations might not be the same vision as the guy who is coaching. It doesn’t mean they are not on the same page personally from an organizational standpoint, but there may be things that he sees he can’t control.”
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.