Gregg Popovich Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Bulls, Thunder In Lead For Pau Gasol

July 3rd, 2014 at 10:45pm CST by Zachary Links

THURSDAY, 10:45pm: The Bulls and Thunder are the most intriguing destinations to Gasol at this time, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.

10:37am: Stein counters that the Thunder do believe they have a legitimate chance of landing Gasol, though whether he’d take a sizable discount to sign with Oklahoma City remains a question (Twitter link).

WEDNESDAY, 9:00pm: The Thunder view a run for Gasol as a “long shot” since they can only offer the mid-level but they also believe it’s “worth a try,” a source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo (via Twitter).

8:24pm: Thunder stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook made a come-to-OKC pitch directly to Gasol today in Los Angeles, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.

7:15pm: Sources say the Bulls’ rising interest in Gasol is a reflection of concern that they can’t convince Carmelo Anthony to leave the Knicks, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Stein adds (link) that Gasol is giving legit consideration to joining the Spurs if he looks at places where money is scarce. Gasol likes the Spurs in part because of Gregg Popovich‘s ability to manage minutes as well as the international flavor of the roster, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com.

6:05pm: The Thunder have come on strong with Gasol and have been described as the “frontrunner” for him, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com.

5:30pm: The Bulls are zeroed in on wooing Carmelo Anthony, but they’re also eager to add Pau Gasol if things don’t work out on that front. The Spaniard is their top target after the Knicks star and Chicago officials will be traveling to L.A. on Thursday to sit down with him, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.

The Bulls and Thunder have emerged as two new top-flight teams in the hunt for Gasol, Stein tweets. Gasol has been drawing considerable interest from multiple suitors since free agency kicked off earlier this week.

Meanwhile, the Spurs are among the teams that made contact with Gasol on Wednesday, according to Joe Goodman of the Miami Herald. LeBron James and Anthony might be stealing the big headlines right now, but it won’t be long before Gasol is among the hottest free agents available.

Spurs Notes: Ginobili, Popovich, Duncan

June 14th, 2014 at 5:48pm CST by Cray Allred

Earlier today, we learned that Tim Duncan could receive an unconventional raise next season. An extra $361,446 will be added to Duncan’s player option to bring the contract within CBA rules. Here’s more from San Antonio:

Manu Ginobili refuted the idea that he, Duncan, and Gregg Popovich would all retire if the Spurs won the 2013/14 championship, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. “You have no data to support that,” said Ginobili. “You haven’t talked to any of us to support that.“
In fact, Popovich told reporters, including Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated, that he still wants to coach next season. Duncan, on the other hand, says he hasn’t made up his mind on whether he’ll return or not next year, but he indicated he feels good about it now, as Golliver passes along.
In a Q&A with Dan McCarney of The San Antonio Express-News, Spurs GM R.C. Buford joked that he might retire if and when Duncan and Popovich hang it up. “There have been worse ideas. I might not show back up,” Buford said. “What will it be like [when those two are gone]? It will be numbing and changing. Those are the people we’ve worked with and battled with, and committed ourselves to as they’ve committed to us.”
Buford downplayed San Antonio’s advanced international scouting as the significant cause for the Spurs’ sustained success, but did acknowledge how the team has benefited from international players. “I think the key has been [to] take advantage of the advantages that are available to us and not put any boundaries around where we can find basketball players,” said Buford. “Fortunately we have a coach who has not only a great appreciation for them as players, but as people and the contributions they’ve made to our culture.”

Charlie Adams contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Lakers, Thibodeau, Duncan, Embiid

June 13th, 2014 at 4:04pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers never asked the Bulls for permission to interview Tom Thibodeau, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com, who reported last month that they would. The L.A. brass is “all but sure” the Bulls would have asked for this month’s No. 7 overall pick, which the Lakers would be unwilling to give up, according to McMenamin. The ESPN scribe also believes that L.A.’s concerns about paying Thibodeau a lavish salary to coach a mediocre roster next season played a role, and suggests the Lakers are wary of the way their fans might react if Thibodeau rejected the team’s pursuit. Here’s more from around the league:

The deadline for Tim Duncan to decide on his $10MM player option for next season is June 24th, but the Spurs are operating under the assumption that Duncan and coach Gregg Popovich will return, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Most option clauses give players until June 30th to decide, though Duncan’s date can be pushed back if he and the team decide to do so, Stein notes, adding that Popovich’s contract runs through next season.
A source tells Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio that Joel Embiid checked out fine when he took a physical this week for the Cavs, contradicting an earlier report from Tony Rizzo of ESPN Cleveland, who hears that the exam raised serious concerns (Twitter links).
It appears as though the Bucks will work out Andrew Wiggins twice, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com hears that he’s auditioning for the team today in California and again next week in Milwaukee (Twitter link).
A handful of top European teams have interest in soon-to-be free agent Nando De Colo, and it seems like they’re willing to give the Raptors guard a raise on the $1.463MM he made in the NBA this season, reports Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops.net.
The Timberwolves have hired Sidney Lowe as an assistant coach, the team formally announced (Twitter link), confirming an earlier report. He spent last season as an assistant with the Jazz.

Gregg Popovich Wins Coach Of The Year

April 22nd, 2014 at 9:33am CST by Chuck Myron

Gregg Popovich has won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award, the league announced, joining Pat Riley and Don Nelson as the only three-time winners of the honor. It’s the second such award in three years for the Spurs coach, who was also the top coach in 2012 and 2003.

Popovich garnered 59 out of a possible 124 first-place votes, with Jeff Hornacek of the Suns finishing second in just his first season as an NBA coach. Tom Thibodeau finished third, followed by Steve Clifford, Dwane Casey, Terry Stotts and Doc Rivers among coaches who received first-place votes.

Popovich led the Spurs to the league’s best record of 62-20, all the while managing minutes for Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, San Antonio’s trio of stars over the age of 30. With Rick Adelman‘s retirement Monday, Popovich is the NBA’s active career wins leader, having racked up 967 regular season victories since taking over the team in the middle of the 1996/97 season.

Last year’s Coach of the Year, George Karl, found himself out of a job in the offseason, but that almost certainly won’t happen with Popovich, who’s firmly ensconced in the Spurs organization. He’s the NBA’s longest-tenured coach by more than a decade.

And-Ones: Buford, Popovich, Chandler

April 15th, 2014 at 11:42pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Spurs GM R.C. Buford is “incredibly happy” in San Antonio and has no intention of leaving even as Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili near retirement age, as Buford tells Grantland’s Zach Lowe (audio link; transcription via Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News). McCarney, in the intro to his transcription, notes that Gregg Popovich has backed away from his assertion a year ago that he’ll retire when Duncan does, referring to Popovich’s remark as merely a joke.

Here are more of tonight’s miscellaneous news and notes:

On the idea that the Knicks might be focusing on the summer 2015 rather than be competitive next season, Tyson Chandler hopes that it isn’t the case: “I definitely don’t want to waste another season….I’m not into wasting seasons. Your time is too short in this league and I want to win a championship, another one” (Marc Berman of the New York Post reports). Berman adds that with his expiring contract and ability to still play at a high level, Chandler could be Phil Jackson‘s number one trading chip this summer.
It appears that soon-to-be restricted free agent Gordon Hayward would like to stay with the Jazz, but he acknowledges that nothing’s certain at this point, notes Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune.
Currently without a contract after July, Utah head coach Tyrone Corbin isn’t ready to field questions about his impending future just yet, writes Falk in a separate piece. Corbin elaborated: “I don’t know if that’s a good question to ask right now…I have a lot of evaluating to do that I want to do for myself and figure out what’s my next step.”
The Rockets have recalled Robert Covington and Isaiah Canaan from the D-League, per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
Melvin Ely‘s contract with the Pelicans runs through next season with non-guaranteed salary, reports Mark Deeks of ShamSports, writing for the Score. The ninth-year veteran’s minimum salary he’d get makes him a trade chip in the same manner that Scotty Hopson is for the Cavs, but Ely comes much more cheaply, as Deeks points out.
Deeks also reports that the Bulls’ deal with Louis Amundson, like teammates Ronnie Brewer and Mike James, covers next season with non-guaranteed salary.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Kobe, Lakers, Woodson

March 11th, 2014 at 10:02pm CST by Ryan Raroque

The Lakers are expected to officially declare Kobe Bryant out for the rest of the 2013/14 season, as per Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report. The 35-year-old guard is still dealing with discomfort after fracturing the tibial plateau in his left knee back in December. Ding adds that while the superstar guard has expressed hope in the team significantly re-tooling this summer via free agency, all signs point to the front office planning accordingly to have cap flexibility for the summer of 2015.

You can find more of tonight’s noteworthy links below:

With Kobe, Steve Nash, and Robert Sacre presently listed as the only guaranteed contracts for next season, Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times looks at the rest of the current roster to determine who has the best chance of sticking around after this year.
Mike Woodson‘s reported mistrust of Steve Mills partially stems from the Knicks executive’s presence in coaches meetings, practices, and road trips for large chunks of the season, writes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. According to Kyler, Woodson’s camp viewed it as meddling in the process and casting doubt on the coach’s job from the start.
Marco Belinelli doesn’t hold a grudge against the Bulls for declining to make him an offer this past summer, but his first choice would have been to re-sign with the Bulls, in spite of Tom Thibodeau’s efforts to convince the team to do so. Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News has the details, noting that when Gregg Popovich called Thibodeau for a recommendation, Thibs gave the shooting guard an endorsement.
Paul Millsap says he didn’t go “kicking and screaming” from the Jazz when they parted ways over the summer, adding that he respected the team’s decision not to pursue re-signing him, as Brad Rock of the Deseret News observes.
J.J. Hickson has hired Muhammad Abdur-Rahim and Aaron Goodwin of Goodwin Sports Management as his new agents, reports Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (Twitter link). They replace Andy Miller of ASM Sports, whom the Nuggets big man jettisoned earlier this season.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

D-League Notes: Bowles, Williams, Nedovic

March 11th, 2014 at 8:31pm CST by Ryan Raroque

The Iowa Energy – who share an NBA affiliation with the Bulls, Nuggets, Timberwolves, Pelicans, and Wizards – have acquired center Denzel Bowles (Gino Pilato of DLeagueDigest reports). The 6’10 big man was previously a member of the Pelicans’ (then-Hornets) summer league team in 2012/13, where he averaged 7.2 PPG and 6.6 RPG in 16.1 MPG. Most recently, Bowles played in China before entering the D-League player pool.

Here are a few more NBDL-related notes worth passing along tonight:

The Thunder announced via press release that forward Reggie Williams has been recalled from the Tulsa 66ers. Oklahoma City assigned Williams to the D-League earlier today before announcing his recall. Williams has yet to see action with the Thunder on the 10-day deal he signed Thursday, but he had 19 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in today’s matinee for Tulsa.
The Warriors announced earlier today that they’ve recalled Nemanja Nedovic from the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBDL.
The Cavaliers have recalled Sergey Karasev from the Canton Charge, according to the team’s official Twitter account.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Odds & Ends: ‘Melo, LeBron, Popovich, Harrison

October 19th, 2013 at 11:01pm CST by Spencer Lund

Here are some links from around the Association as we come inside 10 days before the regular season starts:

The New York Daily News’ Mitch Lawrence compares and contrasts the different ways LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony have handled their possible impending free agency next summer. That’s when both can opt-out of their current deals with the Heat and Knicks, respectively.
Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich told the Miami Herald’s Joseph Goodman he dreams about LeBron James and Ray Allen almost every night after the Spurs’ tough loss to the Heat in the Finals last season.
Austin Daye told the Toronto Sun’s Ryan Wolstat he chose the Raptors this offseason in free agency – despite receiving some interest from the Heat – because he believes in the organization and thought he’d get more playing time.
Sixers coach Brett Brown will “deal with” Lavoy Allen missing practice today after he claimed to have overslept, writes the Intelligencer’s Thomas Moore.
K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reports Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter against the Pacers on Friday night and will be out indefinitely.
Harrison Barnes expects to play in the Warriors season opener against the Lakers on October 30th, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. Barnes has missed the last three preseason games with a left foot inflammation, and there’s no word on whether he’ll dress for the remaining two preseason games.
Ridiculous Upside’s Keith Schlosser reports that D-League players want to be paid more.
Foreign clubs routinely offer more money than the NBA’s D-League, so the impetus to stay and compete is low unless a certain club expresses direct interest in a player and asks them to play.
Schlosser suggested individual NBA teams could pay the salaries instead of the NBA itself, but there are only 17 D-League franchises right now with a number of teams sharing the same affiliate, so it’s unclear which team would pay which salaries.

Western Notes: Turner, Nuggets, Asik

October 17th, 2013 at 5:36pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Richard Hamilton was one name linked to the Timberwolves as they consider adding a wing, but he’s far from the team’s only potential target. Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities tweets that Evan Turner has fans among the Wolves front office, and that the 76ers would be open to moving him. In a piece for the Star Tribune, Jerry Zgoda also mentions Turner and identifies a few other possible options.

With that aside, let’s take a look at what else is going on around the Western Conference:

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports takes a look at the Nuggets’ offseason, starting with Josh Kroenke’s agonizing decision to fire Coach of the Year George Karl.
ESPN’s David Thorpe examines Omer Asik‘s trade value and explores a few potential trades involving the Rockets’ center (Insiders only).
Earlier this week, we noted that there has been mutual interest between the Jazz and free agent guard Jamaal Tinsley, although nothing appeared to be imminent. Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune was able to relay some of head coach Tyrone Corbin‘s comments today regarding the 35-year-old point guard: “He’s a guy that’s on the list…We haven’t decided what we’re going to do yet. He’s a guy we’re comfortable with. I really respect what he brings to the team. We’ll look and see if it’s the right fit going forward.”
Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News (via Twitter) doesn’t expect the Spurs to make any roster cuts until after the team’s road trip ends in Miami on Saturday. McDonald also points out that although San Antonio only has to make one more roster cut, they could possibly opt for two.
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich drew a parallel between Manu Ginobili and new addition Marco Belinelli: “I consider him to have the same mindset as Manu, which means I’m going to have to be patient as I’ve learned with Manu. Manu taught me to shut up and just watch him play a little more, which is a good thing. And Marco is going to be the same way. They both have the same passion for the game. They have no fear, which most of the time is good, but sometimes it can bite you. But I would rather have that than somebody who is timid” (NBA.com via the Associated Press).

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Odds & Ends: Bibby, Graham, Kuester

September 26th, 2013 at 6:24pm CST by Ryan Raroque

According to Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report, Mike Bibby – who is reportedly well-liked by Spurs coach Gregg Popovich - was invited to San Antonio's training camp and had a good chance of making the team. However, the veteran guard now won't be able to attend because of a foot/heel injury (Twitter link). It's been a bit of a Jazz fest as far as news goes this evening, but here are some other noteworthy links we've gathered up from around the Association:

Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.com ranks the league's top ten frontcourts (Insiders only).
Stephen Graham could possibly have an invitation to participate in Bucks camp this fall (Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times via Twitter). There hasn't been any further mention of an official invitation, but we'll look to relay any updates as they surface.
76ers rookie head coach Brett Brown doesn't feel inclined to bring along a former head coach as an assistant, notes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer: “I don’t feel with this team that it’s mandatory that I have to surround myself with perspective or wisdom or, you know, an Owl that’s been there, done that…I feel that this year’s team is about development. And I feel like it’s about … teaching, relationships and energy more than NBA wisdom."
Former Pistons head coach and Lakers assistant John Kuester, however, has been rumored to be a potential candidate for Brown's coaching staff in Philadelphia.
The Score's Mark Deeks discusses Paul George's max contract extension as well as a potential one for Kings center DeMarcus Cousins. While Deeks understands the logic behind securing George for the long term, he feels that offering the same type of deal to Cousins would be an enormous gamble.