Alvin Gentry Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Kings Fire Luke Walton; Alvin Gentry Named Interim Coach

November 21st, 2021 at 1:56pm CST by Rory Maher

1:56pm: Alvin Gentry will become the interim coach of the Kings, per Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link). He was previously serving as associate head coach under Walton.

Gentry’s last stint as a head coach was with the Pelicans from 2015-20, compiling a 175-225 record in five seasons before being fired. He has a total win-loss record of 510-595 across 17 partial seasons with the Heat, Pistons, Clippers, Suns and Pelicans. His most successful team was the 2009/10 Suns, who reached the Western Conference Finals and lost to the eventual champion Lakers in six games.

12:06pm: The Kings have fired head coach Luke Walton, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The Kings have struggled in the early portion of the season, losing seven of their past eight games and currently sit with a 6-11 record. They lost some seemingly winnable games during the slide, including games to the Pacers, Spurs, Thunder, and Raptors.

The team went 31-41 in each of the past two seasons under Walton, so he compiled a 68-93 overall record with the Kings. He’s under contract for one more year beyond this season and the team will be on the hook for the remainder of his salary.

Woj also relays that Alvin Gentry, the team’s associate head coach, is a strong candidate to serve as the interim coach. However, he hedged that statement by noting that a decision has yet to be made (Twitter link).

Another possible candidate to serve as interim coach is former Kings player and first-year assistant Doug Christie, Woj tweets.

We noted earlier today that Kings fans have been regularly chanting “fire Luke Walton” at home games and there was a report last week that indicated the head coach was firmly on the hot seat. There has been increasing urgency for the Kings to snap their 15-year playoff drought. The front office views the current roster as one capable of making the postseason, hence why Walton was fired after a 6-11 start.

It’s tough to see the team making the playoffs outright as a top-six seed, especially having started five games under .500. There are definitely talented players among the group, but the fit is questionable. It will be interesting to see if this decision has any impact on trade talks, or if the Kings will stick with the roster they have.

Sacramento was consistently a bottom-tier defensive team under Walton; the club ranked 20th in defensive rating in 2019/20, 30th last season, and 23rd through 17 games this season. It ranked 27th, 30th, and 24th in total rebounds across the same time period. Obviously not all of that is on the coach, but it’s partly why the Kings have struggled to compete at the level they were hoping for.

Pelicans’ David Griffin Reportedly On Hot Seat

November 11th, 2021 at 8:20am CST by Luke Adams

There has been more and more chatter around the NBA in recent weeks about David Griffin‘s job security, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, who says that Griffin’s hold on his position as Pelicans executive VP of basketball operations appears increasingly tenuous.

The Pelicans came into the season with playoff aspirations, but have lost eight consecutive games and own a league-worst 1-11 record. The team has been without Zion Williamson so far, and Griffin has faced criticism for making misleading comments on Media Day about when the former No. 1 pick would be ready to return from his offseason foot surgery.

When Griffin took the reins in New Orleans in 2019, the Pelicans were in position to draft Williamson and cash in on trades involving stars Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday, giving them a massive leg up in the rebuilding process.

Although Griffin did well to stock up on draft picks in the Davis and Holiday blockbusters, he has made a handful of other questionable moves, including extending Steven Adams and then dumping him a year later before the extension even took effect. Additionally, besides Williamson, Griffin’s first-round picks in 2019 and 2020 – Jaxson Hayes, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Kira Lewis – have yet to make a major impact at the NBA level.

According to Fischer, another recent incident raised eyebrows around the league. A NOLA.com report in September claimed that Griffin blamed the Pelicans’ poor start in 2019/20 on former head coach Alvin Gentry, telling one person, “I give Alvin all the answers to the test, and he still fails.” After Sacramento beat the Pelicans in New Orleans on October 29, Griffin approached Gentry – now a Kings assistant – to say hello, but Gentry viewed Griffin’s friendliness as inauthentic, per Fischer.

During that interaction, Fischer says, Griffin denied multiple details from that NOLA.com report, while Gentry pointed out that the Pelicans had essentially the same record under Stan Van Gundy (31-41) in 2020/21 as they did under Gentry in ’19/20. “You must not have given Stan the answers to the test, either,” Gentry shouted at Griffin, per Fischer’s sources, who say the two men had to be separated.

Meanwhile, Willie Green, the third coach of Griffin’s tenure with the Pelicans, expressed frustration following the club’s loss to Oklahoma City on Wednesday night, as Andrew Lopez of ESPN details. Four New Orleans players combined for five technical fouls in the game, prompting Green to call out his players after the game for complaining about foul calls they “haven’t earned.” The first-year head coach also wasn’t happy with his players’ compete level.

“It’s not the losing streak. It’s not one quarter. It’s our approach to this game,” Green said. “There were moments in the game where we just didn’t have guys who didn’t compete hard enough for me. Hard enough for our team. That’s a non-negotiable for me. That’s the deal. That’s who we are. As the leader of this team, I can’t have that. I can’t have guys on the floor if they aren’t going to give 110%.”

Getting Williamson and Brandon Ingram (hip) back on the court will go a long way toward making the Pelicans competitive again, but the club’s early-season slump is creating an increasingly difficult path to playoff contention. If New Orleans doesn’t bounce back in a major way, significant changes could be coming, and the head coach is unlikely to be the fall guy for a third straight year — that means Griffin finds himself firmly on the hot seat.

Pelicans Rumors: Williamson, Griffin, Coaches, Front Office

September 22nd, 2021 at 4:14pm CST by Luke Adams

There hasn’t been much noise surrounding Zion Williamson since a June report suggested some of his family members want him out of New Orleans, but the 2021/22 season will be crucial for the Pelicans and their long-term relationship with the former No. 1 overall pick.

Williamson will be eligible for a rookie scale extension, and while no player has ever turned down a maximum-salary rookie scale extension, New Orleans will want to take a major step toward contention this season to reduce the risk of Zion becoming the first.

In a deep dive into the situation in New Orleans, Christian Clark of NOLA.com suggests Williamson grew frustrated back in the Pelicans back in his rookie season when they handled his return from a preseason knee injury with extreme caution, extending his recovery timeline and then having him play in short “bursts” when he returned. Williamson detested those “burst” limits, according to Clark, who says there was significant tension between the star forward and the team’ medical staff that season.

Additionally, while executive VP of basketball operations David Griffin tried to forge a bond with Williamson during his rookie season, Zion’s relationship with the head of the team’s front office had “begun to sour” by the end of the year, says Clark. The two men don’t communicate frequently now, Clark adds.

Here’s more from Clark’s report, which includes several interesting tidbits and is worth checking out in full:

Griffin isn’t particularly popular among a segment of Pelicans employees, who referred to him in a group chat last year as “Griff Krause” while ‘The Last Dance’ was airing, according to Clark. The moniker was a reference to former Bulls GM Jerry Krause, whom the ESPN documentary portrayed as disliked by the team’s stars and head coach.
Although many people in the Pelicans’ organization believed the team needed to replace head coach Alvin Gentry in 2020, some didn’t like the way the change was handled. According to Clark, Griffin blamed Gentry for the Pelicans’ poor start that season, telling one person, “I give Alvin all the answers to the test, and he still fails.”
Tyronn Lue was believed to be the Pelicans’ top choice when they replaced Gentry, but Lue opted to join the Clippers. When Griffin pivoted to Stan Van Gundy, some people in the organization raised concerns that the fit would be awkward, Clark writes, but the Pelicans hired him anyway. The team dismissed Van Gundy this spring after just one season.
While J.J. Redick‘s public criticism of the Pelicans’ front office earlier this year placed Griffin and his group under a microscope, Jrue Holiday praised the team for sending him to a contender after he quietly asked to be traded, and several prominent agents – including Mark Bartelstein – told Clark that their interactions with New Orleans’ head of basketball operations have been positive.

Pacific Notes: Vassell, Brown, Williams, Gentry

October 11th, 2020 at 12:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Warriors like Florida State’s Devin Vassell enough to consider him with the No. 2 pick and he would be their likely target if they decide to trade down, writes Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle. Multiple sources tell Letourneau that Golden State views Vassell as the best wing defender in the draft and a long-term replacement for Andre Iguodala.

Vassell is 6’7″ with a 7-foot wingspan and has the versatility to be an effective defender at four positions. Not only does he specialize in forcing turnovers, he’s also a reliable shooter, hitting 41.5% from 3-point range this season. Leonard Hamilton, Vassell’s college coach, compares him to Klay Thompson.

“I always tell people that he’s very similar to Thompson,” Hamilton said. “If you look at his shooting stats at Washington State, they’re similar to Devin’s. He’s long, lean, athletic.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

Warriors assistant Mike Brown “made a strong impression” during his interview with the Clippers and has become “an emerging candidate” to be the team’s next head coach, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times.
The Suns turned out to be the perfect opportunity for Monty Williams, who hadn’t been a head coach since 2014/15, notes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Williams led the team to a 34-39 record, including a perfect 8-0 mark after the restart. “When I got the opportunity in Phoenix, it was a lot of things that went into it,” Williams said. “It wasn’t just a basketball fit for me. It was a fit for my family because I had moved them around from New Orleans to Oklahoma City, back to San Antonio and then we go to Philly and I’m going to move them again. So I was looking for a family fit. I needed, obviously for me, to pray about it and make sure I had the peace that I needed to take on another job because it requires a lot of energy, a ton of time and I had to have a peace about doing it again.”
New associate head coach Alvin Gentry fits in perfectly with the Kings‘ up-tempo philosophy, writes Tracee Jay of NBA.com. Under Gentry, the Pelicans led the league in pace in 2017/18 and were second in 2018/19.

Kings Hire Alvin Gentry As Associate Head Coach

October 7th, 2020 at 12:03pm CST by Dana Gauruder

OCTOBER 7: The Kings’ hiring of Gentry is now official, the team announced in a press release.

“I’m excited to add Alvin’s valuable experience and leadership to the team,” Walton said in a statement. “His veteran coaching perspective will be a great addition and I look forward to working with him again to continue developing our group.”

OCTOBER 6: The Kings have reached agreement with former Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry to make him an associate head coach on Luke Walton’s staff, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets.

The Sixers were interested in adding Gentry to Doc Rivers’ staff in the same role, Stein adds. Walton and Gentry worked together on Steve Kerr’s staff with the Warriors.

Sacramento’s interest in Gentry was revealed last week. He was Buddy Hield‘s first head coach. Hield’s four-year extension begins next season and he reportedly wasn’t returning Walton’s phone calls.

Gentry was fired in mid-August after the Pelicans played poorly during the restart and failed to make the playoffs. Gentry spent five seasons as the head coach in New Orleans, compiling a 175-225 (.438) record and making the playoffs just once. He’s also been a head coach with the Clippers, Pistons and Suns.

Sacramento had an opening after former Suns head coach Igor Kokoskov left Walton’s staff in July to become the head coach of EuroLeague team Fenerbahce.

Buddy Hield Unhappy, Won’t Take Walton Calls

October 2nd, 2020 at 8:48pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Buddy Hield is causing another stir, this time by saying nothing.

Hield, whose big four-year extension kicks in next season, is refusing to answer any of coach Luke Walton‘s phone calls, according to Jason Jones of The Athletic.

Hield hinted at a trade demand before the Kings front office handed him an extension worth up to $106MM, with $86MM in guarantees plus an additional $20MM in incentives.

His statistics took a tumble in Walton’s first season at the Kings’ head coach. He averaged 19.2 PPG while shooting 42.9% overall and 39.4% from deep. He also averaged a career-high 2.3 turnovers.

In his third season prior to signing the extension, Hield posted averages of 20.7 PPG on .458/.427 shooting while committing 1.8 turnovers per game. He started all 82 games that season but came off the bench in 28 of 72 games this season.

Hield was reportedly unhappy with a sixth man role.

In order for Hield to be dealt, he’d have to be traded to a team with sufficient cap room. Alternatively, the team acquiring him would have to match salaries. He’s apparently expressed a desire to join the Sixers, as Jones notes that he liked an Instagram post linking him to a trade there. Hield also liked a news alert on Twitter about Doc Rivers being hired as the Sixers’ head coach.

The Sixers have some big contracts, most notably Al Horford and Tobias Harris, that they could look to deal.

Jones provides an interesting side note that might make Hield happier in Sacramento. Jones confirmed that the Kings are interested in hiring Hield’s former Pelicans coach, Alvin Gentry, as one of Walton’s top assistants.

In any case, the situation regarding Hield, who carries a team-high $24.9MM cap hit next year, bears watching.

Coaching Rumors: Gentry, Vanterpool, Rockets, Pelicans, More

October 2nd, 2020 at 10:18am CST by Luke Adams

After being dismissed by New Orleans in August, Alvin Gentry hasn’t been linked to any head coaching openings, but he’s reportedly drawing interest from multiple teams for a potential assistant role.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Thursday evening (via Twitter) that Gentry has emerged as a “serious possibility” to join Doc Rivers‘ staff with the Sixers. The two veteran coaches have a pre-existing relationship, as Gentry was the associate head coach under Rivers during his first year with the Clippers in 2013/14.

While Philadelphia is one possibility for Gentry, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link) hears that New Orleans’ former head coach is also in the running to become the Kings‘ associate head coach under Luke Walton. Gentry and Walton were previously members of Golden State’s coaching staff during the 2014/15 season.

Here are a few more coaching rumors and notes from around the NBA:

Timberwolves associate head coach David Vanterpool will be among the candidates interviewing for the Rockets‘ head coaching job, reports Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Vanterpool is also believed to be a candidate for Indiana and Oklahoma City, and was considered by Chicago before the club hired Billy Donovan.
Confirming a previous report from The Philadelphia Inquirer, Wojnarowski confirms (via Twitter) that Tyronn Lue has meetings lined up with the Pelicans and Rockets. Lue is also a leading candidate for the Clippers‘ job, and Woj notes that L.A. is expected to begin meeting with candidates soon.
The Pelicans‘ head coaching search process is underway, according to Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link), who hears that the plan is to eventually bring in two or three finalists for formal in-person interviews. It’s not clear when those face-to-face meetings will happen though, Lopez adds. A previous report on Lue’s meeting with New Orleans on Friday suggested it would be an “informal” discussion.
Some people with the Nets view Oklahoma City assistant Brian Keefe as a good fit for Steve Nash‘s staff in Brooklyn, writes Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Keefe was in OKC with Kevin Durant from 2007-15 and returned to the team last year, but isn’t a lock to be back with the Thunder after the club’s head coaching change.

More On Clippers-Doc Rivers Breakup

September 28th, 2020 at 8:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Clippers’ decision to part ways with Doc Rivers could be the riskiest coaching change in NBA history, Kevin Pelton of ESPN opines. The team is rolling the dice with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George potentially opting out and becoming unrestricted free agents after next season. L.A.’s collapse against the Nuggets can be attributed to poor shooting, Pelton adds, as the Clippers took higher percentage shots than the Nuggets but made substantially fewer of them.

We have more on Rivers and the Clippers:

The Clippers’ front office concluded that issues that had cropped up during the season surfaced under the stress of the playoffs, Brian Windhorst of ESPN reports. That led to the assessment that Rivers had to be held accountable for the team’s collapse.
By severing ties with Rivers, the Clippers indeed are blaming him for their playoff flop, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated opines. Could Phil Jackson be the answer? Jackson is 75 but he’s had time to recharge his batteries and this wouldn’t be a long-term job anyway, Mannix notes.
Tyronn Lue and Jeff Van Gundy are reportedly two of the former head coaches the Clippers will consider. Dan Loumena of the Los Angeles Times speculates that the Clippers might also consider assistant coach Sam Cassell, Chauncey Billups, Mark Jackson, Stan Van Gundy, Mike D’Antoni, Nate McMillan, Kenny Atkinson, Alvin Gentry, Jason Kidd and Becky Hammon.
Lue is the 3-2 favorite to get the job, according to Bet Online, Adam Zagoria of the New York Times tweets. Van Gundy is the second choice at 3-1 with Billups surprisingly listed as the third choice at 4-1.
Add the Rockets to the list of teams interested in Rivers, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. The Pelicans and 76ers have already made contact.

Latest On Alvin Gentry’s Firing

August 15th, 2020 at 5:40pm CST by Arthur Hill

The decision to fire head coach Alvin Gentry was especially difficult for Pelicans VP of basketball operations David Griffin because of their long relationship, writes Jim Eichenhofer of NBA.com. Griffin, who previously worked with Gentry in Phoenix, insisted the move wasn’t a result of the team’s disappointing 2-6 record in seeding games.

“I’ve known Alvin for more than 15 years, so this is really difficult on a human level,” Griffin said. “He hasn’t forgotten how to coach and this isn’t about any shortcomings. This is far more about finding the right fit and a shared vision for a very young and ambitious group moving forward.”

Griffin adds that the Pelicans intend to take their time in the search for a new coach, partly because of coronavirus-related restrictions that make in-person interviews challenging. He said the front office won’t be content to conduct the process through conference calls on Zoom and wants to talk to as many candidates face to face as possible.

“We will not be quick with this at all. This is not a rush,” he said. “We have a job that we believe is going to be the most attractive in the NBA, quite frankly. With all of the candidates still in the (Orlando) bubble – and there are some that may not be – candidates you may want to talk to are still with teams, in many circumstances.”

There’s more related to Gentry’s dismissal:

Despite the head coaching change, no moves will be made right away with the assistant coaches, Eichenhofer adds in the same story. “We feel very strongly about the assistant coaching staff we have,” Griffin said. “I’ve connected with almost all of them. We feel very strongly about the quality of staff we have. Some of those individuals potentially will be head coaching candidates elsewhere, Chris Finch certainly among them. He’ll be part of our conversation moving forward and it’s our intention that many of our staffers will continue to be with the next regime at some point.”
Sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic that Griffin began to have doubts about Gentry shortly after being hired by New Orleans in April of last year. He had reportedly been leaning toward a coaching change for a while, and the performance in Orlando made the decision easier.
The Pelicans’ priority should be to find a coach who can help star rookie Zion Williamson reach his potential as a defender, contends Kevin Pelton of ESPN (Insider link). Pelton points out that Williamson was a difference maker at Duke with 3.9 steals per 100 plays and a shot-blocking rate of 5.8% on two-point attempts. His NBA numbers were far below what his performance in college would suggest.

Pelicans Fire Head Coach Alvin Gentry

August 15th, 2020 at 11:25am CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans have parted ways with head coach Alvin Gentry, according to ESPN’s Andrew Lopez and Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The team has made it official, confirming the news in a press release.

“I’m grateful for and appreciative of Alvin’s commitment to the organization and, most importantly, the local community,” Pelicans executive VP of basketball operations David Griffin said in a statement. “The City of New Orleans is richer because of his presence here. These types of moves are often about fit and timing, and we believe now is the right time to make this change and bring in a new voice.”

Gentry’s dismissal comes on the heels of a disappointing showing for New Orleans at the NBA’s restart in Orlando. The Pelicans entered the summer tied with the Trail Blazers and Kings at No. 9 in the West, 3.5 games behind the eighth-seeded Grizzlies. However, while Portland surpassed Memphis for the No. 8 seed with a strong showing at Walt Disney World, the Pelicans struggled — despite a favorable schedule, they lost six of their eight seeding games.

In total, Gentry spent five seasons as the head coach in New Orleans, compiling a 175-225 (.438) record and making the playoffs just once. As Lopez observes (via Twitter), the Pelicans were hit hard by injuries in recent years, but the team still had loftier expectations, especially considering Anthony Davis anchored the roster for the first four years of Gentry’s tenure.

A report earlier this week suggested there were strong signals that Griffin wanted to make a head coaching change, so today’s news doesn’t come as a major surprise. Gentry still had one year worth $5MM+ left on his contract, but it appears team ownership gave its approval to hire a new head coach while paying off the rest of that deal.

The Pelicans will now join the Bulls and Nets as teams seeking a new head coach. They’ll have a head start on Brooklyn, which won’t formally launch a search until its season is over.

As Wojnarowski reported last weekend, Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue and Lakers assistant Jason Kidd are expected to be among New Orleans’ top head coaching candidates. Lue, in particular, has a strong connection to Griffin, having coached the Cavaliers when Griffin was running the front office in Cleveland.

In their full ESPN.com story today on Gentry’s dismissal, Wojnarowski and Lopez suggest former Nets coach Kenny Atkinson will also receive consideration from the Pelicans, as will Nets interim coach Jacque Vaughn if Brooklyn doesn’t retain him. As Woj and Lopez note, New Orleans’ general manager, Trajan Langdon, was previously a member of the Nets’ front office, so he’s very familiar with both Atkinson and Vaughn.

Sam Amick of The Athletic also recently identified Mike D’Antoni as a dark-horse candidate to replace Gentry if the Rockets don’t retain him, noting that D’Antoni and Griffin previously worked together for several years in Phoenix.

The Pelicans’ job figures to be an appealing one, considering the roster is anchored by rising stars like Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, as well as veteran guard Jrue Holiday. While Holiday could become an unrestricted free agent as early as 2021, New Orleans should control Williamson and Ingram for years to come — Zion is entering the second year of his rookie contract, while Ingram is eligible for restricted free agency this fall.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.