Community Shootaround

Community Shootaround: Coach Of The Year

March 7th, 2018 at 2:34pm CST by Luke Adams

After our Community Shootaround discussion on Tuesday focused on coaches who could be out of work this spring, it only seems fair to highlight the coaches on the opposite end of the spectrum today. There are several NBA head coaches who are not only safe to keep their jobs next season, but also deserve Coach of the Year consideration for the work they’ve done this season.

A handful of NBA.com analysts discussed the top Coach of the Year candidates today, and each of those five writers identified Raptors head coach Dwane Casey as a top contender for the award. Toronto had won at least 48 games for four consecutive years coming into 2017/18, so it’s not as if the team’s success has come out of nowhere. But after losing key players like P.J. Tucker, Cory Joseph, and Patrick Patterson in the offseason, the Raptors were considered likely to take a step back this year. Instead, an overhauled offensive system and a young, dangerous bench have the team on pace to win a franchise-record 60 games.

Casey isn’t the only coach who was named as a top candidate for Coach of the Year by multiple NBA.com writers. Steve Aschburner, Tas Melas, and Sekou Smith all praised the job Nate McMillan has done in Indiana this season — viewed by many as a probable lottery team or a borderline playoff club at best, the 37-27 Pacers are currently in position to claim home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Another coach of a top Eastern Conference club earned mentions from several NBA.com writers, including John Schuhmann: Celtics head coach Brad Stevens doesn’t necessarily have his team exceeding preseason expectations, but those expectations were adjusted significantly after Gordon Hayward went down with a season-ending ankle injury in his first game as a Celtic. The C’s have hardly missed a beat since that injury, posting a 45-20 record and contending for the No. 1 seed in the East.

Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry, Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni, Clippers coach Doc Rivers, and Sixers coach Brett Brown were also named by NBA.com’s panel as Coach of the Year contenders.

Steve Kerr is worth mentioning too, since his Warriors may very well end up with the NBA’s best record again. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is a perennial candidate — San Antonio has struggled recently, but the team remains 10 games above .500 despite being without Kawhi Leonard for almost the entire season. And let’s not forget Terry Stotts, who has the 39-26 Trail Blazers holding the No. 3 seed in the West.

What do you think? Who’s your current pick for the NBA’s Coach of the Year award for the 2017/18 season? Jump into the comment section below to weigh in!

Community Shootaround: Potential Coaching Changes

March 6th, 2018 at 2:51pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s head coaching carousel was unusually quiet last spring, when all 30 teams stuck with their incumbent coaches at the end of the 2016/17 season. That won’t be the case this year, however.

Already, three teams have made in-season coaching changes, and the Suns, Grizzlies, and Bucks are each expected to conduct a more expansive search for a permanent head coach at season’s end. Those three clubs are unlikely to be the only ones in the market for someone new.

Although there have been no reports confirming that the Knicks will replace Jeff Hornacek this offseason, it has been a subject of frequent speculation for New York writers, with multiple reporters suggesting that Hornacek’s time with the Knicks may be nearing an end.

Like Hornacek’s Knicks, the Nuggets and Pistons are in danger of missing the postseason this year, which wouldn’t bode well for the job security of either Michael Malone or Stan Van Gundy — based on the current standings and their respective track records, Malone is probably safer than Van Gundy for now. Doc Rivers‘ Clippers are also battling for a postseason spot and could miss out. If that happens, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see Rivers follow Chris Paul and Blake Griffin out of town.

Among probable lottery-bound teams, Frank Vogel (Magic), Dave Joerger (Kings), Fred Hoiberg (Bulls), Steve Clifford (Hornets), Mike Budenholzer (Hawks), and Luke Walton (Lakers) aren’t 100% locks to return, though most of them should — particularly since a few of those clubs weren’t expecting to make the playoffs this season anyway.

While most coaches for playoff teams should be safe, the actual results of the postseason could change the equation. For instance, if the Cavaliers are upset in the first round, that would almost certainly kick off a debate about Tyronn Lue‘s job status.

What do you think? Which head coaches will be replaced this season? Which coaches should be replaced? And which candidates for head coaching jobs do you think should be most coveted this spring when teams are making new hires?

Jump into the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

Community Shootaround: Western Playoff Race

March 2nd, 2018 at 12:56pm CST by Luke Adams

While it remains to be seen whether the Rockets or Warriors will finish the season as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, there’s no risk of either team falling below No. 2. Houston currently has a half-game lead on the second-place Warriors and a 12-game lead on the third-place Timberwolves.

After the top two teams in the West though, things get very interesting. As of today, there are seven Western teams separated by just two games in the loss column, with the 10th-seeded Jazz hanging around the race too. Here’s a current snapshot of the standings in the West:

Minnesota Timberwolves (38-27)
Portland Trail Blazers (36-26)
San Antonio Spurs (36-26)
New Orleans Pelicans (35-26)
Oklahoma City Thunder (36-27)
Denver Nuggets (33-28)
Los Angeles Clippers (32-28)
Utah Jazz (31-30)

Several of these teams have lost key players via injury or trade this season. The Timberwolves are currently without Jimmy Butler; Kawhi Leonard has barely played for the Spurs; DeMarcus Cousins is out for the season for the Pelicans; the Thunder will be without Andre Roberson for the season; the Nuggets and Jazz have lost Paul Millsap and Rudy Gobert for big chunks of the season, though both are playing now; and, of course, the Clippers traded Blake Griffin before last month’s deadline.

Of the eight teams vying for the final six playoff spots in the West, only the Spurs (3-7) have a losing record in their last 10 games, with the Trail Blazers (five straight wins) and Pelicans (seven straight wins) among the hottest teams in the group. Still, things could change quickly. Two or three losses in a row could send a team sliding down the standings in the West.

These teams have between 17 and 22 games left in the regular season, so we’re entering the home stretch, and there will be a key matchup worth watching nearly every day. The next two nights, for instance, will pit the Timberwolves vs. the Jazz and the Thunder vs. the Trail Blazers.

What’s your take on the Western Conference playoff race? Which two teams will miss the postseason? Which two teams will gain home-court advantage by nabbing the third and fourth seeds? Which first-round matchups would you most like to see?

Jump into the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

Community Shootaround: Draft Lottery, Tanking

February 27th, 2018 at 11:16am CST by Luke Adams

NBA scouts expect the 2018 draft class to feature about five to seven elite prospects, and ’18 will also be the last year that the NBA’s current lottery format will be in effect. As a result, we could be subjected to one of the most widespread late-season tanking efforts in league history, multiple league executives tell Tim MacMahon and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

While most of the teams vying for lottery positioning at the bottom of the NBA standings won’t publicly acknowledge they’d prefer to lose, prioritizing the development of young players is one obvious way to tank in a politically correct manner. Resting veterans and being extra-cautious with minor injuries are other passive tanking strategies.

According to MacMahon and Windhorst, executives around the NBA also believe some teams are engaging in a more “active” form of tanking, which involves “reverse analytics.” Rather than relying on data to determine optimal lineups for winning games, teams may be doing just the opposite, providing coaches with lineups that would perform poorly in certain matchups.

In any form, tanking is a bad look for the NBA, and the fact that so many teams have begun doing so in earnest this early in the 2017/18 season is worrisome.

It’s possible that the minor tweaks the league made to the lottery system will help matters — starting in 2019, the top four spots in the draft will be up for grabs in the lottery, rather than just the top three, and the very worst teams will have a reduced chance of landing one of those top picks.

For instance, under the current format, the worst club in the NBA has a 25% chance to land the No. 1 pick and a 64% chance to get a top-three pick. That team also won’t fall further than No. 4. In the new system, that same team would have a 14% chance at No. 1, a 40% chance at a top-three pick, and could fall all the way to No. 5.

The new system may discourage tanking to some extent, but Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders believes that modest lottery reform of that nature isn’t enough — the league needs to overhaul the lottery system entirely, Hamilton argues.

What do you think? What can the NBA do to discourage the widespread tanking efforts we’re seeing in 2017/18? Will the new format solve the problem, or is it merely a band-aid solution for an issue that requires a more significant overhaul?

Jump into the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Community Shootaround: Buyout Candidates

February 26th, 2018 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

As we noted earlier this afternoon, we could see a second wave of buyouts completed across the NBA this week, with a March 1 deadline looming. Players waived after Thursday won’t be playoff-eligible if they sign with another NBA team before the end of the season.

In our earlier story, we identified Jarrett Jack, Arron Afflalo, Shabazz Muhammad, Trevor Booker, and Joakim Noah as buyout candidates, but they’re not the only ones out there. Corey Brewer, Vince Carter, Brook Lopez, and Nerlens Noel are among the veterans on expiring contracts who may not fit into their respective teams’ future plans.

Players on expiring contracts make the strongest buyout candidates, since it’s much easier for a non-playoff team to eat some or all of a salary that doesn’t extend into 2018/19. A multiyear contract complicates matters — teams are sometimes willing to turn future cap hits into dead money by cutting a player with a long-term salary, but most clubs would prefer to wait to see if that player can eventually be traded.

As such, we shouldn’t necessarily expect to see veterans like Tyson Chandler, Jared Dudley, Zach Randolph, Garrett Temple, or Justin Holiday released this week. Even though they may see their roles reduced in the final weeks of the 2017/18 season, ceding minutes to younger players, they’re all under contract through next year, so there’s no urgency for their teams to part ways with them yet.

With Ersan Ilyasova‘s release today kicking off this potential second wave of buyouts, we want to hear your thoughts on which players should follow Ilyasova to the free agent market. Which players should be pushing the hardest for buyouts, and which teams should be most willing to accommodate them? Which playoff teams do you think could use a specific player or two to provide a boost to their roster down the stretch?

Jump into the comment section below to weigh in!

Community Shootaround: Wolves Without Butler

February 24th, 2018 at 9:42pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Timberwolves came out of the All-Star break looking for their first division title and first playoff appearance since the 2003/04 season. But both are in peril after star forward Jimmy Butler tore his right meniscus in Friday’s game at Houston.

Butler has become the team leader after being acquired in a trade with the Bulls last summer. He’s Minnesota’s top scorer at 22.2 points per night as well as its best defender. As Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated notes, the Wolves are the poorest defensive team among the Western Conference contenders even with Butler on the court. Without him, their defensive rating slips to 115.7, which is five points behind the league-worst Suns.

Minnesota entered tonight’s play still atop the Northwest Division with a 36-26 record, but with a very small cushion for a playoff spot. The contenders are tightly packed in the Western Conference, with just three games separating the third-place Spurs and the ninth-place Clippers.

Of course, the Wolves aren’t the only team dealing with a missing star. Last month, the Pelicans lost DeMarcus Cousins for the rest of the season with a torn Achilles, and this week Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters he’ll be surprised if Kawhi Leonard returns this season because of a lingering quad injury.

Butler reportedly intends to have surgery as soon as possible, although that could change when he gets a second opinion. If he does go through with the operation, he hopes to be back in four to six weeks, and the Wolves’ playoff fate may be decided by then. They have 19 games remaining after tonight, with many against teams that they’ll be battling against for playoff spots.

We want your opinion on Minnesota’s chances. Will young stars like Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns step up their games while Butler is out? Or are the Wolves now a long shot to reach the postseason? Jump into the comments section below and tell us what you think.

Community Shootaround: What Should Knicks Do With Noah?

February 21st, 2018 at 12:58pm CST by Luke Adams

Earlier today, we relayed the latest comments from Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek on exiled center Joakim Noah. Hornacek sounded like someone who doesn’t expect Noah to return to the team this season, suggesting that the Knicks have “moved on” and adding that the veteran big man may be ready to seek an opportunity elsewhere.

While those comments made it sound like Noah’s release may be imminent, Hornacek’s answers to other questions made it clear that’s not necessarily the case. The Knicks head coach didn’t rule out the possibility of Noah returning to the team, suggesting that decision would ultimately be up to president Steve Mills and GM Scott Perry. Ian Begley of ESPN also heard from sources that the Knicks have shown no desire yet to waive Noah outright.

Hornacek’s comments and Begley’s reporting raise several questions about what exactly the Knicks’ plan is for Noah. For starters, would the team would be willing to bring back Noah this season and get him some playing time down the stretch in an effort to at least slightly improve his trade value for the offseason?

With Willy Hernangomez out of the picture, getting Noah some minutes at the expense of veterans Enes Kanter and Kyle O’Quinn wouldn’t be the worst thing for a tanking team. However, there may be lingering concern about Noah’s impact on the locker room. He was last seen getting into a practice altercation with Hornacek, so the club may not want to risk further incidents along those lines.

If Noah doesn’t return to the Knicks and he’s not interested in discussing a buyout, would the club be willing to just waive him? If so, when? As we outlined in December, if the Knicks don’t mind keeping Noah’s full $18MM+ cap hit for 2018/19 on their books, waiting until after August 31 to waive and stretch the veteran could make sense. Noah’s future cap hits in that scenario would be less expensive – and would end a year earlier – than if he’s waived and stretch before the end of August. Still, either approach would involve cutting into New York’s cap space until at least 2022.

What do you think? What’s the next step for the Knicks? Assuming Noah doesn’t suddenly show a willingness to give up money in a buyout, is there any path that doesn’t involve the Knicks compromising future cap flexibility or giving up important assets to part with him?

Jump into the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Community Shootaround: Fixing The All-Star Game

February 17th, 2018 at 9:41pm CST by Arthur Hill

The NBA All-Star Game has always been more about scoring and showmanship than defense and fundamentals. But after watching last year’s 192-182 contest in New Orleans, which resembled a glorified layup line, there was a feeling in the league that things had swung too far in the wrong direction.

Among those unhappy with what they saw on TV was Chris Paul, who wasn’t chosen for the game last season. He called commissioner Adam Silver the next morning and discussed the need to make changes.

Particularly egregious, according to Ken Berger of Bleacher Report, was a play where Giannis Antetokounmpo had a fast-break dunk and Stephen Curry fell to the ground and covered his ears rather than try to play defense. Paul decided the game had turned into too much of a show, with not enough competition.

“For the first time, he actually just sat at home and watched it like a fan would watch it,” someone close to Paul told Berger. “I got the sense that he thought what everybody else thought; there’s very little competition. He’s an ultra-competitive guy. … I think he viewed it from a different perspective and was like, ‘We’ve got to do something.'”

Silver was glad to see the players adopt that position, and was even happier when Hornets owner Michael Jordan and NBPA executive director Michele Roberts added their support.

The first steps were to scrap the traditional East vs. West matchup in favor of two captains picking players from a pre-selected roster. Also, the prize money for each member of the winning team has been increased from $50K to $100K to provide more incentive.

We’ll find out tomorrow if these changes made a difference or if more needs to be done. But tonight we want your input. What should the NBA do to make its All-Star Game a better product? Jump into the comments section below and give us your opinion.

Community Shootaround: Knicks’ Head Coaching Job

February 15th, 2018 at 11:01pm CST by marksuleymanov

As we outlined in an earlier Knicks post, Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News wrote today that it’s “hard to envision a scenario” in which head coach Jeff Hornacek is back next season. Hornacek is in his second year at the helm and the Knicks have struggled to a 54-87 record under his watch. The roster has been in a constant of flux, the front office has been at odds, and Hornacek has taken the brunt of the blame.

Since 2014, the New York has had four head coaches, with Mike Woodson, Derek Fisher, Kurt Rambis and Hornacek holding down the position. However, the Knicks have not enjoyed a winning campaign since the 2012/13 season and have seemingly been building for the future for half a decade.

The rest of this season is all but over as the Knicks sport the ninth-worst record in the NBA and are likely out of the playoff picture after franchise star Kristaps Porzingis went down with a season-ending torn ACL. With solid young long-term pieces such as Frank Ntilikina, Emmanuel Mudiay, and Tim Hardaway Jr. in place, the front office – along with Hornacek – has stressed that this year is designed to prepare for the future.

If that is the plan, is Hornacek the man to lead the Knicks into the future? Do you think the Knicks should move on from Hornacek? If the team does make a change, who do you feel would be the right coach for the current roster? Sound off in the comments below!

Community Shootaround: Derrick Rose’s Future

February 12th, 2018 at 11:00pm CST by marksuleymanov

It was just over one year ago when ESPN.com’s Ian Begley reported that Derrick Rose, who was headed for unrestricted free agency, would seek a maximum salary deal. Despite his decorated injury history, Rose was enjoying a solid offensive season in New York and while a max deal seemed unlikely at the time, the idea sounds downright laughable a year later.

Just like in years past, Rose finished the 2016/17 season on his team’s injured list after he tore the meniscus in his left knee. Rose finished the year averaging 18.0 PPG, his highest in a season where he played at least 40 games since his MVP campaign in 2010/11. The Knicks had no clear solution at point guard and reports suggested that Rose wanted to stay in New York.

However, the Knicks were immersed in behind-the-scenes turmoil while then-team president Phil Jackson was in control. Jackson confirmed Rose wanted to stay and was open to the idea. Shortly thereafter, Jackson was fired, the Knicks drafted Frenchman Frank Ntilikina, and Rose was in search of a new home. Rose’s max contract did not materialize; the market for his services never developed and he signed a one-year, minimum salary deal with Cleveland.

“I get a chance to reintroduce myself back to the league. I get to bet on myself,” Rose said after signing the deal (via ESPN.com’s Dave McMenamin). “That was one of the reasons I came here: I get to bet on myself. And I’m from Chicago, I’ve got that hustling side; it’s in me, man. Next time you’ve got to pay me, you’ve got to pay me double, so it’s fine with me.”

Rose’s stint in The Land was nothing short of forgettable. He left the team in late November to contemplate his future as injuries piled up. He reportedly considered retirement — something he denied later on. Rose returned to the court in mid-January, but the Cavaliers were falling apart and the former MVP — strictly a part-time reserve — was not much of a factor.

In 16 games with Cleveland, Rose averaged a career-worst 9.8 PPG. He was traded to the Jazz as part of a three-team deal on deadline day and was officially waived on Saturday. Reports have mentioned the Timberwolves and Wizards as two potential destinations. Minnesota is led by Tom Thibodeau, who was Rose’s coach during his best seasons in Chicago; the Wizards will be without star John Wall for a while and could use some point guard depth.

At 29 years old, both Rose’s production and body are unreliable. For many — particularly Rose — it is hard to accept that a player who was once the youngest MVP in league history is unemployed at an age where many assumed he would still be one of the game’s elite.

The pressing question is how much longer will Rose want to continue? Where do you see Rose finishing the 2017/18 season, if he plays at all? Should he sit out the rest of the year and try again in 2018/19? Rose averaged 18.0 PPG just one year ago; can he come anywhere close to that again? Please share your thoughts and comments down below.

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