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And-Ones: Luwawu-Cabarrot, 2024 FAs, M. Thomas, ESPN

June 12th, 2024 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Former NBA forward Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot has reached an agreement on a two-year contract with Baskonia, the Spanish club announced today in a press release.

Luwawu-Cabarrot played in the NBA from 2016-22 after being selected 24th overall in the 2016 draft. He saw rotation minutes for several seasons but never developed into a high-level contributor in the NBA, averaging 5.9 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 0.9 assists in 16.0 minutes per game across 328 regular season appearances (60 starts) for the Sixers, Thunder, Bulls, Nets, and Hawks.

The French forward has played a more significant role in Europe over the past two seasons for Olimpia Milano in 2022/23 and ASVEL in 2023/24. As he makes the move to Spain, Luwawu-Cabarrot will be looking to help boost a Baskonia team that missed the Spanish League (ACB) postseason in 2024 and was swept out of the first round of the EuroLeague playoffs by Real Madrid.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Keith Smith of Spotrac has concluded his deep dive into the NBA’s 2024 free agent class by taking a closer look at the power forwards and centers on the market this summer. Smith also ranked the overall top 50 free agents, with LeBron James, Paul George, Tyrese Maxey, and Pascal Siakam leading the way.
As first reported by Jonathan Givony of ESPN, Meleek Thomas, one of the top prospects in the recruiting class of 2025, has signed a deal to play with Overtime Elite for the 2024/25 season. A 6’4″ combo guard, Thomas is preserving his college eligibility and will take visits to UConn and Arkansas later this month, according to Givony.
With ESPN poised to renew its broadcast rights deal with the NBA, Andrew Marchand of The Athletic argues that the network should pursue bigger-name broadcasters to elevate its coverage, including perhaps pitching LeBron James on a Tom Brady-esque deal once the Lakers star retires as a player.

NBA Legend Jerry West Passes Away At 86

June 12th, 2024 at 9:04am CST by Luke Adams

NBA Hall of Famer Jerry West has died at age 86, the Clippers announced today. According to the team, he passed away “peacefully” on Wednesday morning with his wife Karen at his side.

Few individuals have had a greater impact on the NBA during its history than West, who played 14 seasons for the Lakers from 1960-74, earning All-Star honors in all 14 years.

West also made 12 All-NBA teams and five All-Defensive squads, winning a championship, an NBA Finals MVP award, and an All-Star MVP award while leading the league in points per game in one season and assists per game in another. He averaged 27.0 points, 6.7 assists, and 5.8 rebounds per game across 932 regular season contests and was part of the NBA’s 50th and 75th anniversary teams.

West’s contributions as a player were enough to earn him a spot in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, but his legacy extends far beyond that. His silhouette serves as the basis for the NBA’s logo, and after a brief stint as the Lakers’ head coach from 1976-79, he enjoyed a long and successful career as a front office executive for multiple organizations.

West, who transitioned into a scouting role with the Lakers in 1979, was named L.A.’s general manager in 1982 and served as the architect of a team that made it to the NBA Finals eight times and won four titles during his tenure from 1982-2000. Los Angeles had a 972-472 (.673) record in the regular season and a 140-90 (.609) mark in the playoffs under West’s stewardship, and also won championships in each of the two years following his departure.

Following his long run with the Lakers, West became the Grizzlies‘ general manager in 2002, a year after the team had made the move from Vancouver to Memphis. Prior to West’s arrival, the Grizzlies had never won more than 23 games in a season, but he helped turn the franchise around, leading Memphis to its first three playoff appearances from 2004-06 and claiming his second Executive of the Year award in 2004.

West retired as a lead basketball decision-maker in 2007, but later served as a consultant with the Warriors, winning two more titles in 2015 and 2017, and with the Clippers beginning in 2017.

In addition to being inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player, West was enshrined as a member of the 1960 U.S. Olympic team that won gold in Rome and was elected to the Hall a third time in 2024 for his work as an executive. That enshrinement ceremony will take place later this year.

Our condolences go out to West’s family and friends, as well as all those in the basketball world affected by this tremendous loss to the sport.

Risacher, Sarr, Clingan, Nine Others Receive Green Room Invitations

June 11th, 2024 at 9:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Zaccharie Risacher and Alexandre Sarr, the projected top two picks in the draft, were among 12 players who received green room invites on Tuesday, Jonathan Givony of ESPN reports.

Donovan Clingan and Stephon Castle of national champion UConn were also extended green room invitations along with Reed Sheppard, Matas Buzelis, Dalton Knecht, Tidjane Salaun, Ron Holland, Cody Williams, Devin Carter and Ja’Kobe Walter.

All of those players are projected lottery picks, according to ESPN’s latest mock draft. The only omissions were Kentucky’s Rob Dillingham and Serbian point guard Nikola Topic.

Dillingham still hasn’t completed all the qualifications to be eligible for the draft. He didn’t undergo athletic testing and shooting drills at the draft combine in Chicago last month due to an ankle injury. He hasn’t been able to attend private workouts with NBA teams for the same reasons but he plans to fulfill those requirements at the Lakers’ practice facility on Friday.

Topic’s status as a lottery pick is in jeopardy due to a partially torn ACL. Topic has until June 16 to decide whether or not he wants to keep his name in the draft pool. Topic will be evaluated in the coming days by NBA team doctors to determine his recovery process.

Both Willingham and Topic could still wind up in the green room, as another 11-12 invites are expected to be sent out starting next week, Givony adds.

The fact that the draft is now a two-day event beginning on June 26 could lead to additional scrutiny over the final players invited to the green room. The league doesn’t want players to be forced to wait around an extra day to hear their names called.

Lakers Notes: Hurley, LeBron, Redick, Coaching Search

June 11th, 2024 at 12:07pm CST by Luke Adams

After turning down a lucrative offer to become the Lakers‘ head coach, UConn’s Dan Hurley issued a statement saying that he was “humbled by this entire experience” and remains committed to pursuing more championships with the Huskies (Twitter link).

Appearing on ESPN’s Get Up on Tuesday (YouTube link), Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN explained that there were multiple reasons why Hurley decided to remain in Connecticut instead of making the move to Los Angeles. The unique opportunity to become the first college coach since UCLA’s John Wooden over 50 years ago to lead a team to three consecutive national titles was one important consideration, according to Wojnarowski, but it wasn’t the only one.

“Dan Hurley really studied everything that was required to be an NBA coach and the adjustments he was going to have to make,” Woj said (hat tip to RealGM). “As much as the Lakers wanted what Dan Hurley brought — his program building, his player development, the way he can forge relationships with players, the great X’s-and-O’s acumen. He’s running a lot of stuff in college that’s been intriguing to NBA coaches that they want to steal from a little bit. For all of that, Dan Hurley was going to have to adjust and knew that he had to be ready to make the adjustments in temperament, in practice time, all the things that come with being an NBA coach from college basketball. And, ultimately, Dan Hurley wasn’t there yet on doing that.”

Wojnarowski went on to say that Hurley “loved what he heard” from Lakers leaders like Jeanie Buss and Rob Pelinka, and liked the idea of coaching star forwards Anthony Davis and LeBron James in the short term and getting to draft and develop “Hurley-type” prospects in the long term. However, he ultimately decided he wasn’t ready to make the move to the NBA.

Wojnarowski also pushed back on the idea that Hurley was using the Lakers for leverage purposes to get a more lucrative deal with UConn.

“He had negotiated a new (UConn) deal for himself with his agent weeks ago,” Woj said. “That’s going to be, I’m told, kind of in the $8MM+ (per year) range. It’ll put him among the highest-paid coaches in college basketball. But they never negotiated off that, or leveraged off that with the Lakers. The Lakers (opportunity) was a singular moment for Dan Hurley and it wasn’t about getting his UConn number up. It already was up, and that was before UConn even knew about the Laker conversations.”

Here’s more on the Lakers:

Following Hurley’s rejection of the Lakers, will James follow suit by turning down his player option for 2024/25 and seeking a change of scenery? Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer explores that topic, arguing that parting ways now might be in the best long-term interests of both LeBron and the Lakers, though it’s considered unlikely to happen.
Jim Alexander of The Orange County Register contends that Hurley’s decision to pass on the opportunity to coach the Lakers shouldn’t come as a surprise, while Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times rips the Lakers for their failed pursuit of UConn’s head coach, describing it as a “humiliating” sequence of events for a franchise whose “reputation is diminishing.”
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst isn’t quite as harsh in his assessment of the Lakers’ situation, pointing out that things in Los Angeles looked worse than this in 2019, when their new head coaching hire (Frank Vogel) was widely known to be their third choice and franchise legend Magic Johnson was referring to Pelinka as a backstabber following Johnson’s exit from the front office. They won a title a year later.
Within his column on the Lakers’ situation, Windhorst says the team’s contact with J.J. Redick was “minimal” leading up to the team’s pursuit of Hurley. While the Lakers could circle back to Redick, going after Hurley may signal that they were lukewarm on the available crop of head coaching candidates, according to Windhorst, who wonders if the franchise might pursue another coach from the college ranks.
When Wojnarowski first reported the Lakers’ interest last week, he stated that Hurley had been at the “forefront of the Lakers’ search from the beginning of the process.” Appearing on FanDuel’s Run it Back show on Tuesday (Twitter video link), Shams Charania of The Athletic – who previously identified Redick as the frontrunner – seemed to disagree with that claim. “Last week, on Wednesday, they turned their attention, I’m told, to Dan Hurley,” Charania said. “He was not the No. 1 candidate, the No. 1 guy to go pursue from the start. But they felt like there was an opening there.” Charania added that people around the league don’t “have a great feel” for where the Lakers’ search is headed next.

Dan Hurley Turns Down Lakers’ Offer, Will Stay At UConn

June 10th, 2024 at 12:41pm CST by Luke Adams

Dan Hurley has passed on a six-year, $70MM contract offer to become the Lakers‘ head coach, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that the two-time national champion will remain at UConn and will look to lead the Huskies to a third consecutive title in 2024.

According to Jeff Goodman of Field of 68 (Twitter link), Hurley – who met with Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and head of basketball operations Rob Pelinka on Friday – “strongly considered” making the leap to the NBA but ultimately decided it wasn’t the right career move for him.

While he was impressed with the Lakers’ “vision for him,” Woj adds (via Twitter), Hurley didn’t want to walk away from the opportunity to make history by winning a third straight NCAA title.

Hurley is expected to finalize a new deal with UConn soon that will make him one of college basketball’s highest-paid coaches. Wojnarowski says those negotiations are ongoing, while Goodman hears from a source that Hurley has a six-year offer worth about $50MM on the table from the Huskies (Twitter link).

It’s a disappointing setback for the Lakers, who had talked to other head coaching candidates since dismissing Darvin Ham last month but had zeroed in on Hurley and made him their top choice. According to Wojnarowski (Twitter link), the Lakers will regroup this week and will continue interviewing other candidates for the job in the hopes of filling the vacancy before the June 26-27 draft.

James Borrego – the only candidate to have two in-person meetings with the Lakers so far, per reporting from Woj – will remain in the mix, as will J.J. Redick, whom Shams Charania and other reporters previously described as the frontrunner for the position. Wojnarowski suggests that Redick has yet to have a formal interview with L.A., though Charania said last month that the two sides spoke at length at the draft combine.

As our head coaching search tracker shows, the Lakers have also been linked to a number of veteran assistant coaches around the NBA, including Sam Cassell, David Adelman, Micah Nori, and Chris Quinn.

And-Ones: Tomjanovich, Cooper, Hezonja, SuperSonics

June 10th, 2024 at 11:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Rudy Tomjanovich, who won two NBA titles as head coach of the Rockets after a long playing career in Houston, is this year’s recipient of the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Basketball Coaches Association, per ESPN. Tomjanovich led the Rockets to championships in 1994 and 1995, becoming one of just nine coaches with consecutive titles. At a press conference Sunday, he admitted being moved to tears after learning about the award from NBCA president Rick Carlisle.

“And the reason is, when something like this happens, I’m not thinking about the championships,” Tomjanovich said. “I’m not thinking about all the good stuff. I’m thinking about the dark days — the days when I doubted myself. Much like the coach here in Boston (Joe Mazzulla), I got a job out of the blue. Didn’t know what was going to happen.”

Tomjanovich touted two of his former players in his acceptance speech, pushing for Celtics assistant Sam Cassell to get a head coaching job and for Robert Horry to be voted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

“He’s proven it time and time again,” Tomjanovich said of Horry. “He’s made so many teams champions playing a role, and that’s so important. It isn’t about just the stats. It’s about getting results. I pray that one day he’s going to be able to stand up there and accept that honor.”

There’s more from around the basketball world:

Former Lakers great and WNBA head coach Michael Cooper talked to Mirjam Swanson of The Orange County Register about his upcoming Hall of Fame induction. Cooper, who won five NBA titles in L.A., sees his career as proof that flashy numbers aren’t necessary to earn a place among the game’s legends. “The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is not about how many points you had or how many dunks, it’s about what you’ve done to improve this game and help grow it,” he said. “And I’ve had an opportunity to do that at almost every level.”
Mario Hezonja is denying a report that he’s close to a contract extension with Real Madrid, Eurohoops relays. Speaking with ONDA Cero’s Radioestadio by Alberto Pereiro following Game 1 of the ACB Finals, the former NBA forward said, “It’s a lie. We are trying to reach an agreement, but now it’s not the time to talk about that.”
In a video segment for ESPN (Twitter link), Michelle Steele examined whether there’s an NBA future for the Seattle SuperSonics, who could be revived if the league decides to expand. A spokesperson told Steele that the arena the team would share with the NHL’s Kraken is NBA-ready, and Kraken co-owner Samantha Holloway “will pursue an (NBA) team when the time is right.”

Stein’s Latest: Lindsey, Williams, George, Bronny James, Cassell

June 9th, 2024 at 8:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pistons passed on Mavericks executive Dennis Lindsey and hired Trajan Langdon as their president of basketball operations. However, the Pistons would still like to bring in Lindsey for another front office role under Langdon.

Lindsey has been discussed as an ongoing target for the Pistons, Marc Stein reports in his latest Substack post. Lindsey was the other finalist for Detroit’s top front office job and met with team owner Tom Gores multiple times before Langdon was offered the position.

The Mavericks don’t want to lose Lindsey, who recently attended the NBA’s European draft combine in Italy with assistant GM Matt Riccardi.

Langdon is still mulling whether to retain head coach Monty Williams, who has five years remaining on his contract, Stein adds.

Here’s more from Stein:

Paul George is a well-known free agent target for the Sixers if he fails to reach an extension agreement with the Clippers this month. George will have at least one Eastern Conference alternative in that scenario. The Magic will also be in the mix and Orlando additionally has designs on the Warriors’ Klay Thompson. How the Magic would fit George into their frontcourt of Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner would be an intriguing side story, while Philadelphia has an obvious frontcourt need with Tobias Harris (and most of the rest of the roster) headed to free agency.
Bronny James worked out for the Suns on Wednesday and initially only made plans to visit the Suns and Lakers during the pre-draft process. However, that situation is fluid. Agent Rich Paul told Stein there are “a few more” workout invites under consideration.
Reiterating an item from last month, Stein says Bucks coach Doc Rivers will make a push to hire Celtics assistant Sam Cassell after the Finals. Cassell was one of the early candidates for the Lakers’ head coaching job.

Dan Hurley Expected To Make Decision On Monday

June 9th, 2024 at 6:41pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Reigning two-time NCAA champion Dan Hurley intends to make a decision by Monday on whether to stick with the Connecticut Huskies or take the NBA leap with the Lakers, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

During a phone interview with Wojnarowski on Sunday, Hurley praised L.A.’s “compelling case” for his commitment. He also described the Lakers’ vision for their team-building future as compelling, per Wojnarowski, who says the club has made a “massive” long-term contract offer to UConn’s head coach.

Hurley interviewed with Lakers team president Rob Pelinka and governor Jeanie Buss on Friday, then headed home on Saturday to weigh his options over the weekend.

Hurley told his Connecticut employers on Wednesday that he had been in talks with Los Angeles, and informed his players on Thursday. According to Wojnarowski, Hurley’s Huskies rank as the fifth-best team in the NCAA heading into the 2024/25 collegiate season.

The Lakers have spoken with a variety of other head coaching candidates to replace former two-year coach Darvin Ham, but among these, Wojnarowski reports that only Pelicans assistant coach James Borrego had two in-person interviews. J.J. Redick is viewed as another strong contender for the Lakers’ job if they don’t land Hurley.

Lakers star LeBron James is a fan of Hurley’s offensive acumen in particular, according to Woj, who reiterates that Hurley has emerged as Los Angeles’ hiring priority following its weeks-long search. Hurley boasts a 141-58 record (.709) across his six years with UConn, including back-to-back title runs in 2023 and 2024.

Pacific Notes: Hurley, Suns, Vezenkov, Kerr

June 8th, 2024 at 10:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

UConn submitted a new contract offer to try to keep Dan Hurley as its head coach, but a source close to the athletic department tells Adam Zagoria of NJ.com that the school can’t afford to get into a bidding war with the Lakers. Hurley traveled to Los Angeles on Friday to meet with team officials and is expected to consider his options throughout the weekend before reaching a decision. One of those options will be an offer from the university that would reportedly make him the third-highest-paid coach in the NCAA.

“We want to pay him certainly what he’s worth, but there’s a limit to how far we can actually go just because of the political pressures and all of that,” the source told Zagoria. “Even though everybody wants him to stay, and everybody’s behind it, I just think there’s a cap that exists.”

Zagoria points to a USA Today database that lists Bill Self with a $9.6MM annual salary at Kansas, while John Calipari will earn $8MM in the first year of his new contract at Arkansas. Hurley signed a six-year deal worth $32MM after winning his first national title last year, and he earned a $2MM bonus this season on top of his $5MM base salary.

“Obviously, they want to pay him,” Zagoria’s source added. “I just think at some point it’s not going to be Kentucky, it’s not going to be the place where you can just get some stupid number. I think there are just some realities at the school that make that tougher.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

The Suns will attempt to fill three needs this summer despite being bound by second apron restrictions, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 said on the Burns and Gambo podcast (hat tip to RealGM). After letting Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant run the offense this season, Phoenix hopes to find a point guard who can play at least 20 minutes per game, according to Gambadoro. The team is also in the market for a young wing player who can provide more athleticism, along with an upgrade on Drew Eubanks at backup center.
Conflicting information about Kings forward Sasha Vezenkov makes it hard to tell which parts of the story are legitimate, James Ham states in his latest edition of Kings Beat (subscription required). As we relayed earlier today, a Eurohoops report stated that Vezenkov has asked for a change of scenery and is considering a return to Europe. However, Ham notes that Matteo Andreani of Basketinside claims the Kings told Vezenkov that he’s not in their plans for next season and they’ll try to trade him. Either scenario could lead to a breakup this summer, and Ham states that team officials have been silent about Vezenkov’s future.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr understands the pressure on Team USA to capture an Olympic gold medal this summer, calling it a “win or fail” situation, per Ron Kroichick of The San Francisco Chronicle. Part of Kerr’s early preparation has been watching past losses to see what went wrong, including a 113-111 defeat against Germany in last year’s FIBA World Cup semifinals. “One of the things we look at is, why has USA Basketball lost games in the past?” Kerr said. “There are some common themes, and the big one really is defense. The games we’ve lost, we just failed to stop the other team. This Germany game is one of them — they carved us up. So we’re going to have to be really good defensively this summer.”

Pacific Notes: Lakers, Hurley, Beal, Suns, Hield, Clippers, Warriors

June 7th, 2024 at 7:45pm CST by Luke Adams

Appearing on ESPN’s Get Up (YouTube link) on Friday, Brian Windhorst stressed that Dan Hurley coaching the Lakers is far from a sure thing, despite UConn’s head coach being open to L.A.’s advances.

“I know that this has momentum as (Adrian Wojnarowski) talked about, but it’s been emphasized to me that this is not a done deal,” Windhorst said (hat tip to RealGM). “That there is still relationship building and conversations that need to take place that are probably going to take place over the next couple of days.”

A source tells Jeff Goodman of Field of 68 (Twitter link) that Hurley was going into today’s meeting with the Lakers “completely open-minded” and is expected to fly back home and weigh his decision over the weekend.

Here are a few more notes from around the Pacific:

Suns guard Bradley Beal underwent a follow-up procedure on his nose shortly after the team was eliminated from the playoffs this spring, reports Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Beal, who initially had a procedure performed on his nose after breaking it in January, said in March that he still had to get his septum “realigned,” adding that it would likely happen after the season.
Responding to a report that claims the Suns will be among the teams to watch for Buddy Hield this offseason, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 tweets that he doesn’t expect Phoenix to have any interest in the veteran sharpshooter. Barring significant cost-cutting moves, the Suns won’t be able to offer more than the veteran’s minimum to free agents or to acquire them via sign-and-trade, so Hield is probably an unrealistic target to begin with.
The Clippers hosted four senior guards as part of a pre-draft workout on Thursday, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that Xavier Johnson (Southern Illinois), Tristen Newton (UConn), Cormac Ryan (UNC), and Tyler Thomas (Hofstra) took part in the session. None of those prospects ranks higher than No. 68 (Newton) on ESPN’s big board, but they could be in the second-round mix. The Clippers’ lone 2024 draft pick is 46th overall.
The Warriors have officially named Jon Phelps their senior director of basketball strategy and team counsel, confirming the front office addition in a press release (Twitter link). Anthony Slater of The Athletic reported last week that Golden State would be hiring Phelps away from the Pistons following his decade-long stint in Detroit.