New York Knicks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Latest On Knicks Coaching Search

May 16th, 2014 at 2:24pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:24pm: Phil Jackson and Mike Dunleavy Sr. met this morning, a source tells Marc Berman of the New York Post. The two have had occasional casual meetings for a while, but today’s encounter was more than just a friendly get-together, Berman hears. It’s still unclear whether Jackson considers Dunleavy a strong candidate, a source close to Dunleavy tells Berman.

8:52am: There were no indications as of Thursday afternoon that the Knicks would consider Mark Jackson for the coaching vacancy, but apparently that’s changed, as Marc Berman of the New York Post hears that the former Warriors coach is on New York’s tentative list of candidates. The Knicks are also likely to interview Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis and Bucks assistant Jim Cleamons, assuming they get permission from their respective teams, and Knicks president Phil Jackson is high on Pacers assistant Nate McMillan, too, Berman writes.

Berman echoes earlier reports that the Knicks are eyeing Thunder guard Derek Fisher to coach the team. Still, a source tells the Post scribe that there’s concern about a bidding war between the Knicks and Lakers over Fisher, who plans to retire from playing when Oklahoma City’s postseason run ends. Fisher has expressed less than full-throated enthusiasm about coaching next season, as Berman notes.

Phil Jackson is OK with hiring an established coach who doesn’t specialize in the triangle, but he’d want someone willing to adopt at least a semblance of the triple-post offense, according to Berman. That conflicts somewhat with Thursday’s prevailing wisdom that the Knicks were focused mainly on young coaches with ties to the Knicks president. Other candidates who appear to be in the mix include Nuggets coach Brian Shaw, Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg, Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue and Lakers D-League assistant Luke Walton.

Hawks Pursue Omer Asik As Rockets Shop Lin

May 16th, 2014 at 10:19am CST by Chuck Myron

The Hawks are among the teams pursuing Rockets center Omer Asik as Houston attempts to trade Asik and Jeremy Lin to clear cap room for Carmelo Anthony, according to Sam Smith of Bulls.com, who works the news into his weekly mailbag column. Still, Rockets GM Daryl Morey recently said he doesn’t expect to trade Asik or Lin in pursuit of a marquee player, and he’s downplayed the notion of trading his backup center ever since his self-imposed December deadline for swapping Asik passed.

Rumors have persisted nevertheless, particularly given a March report that identified Houston as one of two non-New York landing spots atop his list of preferred free agent destinations. The Rockets have roughly $57MM in commitments beneath the projected $63.2MM cap for next season. Shedding the cap hits for Asik and Lin would give the team an additional $16.7MM in flexibility, putting them in range of the nearly $22.5MM maximum salary for which Anthony is eligible. It would still be difficult, if not impossible, to find teams willing to absorb both Asik and Lin without giving up salary in return, particularly given their balloon payments of $15MM each for this season, as I explained in November.

The cap figure for Asik, like Lin, will be slightly less than $8.4MM, significantly less than what they actually make next season. Still, I’m not certain Asik would be the proper fit on a team that liberally launched three-pointers this season and found success with that strategy in the playoffs against the Pacers, particularly if the Hawks envision moving Al Horford to power forward, as Smith suggests. That would be similar to the sort of situation in which Asik found himself this year next to Dwight Howard on a Houston team that prioritizes floor spacing.

Asik is nonetheless a highly skilled interior defender whose contract would expire after next season, giving Atlanta the chance to go after the juicy 2015 free agent class. It’s unclear what the Hawks would be willing to surrender in return, but I’d imagine the Rockets would prefer that it center on draft compensation, given their apparent desire to clear salary for this summer.

Phil Jackson Tells Felton To Expect Trade

May 16th, 2014 at 8:24am CST by Chuck Myron

Knicks president Phil Jackson told Raymond Felton last month that he’ll trade him during the offseason, a source tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Felton, in the middle of a four-year contract worth close to $14.9MM, is coming off arguably his worst NBA season, and is facing two felony weapons charges stemming from an arrest in February.

The Knicks came close to trading Felton to the Clippers at the deadline this past season, before the team hired Jackson, but L.A. was reluctant to take the point guard on as part of a package that included Iman Shumpert. Felton drew criticism around that time from an NBA executive who, in a conversation with Zagoria, called him “the worst starting point guard in the NBA.”

Felton, who’ll turn 30 next month, averaged a career-low 9.7 points per game this past season, though that’s partly attributable to his dip in shot attempts per contest, which were also at a career low of 9.4. He averaged 5.6 assists and 2.0 turnovers per game, a respectable ratio, though his 31.8% three-point shooting was subpar. It was an overall decline from the previous season, when he recorded a 15.2 PER, and his 12.9 PER this year was just one of many numbers that were lower this season than in 2012/13 for the Knicks.

The Wasserman Media Group client will make more than $3.637MM next season, and he has a player option worth more than $3.95MM for 2015/16. It would probably take a bounceback year for him to consider opting out, so the contract won’t be easy for Jackson to unload this summer.

And-Ones: Draft, Sterling, Pippen

May 15th, 2014 at 11:02pm CST by Cray Allred

Doug McDermott came in at just over 6’6″ in height and 6’9″ in wingspan at the combine, measurements that a league executive tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News are “potentially disastrous” for the projected top-10 pick. Deveney thinks the forward will slip into the late lottery or worse. The measurements increase the concerns over his ability to defend at the wing we noted in our prospect profile of the Creighton All-American. Here’s a roundup of more of tonight’s notes from around the league:

Julius Randle, Noah Vonleh, Jerami Grant, Kyle Anderson, and DeAndre Daniels all turned out average or better measurements in wingspan, per Deveney. Randle’s length was of particular concern prior to the combine, as we noted in our prospect profile of the Kentucky forward.
Nik Stauskas unexpectedly sat out combine drills today, telling reporters including Brendan F. Quinn of MLive.com that he had little to gain by demonstrating his established shooting skills. Instead, the shooting guard hopes to prove his stock through physical testing and interviews at the combine.
The league likely won’t take action to strip the Clippers from Donald Sterling until after the season, reports Michael McMann of SI.com in a piece outlining the steps the NBA will take to perform the ouster.
McCann says that a divorce between the Sterlings, or any other attempts to complicate the legal process, likely won’t hinder the league’s efforts based on straightforward CBA provisions for ownership transition.
Donald Sterling’s lawyer sent a letter to the league, threatening to sue the NBA and informing the league of his client’s refusal to pay the $2.5MM fine levied against him by Adam Silver, McCann reports in a separate piece.
The fine was already past due, and failure to pay should actually bolster the league’s case, tweets Larry Coon of Basketball Insiders.
Scottie Pippen is considering an offer to work for the Knicks, possibly as an assistant coach, according to a report from Marc Berman of The New York Post.

Coaching Rumors: Kerr, Ollie, Thibodeau

May 15th, 2014 at 10:11pm CST by Cray Allred

Stephen Curry went on the record in his support of new Warriors coach Steve Kerr, telling Marcus Thompson of Bay Area News Group he’s on board despite the star’s frustration with the firing of Mark Jackson. “I just want to see [Kerr] build that relationship with the players. To be able to get the most out of us,” Curry said. “We’re in good hands. I’m not worried about that. He just has to develop his coaching style. I agree with the decision [to hire Kerr].” Here’s more on the coaching front:

Sources tell Marc Berman of The New York Post that Phil Jackson isn’t ready to consider himself as a candidate for Knicks coach in the wake of Kerr declining to join the Knicks.
Jerry West thinks Jackson should coach the Knicks if his health will allow, he told Marc Berman of The New York Post. West added that Jackson will have to change his demeanor as an executive to be as successful as he was as a coach.
West acknowledged to Berman that Stan Van Gundy was the Warriors‘ first head coaching choice over Kerr.
Kerr tells Berman in a separate piece that he received Jackson’s blessing to meet with the Warriors while deep in discussions with the Knicks, and that the Zen Master wasn’t bitter with his eventual decision to choose Golden State over New York.
Kevin Ollie is having his resolve to stay at UConn tested by strong interest from an unnamed NBA team, a league source tells Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. “A team has come at him hard,” the source said. “He’s always preferred UConn. But he may have a decision to make.”
Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com expects speculation around Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau to linger until the coach signs another extension with Chicago, even though Thibodeau has three years remaining on his current deal. Both Thibodeau and GM Gar Forman declined to comment on rumblings of tension between the coach and front office, increasingly fueled by other teams’ plans to pursue Thibodeau.
Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak continued to downplay Kobe Bryant‘s influence on L.A.’s coaching search, telling Andy Katz of ESPN.com the star’s wishes to be involved won’t be catered to. “He really won’t weigh in on something like this,” said Kupchak. “I’m not even sure that we’ll talk to him prior to interviews.”

Knicks Coaching Rumors: Van Gundy, Walton

May 15th, 2014 at 3:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

The best offer the Knicks made Steve Kerr was for four years and $20MM with incentives, reports Ian O’Connor of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter links), well short of the five-year, $25MM deal he wound up with from the Warriors. It was even farther away than the five years and $30MM the Mike Tannenbaum client reportedly would have liked. The Knicks insist team president Phil Jackson, and not owner James Dolan, held the line on their offer, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post, who adds that while Dolan wasn’t pleased with Kerr’s lack of coaching experience, he would have approved the hire. A friend of Kerr’s told Berman that the new Warriors coach likes the Spurs flow offense, leading Berman to suggest that Jackson’s insistence on the triangle might have been a stumbling block for Kerr.

In any case, it’s on to Plan B for New York, and here’s the latest on who might coach the team now that Jackson’s No. 1 choice is no longer an option:

Jeff Van Gundy indicated that he would consider coaching the Knicks, as part of his remarks in an appearance today on ESPN Radio with Colin Cowherd, notes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Still, he doesn’t appear to fit the profile of the sort of young coach with ties to Phil Jackson that the team is seeking.

Earlier updates:

The Knicks will also consider Luke Walton, report Shelburne and ESPN.com colleague Marc Stein. The team is mostly likely to hire a younger coach with whom Phil Jackson has worked in the past.
The Knicks will also see if there’s a compensation package that would interest the Nuggets in allowing Shaw out of his contract, Shelburne and Stein write in the same piece. Shaw would have been even with Kerr, if not higher, in the eyes of the Knicks had he not already been employed in Denver, the ESPN scribes hear.
There’s no indication that Phil Jackson will pursue an established coach like Mark Jackson or Tom Thibodeau, despite the fondness that some in the Knicks organization have for the Bulls coach, according to Stein and Shelburne.
Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg is on the Knicks radar, according to ESPN’s Chris Broussard (Twitter link).
The Knicks will consider Clippers assistant coach Tyronn Lue for their opening, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com, seconding a report from colleague Marc Stein on ESPN’s SportsCenter. Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis and Thunder guard Derek Fisher will also draw a look from the Knicks, as we passed along earlier.
Brian Shaw, a former Lakers assistant under Jackson, tells Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post that he will remain as head coach of the Nuggets and won’t pursue any opportunity with the Knicks (All Twitter links).
A source told Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com last month that Carmelo Anthony, set to hit free agency in July, is high on playing for Mark Jackson. It’s also not out of the question that Phil Jackson would coach the team, Begley writes, though the Zen Master has said repeatedly that he won’t do that.

Steve Kerr, Joe Lacob On Deal, Curry, Warriors

May 15th, 2014 at 11:03am CST by Chuck Myron

Steve Kerr thought at one point that the Warriors preferred to hire Stan Van Gundy instead of him, as ESPN.com reports, but when the Pistons swooped in and hired Van Gundy, Kerr became Golden State’s clear-cut No. 1 option. Kerr appeared to be leaning heavily toward the Knicks all along, and it was “agonizing” for him to say no to Knicks president Phil Jackson, as Kerr told Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group, but he wound up accepting a five-year, $25MM offer from Golden State. The deal is devoid of team or coach options, as USA Today’s Sam Amick tweets, and a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that Stephen Curry, a vocal supporter of Jackson, is excited about Kerr (Twitter link). Kawakami scored a one-on-one with the new Warriors coach, while Amick spoke with Golden State co-owner Joe Lacob. The full interviews are tantamount to required reading for Warriors fans, and perhaps Knicks fans, too, and we’ll pass along a few highlights from them that detail how the deal went down:

Kerr on the relationships that led him to Golden State:

“What helped is that I have previous relationships with Joe and Kirk and definitely Bob. Bob and I have known each other for years–he was Robin Lopez’s agent; I drafted Robin in Phoenix, so we spent some time together then. So I knew Bob. And I’ve known Joe actually a long time through a mutual friend, a venture capitalist in the Bay Area. So we’ve been on golf trips together. The familiarity for sure was helpful and it helped everybody relax and just sort of … be themselves. I’ve been preparing for this for the last year. I knew I wanted to coach and I had some prepared materials that I showed them. But more than anything we just talked about the opportunity and the team and the possibilities. We were just all very comfortable with one another.”

Lacob on his relationship with Kerr:

“I knew him through friends — and through golf, quite frankly. I’ve been on golf trips with Steve before, so I know him socially for many years. He’s best friends with one of my best friends and some other people, so I’ve known him, but not necessarily that close or that professionally as has been portrayed. He is certainly somebody who we have always liked, sort of a great, intelligent guy. So he was on our list, and when we decided to make a change he was on our short list of people who we wanted to talk to.”

Kerr on the draw of Stephen Curry, whom Kerr, then Suns GM, tried to acquire in 2009:

“It was huge. I talked to him tonight and I told him this is retribution for that deal falling through back in ’09. [Laughs.] A big part of the pull was not just Steph but the whole roster. It’s a really skilled, talented team. They’ve done a lot of good things the last couple years, they play both ends which was very important. This is not a renovation by any means. This is more just this team has done great things the last couple years and let’s try to build on that. I love the mentality. I think Mark really instilled a defensive identity and the emphasis on rebounding. He did a lot of really good things. That makes my job a lot easier. I’m able to build on that rather than starting to try to build a foundation. The foundation is already there. It’s really an attractive job.”

Lacob on player support for Kerr:

“[Curry] is extremely supportive. That’s all I can tell you. We got Steve Kerr because of our players. We have great players, great character individuals. They all want to win, and I can just tell you that they’re very supportive.”

Kerr on whether he’ll have front office input:

“Yeah, but not as a decision-maker and I wouldn’t want that. I’m going to have a busy enough job as it is. I think to me the healthiest situation for any coach is to have a say, but not have the ultimate decision. I think that’s what the GM is for and I got a really good sense from all the guys that it’s about a consensus. And I’ll be part of that.”

Lacob on hiring another first-time coach:

“Yes, it’s true, [Kerr] has not coached before. But this is what management is all about. You have to be able to pick people, and he is incredibly prepared…Every detail you can imagine. He knew our roster in and out. He had assistant coaches he wanted to go after. It was like a tour de force. Look, at the end of the day I know he knows a lot about basketball. We’re taking a little bit of a risk on his coaching ability, but we did that with Mark and it worked. So it’s just about finding the right fit for the organization and a guy who has extremely high potential, is a hard worker and is very prepared. That’s what we have got.”

And-Ones: Hairston, Wolves, Draft

May 14th, 2014 at 10:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

One player whose draft stock might benefit from the pre-draft interview process is P.J. Hairston, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. In 26 games this past season with the Texas Legends of the NBA D-League, Hairston averaged 21.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 0.8 APG, and 1.5 SPG in 32.3 minutes per contest.

Reactions To Kerr Heading To Warriors

May 14th, 2014 at 9:07pm CST by Eddie Scarito

It was reported earlier that Steve Kerr accepted the Warriors five-year, $25MM offer to become their new head coach. This news comes as a blow to the Knicks who had been the favorites to sign Kerr.

The latest on Kerr:

In an article by ESPN.com, multiple sources said Kerr told Knicks president Phil Jackson he chose the Warriors for family reasons. Sources also said that Kerr preferred the Warriors’ job to the Knicks job all along, but it was a difficult decision because of his relationship with Jackson.
The article also notes that the draw of working close to his San Diego home factored heavily into his decision.
In regards to Kerr’s hiring, Warriors owner Joe Lacob said, “We love Kerr. Incredibly prepared. We got him because of our players. The Golden State Warriors’ future is bright,” per a tweet by Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
The Knicks are regrouping after the Kerr announcement, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Shelburne’s sources told her that Kurt Rambis and Derek Fisher will be among the candidates considered for the team’s head coaching position.
Kerr will stay in his broadcasting position through the Western Conference Finals before reporting full-time to Warriors, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link).
The five-year, $25MM contract Kerr signed makes him one of the best paid coaches in the league, writes Nick Schwartz of USA Today.
Chris Sheridan of Sheridan Hoops thinks the Knicks should be glad that Kerr passed on their position. This leaves the door open to hire the best candidate, Mark Jackson, opines Sheridan.
One of the points that the Warriors were going to make to Kerr was that Knicks owner James Dolan had gone through eight coaches since 2001, reports Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link).
Kerr showed how smart he was by picking Golden State’s superior roster over the Knicks’, writes Mike Lupica of The New York Daily News.

Eastern Notes: Van Gundy, Knicks, Cavaliers

May 14th, 2014 at 8:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Stan Van Gundy hit a home run when he interviewed in Los Angeles with Pistons owner Tom Gores and representatives from his Platinum Equity firm, as Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press details. He broke down every player on the roster and presented a detailed plan for his first 100 days as he convinced the team he could handle the front office and coaching duties at the same time, Ellis writes.