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Northwest Notes: Saunders, Wolves, Nuggets

May 24th, 2015 at 5:44pm CST by Will Joseph

Despite an NBA-worst 16-66 record this year, Timberwolves coach and president of basketball operations Flip Saunders has the franchise moving in the right direction with some good fortune and solid return on past acquisitions, Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe writes. One positive is that Minnesota has the top pick in the draft. Saunders, who Wolves owner Glen Taylor expects to return next season, must now decide between Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor, Washburn adds. Saunders’ goal is to find the perfect complement to Andrew Wiggins, and trading the pick for an established veteran who may not match the team’s long-term plans is not an option, according to Washburn.

“When you talk about trading the pick, it would have to be a huge-type situation because I feel like there’s three or four players that will be All-Star, All-Pro-type players,” Saunders said. “You’re just not going to give somebody like that away. The positive from our standpoint getting the top pick — we’ve got two great 19-year-olds last year, we got [Adreian] Payne, and we’re waiting to see if [Anthony] Bennett can get healthy and Bennett can develop. They’re all going to be able to kind of mature together. Really similar to the situation Oklahoma City had. We’ve talked about what they’ve been able to do. They’ve been lucky and gotten the right players, and they were able to develop those players, so we’re hoping to follow suit.”

There’s more news from the Northwest Division:

With more on the debate of Towns versus Okafor, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune examines which player would better suit the Wolves’ style and better fit the team’s needs. Kentucky’s Towns is the new generation big man — a mobile center who can shoot, while Duke’s Okafor is more of a throwback, low-post option, Zgoda adds. In theory, Zgoda writes, going with Okafor spreads the floor and creates open shots for Wiggins, Shabazz Muhammad and Zach LaVine. However, as Zgoda points out, the game has changed with more teams relying — and thriving — on shooting from beyond the arc, and Towns gives the team a way to keep up with everybody else in that regard.
Chauncey Billups wants to be a GM, and not a coach, and therefore the Nuggets would have to give him some say in player personnel matters if the team wanted to offer him the head coaching job, Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post writes in response to a question from a reader. The chances that Denver sticks with interim head coach Melvin Hunt are reportedly improving.

Northwest Notes: Nuggets, Wolves, Batum

May 22nd, 2015 at 1:32pm CST by Chuck Myron

The centerpieces for the Nuggets appear to be Danilo Gallinari and Jusuf Nurkic, as Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post sees it, and Kiszla finds it reasonable that the team will talk this summer about trading Ty Lawson, Kenneth Faried, or both. In any case, team president Josh Kroenke made it clear to Kiszla and fellow Post scribe Christopher Dempsey that he intends a strong push to find a star.

“There’s a period of transition that’s coming up, and we’re going to be aggressive … as an organization,” Kroenke said. “And continue to be aggressive until we feel we have the roster that truly can compete for something special.”

Kroenke judges by the volume of trade inquiries that he’s received from other teams, which include two calls since the season ended, that the players on Denver’s roster have plenty of value, Dempsey notes. There’s more on the Nuggets amid the latest from the Northwest Division:

The Timberwolves are tentatively planning a predraft workout with two-guards Rashad Vaughn from UNLV, J.P. Tokoto from North Carolina and Michael Frazier from Florida next month, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter links).
The prospect of a Nicolas Batum trade seemed far-fetched last summer, but now it’s a realistic possibility, as The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman writes in a roundtable piece with other Blazers beat writers. Freeman would nonetheless bet on Batum staying in Portland and having a bounceback season in 2015/16, the last on his contract.
Thunder GM Sam Presti wants to re-sign Enes Kanter and Kyle Singler, and that has to do with the team’s cap situation as much as the talent and production of the pair of soon-to-be restricted free agents, The Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry posits. Let them go, and the Thunder wouldn’t have the cap flexibility to replace them, Mayberry points out.
Kroenke pointed to a lack of communication as the most unexpected shortcoming of Brian Shaw‘s tenure as Nuggets coach, as Dempsey writes in a separate piece.

Western Notes: Jordan, Lakers, Nuggets

May 21st, 2015 at 10:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Now that the Clippers have been eliminated from the playoffs, the team needs to look toward the offseason and find a way to improve despite the franchise’s challenging salary cap situation, Fran Blinebury of NBA.com writes. According to coach/executive Doc Rivers, Los Angeles’ first order of business this summer will be re-signing center DeAndre Jordan, Blinebury notes. “Our first priority is D.J.,” Rivers said. “That’s obvious. I don’t know how much I can say there. Can you tamper with your own guy? If that’s true I’m going to go tamper right now.” The Clippers will have competition for the unrestricted free agent’s services, and Jordan has already expressed through back channels that he’ll be “extremely interested” in signing with the Mavs this summer.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

The Nuggets are taking their time looking for a new head coach, and a decision isn’t expected for another couple weeks, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post writes. “It’s exactly how we thought it would go,” team president Josh Kroenke said. “We’ve had several conversations with a lot of people. I think that it benefits us to talk to as many people as we can. We have some people in the back of our mind that we think would be great fits. I’ve talked to enough people, and going through the process before, your coaching hire is probably going to be your hardest hire because there’s so much that goes into that role in today’s sporting industry.”
Kroenke also relayed that the Nuggets aren’t concerned about the length of time the coaching search has taken thus far, Dempsey adds. “It’s beneficial for us on some level to be patient,” Kroenke said. “I think more candidates have opened up since the end of the season. Based on different organizations wanting to go different directions with different guys, I think there was never a time when we wanted to rush into anything. Until you have that guy that you know is the one that you want, I think it really benefits you to talk to as many people as you can. Because also during the course of these interviews you’re getting to pick some of the best basketball minds that are out there. That’s an incredible benefit to the process.“
The Lakers aren’t 100% set on drafting either Karl-Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor, and the team is intrigued by D’Angelo Russell and Emmanuel Mudiay, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com tweets.

Melvin Hunt’s Chances At Nuggets Job Improving

May 20th, 2015 at 2:45pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:45pm: The Nuggets are “not an option” for Thibodeau, sources tell Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, though it’s unclear if there’s a lack of interest from Denver’s side, from Thibodeau’s, or both.

12:46pm: The odds that the Nuggets will formally fill their head coaching vacancy with interim coach Melvin Hunt are getting better, though Mike D’Antoni remains in the mix, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Scott Brooks has dropped out of the running, as Adrian Wojnarowski reported today, and while the field of potential coaching candidates remains wide, the emergence of the Pelicans on the coaching market last week has given Denver more competition.

The Nuggets are apparently willing to spend, as Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post heard, and it’s believed that Tom Thibodeau is the front-runner if he becomes available, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Of course, Thibs appears to be the front-runner elsewhere, too, so there are plenty of obstacles between the Nuggets and him. Alvin Gentry is a Nuggets candidate, too, but he’s already interviewed with the Pelicans, according to Wojnarowski. Gentry’s also an apparent favorite to replace Thibodeau in Chicago if he and the Bulls indeed part ways. Michael Malone, Scott Skiles, Fred Hoiberg and David Vanterpool are others who’ve been in contention for the job, as Wojnarowski reported last month.

The team’s search was to have intensified within the last couple of weeks, Dempsey wrote earlier this month, though it still seemed likely then that it would run through May. The Nuggets apparently prefer a veteran, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News, but GM Tim Connelly said last month that the team would indeed consider Hunt, who had never held an NBA head coaching job before taking over for the fired Brian Shaw in March.

D’Antoni has spent parts of a dozen seasons, including one with Denver, as an NBA head coach, and Stein first identified him as a likely candidate in the immediate wake of Shaw’s dismissal. Other names that surfaced at that time include Mark Jackson, Adrian Griffin, Avery Johnson, Vinny Del Negro, Nate McMillan, Pelicans assistant Brian Gates and Celtics assistant Jay Larranaga, though there hasn’t been much to advance the idea that any of them are indeed in the picture for Denver.

Scott Brooks To Turn Away Pelicans, Nuggets

May 20th, 2015 at 11:33am CST by Chuck Myron

Former Thunder coach Scott Brooks plans to decline opportunities to interview with the Pelicans and Nuggets and seems to be leaning toward taking next season off, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. It’s not entirely clear from the report whether New Orleans, Denver or both had extended invitations to interview for their vacancies, though Wojnarowski wrote Monday that the Pels were interested in the coach whom Oklahoma City dismissed last month. The Yahoo! scribe heard from league sources who identified Brooks as a top candidate for Denver and for the Magic in the immediate wake of his exodus from the Thunder, and Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders wrote recently that Brooks was second behind Tom Thibodeau on Orlando’s list of preferred candidates. It’s uncertain what Brooks would do if the Magic came calling, but Wojnarowski (on Twitter) describes Brooks as “likely” to sit out 2015/16.

Brooks spent most of the last seven seasons as the Thunder’s coach, his first NBA head coaching gig. His 338-207 record there is impeccable, but he’s only 39-34 in the playoffs and took the vastly talented Thunder to the NBA Finals only once, losing to the Heat in 2012. Still, the lack of postseason success had to do with injuries as much as it did with any of Brooks’ strategic shortcomings to which critics often pointed, and health was the culprit this season as Oklahoma City missed the playoffs. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka, the team’s preeminent stars, all missed significant time in 2014/15.

The 49-year-old Brooks still wants to coach again at some point, but he’s planning to concentrate on television opportunities and family in the season ahead, Wojnarowski hears. Oklahoma City will still be paying Brooks his salary next season, as Wojnarowski points out, since his contract had one more guaranteed season left when the team cut him loose, so the coach has the financial wherewithal to stay out of the game for a while.

Wiggins, Mirotic, Noel Lead All-Rookie Teams

May 18th, 2015 at 1:11pm CST by Chuck Myron

Andrew Wiggins was a unanimous All-Rookie First-Team selection, the league announced as it revealed the media voting results for the honors. Nikola Mirotic was the second-leading vote-getter, followed by Nerlens Noel, Elfrid Payton and Jordan Clarkson, all of whom comprise the first team. Marcus Smart, Zach LaVine, Bojan Bogdanovic, Jusuf Nurkic and Langston Galloway make up the second team.

Wiggins far outpaced all other contenders for Rookie of the Year honors after averaging 16.9 points in 36.2 minutes per game this season for the Timberwolves, who acquired the 2014 No. 1 overall pick in the Kevin Love trade. Minnesota, which finished with the league’s worst record this season and has a 25% chance to win the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, is the only team to place two players on the All-Rookie teams, with LaVine on the second team despite having garnered 22 first-team votes. Every member of the second team received at least three first-team votes.

Payton, the 10th overall selection, is the only first-round pick from 2014 to appear on the first team. Mirotic was a draft-and-stash selection from 2011, Noel was the sixth overall pick in 2013 but qualified as a rookie this season because he sat out all of 2013/14 with injury, and Clarkson was the 46th pick last year, having gone overlooked through all of the first round and half of the second.

Galloway made the second team despite having gone undrafted and not having made his debut until January 7th, after he had signed a 10-day contract with the Knicks. New York followed up with another 10-day deal and finally a multiyear pact for the surprisingly effective point guard.

Bulls Interested In Alvin Gentry

May 15th, 2015 at 12:17pm CST by Chuck Myron

12:17am: Some are skeptical the Bulls will land Hoiberg, Beck tweets, which jibes with what Kyler reported earlier.

WEDNESDAY, 11:54am: Hoiberg is Chicago’s top choice, Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck writes, though he hears from one source who considers Gentry the favorite to end up in the Bulls job (Twitter link).

TUESDAY, 10:02am: Warriors assistant coach Alvin Gentry would be among the front-runners for the Bulls head coaching job if the team were to part ways with Tom Thibodeau after the season, sources tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who writes in his NBA AM piece. Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg has appeared to be Chicago’s top Thibodeau alternative, as multiple reports have indicated, but Kyler hears that Hoiberg may not be willing to jump to the NBA, given the condition of his heart. The 42-year-old underwent open heart surgery last month to replace his aortic valve, the school announced then.

Gentry is a contender for the Nuggets vacancy, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported last month, not long after a pair of reports identified him as a likely candidate. The Magic are considering Gentry, too, Kyler reported earlier. The former Heat, Pistons, Clippers and Suns bench boss is still working with the Warriors in the playoffs and has expressed affection for his place in Golden State even as he’s said he’d like to be a head coach again. He’s 335-370 over parts of 12 seasons as an NBA head coach, but he went 158-144 with Phoenix, his last stop.

Grantland’s Zach Lowe heard from people close to Tom Thibodeau who were convinced the Bulls would fire their coach at season’s end, as Lowe reported last month, but that scenario would be somewhat unrealistic given the two years left on the coach’s contract, Kyler writes. The sides could part ways as part of a de facto trade in which another team that wants to hire Thibodeau gives the Bulls compensation for letting him out of his contract, and the Magic would be willing to give up assets to Chicago in such an arrangement, sources tell Kyler. Indeed, the Magic job would be Thibodeau’s to turn down if he becomes available, as Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times reported earlier. Orlando would likely be willing to surrender a second-round pick or two, according to Kyler. Kyler had earlier questioned the Magic’s willingness to surrender too much for the chance to bring Thibs aboard. Thibodeau is expected to command an annual salary of $7-8MM, and the Magic would be willing to pay that, sources also tell Kyler.

It’s believed Thibodeau is the front-runner for the Nuggets job, too, according to Kyler, though there has been doubt about whether he’s a fit for Denver’s plan to return to a high-tempo approach. The Pelicans also regard Thibodeau highly as the future of Monty Williams remains unresolved, Kyler writes.

Jimmy Butler likes Thibodeau, but his decision in restricted free agency this summer wouldn’t be tied to the team’s coach, sources close to Butler tell Kyler. However, Derrick Rose is among a number of Bulls who would have a “significant problem” if the team pushed out Thibodeau, Kyler writes, echoing Wojnarowski’s recent report. Rose’s backing of Thibodeau wouldn’t prevent the coach’s departure, Wojnarowski wrote, and Rose is under contract through 2016/17.

Adrian Griffin In Mix To Succeed Tom Thibodeau

May 14th, 2015 at 10:16pm CST by Chuck Myron

Bulls lead assistant coach Adrian Griffin is a contender to succeed Tom Thibodeau as Bulls head coach should Chicago and Thibs part ways now that the team’s season is over, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Stein makes it clear that Griffin would be a fallback option in case the team comes up short in its likely pursuit of Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg. However, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders recently heard from sources who questioned whether Hoiberg wants to make the jump to the NBA, given the condition of his heart, as the 42-year-old underwent open heart surgery last month to replace his aortic valve. Warriors assistant Alvin Gentry would also be among the front-runners if the Bulls job comes open, Kyler also reported.

Griffin and Thibodeau both came to the Bulls in the offseason of 2010, and Chicago promoted Griffin, who had simply been one of the team’s assistant coaches at the start, to lead assistant in 2013. The 40-year-old Griffin spent two years as a Bucks assistant between the end of his 10-year NBA playing career and the beginning of his time on Chicago’s bench. He’s been a prime head coaching candidate around the league the past few years, reportedly interviewing with the Blazers in 2012, the Pistons and twice with the Sixers in 2013, and the Jazz twice as well as the Cavs last year. USA Today’s Sam Amick identified Griffin among a few coaches believed to be likely candidates for the Nuggets job in the immediate wake of the team’s firing of Brian Shaw in March, though there’s been little to advance that notion since.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports used the term “inevitable” last week to describe a parting of ways between Thibodeau and the Bulls, and confidants of the coach had become convinced as of last month that the Bulls would fire him, Grantland’s Zach Lowe reported then. However, the Bulls could reap compensation from Thibodeau’s suitors if they hang on to him and allow him to speak with other teams instead of simply firing him, and Kyler believes the compensation route is a more likely path for Chicago. Thibodeau’s contract runs through 2016/17.

For what it’s worth, Thibodeau told reporters this evening that he isn’t anticipating a departure. “Yeah, until they tell me I’m not [the Bulls coach], I expect be here, so that’s the way I’m approaching it,” Thibodeau said, as Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relays (on Twitter).

Atlantic Notes: Draft, Monty Williams, Saric

May 14th, 2015 at 2:21pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Celtics have interviewed Stanley Johnson, Justise Winslow and Willie Cauley Stein, each of whom has a strong chance to be picked within the top 10, tweets Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald, taking it as a sign that the C’s, who have the No. 16 pick, plan to trade up. Of course, NBA teams line up teams and prospects for interviews at the combine, taking place this week in Chicago, so clubs don’t always get the players they want, but teams can give the league an idea of the sort of player they’d like to talk to, Murphy notes (on Twitter). There’s more on the Celtics and the draft amid the latest from the Atlantic Division:

The Celtics also interviewed Robert Upshaw, Murphy reports in a second tweet. Upshaw’s combine measurements stood out, but in part because of the issues surrounding the University of Washington’s decision to dismiss him for a violation of team rules in January, both Chad Ford of ESPN.com and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress rank him only 30th.
The Raptors will gauge Monty Williams‘ interest in joining their team as an assistant coach, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears (Twitter links). Still, it’s much more likely that Williams will wait for his next chance at a head coaching job, Stein adds, postulating that he could get a look from either the Nuggets or the Magic.
Sixers prospect Dario Saric insists that his father, a key figure in reports about Saric’s career, isn’t exerting undue influence, as Saric says to Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype. The 2014 No. 12 pick who’s playing overseas for Turkey’s Anadolu Efes largely avoided Sierra’s question about whether he might play with the Sixers next season, though his contract with Efes doesn’t include an escape clause until 2016. “Next season? I don’t know and I can’t speak about that because I don’t know yet the situation, how things are going to work out,” Saric said. “I can say that I’m happy here at Efes and I’m also happy that people from Philadelphia came here and want me there. That’s all I can tell you right now. I don’t have any information or any feeling regarding what could happen. I’m just focused on the rest of the season. If I stay here or if I go to the NBA, I will be happy [either way]. I don’t know what could happen this summer or next summer. Now it’s not the time to talk about that.”

Pelicans Await Clarity On Tom Thibodeau, Bulls

May 14th, 2015 at 8:58am CST by Chuck Myron

The Pelicans are waiting to see whether Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau becomes available as New Orleans approaches its coaching search, league sources tell John Reid of The Times-Picayune. That puts New Orleans in the same position as the Magic, who are also waiting on Thibodeau, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported last week. Thibodeau “could possibly” become a contender for the Pelicans job if he shakes free, Reid writes, but New Orleans has long regarded Thibs highly and made a play for him in 2010 before hiring Monty Williams instead. Indeed, TNT’s David Aldridge identified Thibodeau as a “clear and obvious candidate” for the Pelicans soon after Tuesday’s firing of Williams.

It’s “inevitable” that the Bulls and Thibodeau will part ways after the season, Wojnarowski wrote last week, while people close to the coach have been convinced Chicago will fire him, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe reported last month. Still, it seems more likely that the Bulls would seek compensation for letting Thibodeau out of his contract than that they would simply fire him, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. The Magic would likely be willing to give up one or two second-round picks for the right to hire Thibodeau, Kyler wrote, while Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times heard that the Magic’s job would be Thibodeau’s to turn down. It’s believed Thibodeau is also the front-runner for the Nuggets job, according to Kyler, though Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post has found it hard to envision Thibodeau on the sidelines in Denver, given the split between the coach’s defense-first philosophy and the Nuggets’ desire to run.

Still, the Pelicans are the only team with a coaching vacancy that possesses a star of the caliber of Anthony Davis, and New Orleans would be at the front of the line to hire Thibodeau if he becomes available, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Pelicans GM Dell Demps, who’s conducting the team’s coaching search, said Tuesday that the effort would begin immediately and that the team hadn’t established a short list yet, Reid notes. However, it appears New Orleans wants to hold off to gauge the circumstances surrounding the coach who would be perhaps the most sought-after on the market.