The Magic‘s coaching job would be Tom Thibodeau‘s if he wants it, as Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times hears. Others nonetheless speculate that Thibodeau would prefer to coach the Pelicans, Woelfel notes. Thibodeau still has two years left on his contract with the Bulls, the team he’s coaching in the conference semifinals, though there have been no shortage of rumors indicating that his time left in Chicago is short. The Magic have made little progress in their coaching search so far and haven’t begun formal interviews, while Monty Williams remains the coach in New Orleans. As we wait to see just how Thibodeau’s future plays out, Woelfel has more Bucks-centric rumors to go along with his news linking Brook Lopez to Milwaukee. We’ll pass along some highlights, though Woelfel’s entire piece is a must-read, especially for Bucks fans:
- Some higher-ups around the league tell Woelfel that the Bucks aren’t totally convinced Michael Carter-Williams is their guy at point guard, just as the team had its doubts about Brandon Knight before trading him in February as part of the deal that netted Carter-Williams. Still, there isn’t as much financial urgency with last year’s Rookie of the Year, who has two more seasons left on his rookie scale contract, as there was with Knight, who’s set for restricted free agency this summer.
- The Bucks had significant interest in University of Utah center Jakob Poeltl before he became the highest-profile prospect in this year’s draft to decide against entering, sources tell Woelfel. The 7-footer will be a sophomore next season.
- A front office official for an Eastern Conference team who spoke with Woelfel estimated that Bucks soon-to-be restricted free agent Khris Middleton would make salaries of around $9MM on his next deal, as Woelfel relays on the “Sports Junkies” video segment. The executive expressed doubt about the offer of a $15MM annual salary that another executive recently told Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that Middleton was in line to draw.