Adam Caporn Rumors | Hoops Rumors

New York Notes: Nets Assistants, Grimes, Hartenstein, Brunson

July 6th, 2022 at 3:27pm CST by Rory Maher

The Nets have added Igor Kokoškov, Adam Caporn and Trevor Hendry as assistant coaches on Steve Nash‘s staff, per a team press release.

Kokoškov has extensive NBA experience, having served as an assistant coach for 20 years with the Clippers, Pistons, Suns, Cavs, Magic, Jazz, Kings, and most recently with the Mavericks last season. He was the head coach of the Suns for one season, in 2018/19.

In addition to his NBA coaching jobs, Kokoškov has also led the Georgian, Slovenian and Serbian national teams. He was the head coach of Turkish club Fenerbahçe in ’20/21. Marc Stein reported last month that Kokoškov was expected to join Brooklyn.

Caporn was the head coach of Brooklyn’s G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, last season. A native of Australia, Caporn played college ball at Saint Mary’s before joining the NBL for six seasons as a pro. He has extensive experience in player development and is currently an assistant with the Australian national team, helping the Boomers win a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics last summer.

Hendry has been the Nets’ head video coordinator for the past four seasons. He’s been with the organization since 2014, serving in a variety of roles in the basketball operations department prior to becoming video coordinator.

Here’s more from New York:

Knicks guard Quentin Grimes has a simple goal for Las Vegas Summer League, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post. “Really come out here and dominate,” Grimes said after the team’s first practice at Cox Pavillion. “I feel like I played well last year. Just coming in this year being a second-year guy, I know what to expect, I know how the games are. Just go out there and try to dominate every time offensively and defensively.” The 25th pick of the 2021 draft, Grimes averaged 6 PPG and 2 RPG while shooting 38.1% from three-point range and playing solid defense in 46 games (17.1 MPG) as a rookie last season. Grimes dealt with a dislocated knee cap towards the end of last season, but he says he’s fully healthy now, per Braziller.
Fred Katz and Law Murray of The Athletic take a look at what the Knicks can expect from center Isaiah Hartenstein, who agreed to a two-year, $16.7MM deal with New York in free agency. A strong passer and play-maker, Hartenstein could unlock easy baskets for players like Grimes, Immanuel Quickley, Evan Fournier and RJ Barrett, according to Murray, who says Hartenstein was underutilized offensively by the Clippers last season. Although he isn’t the most athletic player, Murray notes that Hartenstein rotates well on defense and uses his length to effectively defend the paint. Hartenstein posted impressive per-36 averages of 1.5 steals and 2.3 blocks per game last season.
Signing Jalen Brunson is a make-or-break move for Leon Rose‘s tenure as president of basketball operations, argues Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Begley details Rose’s 2021 offseason moves, which were considered low-risk at the time, yet the Knicks were forced to package various draft assets to move off the salaries of Kemba Walker, Nerlens Noel and Alec Burks in order to create cap space to sign Brunson. Sources tell Begley that one rival team was willing to trade a second-rounder to acquire Burks, but the Knicks ended up giving away two second-round picks and $6MM to Detroit to move Burks and Noel. Rose’s CAA connections haven’t led to sustained success to this point, per Begley, and signing Brunson needs to work out considering all the assets the Knicks gave up.
Part of the reason Brunson decided to sign with the Knicks is because he thought he’d have a better chance at becoming an All-Star in the East than the West, Marc Stein writes in his latest article for Substack. As Stein relays, Brunson is the first player in league history to receive a nine-figure contract from a new club without making an All-Star team, per ESPN Stats & Info (Twitter link).

Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Siakam, Love, Nets

July 6th, 2021 at 9:47pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Celtics have had a tumultuous start to their offseason, and fans can expect even more changes as the off-season progresses. But their options are limited, writes Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston, and making large changes require creativity and precision. President of basketball operations Brad Stevens, for his part, seems to agree.

“There are some things that we have to navigate from a financial perspective,” Stevens said. “With our limited ability to sign in free agency. We’re gonna have to be creative, we’re gonna have to continue to work, and we’re gonna have to continue to see what’s out there.”

Forsberg goes step-by-step through how the Celtics will likely approach their non-taxpayer mid-level exception, their trade exceptions, and the other tools they have available this offseason as they try to rebuild this team on the fly.

We have more from around the Atlantic Division:

Following rumors of the Warriors potentially using one or both of their picks along with James Wiseman to add win-now talent, Blake Murphy of The Athletic addresses the notion that the Raptors could move Pascal Siakam in such a deal. It wouldn’t be as simple as it seems, Murphy writes, both from a financial standpoint and from the Raptors’ end, as they would rather not pursue a deal that feels like it’s selling low on their All-NBA talent.
With two years and $60MM left on his deal, the Cavaliers would surely rather trade Kevin Love than buy him out, but if no trade materializes and they do end up going the buyout rate, keep an eye on the Nets as a landing spot, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “I understand going into my 14th season that being that No. 1 guy, playing 35 minutes, getting 20 touches a game is probably in my rear view,” Love said after practicing with Team USA on Tuesday. “But how I can affect the team, and feeling how I’m feeling now, I know that I can do it at a very high level.”
The Long Island Nets have named Adam Caporn their head coach, according to a team press release. Caporn comes to Brooklyn’s G League affiliate after seven seasons as head coach of Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence, the country’s premier player development program. Caporn is also currently serving as an assistant coach for the Australian national team as they compete for a gold medal in Tokyo.