No one in the NBA expects Sixers GM Sam Hinkie will have the ability to overrule chairman of basketball operations Jerry Colangelo on the team’s personnel decisions going forward, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. It was around the time of Jahlil Okafor‘s autumn off–court incidents that Sixers owner Josh Harris and commissioner Adam Silver first spoke about what one source described to Berger as a “course correction” for the team. Harris asked Silver for advice, and the commissioner gave him a list of people, with Colangelo’s name on top, to consider for the new front office role the owner was considering, Berger explains. Silver reached out to Colangelo to measure his interest in joining the Sixers, introduced him to Harris, and let them work it out from there, league sources said to Berger. We passed along more earlier today on the Colangelo hiring, and we’ll share news from around the league here:
- Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers denies that he’s reached out to any teams about trading Lance Stephenson and Josh Smith, but Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher (video link) hears the Clippers are anxious to move the two. Stephenson and Smith are frustrated with their roles, Bucher adds. “That’s silly talk. Nothing. No truth,” Rivers said, according to Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times, in response to an initial report that the Clippers had gauged the interest that other teams have in trading for them.
- Virtually no trade market exists for Stephenson, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders writes in his NBA AM piece, and the Clippers would have to attach another player to him in any viable trade proposal, one league source said to Kyler. A feeling exists that the Clippers would be willing to take on a sizable contract via trade, so Stephenson’s $9MM salary could come in handy for matching purposes, but for now, the Clippers’ trade talks are exploratory in nature, Kyler hears.
- The Pelicans‘ first preference would be to keep Ryan Anderson instead of trading him, but the power forward’s upcoming free agency may force their hand, Kyler adds in the same piece. New Orleans would think about trading Anderson for Markieff Morris, especially if Anderson signals he won’t re-sign with the Pelicans when his contract expires this summer, as Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reported this week.
Doc has been in public denial about both Smith & Stevenson. This was never going to work, as both players have piss poor attitudes and work ethics. Josh doesn’t want to be told how to play and both players deflate team moral with their lazy efforts, especially on defense and running the assigned plays.
It helps when you use guys the way they should be used, which hasn’t happened for Smith nor Stephenson.
Josh Smith could definitely help multiple teams, in my opinion. He would be a fit on the Pacers, Wizards, Raptors, Suns, and Blazers. Dallas would probably make some sense as well
Rockets, too. He and Dwight Howard were an effective combination in the playoffs last season.
They just seem to have so much of a crowded situation in that frontcourt. That being said, I obviously agree he fit well there
Stevenson + Smith + Crawford = $16M + another $9M = 25M for Joe Johnson…. let Hollins figure it out, but it could keep them out of being a top 3 pick for Boston & give them more options…. No FA’s worth anything will consider brooklyn next year