Clippers coach Tyronn Lue has lost at least two members of his staff from this season, including recently-hired Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups. G League Ignite coach Brian Shaw may be one of the replacements. Shaw is in serious negotiations with the Clippers to become one of Lue’s assistants, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
We have more from the Western Conference:
- Jaren Jackson Jr. is eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason and Chris Herrington of the Daily Memphian believes it would take somewhere in the neighborhood of four years and $100MM for the Grizzlies to sign him. That’s a major commitment to a player who has appeared in just 133 career games, Herrington notes, presenting the franchise with a very difficult decision. Herrington takes a deep dive into Jackson’s strength and weaknesses, suggesting the Grizzlies need to play him at center more often to maximize his value.
- Ryan Anderson admits it was an emotional struggle when things went sour for him with the Rockets, Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle relays. Anderson, who made his comments on The Long Shot podcast, felt heavy pressure after signing a four-year, $80MM contract and his production declined while his defensive deficiencies sometimes kept him off the court. “It was hard for me to be the guy that was like, ‘You need to do more and we’re paying you a lot for this,’ rather than before it was like, ‘Wow, we got a steal for this guy,’” Anderson said. “It really affected me at home. I felt like every time I was in Houston, I was letting down the fans or something like that.”
- Gonzaga’s Corey Kispert visited the Kings on Wednesday, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Kispert, a 6’7” small forward, averaged 18.6 PPG and 5.0 RPG and made 44% of his 3-point attempts last season. He’s currently ranked No. 13 on ESPN’s Best Available list. Sacramento holds the No. 9 selection.
I doubt anyone ever called Ryan Anderson a steal at $20M/year, but among the myriad of bad contracts given out in 2016 his was one of the worst. It’s hard to feel bad for anyone with such a mediocre skill set and still ended up with an $80M contract.
It didn’t take very long for him to lose his starting job to PJ Tucker, who despite his offensive shortcomings is still an elite defender with a decent shot at getting a ring next week.
Makes matters worse his fiance committed suicide right around the time he signed that contract and he went with the thought he was responsible for his girlfriend’s death. So he constantly beat himself up and couldnt focus on basketball at all.
It’s sad to hear from Anderson. In his defense, he was considered one of the better players from his draft class to begin his career. I don’t know what happened. Sounds like he has a critical inner voice
His fiance committed suicide months before their wedding without any knowledge as to why, so Ryan went through the thinking that it was his fault. Nothing was ever same after that day for him.
That’s a terrible story but dude had $20M, many people experience more with less. HE had money for counseling and support. In other words, that’s not an excuse for his poor play. Rockets signed a terrible contract.
Also his gf committed suicide in 2013, years before his contract with Houston. Get out of here with that nonsense!
Imagine thinking that money fixes all problems.
I don’t know what I’m missing but I just don’t see the big deal with Kispert.