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And-Ones: Young, Russell, Bogut, Draft

March 31st, 2016 at 1:23pm CST by Chuck Myron

A source close to Nick Young tells Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News that D’Angelo Russell hasn’t apologized directly to him, which conflicts with an earlier report that Young had accepted an apology from the rookie for secretly recording his statements about women other than his fiancee. Young chose not to be in the room when Russell apologized to the team as a whole for the incident, Medina hears. Other Lakers teammates indicated through their remarks Wednesday that they’re ready to move past the tension that’s existed since Russell’s recording went public, but Young declined to address the matter beyond a brief statement, as Medina details. “I don’t want to get into my personal life right now,” Young said. “I think it’s best me and D’Angelo handle the situation we have in a private manner outside of the media. I think it’s something we do need to sit down and talk about. That’s about it. What happened is what happened. We have to work on it.”

See more from around the NBA:

Andrew Bogut reiterated recently that he’d like to reach an extension deal with the Warriors in the offseason, reports Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. Bogut becomes eligible to formally sign an extension October 25th, just as the regular season begins. He first spoke publicly of his desire for an extension in December with Sam Amick of USA Today.
Rutgers freshman point guard Corey Sanders will enter the draft without an agent, he announced via Twitter (hat tip to Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com). The lack of an agent allows him to return to college ball if he withdraws by May 25th. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress pegs him as just the 73rd-best freshman prospect, and he’s not listed in Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider rankings.
The Vertical’s Bobby Marks, a former NBA executive, delves into the inner workings of draft promises, a fairly common phenomenon in which a team lets a player know it’ll draft him if he’s available at a certain draft slot. It’s unheard of for teams to renege on promises, and early promises sometimes prompt supposedly long-shot prospects to declare for the draft, knowing the team has their back, as Marks details.

Kings Sign Vlade Divac To Extension

March 30th, 2016 at 12:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

Mar 16, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings former center Vlade Divac speaks with the press after being named Vice President of Basketball and Franchise operations at Sleep Train Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

Ed Szczepanski / USA TODAY Sports Images

12:01pm: The extension is official, the team announced.

“My commitment to the Sacramento Kings goes back to my days as a player and I’m grateful to continue playing my part in creating a winning future for the Sacramento Kings,” Divac said in the team’s statement. “I know that we have what it takes to be a successful franchise and I look forward to continuing to improve and build on the progress that we’ve made.”

10:05am: The Kings are putting the finishing touches on a multiyear extension for Vlade Divac, who runs the front office as GM and vice president of basketball operations, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). The team is also close to adding an experienced front office hand, with former Pacers and Bucks executive David Morway the leading candidate for that role, Stein adds. The team doesn’t have a deal with Morway yet, USA Today’s Sam Amick cautions, nonetheless suggesting that he’s the only candidate and that it’s only a matter of time before he joins the team (Twitter link). Presumably, he’d report to Divac.

It’s been a bumpy ride for Divac, who’s in his first job as an NBA executive, as he’s reportedly struggled to grasp salary cap concepts and the Kings have fallen short of their goal of the postseason this year. Ranadive has reportedly mulled replacing him with John Calipari on occasion, but the extension for Divac appears to cut off the idea that Calipari, who’s insistent on a dual coach/executive role, would join the organization. Divac decided against firing coach George Karl in February after nearly doing so, but the team is widely expected to search for a new coach this summer, Stein writes, pointing out that Sacramento hired Karl before bringing in Divac last year.

Turmoil surrounding DeMarcus Cousins has been the primary storyline for the Kings under Divac, with Karl reportedly going behind Divac’s back to negotiate potential trades, though Divac has insisted on several occasions that he doesn’t intend to trade the center. Divac and Cousins grew close, though Divac was enveloped in Cousins’ tirade against Karl earlier this month.

Divac’s time in the Kings front office appeared to begin innocuously when the team named him vice president of basketball and franchise operations a year ago. It wasn’t publicly known until a month later that Divac’s arrival usurped GM Pete D’Alessandro‘s player personnel power, though Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee noted when the hiring took place that Divac was above D’Alessandro on the organizational chart. Still, Divac and owner Vivek Ranadive were the only ones in the Kings brass who knew the implications of the move for a few days after it took place, as SB Nation’s Tom Ziller reported.

D’Alessandro left the Kings this past summer for a job with the Nuggets, and assistant GM Mike Bratz has essentially been the only seasoned voice in the Sacramento front office since then. The Kings gave Divac the GM title in late August following the departure of D’Alessandro. Morway would bring more than a decade of experience under Larry Bird and Donnie Walsh in the Pacers front office as vice president of basketball administration and later GM. Morway resigned from the Pacers in 2012 and joined the Bucks as assistant GM in 2013, but Milwaukee declined to renew his contract last year.

It’s not the first time Morway has been connected to the Kings. He reportedly interviewed for the GM job in 2013 before it went to D’Alessandro. More recently, the Kings interviewed former Nets assistant GM Bobby Marks for the role that Morway is apparently poised to fill, but Marks made it clear that the Kings job wouldn’t be a good fit for him, Amick tweets.

And-Ones: Timberwolves, Gasol, Kings

March 4th, 2016 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Talks between Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor and Grizzlies part-owner Steve Kaplan about a would-be deal for 30% of the Minnesota franchise have “hit a wall,” sources told Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press. The proposed arrangement, which would reportedly involve Taylor eventually ceding control of the Wolves to Kaplan, isn’t dead, Krawczynski hears, but a source who spoke with Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune suggested no deal may ever come to pass. Kaplan has encountered trouble in his effort to sell his Grizzlies stake, a requirement before he buys into the Wolves, Krawczynski’s sources say. Regardless of what happens on that front, Taylor and Kaplan still must sort through issues about how much say Kaplan would have in hiring for the team’s GM and coaching positions and whether Taylor would indeed eventually give up control, Zgoda writes. For now, Taylor is preparing to make decisions about interim GM Milt Newton and interim coach Sam Mitchell on his own and is actively investigating his options, according to Zgoda. See more on the Wolves amid a look around the NBA:

The Timberwolves are seeking an athletic wing player for their open roster spot, with Mitchell saying he wants someone with NBA experience who’d have a legitimate chance of making the opening night roster next season, Zgoda reports in the same piece. “We have to improve our athleticism,” Mitchell said. “I don’t think we’re a bad athletic team, but we’re not as athletic as we need to be. We need to look at guys who can defend, a guy who can shoot, and see how this team can look if we can spread the floor a little bit more.”
The Bulls will have to continue to try to build a contender if they want to re-sign Pau Gasol, as he indicated to Marca.com (translation via HoopsHype), reiterating that he’ll opt out and that, all things being equal, he’d prefer to stay with Chicago. Money won’t be his first priority, Gasol also said, adding that the offer from the Bulls should nonetheless reflect that they value his performance.
The Kings interviewed former Nets assistant GM Bobby Marks on Thursday for a job within their front office, as USA Today’s Sam Amick hears (Twitter link). Marks currently works as a writer for The Vertical on Yahoo Sports.

Latest On Markieff Morris

February 11th, 2016 at 12:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

Markieff Morris, Archie Goodwin and interim coach Earl Watson all brushed off an incident during a timeout in Phoenix’s loss Wednesday to the Warriors when Morris shoved Goodwin and teammates had to separate them, as Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic details. It’s not the first confrontation involving Morris to take place on the Suns bench this season, and while the towel he tossed in former coach Jeff Hornacek‘s direction in the midst of a December game resulted in a two-game suspension for the power forward, other teams don’t find it concerning, reports Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports.

“We have to control our emotions,” Watson said, according to Coro. “Other than that, those two are really close. The team is not split. Those two are the closest on the team. They have a bond, a unique relationship. As we’ve seen, unique relationships can lead to something else throughout the league.”

Executives acknowledge that emotions run high and boil over at times during the heat of competition and most say the extra scrutiny surrounding Morris this year magnified the negative public perception of the towel toss, according to Marks. Nevertheless, if such outbursts become common, they could still hurt his trade value, Marks concedes. See more on one of the season’s most significant trade candidates:

Teams with interest in trading for Morris have wondered if the breakdown in communication between the Suns, Morris and his brother Marcus Morris this summer is a harbinger of similar problems they’d have if they traded for Markieff, as Marks details in the same piece. Those teams have looked into the relationship between Marcus and the Pistons and found no issues, Marks adds.
Markieff Morris said after Wednesday’s game that he didn’t regret having shoved Goodwin, notes Paula Boivin of The Arizona Republic. The way that Morris and the rest of the team have responded to the incident is baffling, Boivin contends, believing that Morris’ behavior puts the team in a tough position.
Morris praised Watson for sticking with him, as Boivin relays in the same column, and the coach has been complimentary of Morris since taking over for Hornacek, as his comments before Wednesday game illustrate. “Everybody thought Markieff would be the toughest challenge,” Watson said, according to Coro (Twitter link). “He’s been the easiest challenge.”

Eastern Notes: Wade, Bucks, Nicholson, Celtics

September 17th, 2015 at 2:44pm CST by Chuck Myron

Dwyane Wade praised the Heat brass for the job that they did building the roster for the season ahead, and while he acknowledged the somewhat bumpy path he and the team took to his new one-year, $20MM contract, he reiterated his commitment to Miami. Wade made his comments in a variety of venues today, including on 790 The Ticket radio, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald transcribes.

“There’s a business side of everything,” Wade said to 790 The Ticket. “But my heart, and where I always said I wanted to be, was here. I started my career here and I would like to finish it. I came here just happy to be here, just wanting to make this organization proud for drafting me as the fifth pick.”

Wade batted down criticism from local fans that’s extended even to his choice of football jerseys for casual wear, imploring to the 790 The Ticket audience, “Don’t question my loyalty, you all. Do not question my loyalty.” The 11-time All-star will have another chance to back up those words with action when he hits free agency again next summer. See more from the Eastern Conference:

Former Nets assistant GM Bobby Marks and Grizzlies executive vice president of player personnel Ed Stefanski are drawing prominent mention for the Bucks assistant GM job, reports Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times (Twitter link). Milwaukee let go of former assistant GM David Morway this week when team reached an extension with GM John Hammond.
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel finds it tough to see where Andrew Nicholson fits in with the Magic as he enters the last season of his rookie scale contract, given that four others who can play power forward are on the roster. Nicholson is eligible for a rookie scale extension this fall, but little, if any, talk has emerged suggesting the Magic will seek to give him one.
It’s a waiting game in Boston, where an opportunity for the Celtics to cash in their trade assets hasn’t materialized and the team’s young players still must prove their worth, writes Shaun Powell of NBA.com in his season preview for the team.

Western Notes: Hammon, Terry, Teletovic, Jazz

July 22nd, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Former Nets executive Bobby Marks says he would call Spurs assistant Becky Hammon first if he were running a team and looking for a head coach (Twitter link). Hammon has been a full-time NBA assistant for only one season, but she guided the Spurs to the Las Vegas Summer League title as the first female summer league head coach and commanded the attention of her players, as Sean Deveney of The Sporting News details.

“She’s just a good coach,” said Kyle Anderson, San Antonio’s 2014 first-round pick. “Everybody listens to her like they would anyone else. I mean, she’s the coach.”

The arrival of the first female head coach for regular season play still seems a long way off, but, as Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News points out, the Spurs have once more proven they’re not afraid of innovation. Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

Jason Terry confirmed Monday that he’s close to a deal with the Rockets, but Houston has renounced his Bird rights, according to the RealGM transactions log. That means the team is limited to paying him a deal with a starting salary of no more than the roughly $2MM slice of the mid-level exception left over from the K.J. McDaniels signing, which also took up a portion of the mid-level.
Upheaval has surrounded the Suns during GM Ryan McDonough‘s first two seasons on the job, but this week he signaled that he’s settled on his main players, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic documents. “It took a little while to get to a core we liked but we think we finally have that and have the ability to be successful this year and then hopefully build on that and add to it a year from now when the cap spikes up and we have cap space to bring in guys that help our young core,” McDonough said.
The Suns signed Mirza Teletovic for only one year, but they hope to re-sign him to a new deal next summer, Coro writes in the same piece.
The Jazz‘s three-year deal with Tibor Pleiss is worth an even $9MM, and the team’s three-year deal with Raul Neto is worth precisely $2,852,546, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).

Nets Notes: Williams, Marks, D-League

June 3rd, 2015 at 4:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Nets have no intention of reaching a buyout arrangement with Deron Williams, nor does the team plan on waiving him via the stretch provision, even if it means that the franchise will be over the luxury tax line next season, Tim Bontemps of The New York Post writes. “The goal is to try to be under the tax,” GM Billy King said. “That’s just the goal. How realistic is it? It may not be. But that’s the goal. We’re not going to jeopardize our roster, jeopardize our team, to be under the tax,” King continued. “If the decision is made to make a move or whatever, we’ll do that if we think it helps us win.”

Here’s more out of Brooklyn:

The team’s decision to part ways with assistant GM Bobby Marks was made in order to “streamline things” within the Nets’ front office, Bontemps adds. “You had two assistant GMs, and when we looked at it overall, could some of the responsibilities be shared throughout the department … that’s why the decision was made,” King said.
King also relayed that the team’s plan this summer is to re-sign both Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young, and if it means being over the luxury tax so be it, Al Iannazzone of Newsday tweets.
Brooklyn’s roster will remain largely intact heading into next season, and the team’s plan is to add pieces who will complement the players it already has, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com relays (Twitter link).
King reiterated the Nets’ intent to establish a one-to-one affiliation with a D-League team in Brooklyn, though the location of the franchise could change after a few seasons, Mitchell Abramson of The New York Daily News relays (via Twitter).

Atlantic Notes: Marks, Hodges, Hollis-Jefferson

May 26th, 2015 at 4:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Nets and assistant GM Bobby Marks have parted ways, as Marks confirmed via his Twitter account (hat tip to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports). It’s believed the Nets are set on cutting costs across the board and staff cuts are underway, Wojnarowski tweets. Indeed, the austerity measures have been ongoing for months and the Nets progressively reduced their player payroll throughout the season, NetsDaily’s Tom Lorenzo writes. Brooklyn is poised to pay the luxury tax for the fourth straight season, triggering repeater penalties, if it keeps Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young as GM Billy King has said the team wants to do.

The team appears ready to explore moves to reduce salary elsewhere on the roster, as Marc Stein and Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com wrote earlier today. The well-respected Marks, who drew praise today from agent Brian Bass (Twitter link), among others, was a Nets employee for two decades. Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:

Knicks interim D-League coach Craig Hodges is expected to be back with the Westchester team as an assistant coach next season, returning to the role in which he spent most of this past season under now-fired head coach Kevin Whitted, reports Adam Johnson of D-League Digest. Still, there’s been no formal decision, a league source tells Johnson. Hodges, who spoke with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors this past fall, would like to come back, and the ball is in the Knicks’ court, a source tells Links (Twitter link). The name of Joel Abelson, director of basketball ops for New York’s D-League affiliate, keeps coming up as a potential head coaching candidate for the team, Johnson adds.
Arizona small forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Brazilian point guard George Lucas are among the draft prospects to whom the Nets have spoken, notes Robert Windrem of NetsDaily (Twitter link).
Maryland shooting guard Dez Wells has worked out for the Celtics, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.

Atlantic Notes: Towns, Marks, Qualls

May 19th, 2015 at 5:35pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Kentucky big man Karl-Anthony Towns said that playing for the Knicks would be a childhood dream come true if the franchise selects him in the NBA Draft, Ian Begley of ESPN.com writes. “It would be an honor, not only as a player, but as a Knicks fan, to be able to play for that organization,” Towns said. “It’s gonna be, I guess a childhood dream — rooting for the Knicks all this time, and the next thing you know, you hear an organization call your name to go out there and give it your best shot. I think it would very cool, and really very honored and blessed to be able to play for them.” You can view our full prospect profile on Towns here.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Towns also indicated that he’s more than willing to learn the triangle offense if he becomes a member of the Knicks, Begley adds. “It’s a system that works. If you don’t believe it then say it to Phil Jackson’s rings,” Towns said. “I just feel like anyone going into the offense, it takes time. It’s a very complicated offense and you also have to be able to make stuff happen out of it. It just takes time. It would be an honor and blessing to play in that offense and I’d try my best at it.“
Nets assistant GM Bobby Marks‘ contract option for 2015/16 wasn’t picked up by the team, and Brooklyn has now given Marks permission to explore other opportunities, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com tweets.
Arkansas junior guard Michael Qualls, a projected second-rounder this June, believes he could make an impact on the Sixers next season if the team drafts him, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “I feel like I can help right now,” Qualls said. “I can be a force right away to help change that atmosphere and [turn] that program around.“
The Knicks‘ front office is torn over whom to select in the draft should the team not snag one of the top two picks in June, Begley writes in a separate piece. “As of today, it looks like Jahlil Okafor would be the second choice. While he doesn’t have the defensive skills of Towns, his ability to play right away and his dominance on the offensive end will make him difficult to pass. After that, the Emmanuel Mudiay and D’Angelo Russell battle rages in the Knicks’ front office the same way it’s raging in front offices around the NBA,” ESPN Insider Chad Ford told Begley.

Nets Close To Extension With GM Billy King?

May 5th, 2015 at 10:41am CST by Chuck Myron

10:41am: A league source recently told NetsDaily’s Robert Windrem that the Nets and King hadn’t engaged in extension talks (Twitter link).

10:01am: There are “serious rumblings” that the Nets are about to reach a contract extension with GM Billy King, though Nets higher-ups have been tight-lipped, Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes. King signed a multiyear extension with the team two years ago, and while the length of the arrangement wasn’t clear at the time, he currently has one more year left on his contract, according to Devin Kharpertian of The Brooklyn Game.

Owner Mikhail Prokhorov stopped short of saying last month he would rule out changes in the front office this summer, but he offered praise for King’s “bold” approach to the roster. Instead, it would appear that the future of assistant GM Bobby Marks is in doubt, as Mike Mazzeo reported last week and as Lowe notes in his report today, referring to Marks as a “cap whiz.” The team didn’t pick up its option on Marks, who’s risen within the Nets organization from the role of public relations intern 20 years ago, by the May 1st deadline to do so, according to Mazzeo, though the club could still re-sign the executive later in the offseason, Mazzeo cautioned.

King has drawn criticism as the Nets have failed to capitalize on bloated payrolls the last two seasons, including the record outlay of some $190MM in payroll and luxury tax penalties last season. Still, the Nets have been supportive of King, resisting former coach Jason Kidd‘s attempt to wrest player personnel control from the GM.