George Karl Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Karl, Randle, Varejao

April 5th, 2016 at 9:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Kings coach George Karl acknowledges that his team fell short of expectations but still sees quite a few positives about the 2015/16 campaign for the franchise, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee relays. “I am seeing this team in a positive light much more than anybody in the world,” Karl said. “I think I understand the bad times better than over-reaction, expectation, doom that we seem to live in. I don’t think there have been stretches this season where we’ve played bad basketball; I think we haven’t played winning basketball. And I’m not the one that sets expectations. I’m not a predictor. I laugh all the time in the summertime.”

“I was very positive we were going to be a better basketball team,” Karl continued. “I think we are a better basketball team. Now if you think we’re going to be a 45-win team, that’s not on me. That’s on you. I thought if everything fell into a good place, we could get to .500, but everything [didn’t] fall into a good place.” With a record of 31-46 entering play this evening, Sacramento is assured of its 10th consecutive losing season.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Lakers power forward Julius Randle is optimistic that he and young teammates Jordan Clarkson and D’Angelo Russell can help turn around the franchise’s fortunes next season, Joey Ramirez of NBA.com relays. “I definitely learned a lot, but there’s no greater teacher than experience,” Randle said. “We know there are steps we have to take to get better individually and collectively. I think we’re doing the necessary things to get there. From the beginning of the season to now, I feel like we’ve made a lot of progress.“
Despite not seeing much action for the Warriors since being signed in February, Anderson Varejao provides the team with a much-needed veteran presence off the bench as the playoffs near, Tim Kawakami of The Bay Area News Group writes. When asked how Varejao was adapting to being in Golden State, coach Steve Kerr told reporters, “He’s a great insurance policy for us. It’s been good to get him minutes and get him some rhythm. He’s exactly who we were hoping for — a big who is smart, knows how to play and can fill in if we need him. We’ll see what happens in the playoffs with the rotation. But he’s got a lot of experience; we know he can play.”

Northwest Notes: Towns, Lyles, Gallinari, Pleiss

April 3rd, 2016 at 6:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle views Wolves rookie Karl-Anthony Towns as a “next generation” type of player with his combination of size and ability, according to The Associated Press. “There are going to be guys like him,” Carlisle said, “that have the great size and length and still can play the ‘4’ [power forward], those super athletes with super length that now are still damn quick and can do anything on the basketball court. He’s an unbelievable weapon for them.” Towns is a heavy favorite to give Minnesota its second straight Rookie of the Year winner, following Andrew Wiggins last season.

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

Towns has won every Western Conference Rookie of the Month award this season, but even that doesn’t reflect how dominant his first season has been, writes Eric Saar of Basketball Insiders. Towns’ player efficiency rating of 22.80 is the second highest in NBA history for a 20-year old, trailing Shaquille O’Neal by a tenth of a point. He also ranks among the best-ever 20-year-olds in win shares, scoring average, blocks per game, rebounding, true shooting percentage, effective field goal percentage and overall field goal percentage.
Towns has been impressed by the play of fellow rookie and former Kentucky teammate Trey Lyles, according to Samuel Benson of The Deseret News. Utah made Lyles the 12th overall pick of last year’s draft and eased him into its rotation. He is averaging 5.6 points and 3.6 rebounds a night through 74 games but made an impact with 17 first-half points in Friday’s win over Minnesota. “[Lyles] has been a tremendous player since high school and proved in college how great he was,” Towns said. “… “He’s going to be the future of this [Jazz] team.”
The Nuggets will miss the postseason for the third straight year, and Danilo Gallinari expressed frustration to Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post about the lack of progress. Gallinari has fond memories of the years when George Karl coached in Denver and the Nuggets were regular contenders. “Honestly, we didn’t make the playoffs this year,” Gallinari said. “I’m asking you; do you think that the same thing that didn’t make the playoffs this year is a championship team next year? I don’t think so.”
The Jazz have recalled center Tibor Pleiss from their Idaho affiliate in the D-League. Pleiss, who has made five D-League trips this season, has appeared in 12 games for Utah, averaging 2.0 points and 1.3 rebounds.

Pacific Notes: Griffin, Curry, Karl, Watson

April 2nd, 2016 at 9:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

Blake Griffin is expected to be in the Clippers‘ starting lineup Sunday, even though he isn’t fully healed from a quad injury, according to Dan Woike of The Orange County Register. Griffin, who hasn’t played since Christmas Day, expected to be out just a few weeks after partially tearing a tendon in his lower quad muscle. “I don’t want to say ‘misdiagnosed’ but [it] wasn’t doing the right things, I guess,” he said. “We weren’t addressing the initial problem, the main problem. Everything I was doing was just putting more stress on my knee. The small tear became a three-month thing because I wasn’t doing the right things until we figured it out. … It just wasn’t being allowed to heal. The tear is still there. It’s just about managing the pain and getting through this. It’s not a new tear. I wasn’t re-tearing my knee in different places. I wasn’t allowing the initial injury to completely heal.” Griffin didn’t discuss the condition of his right hand, which was broken in a fight with assistant equipment manager Matias Testi. The Clippers posted a 30-15 record in the 45 games that Griffin missed.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

Kings point guard Seth Curry is still deciding whether to exercise his option for next season, tweets Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. A decision is due just a week after the end of the regular season. Curry added that he likes Sacramento and GM Vlade Divac‘s plans for the team. If Curry opts in, he will make $1,015,696.
Sacramento placed coach George Karl in a no-win situation and would be making a mistake if it fires him, argues Andy Furillo of The Sacramento Bee. The front office failed to support Karl when it overturned his early-season suspension of DeMarcus Cousins, and Furillo claims that move deteriorated their already-strained relationship. Even with a rebuilt roster that was weakened by injuries, Karl has led the Kings to their highest win total since 2007/08.
Earl Watson has managed to get some defensive improvement out of the Suns since taking over as interim coach, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Under Watson, who has posted a 6-7 record after losing his first nine games, Phoenix has a defensive rating that is 12th best in the league over its past 10 contests. Before Watson arrived, the Suns were 29th in that category. “We have a lot we haven’t even touched,” he said.

Western Notes: Matthews, Parsons, Griffin

March 23rd, 2016 at 11:31am CST by Chuck Myron

Wesley Matthews was angry but not surprised when the Trail Blazers didn’t offer him a chance to return this past summer, as he explained to Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. It worked out for Matthews, who landed a max contract from the Mavericks, and for C.J. McCollum, who’s affirmed Portland’s faith in him as he’s stepped seamlessly into Matthews’ old job as the Blazers’ starting two-guard. “I don’t blame them for doing what they did, by any means,” Matthews said. “That’s the hand they wanted to play. That’s fine. I’m not bitter, and I didn’t mean for anything to come out like I was bitter. Just would have liked a phone call. Hey, [Blazers GM Neil Olshey] could have texted me. But they’ve got a nice thing going there with [Damian Lillard] and C.J.”

See more on another Dallas wing player amid news from the Western Conference:

It’s conceivable that Chandler Parsons will play again this season for the Mavericks even if he does undergo surgery on a torn meniscus in his right knee, reports Schuyler Dixon of The Associated Press. Parsons is reportedly getting a second opinion before having the procedure, but he’d be able to resume basketball activities within six weeks of having the operation, Dixon hears, meaning it’s conceivable he returns during the playoffs, which begin April 16th. It’s no certainty the Mavs qualify for the postseason, however. They’re one game up on the Jazz for the last playoff spot in the West.
Doc Rivers won’t rule out the possibility of Blake Griffin missing the rest of the regular season, but he’s confident that he’ll be back in game action within the next three weeks before the regular season ends, observes Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. Griffin will have to serve a four-game suspension once he’s healthy enough to play. The Clippers signed Jeff Ayres for the rest of the season last week.
James Anderson has been frustrated sitting on the bench for long stretches this season with the Kings, even though coach George Karl acknowledges he’s probably the team’s best defender, but the swingman is seeing more playing time of late, notes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Anderson has to decide on a minimum-salary player option for next season.

Knicks Rumors: Rondo, Karl, Anthony, Galloway

March 21st, 2016 at 12:20pm CST by Arthur Hill

Free-agent-to-be Rajon Rondo said he wants his next team to be the “last stop” in his NBA career, relays Brian Lewis of The New York Post. The Knicks are hoping they might be the destination for the Sacramento point guard, who leads the league in assists with 11.8 per game. New York will have at least $18MM in cap space to use this summer.

Lewis notes that Knicks GM Steve Mills spent 30 minutes talking with Rondo’s agent, Bill Duffy, last week in California. Carmelo Anthony has openly pushed for Rondo to join the team, and interim coach Kurt Rambis has expressed confidence that the 30-year-old can adapt to the triangle offense. After the Kings defeated the Knicks Sunday, Rondo brushed aside concerns that he might not be comfortable in the triangle. “I’m not against anything,” he said. “I’m pretty smart. I can figure out anything I need to figure out.’’

There’s more out of New York today:

Anthony, who has been the focus of rumors saying he might ask to be traded this summer, received support from Kings coach George Karl, according to Ian Begley of ESPN.com. “I’ve seen a winning ‘Melo over the last two years,” Karl said. “I’ve seen him sacrifice his game to try to figure out the team.” Anthony didn’t play Sunday because of a migraine and wasn’t available to speak with reporters, but he has repeatedly voiced his frustrations over the Knicks’ collapse during the second half of the season, which will leave the team out of the playoffs for the third straight year. “He doesn’t want the season to be over April [13th],” Karl said. “I think Melo’s had a Hall of Fame career, and I just know right now, just kind of looking at his body language, he wants to win.”
With restricted free agency looming, Langston Galloway has picked an unfortunate time to fall into a shooting slump, writes Ryan Lazo of The New York Post. Galloway’s 3-point marksmanship was an important weapon for the Knicks during the first part of the season, but teams have begun challenging his shots and daring him to drive. As a result, he’s shooting just 31% from the field in March. His two-year contract expires this summer, and the Knicks have to decide whether he can be a long-term effective scorer. “[Staying in New York] would mean a lot,” Galloway said. “I think they are going to show interest after the season, and I’m hoping I get to stay here.”

Pacific Notes: Lieberman, Ayres, Clarkson, Booker

March 17th, 2016 at 9:23pm CST by Dana Gauruder

George Karl has unofficially exiled Kings assistant coach Nancy Lieberman because Karl views her as a confidante to owner Vivek Ranadive, according to Sam Amick of USA Today. That’s created an extra plot twist with the Karl-DeMarcus Cousins saga because Ranadive has been loyal to Cousins and the mercurial center can’t help but notice the in-fighting among the staff, Amick adds. The Kings deny that Lieberman has Ranadive’s ear or that Karl has pushed her to the background, sources indicated to NBCSports.com’s Dan Feldman, though Feldman notes that Amick is well connected and has reported out of Sacramento for many years.

In other news around the Pacific Division:

Power forward Jeff Ayres is relieved he can settle into one place now that the Clippers have signed him for the remainder of the season, Rowan Kavner of Clippers.com reports. The power forward, who played under two 10-day contracts with the Clippers earlier this season, played two games for the D-League’s Los Angeles D-Fenders after being traded from Boise before the Clippers came calling again. “I was telling somebody this morning, I’ve been living out of my suitcase – like really living out of a suitcase,” Ayres told Kavner.
Lakers coach Byron Scott isn’t concerned about Jordan Clarkson‘s shooting slump, Bill Oram of the Orange County Register writes. The second-year shooting guard has averaged 9.7 points, shot 29.5% from the field and made just two of 17 3-point attempts over the past three games. “I don’t put a whole lot of stock into it,” Scott told Oram and other members of the media. “You’re going to have stretches of this season, which is a long season, where you’re going to have some bad games.”
Rookie shooting guard Devin Booker is being groomed as the Suns‘ go-to player at the end of games, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Interim head coach Earl Watson is putting the ball in his hands during those situations to see how he responds, as Watson relayed to Coro. “Devin has to learn how to finish games at the elbow like Kobe Bryant,” Watson said. “He knows that. We talked about that. That’s the progression of him finishing games.”

Pacific Notes: Scott, Watson, Cauley-Stein, Curry

March 15th, 2016 at 10:13am CST by Chuck Myron

A theory going around the league suggests Byron Scott isn’t necessarily in his last season as Lakers coach, as Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck relays (Twitter links). The idea suggests the Lakers will keep Scott for one more year, delaying the appointment of his successor in case Knicks team president Phil Jackson exercises the opt-out that’s in his contract for the summer of 2017, moves to the Lakers, and wants to handpick a coach, according to Beck. The Bleacher Report scribe cautions that it’s just a theory. Sources close to Jackson and the Lakers tell Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com that the Zen Master is unlikely to return to the franchise that fiancee Jeanie Buss owns, with Jackson loving life in New York and perhaps thinking of coaching the Knicks on a part-time basis, as we rounded up earlier amid a slew of other coaching rumors. There’s news on the Lakers there, and more on other Pacific Division teams here:

Earl Watson has an interim tag on his title as Suns coach, but he’s already dreaming of ways to combine the talents of guards Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight and Devin Booker next season when Bledsoe returns from the torn meniscus in his left knee, observes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Booker has been seeing time at point guard, but his 6’6″ length means the situation is distinct from Phoenix’s failed experiment of having Bledsoe, Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas on the same team, Coro writes.
Watson is a believer in the internal growth of the the team, pointing to the emergence of Booker and Alex Len, as Coro relays in the same piece. “We enhanced bench production without a trade,” Watson said. “How many teams can say they did that without paying a guy to come in? So when you go into free agency, you have six guys who can give you 30 [points] at any time. The creativity is how do you build around it? As a full program, we can throw a lot of things on the board and we don’t have to say, ‘We need to bring in a scoring player,’ that’s going to command most of our money in free agency. Now we can be really crafty.”
Kings coach George Karl plans to increase playing time for Willie Cauley-Stein and Seth Curry down the stretch, notes Sean Cunningham of KXTV-TV in Sacramento (Twitter link). Cauley-Stein recently described Karl’s explanation for not giving him more minutes as “kind of flimsy,” while Curry has expressed mild frustration about his lack of burn.

Pacific Notes: Cousins, Karl, Dawson, Davis

March 14th, 2016 at 11:00am CST by Chuck Myron

DeMarcus Cousins and George Karl can’t find common ground on much these days, even on the matter of whether they spoke with one another in between his one-game suspension and Sacramento’s loss on Sunday to the Jazz. Karl said before the Utah game that he and Cousins had engaged in small talk, but Cousins insisted after the game that the Kings coach hadn’t said a word to him, reports Marc J. Spears of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. People around Cousins believe Karl has pushed the Kings to suspend him on several occasions this season, according to Spears, who adds that a November tirade Cousins directed at Karl deeply affected the coach. GM Vlade Divac, when told that Cousins believes the suspension came from Karl and not the organzation, only smiled and said simply that he loves Cousins, Spears observes.

“There is a lot of chaos,” Cousins said. “Usually, there is just frustration with coming out and winning games. But so much extra stuff this season. Extra unnecessary stuff. It’s a lot of stuff within. There are battles with guys that should be on your side.”

See more on the Kings situation amid news from the Pacific Division:

Cousins insists he’s not the only one frustrated with the situation, notes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. “I know for a fact there’s a lot of frustration in this locker room,” Cousins said. “I believe everyone believes we should be a lot better than we are and we’re just frustrated that we’re not. We haven’t performed to the level of expectations, so there’s a lot of frustration with that.”
Clippers rookie Branden Dawson was freed from jail on $50K bond Sunday afternoon, according to Dan Woike of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). Dawson was arrested Sunday morning on felony domestic violence charges, according to TMZ Sports. His first court appearance is set for April 7th, notes Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter). That’s an off day before an April 8th game at Utah. “Obviously, it’s an awful situation,” Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers said, as Rowan Kavner of Clippers.com relays (Twitter link). “…We’ll figure out what we want to do and how we want to handle it.”
It’s a long shot, but Baron Davis would prefer to rejoin the Warriors if he makes it back to the NBA, notes Jay Mariotti of the San Francisco Examiner. Davis has nonetheless said he’d play for any team as he tries to return, having recently joined the D-League affiliate of the Sixers.

And-Ones: Cousins, Hinrich, Richardson, Varejao

March 13th, 2016 at 10:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kings center DeMarcus Cousins took another verbal swipe at coach George Karl, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. After being suspended for Friday’s game following a tirade directed at Karl, Cousins remained combative following tonight’s loss to the Jazz. “That wasn’t a suspension from the organization,” Cousins said. “That was a suspension from the head coach.” Their ongoing battle has led many to speculate that neither will be in Sacramento next season.

There’s more tonight from around the basketball world:

Veteran guard Kirk Hinrich is probably looking at a short stay with the Hawks, tweets Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Coach Mike Budenholzer said Dennis Schröder will be the backup point guard, and it’s not in the “plans” to use Hinrich in that role any more. The 35-year-old soon-to-be free agent to be has appeared in just three games since coming to Atlanta from the Bulls in a deadline-day trade.
Josh Richardson is shaping up as a major bargain for the Heat, writes Ethan Skolnick of The Miami Herald. He has settled into Miami’s rotation and now trails only the Sixers‘ Richaun Holmes in minutes played among 2015 second-round picks. Richardson is signed through 2017/18 and will make a little less than $875K next season.
Anderson Varejao is still adjusting to the idea of not being with the Cavaliers, writes Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon-Journal. After 12 years in Cleveland, Varejao was shipped to the Blazers in a deadline-day trade, and he signed with the Warriors after Portland released him. “If you told me at the start of the season I’d be here, I never would’ve believed it,” he said. “With my contract, how could anyone have predicted this?”
The Warriors were honored as the“Best Analytics Organization” at this year’s MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. The Chicago Blackhawks, Houston Astros and FC Midtjylland, a Danish soccer team, were the other finalists for the award.
The Hornets have assigned rookie guard Aaron Harrison to Erie of the D-League. Harrison is averaging just 4.3 minutes in 16 games with Charlotte, along with 0.8 points and 0.6 rebounds.

Kings Rumors: Cousins, Karl, Divac

March 13th, 2016 at 4:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kings center DeMarcus Cousins is the latest in a series of stars who have clashed with George Karl during his long coaching career, as Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee examines. Sacramento GM Vlade Divac suspended Cousins for Friday’s game after his latest verbal tirade directed at Karl. It’s the most recent step in their tumultuous 13-month relationship that started when the Kings hired Karl in February of last year. “I’m the authoritative figure, and when you lose games, frustration evolves in many different ways, and sometimes it crosses the line,” Karl said. “Unfortunately, I’ve had many [difficult relationships] in my career, and fortunately some of them turned out to be very, very good.” He identified Gary Payton, Kenyon Martin and World B. Free as past stars whom he clashed with but now considers friends. Cousins is signed through the end of the 2017/18 season, which is also when Karl’s contract expires, but the coach was nearly fired before the All-Star break and is widely believed to be on the way out once the season ends.

There’s more news out of Sacramento:

Karl played down the seriousness of a procedure he had on his neck Thursday to treat skin cancer, Jones writes in the same piece. Karl described the event as not “dangerous,” and he coached the next night.
Cousins’ blowup this week bolsters the argument that Divac should ship him out of Sacremento, contends Andy Furillo of The Sacramento Bee. Furillo says Cousins has long displayed disrespect for the game as well as coaches, officials and other players. He picked up his league-leading 15th technical foul on Wednesday, then had to be restrained from attacking an assistant coach in the middle of a verbal tirade during a timeout. Furillo argues that the Kings need to trade Cousins, even if they can’t get equal value in return, before they move into their new arena next season.
A dissenting view comes from Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee, who says Sacramento’s front office shouldn’t be so desperate to trade Cousins that it accepts a bad deal. Voisin expects Cousins to be sent somewhere this summer, maybe by draft day, and speculates about the Rockets, Mavericks, Celtics, Lakers and Clippers as possible trading partners.