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Grizzlies Interview Alex Jensen For Head Coaching Job

April 30th, 2019 at 2:45pm CST by Luke Adams

After a front office shakeup that saw top decision-maker Chris Wallace re-assigned to the scouting department, the Grizzlies have taken their time addressing their head coaching vacancy. However, we can now add at least one name to their list of candidates.

Jazz assistant Alex Jensen was in Memphis today to interview for the Grizzlies’ head coaching position, league sources tell Tony Jones and Omari Sankofa II of The Athletic (Twitter link). Jensen becomes the first known candidate to replace J.B. Bickerstaff, who was dismissed by Memphis nearly three weeks ago.

Jensen, who has been on the coaching staff in Utah since 2013, has also been identified this month as a candidate for the Cavaliers‘ head coaching job. Joe Vardon of The Athletic reported today (via Twitter) that Jensen’s interview with the Cavs will take place later this week.

[RELATED: 2019 NBA Head Coaching Search Tracker]

Prior to joining the Jazz, Jensen served as the head coach of the G League’s Canton Charge from 2011-13. He has also worked with the German national team in recent years, serving as an assistant coach for the squad since 2015.

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Prince's Role Won't Change That Much

April 29th, 2019 at 8:29pm CST by Dana Gauruder
  • Grizzlies executive Tayshaun Prince was promoted to “special advisor” to vice president of basketball affairs but his role won’t change much, as Chris Herrington of the Daily Memphian explains. He’ll remain a crucial link from the front office to the players and coaches, though now with more empowerment, Herrington continues. Rich Cho, who was earlier named vice president of basketball strategy, will lead the analytics/research/systems staff while Chris Makris will continue to lead the traditional scouting staff, Herrington adds. Prince will also help evaluate professional, college and G League personnel.
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Jazz Notes: Free Agency, Conley, Rubio, Favors

April 27th, 2019 at 9:16pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Jazz enter the offseason with more flexibility than most teams, but will need to decide how much of their roster they want to keep, writes Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. Ricky Rubio, Thabo Sefolosha and Ekpe Udoh will all be free agents, while five other players – Derrick Favors, Kyle Korver, Georges Niang, Raul Neto and Royce O’Neale – have either partially guaranteed or non-guaranteed contracts for next season.

Larsen expects O’Neale ($1.618MM for 2019/20) and Niang ($1.645MM) to be brought back because they are bargains at their current price. He adds that if Sefolosha or Udoh returns, it will likely be at a reduced salary.

The Jazz can clear up to $36.8 million in cap room by letting that whole group go, enough to offer a max deal in free agency. No matter how much is available, the priority will be to find more outside shooting.

“Adding a sniper at any position is something we’re going to have to strongly evaluate,” GM Dennis Lindsey said.

There’s more news out of Utah:

  • Another option for the Jazz is to revisit trade talks with the Grizzlies regarding point guard Mike Conley, Larsen adds in the same story. The teams weren’t able to work out a deal before the February deadline, and the Jazz were upset with Memphis’ front office because so much of the rumored trade became public. “Unfortunately, a team leaked something, and it was unethical,” Lindsey said.
  • The Jazz will consider all possibilities at point guard this summer, sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic. Those include bringing Rubio back, searching for a replacement in free agency or turning the position over to Donovan Mitchell.
  • Management was expecting this to be Favors’ final season with the team, but he played so well that they will consider picking up his $16.9MM deal for next year, Jones adds. A decision will have to be made by July 6.
  • Mitchell tells Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News he was frustrated by how the season turned out and plans to use the summer to get in better shape. “This is going to be huge for me just for my confidence standpoint and just to getting my mind, my body right and looking at guys and competing against guys like James Harden, Chris Paul and all those guys,” Mitchell said. “If I want to be like those guys, I’ve got to work and train like those guys and I think that’s where it starts.”
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Sixers Notes: Embiid, Scott, Butler, Harris

April 27th, 2019 at 7:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

Sixers star Joel Embiid expects to play more minutes in the conference semifinals, even though he is still bothered by tendinitis in his left knee, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Embiid averaged just 24.8 minutes in five first-round games against the Nets and was often a literal game-time decision. The limited minutes make his line for the series – 24.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.8 blocks per night – look even more impressive.

“It’s still not there. It’s still trying to get better,” Embiid said at today’s shootaround. “But that’s an issue that’s going to be there at least all playoffs until I actually get some real time to get some rest and work on myself. … But, we did a good job managing it. Obviously I only averaged about 24 minutes last series, so this one I’m definitely going to need way more than that.”

Embiid isn’t on the injured list as the series begins, so the Sixers are confident about his prospects. He has been dealing with knee issues for the past two months, missing 14 of 24 games regular season games after the All-Star break.

“It’s hard because I’m known for playing through anything and pushing, pushing it,” Embiid said. “And in some situations like Game 3, I couldn’t go because it was too much. But like I said, I just got to keep managing it and see how I feel and then go from there.”

There’s more from Philadelphia:

  • The Sixers have another injury concern in forward Mike Scott, McMenamin notes in the same story. Scott was wearing a walking boot today because of a heel contusion and plantar fasciitis in his right foot. Coach Brett Brown indicated that rookie Zhaire Smith may have an expanded role while Scott is sidelined.
  • Representatives for Jimmy Butler met with Sixers GM Elton Brand before and after a November deal that brought him from Minnesota to express his interest in a long-term contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. Butler is expected to opt out of a $19.8MM salary for next season and test the free agent market.
  • The Nets will target Sixers forward Tobias Harris in free agency, but a report Friday indicates that the competition for his services will be intense, relays Brian Lewis of The New York Post. The Grizzlies, Jazz and Mavericks will all consider pursuing the Long Island native, and the Sixers will have his Bird rights, meaning they can offer more years and higher raises than any other team. Lewis adds that Harris’ performance against the Nets in their playoff series increased Brooklyn’s desire to sign him.
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Grizzlies Promote Tayshaun Prince

April 27th, 2019 at 2:31pm CST by clarkcrum

As part of their continued effort to revamp their front office, the Grizzlies have promoted Tayshaun Prince to Vice President of Basketball Affairs within the franchise’s basketball operations department, according to an official release from the team.

In his new/enhanced role, Prince will “facilitate alignment between the front office, coaching staff and locker room and participate in the evaluation of professional, college and G League personnel.” So, it sounds like he’ll have several roles, both in scouting and in acting as a bridge between the players and front office on a day-to-day basis.

“We are excited to establish Tayshaun as a core member of our front office,” Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Zach Kleiman said. “His knowledge of the game is exceptional and we are thrilled he will continue providing valuable contributions to the organization on a day-to-day basis.”

As we’ve noted before, the Grizzlies have been searching for some more experienced basketball executives to join the front office ever since re-assigning Chris Wallace and promoting Kleiman, and this latest move certainly fits that narrative.

[RELATED: Grizzlies hire Rich Cho, Glen Grunwald]

Prince, who joined the Grizzlies’ front office in 2017 as Special Advisor to Wallace, also played for the Grizzlies for three seasons, from 2013 to 2015. He helped Memphis reach the Western Conference Finals in 2013 alongside Mike Conley, Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, and Tony Allen.

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Tobias Harris Will Draw Plenty Of Interest In Free Agency

April 26th, 2019 at 5:21pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Tobias Harris bet on himself by turning down a four-year, $80MM contract extension from the Clippers last summer. That decision will pay off in the open market in July, as Shams Charania of The Athletic names several teams likely to show interest in the Sixers forward.

League executives expect the Grizzlies, Jazz, Mavericks and Nets to explore making a run at Harris, Charania hears. Harris has already indicated that he’d strongly consider remaining put, as he told Charania last month.

“It would be selfish of me to not come into this situation with an open mind to make this work for the long term,” he said. “That’s where my mindset is at. I’m a loyal guy to where I am, and if I feel that loyalty back, that is how I operate.”

Philadelphia, of course, can pay Harris more than any other team. He will be eligible to sign a five-year, $189.7MM contract with the Sixers or a four-year, $140.6MM deal with another franchise. Harris is averaging 17.6 PPG, 9.0 RPG and 4.2 APG thus far in the postseason.

The most surprising team on Charania’s list is the rebuilding Grizzlies, though adding Harris to a team with Mike Conley, Jaren Jackson Jr. and another high draft pick might be enough to get them back to the postseason.

Utah’s brass knows it has to make changes after another early-round exit. Adding Harris to a mix that already includes Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert would give the Jazz a much-needed offensive boost.

It’s no secret that the Mavericks want to add another big piece to complement Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, while the Nets have plenty of cap space and want to bring in top-shelf free agents.

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2019 NBA Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Memphis Grizzlies

April 24th, 2019 at 3:55pm CST by Luke Adams

An era came to an end for the Grizzlies in 2018/19, as the franchise moved on from longtime center Marc Gasol in a deadline deal. With a potential rebuild looming, Memphis now must determine whether the time is right to trade Gasol’s longtime running mate Mike Conley, or whether the veteran point guard can still be a cornerstone piece going forward.

Here’s where things currently stand for the Grizzlies financially, as we continue our Offseason Salary Cap Digest series for 2019:

Guaranteed Salary

Player Options

Team Options

  • None

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • Avery Bradley ($10,960,000) 1
  • Bruno Caboclo ($1,845,301) 4
  • Dillon Brooks ($1,618,520) 5
  • Ivan Rabb ($1,246,762) 2
  • Total: $15,670,583

Restricted Free Agents

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Projected Salary Cap: $109,000,000
Projected Tax Line: $132,000,000

Offseason Cap Outlook

  • Realistic cap room projection: $0
  • Although the Grizzlies only have about $86.5MM in guaranteed salaries on their books, they’re unlikely to create cap room – barring cost-cutting moves – due to Valanciunas’ option and the cap hold for their first-round pick.

Cap Exceptions Available

  • Trade exception: $1,544,951 (expires 7/17/19)
  • Trade exception: $2,416,222 (expires 7/23/19)
  • Trade exception: $8,000,000 (expires 2/7/20)
  • Trade exception: $1,512,601 (expires 2/7/20)
  • Mid-level exception: $9,246,000 6
  • Bi-annual exception: $3,619,000 6

Footnotes

  1. Bradley’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 3.
  2. Rabb’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 15.
  3. The salaries for two-way players don’t count against a team’s cap.
  4. Caboclo’s salary becomes partially guaranteed ($300K) after July 10.
  5. Brooks’ salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 5.
  6. These are projected values. In the unlikely event the Grizzlies use cap room, they’d lose these exceptions (and their trade exceptions) and would instead would gain access to the $4,760,000 room exception.

Note: Minimum-salary and rookie-scale cap holds are estimates based on salary cap projections and could increase or decrease depending on where the cap lands.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders and RealGM was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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2019 NBA Front Office Shakeup Tracker

April 24th, 2019 at 11:38am CST by Luke Adams

Having created a space to track the NBA’s head coaching changes this spring, it only makes sense that we should do the same for the teams shaking up their front offices.

Of course, the front office structure for an NBA franchise generally isn’t as cut-and-dried as a coaching staff. All 30 teams will enter the 2019/20 season employing a head coach and a staff of assistant coaches. But not every team will have an executive with the title of “president of basketball operations” or “executive VP of basketball operations” on its payroll. And while some general managers around the league have decision-making power within their organizations, that certainly doesn’t apply to all of them.

Nonetheless, we’ll do our best to track this spring’s front office changes in the space below, monitoring which executives have decision-making power in each new management group. Some of these searches could extend well into the spring, so be sure to check back each day for the latest updates.

Completed Searches:

Los Angeles Lakers

  • Out: Magic Johnson (story)
  • Hired: No one
  • Following Johnson’s shocking resignation, there was plenty of speculation about which high-level rival executives the Lakers might target to replace him. The answer? Nobody. The Lakers appear content to have general manager Rob Pelinka – with the help of a Rambis or two – run the front office, at least for the 2019 offseason. A report confirmed that the team has no plans to hire a new president of basketball operations to replace Johnson.

Memphis Grizzlies

  • Out: Chris Wallace (story)
  • Promoted: Jason Wexler, team president (story); Zach Kleiman, executive VP of basketball operations (story); Tayshaun Prince, VP of basketball affairs (story)
  • Hired: Rich Cho, vice president of basketball strategy (story); Glen Grunwald, senior advisor (story)
  • The Grizzlies demoted general manager Chris Wallace after the season ended, re-assigning him to their scouting department, and promoted two non-basketball executive to top roles in the front office. By promoting Prince and hiring Cho and Grunwald, the club added a pair of more seasoned basketball executives to their management group, but it still sounds like Wexler will oversee the basketball operations department, with Kleiman taking the lead on day-to-day matters. More hires are expected, but those will likely fill supporting roles.

Minnesota Timberwolves

  • Out: Tom Thibodeau (story)
  • Hired: Gersson Rosas, president of basketball operations (story); Gianluca Pascucci, assistant GM (story); Sachin Gupta, executive VP of basketball operations (story)
  • Having dismissed Thibodeau in January, the Timberwolves finished the 2018/19 season with GM Scott Layden running the show. However, they announced at the end of the regular season that they’d begin searching for a new president of basketball operations to replace Thibodeau. After interviewing several candidates, they ultimately landed on Rosas, a longtime Daryl Morey lieutenant in Houston.
  • Also considered: Chauncey Billups (story), Trajan Langdon (story), Calvin Booth (story), Michael Winger (story)

New Orleans Pelicans

  • Out: Dell Demps (story); Danny Ferry (story)
  • Hired: David Griffin, executive VP of basketball operations (story); Trajan Langdon, general manager (story)
  • The Pelicans fired Demps during the season and finished the season out with Ferry holding the interim GM role. Ferry was considered for the permanent job, but ultimately withdrew from consideration, citing concerns about moving his family to New Orleans full-time. Shortly thereafter, the Pelicans officially hired Griffin to run their basketball operations department. They later hired Langdon, who had interviewed for the top job, as their GM under Griffin.
  • Also considered: Larry Harris (story), Gersson Rosas (story), Tommy Sheppard (story), Danny Ferry (story)

Phoenix Suns

  • Out: Ryan McDonough (story)
  • Promoted: James Jones, permanent GM (story)
  • Hired: Jeff Bower, senior VP of basketball operations (story)
  • Considering McDonough was fired back in October, it may not be fair to consider this an offseason change. But when the regular season ended, it wasn’t clear who would be running the Suns’ front office going forward, after Jones and Trevor Bukstein served as interim co-GMs since McDonough’s ouster. Phoenix answered that question quickly, announcing Jones’ promotion to the permanent GM role. The team also compensated for Jones’ relative lack of management experience by pairing him with a veteran executive in Bower, who figures to play a key role in the front office.

Washington Wizards

  • Out: Ernie Grunfeld (story)
  • Promoted: Tommy Sheppard, general manager (story)
  • Hired: Sashi Brown, chief planning and operations officer (story)
  • The Wizards fired Grunfeld about a week before their season ended and hired a search firm to identify candidates to replace him. Although they conducted a number of interviews for the job, they ultimately chose to elevate an internal candidate, promoting Sheppard to the permanent GM job after he ran it on an interim basis through the draft and free agency. Former NFL executive Brown also joined the front office in a top role.
  • Also considered/rumored: Danny Ferry (story), Troy Weaver (story), Gersson Rosas (hired by Wolves), Tim Connelly (turned down offer), Masai Ujiri (story)
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Tyler Dorsey Seeking Bigger Role With Grizzlies

April 20th, 2019 at 1:30pm CST by JD Shaw
  • Grizzlies guard Tyler Dorsey hopes his post-trade spark will trigger an opportunity to gain a bigger role with the team next season, Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com details. Memphis acquired Dorsey, who averaged 9.8 points in 22 contests, from the Hawks in exchange for Shelvin Mack back in February. “For me, this was all about taking advantage of my opportunity, because I didn’t get much of an opportunity before I got traded here,” Dorsey said. “So to get here and gradually build into it was great. Some unfortunate injuries happened, so I got a lot more opportunities and tried to take advantage of it and finish strong, the right way to keep building.” Dorsey is set to become an unrestricted free agent in July, where he’ll be free to sign with any interested team.
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Grizzlies Notes: Cho, Valanciunas, Anderson, Assistants

April 19th, 2019 at 12:03pm CST by Luke Adams

After being let go by Charlotte in 2018, former Hornets GM Rich Cho had been consulting work for the Grizzlies, so it made sense that new Memphis executive VP of basketball operations and former Hornets intern Zach Kleiman contacted him right away last week when a permanent, high-level position opened up in the team’s front office.

“Yeah, he reached out to me pretty quickly,” Cho said, per Peter Edmiston of The Athletic. “Zach did a really good job for us in Charlotte as an intern, he’s a really bright guy and he’s passionate about the game. He’s an extremely hard worker. I’ve watched his career progress from afar and I’m really happy the way things have gone for him, especially that he’s getting this opportunity.”

As for his new role in Memphis, Cho said that he’ll be overseeing the team’s analytics department and all of the salary cap administration. He’ll also be advising the rest of the management group on player personnel issues and acquisitions, as Edminston details. Kleiman will be running the show for the Grizzlies, so Cho is ready to do what he can to assist the 30-year-old executive.

“On a 30,000-foot level, I’ll be helping Zach out wherever he needs help, and advising him accordingly,” Cho said. “As the GM, he’s going to have to wear a lot of hats and be involved in everything, and I’m going to try to help him out wherever I can.”

Here’s more on the Grizzlies:

  • Of players who appeared in at least 10 games in March, Jonas Valanciunas has the league’s 16th-highest usage rate, and averaged 10 more minutes per game than he had been playing in Toronto, writes David Cobb of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. As Cobb notes, Valanciunas was very happy with his increased role in Memphis, which could have an impact on his contract decision this summer — the big man has until June 13 to decide whether or not to pick up a $17.62MM player option.
  • As expected, Grizzlies forward Kyle Anderson underwent thoracic outlet decompression surgery on his injured right shoulder on Wednesday, the team announced in a press release. According to the Grizzlies, Anderson is expected to make a full recovery and resume full basketball activities before the club opens camp in the fall.
  • The Grizzlies have now lost a pair of assistant coaches to Vanderbilt. After leaving Memphis to become Vanderbilt’s new head coach, Jerry Stackhouse has brought fellow assistant Adam Mazarei to his staff, the school confirmed today in a press release. Grizzlies assistant Chad Forcier also announced earlier this week that he’s moving on, as J.B. Bickerstaff‘s staff disperses in various directions in advance of a new coach being hired.
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