Two college coaches are intriguing NBA executives, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. Michigan’s John Beilein and Virginia’s Tony Bennett seem to be drawing interest from clubs – some who have openings and some that don’t, according to Wojnarowski. Here’s more from around the league..
- NBA commissioner Adam Silver released a statement in response to Donald Sterling’s interview with Anderson Cooper on CNN (from Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe on Twitter). Within the interview, Sterling made several disparaging comments about the iconic Magic Johnson.
- The Sterling saga is unlikely to come to full resolution anytime soon, and players union vice president Roger Mason Jr., speaking to Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling, once more raised the specter of widespread protest if Sterling isn’t ousted. “We could definitely boycott if that happens,” Mason Jr. said. “I could see not only Clippers players, but the league banding together.”
- Clippers interim CEO Dick Parsons says he has not yet spoken with either of the Sterlings, tweets Jack Wang of the Los Angeles Daily News. He added that he will likely speak with Shelly, but not with Donald.
- Parsons also said he thinks “the outcome is inevitable” that the Clippers will eventually move into new ownership (link).
- The Wizards think they’ll be able to re-sign Marcin Gortat and Trevor Ariza this summer, but bringing both of them back won’t be easy, as TNT’s David Aldridge observes amid his Morning Tip column for NBA.com.
- A real estate development company that has a 20% stake in the Nets is putting its share of the team up for sale at $200MM, meaning its valuation of the full franchise is a record $1 billion, reports Daniel Kaplan of Sports Business Journal. There’s been speculation that the Clippers could sell for more than $1 billion.
- Eric Griffin, who was a late cut last pre-season with the Heat after playing for their Summer League team, will join the Raptors‘ Summer League squad, a source tells Shams Charania of RealGM. Griffin attended Campbell and played this season in Puerto Rico.
- The Nuggets are seeking a long, defensive-minded shooting guard and locker room leadership this summer, as Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post details.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.