David Blatt Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Durant, Anderson, Heat, LeBron

January 27th, 2016 at 10:19am CST by Chuck Myron

Some executives around the NBA expect that the Knicks will at least “get an audience” with Kevin Durant, writes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com, who points out that New York will likely have to maneuver to create enough cap space to place a max offer on the table for him. Durant praised the Knicks’ roster construction, mentioning Kristaps Porzingis, Robin Lopez, Arron Afflalo and Derrick Williams, as well as coach and former Durant teammate Derek Fisher, notes Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, but in spite of Durant’s much-publicized “unicorn” comment about Porzingis, the Thunder have a strong roster and a unique player of their own in Russell Westbrook, observes Royce Young of ESPN.com. See more on a few of New York’s Eastern Conference rivals:

Alan Anderson is expected to return to game action around the All-Star break, a source told Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post. The Wizards signed the swingman in the offseason thinking he’d be ready to start the season on time, but he wound up needing a second surgery on his injured left ankle, and he’s yet to suit up for the team.
Heat majority owner Micky Arison has been trying to buy out minority share owner Ranaan Katz for years, and Heat employees have long been barred from talking with him, according to Dan Le Batard of ESPN, who adds that the assertion that LeBron James tried to have Erik Spoelstra fired is untrue (Twitter links). Katz reportedly made that assertion, but he denies that, claiming that what he said on a radio show hosted by Ofira Asayag on ONE.co.il’s 102 FM in Israel was incorrectly translated from Hebrew to English, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (Twitter link). For what it’s worth, international journalist David Pick provided a full transcription for Bleacher Report, which depicts Katz saying that Riley’s refusal to fire Spoelstra was the primary reason James returned to Cleveland and that the Heat drafted Shabazz Napier in 2014 because James wanted them to. Katz also denies that he said LeBron was the catalyst for the Cavs firing David Blatt, as Pick notes in an addendum to the transcription.
James said today that he never hesitated to give his opinion but that he’s never undermined a coach, adding that he’s never met Katz, note Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com (Twitter links). James has indeed met Katz, counters Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel, who points out that Katz sits next to the visitors bench for every Heat home game (Twitter link).

Atlantic Notes: Blatt, Porzingis, Ujiri

January 26th, 2016 at 7:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Despite a report by the Russian news agency TASS that former Cavs coach David Blatt is the Nets‘ top priority as they seek a replacement for Lionel Hollins, league sources have cast doubt on the likelihood of Brooklyn hiring Blatt, Brian Lewis of The New York Post relays. It appears only logical to link Blatt to the Nets considering team owner Mikhail Prokhorov is from Russia and Blatt used to coach the Russian national team, which has received significant financial backing from Prokhorov in the past, as was noted by NetsDaily. The team has stated its intent to hire a GM before hiring a coach, and the target is to have a GM in place before the February 18th trade deadline.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Raptors GM Masai Ujiri has the difficult decision between banking on the idea that the team has enough talent for a deep playoff run and sacrificing some of the team’s stockpiled future draft picks in an attempt to make a significant upgrade, Mike Ganter of The Toronto Sun writes. Toronto may wait until the offseason to make any moves, with the Raptors believing that their current roster is more likely to sustain their level of play because they have a solid defensive foundation, as opposed to last year’s squad, which relied more heavily on offense to win, Ganter adds.
A number of veteran players on the Knicks admit to having had doubts when New York selected Kristaps Porzingis with the No. 4 overall pick last summer, but the rookie quickly won them over with his toughness and work ethic, writes Lee Jenkins of SI.com in his profile of the big man. “I tested him, the way I would anyone,” combo forward Lance Thomas told Jenkins. “Body him up, get in him, foul him hard, make him uncomfortable. I wanted to see if the toughness was there. I wanted to see what he does when adversity hits. Nothing fazed him. I’d score on him, talk some [expletive], and then he’d come down and ask for the ball back. He won me over right there. I think he won Melo [Carmelo Anthony] over as well.”

And-Ones: Durant, Noah, LeBron, Draft

January 26th, 2016 at 2:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

Kevin Durant fielded the first direct questions in more than two months about his upcoming free agency today as the Thunder prepare to play the Knicks in New York, and his answers revealed little, with mostly boilerplate responses surrounding his sentiments for playing at Madison Square Garden, as The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater transcribes. Still, he dismissed the notion that a large market would be any better for his business profile than small-market Oklahoma City and said his main focus is on the court, anyway. He spoke fondly of New York basketball culture, but that’s standard fare, as Durant himself essentially suggested.

“They link everybody with New York City,” Durant said, according to Slater’s transcription. “One of the greatest cities in the world. They link everybody with this city. So it’s not a bad thing. Great city. Great place to visit, great place to live, I’m sure. They link everybody, it’s not just me.”

See more from around the NBA:

Joakim Noah, another soon-to-be free agent, hopes he’ll be back with the Bulls next season, as he told reporters, including Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com (Twitter link). It’s not uncommon for players to say that about their incumbent teams as they approach free agency, but he has reportedly been displeased with how the team has viewed him this year, one in which he played mostly in a backup role before suffering a shoulder injury that’s likely to have ended his season.
Heat minority share owner Ranaan Katz is among those who say that LeBron James engineered the firing of former Cavaliers coach David Blatt, adding that James tried and failed to oust Erik Spoelstra when they were together in Miami, according to international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). Spoelstra is currently the NBA’s second longest-tenured coach.
Ben Simmons goes to the Sixers, Brandon Ingram to the Lakers and Dragan Bender to the Celtics in the top three picks of the latest mock draft from Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.

David Blatt Top Priority In Nets Coaching Search?

January 25th, 2016 at 1:40pm CST by Chuck Myron

David Blatt is “priority one” for the Nets as they seek a new head coach, a source told Russia’s TASS news agency, which identifies the fired Cavs coach as one of the leading candidates for the Brooklyn coaching vacancy. Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders first reported that the Nets are interested in Blatt, though Fred Kerber of the New York Post this weekend referred instead to Tom Thibodeau, reportedly an object of strong interest from the team, as Brooklyn’s probable top target. Regardless, owner Mikhail Prokhorov reportedly wants to hire a GM before he hires a coach, and the team’s goal is apparently to have a GM in place before the February 18th trade deadline.

Blatt has also been linked to the Lakers and Timberwolves, but those teams appear committed to Byron Scott and Sam Mitchell, respectively, through at least the end of the season. Tony Brown has been serving as the interim coach of the Nets since the team canned Lionel Hollins earlier this month. TASS correctly predicted, after one of its reporters spent time in Brooklyn with Nets management, that the team would fire Hollins once it found a replacement for him, though the Nets denied the story, as NetsDaily points out. Prokhorov, like TASS, is from Russia, and Blatt used to coach the Russian national team, which has received significant financial backing from Prokhorov in the past, as NetsDaily also notes.

Earlier reports have linked the Nets to Luke Walton, John Calipari, Monty Williams and, more loosely, Chris Mullin, but Mikhail Prokhorov has so far reportedly balked at Calipari’s price tag. The owner has also expressed a preference for a separate GM and coach, which runs counter to the dual role that the Kentucky coach would apparently seek.

Central Notes: Blatt, LeBron, Dunleavy, Boatright

January 25th, 2016 at 1:04pm CST by Chuck Myron

David Blatt‘s camp believes that LeBron James was the sole catalyst for the Cavs coaching change, and the belief is much more than simply a fringe theory among people around the league, reports TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip for NBA.com. Still, plenty of other reasons for Blatt’s dismissal exist, including the team’s poor performance against top Western Conference contenders and the need for immediate results, that suggest that the team isn’t simply serving LeBron’s wishes, Aldridge contends. Regardless, the Cavs cast Blatt back onto the job market, and while the Timberwolves have been linked to Blatt, the team has no intention of pursuing him for a job on interim coach Sam Mitchell‘s staff, league sources tell Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Twitter link). See more from the Central Division:

Mike Dunleavy is targeting a return sometime next month from the back injury that’s kept him out all season so far, notes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. He’s essentially at the same point in his recovery that he was before suffering a setback in late November, but he’s more confident this time that he’ll be able to take the final steps toward getting back to game action for the Bulls, according to Johnson.
Ryan Boatright impressed with the Nets during the preseason, but he didn’t carry that level of performance over to his tenure with the D-League affiliate of the Pistons, which waived him last week. Boatright is now poised to sign with Orlandina of Italy, La Gazzetta dello Sport reports, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. The Pistons briefly had Boatright on their NBA roster on the fall, a maneuver designed to secure his D-League rights.
The Pacers have recalled Shayne Whittington from the D-League, the team announced. He’s played in just two games at the NBA level this season but has appeared in 19 contests for Indiana’s D-League affiliate after re-signing with the Pacers this past summer.

Eastern Notes: Thibodeau, Allen, Durant, Sixers

January 25th, 2016 at 9:28am CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavs would have given strong consideration to hiring Tom Thibodeau if they’d made a coaching change this past summer, a league source told Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com, but now, management has faith in Tyronn Lue, McMenamin writes. They’ve seen him manage to remain loyal to David Blatt while developing relationships of his own with the team’s stars, and they’re confident that Lue will command a level of effort from the team that they believe wasn’t always present under Blatt, McMenamin adds. See more from the Eastern Conference:

The Heat have had a standing offer to Ray Allen since the 2014 offseason, but he remains unmoved and that’s no surprise, given his frustration with the team during the 2013/14 season, his last one in Miami and last to date in the NBA, writes Ethan Skolnick of the Miami Herald. All of the former teammates and other acquaintances of Allen’s to whom Skolnick has spoken expect him to remain out of the game, though Allen said this past summer that he had no plans to officially retire.
Agents from around the league insist that the Nets are “in the mix” for soon-to-be free agent Kevin Durant, even though they look like long shots, writes Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com. Durant’s free agency, expected to be one of the major storylines of the 2015/16, has largely been a backburner issue in large measure because Durant has spoken little about it and has rarely given any indication that he wants to leave the Thunder.
Meddling from owners who aren’t basketball personnel experts is most damaging when it affects draft decisions, which is why a report that Sixers ownership was worried about how fans would react to Kristaps Porzingis and pushed the team to draft someone else instead is troublesome, contends Derek Bodner of Philadelphia magazine. Sixers CEO Scott O’Neil says the report isn’t true, however (Twitter link).

Eastern Notes: Blatt, Anderson, Hawks

January 24th, 2016 at 7:40pm CST by Will Joseph

Echoing the sentiment expressed by many around the league, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra expressed concern and seemed shocked over the firing of former Cavs coach David Blatt, Ethan J. Skolnick of the Miami Herald relays. It is uncommon for Spoelstra to make any sort of comment that has any connection to LeBron James, as Skolnick points out.

“It’s very disturbing for the coaching profession,” Spoelstra said. “Look, you have to be able to go through collective adversity and accountability together, for you to make strides, and have breakthroughs in this league. It’s really a shame. He had an incredible run, a great record. It just doesn’t make any sense to any of the coaches around the league, and hopefully it doesn’t make sense to a lot of people in our league.”

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Alan Anderson, who has yet to play for the Wizards after signing a one-year, $4MM deal in the offseason, has increased his workload and that suggests his first full practice with Washington is not too far away, J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic.com details. Anderson is still wearing a soft cast, however.
The Sixers are 5-8 and have experienced an uptick in scoring since acquiring Ish Smith and Celtics coach Brad Stevens isn’t surprised the point guard has provided Philadelphia a lift, Kevin O’Connor of CSNNE.com relays. “He’s always been a guy that gives people fits because of his speed and because of his ability to get inside the teeth of the defense,” Stevens said to reporters Sunday. “He’s really ignited their offense here. That’s clear.”
Hawks point guard Jeff Teague attributed his down season, which he is experiencing one year after he made his first All-Star appearance, to an ankle injury, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. Teague has lacked consistency and over the past seven games he has 34 assists and 18 turnovers, Vivlamore points out.

Central Notes: Cavs, Bulls, Pistons

January 24th, 2016 at 3:15pm CST by Will Joseph

Knicks reserve center Louis Amundson, who spent time with the Cavs last season, in citing a poor locker room atmosphere, wasn’t overly surprised that Cleveland fired coach David Blatt, Marc Berman of the New York Post relays. Amundson said Blatt lacked the experience of coaching in the NBA, which he added is necessary to succeed. The Knicks’ locker room felt more like a team than the Cavs’ to Amundson, Berman writes.

“It didn’t feel like it should feel,’’ Amundson said. “A team with championship aspirations, that’s not how it was supposed to feel. Teams go through ups and downs, but I just think the atmosphere and energy wasn’t there. It wasn’t a healthy atmosphere. Teams go through issues, but it still feels you work through stuff being productive. In that disagreement, it didn’t feel like that. But they did manage to get it together.’’

Here’s more out of the Central Division:

Taj Gibson is the most likely player to be traded from the Bulls because Chicago would already have a replacement in rookie Bobby Portis, Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.com details (Insider subscription required). It is still unclear if the Bulls view themselves as buyers or sellers as the trade deadline nears, Doolittle adds. If Chicago is looking to add, Luol Deng or Joe Johnson would be sensible targets, Doolittle writes. With Joakim Noah out with an injury, he is almost certainly off the market, according to Doolittle.
It isn’t crazy to think that the Pistons will be playing in their own arena in downtown Detroit in less than 10 years, David Mayo of MLive opines. Pistons owner Tom Gores confirmed last week that such a move is being considered, but everything is still in the preliminary stage. In the short-term, however, the Pistons are committed to The Palace of Auburn Hills because they own it debt-free and attendance has been consistent, Mayo writes.

Nets Notes: Thibodeau, Brown, Losses

January 24th, 2016 at 10:27am CST by ChrisCrouse

The Nets own a record of 11-33 this season and although they rank seventh in the Forbes annual NBA team valuations, the team should be considered a failure both on and off the court, Richard Morgan of the New York Post opines. Morgan notes that Brooklyn was the only NBA franchise that didn’t make a profit last season, losing $5.7MM on the year.

Here’s more from Brooklyn:

Tom Thibodeau is likely Brooklyn’s favorite target for its head coaching position next season, Fred Kerber of the New York Post writes. The Nets reportedly have interest in newly unemployed David Blatt as well.
The Nets have lost 10 out of their last 11 games and effort has been a major reason why the team has gone into this tailspin, Kerber adds in the same piece. “All I can do is keep encouraging them to do it the right way. I am not going to change my approach,” interim coach Tony Brown said after the Nets’ blowout loss to the Jazz on Friday. “Some soul searching needs to be done.”
Brown believes the team’s injuries are partly to blame for the team’s losing streak, George Willis of the New York Post writes. “Not having Jarrett [Jack], not having Rondae [Hollis-Jefferson] impacts the game,” Brown said. “We miss Jarrett. We miss his leadership. We miss his intelligence at the end of games, and his playing-making ability.” Willis argues that Brown should be taking a “next man up” approach instead of making excuses. The scribe also believes the team should look to hire a coach who can restore a winning culture once the season ends.

Latest On David Blatt

January 23rd, 2016 at 6:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

Fired Cavaliers coach David Blatt is already drawing interest from the Nets, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders hears (Twitter link). Chatter is connecting him to the Timberwolves, notes international journalist David Pick, and Kyler says Blatt’s name has also been linked to the Lakers (Twitter links). Blatt and Brooklyn have a natural connection, given his time as coach of the Russian national team and the presence of Russian Mikhail Prokhorov as Nets owner.

Cleveland GM David Griffin said it was behind-the-scenes issues rather than on-court performance that doomed Blatt, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The Cavs compiled a 30-11 record through the first half of this season, but Griffin was unhappy with the atmosphere in the locker room and thought a change was necessary. “I’ve never seen a locker room not be as connected after wins as they need to be,” Griffin said. “We’ve only been galvanized when expectations were not high and circumstances were somewhat artificial. Otherwise, we’ve been a group of tremendous individual talent with individual hopes and dreams. That’s not a winning formula. I’m not leaving an unprecedented team payroll and all of the efforts of everybody that works in this organization to chance.”

Speaking to the media tonight, new coach Tyronn Lue said the Cavaliers don’t enjoy playing the game, tweets Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon-Journal. Lue also made an appeal for Blatt to be the Eastern Conference coach in the All-Star Game, tweets Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer, but a league source who spoke with Haynes shot down that possibility (Twitter link).

The reaction to Friday’s firing continues to pour in from around the league:

Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy has been an outspoken critic of the move, writes David Mayo of MLive. Van Gundy expressed dismay that Blatt was let go despite taking the Cavs to the NBA Finals last year and compiling the best record in the East this season. “You can’t even make a flimsy case for the fact that the guy wasn’t meeting expectations,” Van Gundy said. “So obviously, there’s something else going on, and that’s what I’m saying — none of us now has any clue, whatsoever, what the expectations for coaches are.”
To be successful, Lue needs the full support that the Cavaliers were never willing to give to Blatt, contends Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. As a former player and respected assistant coach, Lue has the advantage of being an NBA insider, which Zillgitt believes will make it easier for him to relate to players than it was for Blatt.
Blatt turned out to be the wrong coach at the wrong time, and the Cavaliers wasted a year and a half of James’ career by not firing him sooner, writes Tim Kawakami of The Bay Area News Group. He contrasts that with the situation in Golden State, where the Warriors dumped Mark Jackson after the 2013/14 season even though they knew it would upset Stephen Curry because they believed Steve Kerr would be a better coach for their star.

Chuck Myron contributed to this story.