Jason Kidd Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Jason Kidd Pursuing Nets Coaching Job

June 9th, 2013 at 5:31pm CST by Zachary Links

Less than two weeks removed from his retirement, Jason Kidd is seeking to become the next head coach of the Nets, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. The guard's candidacy is already being discussed within the highest levels of the organization.

Kidd has been talking with associates about the possibility of making the immediate leap from playing to a head coaching job and has been working to identify a staff of assistant coaches who could help him overcome the significant learning curve, sources said. Right now, Brian Shaw is viewed as a leading candidate for the Nets' job, but they'll have to fight it out with the Clippers and Nuggets in order to secure him. Kidd would be an extremely bold choice for the Nets but it would certainly satisfy the organization's desire for a big splash this summer.

Atlantic Notes: Kidd, Knicks, Larkin, C’s, Sixers

June 4th, 2013 at 9:05am CST by Luke Adams

Already today, we've passed along word that J.R. Smith will decline his player option, but is likely to re-sign with the Knicks. There are plenty of other news items and rumors floating around the web this morning, relating to the Knicks and their Atlantic rivals, so let's round up the latest out of the division:

After announcing his retirement yesterday, Jason Kidd told ESPN Radio (link via Marc Berman of the New York Post) that he thinks the Knicks have a "solid foundation," though the team may have to make a couple upgrades this summer.
According to both Berman and Nate Taylor of the New York Times, Kidd will forgo the final two years and $6.18MM remaining on his contract. Assuming that's true, it's a nice break for the Knicks, considering teams often agree to buyouts with retiring players. It likely won't give New York any additional cap flexibility, since the team is still in the tax, but at the very least it will reduce that tax bill.
Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald explores whether Shane Larkin may be a fit for the Celtics at No. 16 in this month's draft.
Although Michael Malone was on the Sixers' wish list back when Tony DiLeo, rather than Sam Hinkie, was running the team's coaching search, John N. Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer points out the Kings' hiring of Malone further diminishes Philadelphia's pool of head coach targets.
Over at Philly.com, Michael Levien of SBNation.com is skeptical of a rumor linking the Sixers to free-agent-to-be Josh Smith, writing that he's "very confident" Philadelphia won't be the team that gives the forward a big-money, long-term contract.

Knicks Notes: Kidd, Selby, Draft

June 3rd, 2013 at 7:04pm CST by Zachary Links

Knicks fans got a bit of surprising news earlier today when Jason Kidd announced that he is retiring. The future Hall of Famer still had two seasons and $6.18MM remaining on his three-year contract with the Knicks and despite his shooting woes to close out the Knicks' season, he had a strong 2012/13 campaign on the whole. Here's more on Kidd and other notes out of MSG..

The NBA will miss Kidd’s presence on the court, but don’t be surprised if he surfaces in the NBA next season as a coach, writes Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld. I could certainly see Kidd taking a run at coaching, but it may not be right away.
Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com (via Twitter) says to keep an eye on Josh Selby in free agency. The guard's priority is figuring out his summer league and then signing with a team, though its not known if the Knicks have interest yet. For what it's worth, Selby and Carmelo Anthony are friends from their days in Baltimore and are still close. Anthony was hoping the Knicks would draft Selby in 2011, but he went to the Grizzlies in the second round instead.
Point guard prospect Nate Wolters out of South Dakota State will be working out for the Knicks, Zwerling tweets. Wolters is a projected late first/early second round pick.
Nets GM Billy King issued a statement on Kidd's retirement. "[Kidd] was the captain of the Nets during their most successful period in the NBA, and is considered the greatest player in the Nets' NBA history. On behalf of the entire Brooklyn Nets organization, we congratulate him on his Hall of Fame career," King said, according to the AP. With all due respect for Kidd, Drazen Petrovic is considered by some to be the greatest Nets player in their NBA history.

Coaching Rumors: Karl, JVG, Clips, Hollins, Nets

June 3rd, 2013 at 2:52pm CST by Luke Adams

After we heard yesterday that there are some question marks surrounding George Karl's future in Denver, TNT's David Aldridge echoes that report, writing that the head coach is "antsy" about his current situation. According to Aldridge, the Nuggets don't plan to exercise the 2014/15 option on Karl's contract, which means he'll be on an expiring contract in '13/14.

"They want to play it out and see where they're at," one league source tells Aldridge. "And they're not going to budge on that."

As Aldridge notes, the Nuggets don't appear to actively be seeking a replacement for Karl, but if he wants to leave for a more lucrative opportunity when his current deal runs out, the team may not be inclined to stop him.

Here are a few more of the latest coaching-related rumblings from around the league:

Jeff Van Gundy and the Clippers talked multiple times about the team's head coaching job, but discussions are now dormant, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Van Gundy was reportedly at or near the top of L.A.'s wish list, but it doesn't sound as if he's a serious candidate at this point.
Two of the Nets' top coaching targets may become available for interviews within the next few days, as Tim Bontemps of the New York Post writes, pointing to Lionel Hollins and Brian Shaw. In fact, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter), the Nets formally requested permission today to interview Hollins.
The newly-retired Jason Kidd has interest in coaching, tweets Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
Vitaly Potapenko, who was a Cavaliers lottery pick way back in 1996, will return to Cleveland as an assistant coach to Mike Brown, tweets Wojnarowski.

Jason Kidd Retires

June 3rd, 2013 at 11:28am CST by Luke Adams

Jason Kidd has decided to end his playing career and has retired, the Knicks officially announced today (Twitter link). The veteran point guard still had two seasons and $6.18MM remaining on his three-year contract with New York.

"[Agent] Jeff [Schwartz] and I and my family had been talking this past weekend," Kidd told Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com. "We talked a lot and we felt it was the right time to move on and so we notified the Knicks. They were kind of taken aback. We told them [earlier] that I wanted to come back and play. But this weekend was when we got a chance to relax [and really think about it]. It is the right thing to do."

As recently as last Thursday, we heard that Kidd remained undecided about his future, though it sounded as if he was leaning toward returning next season with the Knicks. While the 40-year-old played a key role for the Knicks during the regular season, he struggled mightily during the playoffs, making just three baskets overall and going for 0-for-17 from the field with no points in the team's final 10 games.

For his career, the future Hall-of-Famer averaged 12.6 PPG, 8.7 APG, and 6.3 RPG in nearly 1400 total contests. He was named to 10 All-Star teams, won a championship in 2011 with the Mavericks, and also earned co-Rookie of the Year honors back in 1995 with Grant Hill, who also retired this week. As Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com notes (via Twitter), Kidd currently ranks second overall among the NBA's all-time assists and steals leaders, and ranks third in career triple doubles.

Kidd's retirement could slightly reduce the Knicks' luxury-tax bill, depending on whether or not his full annual salaries of $3.09MM remain on the team's books for each of the next two seasons. However, the club will now have a hole to fill at the point — with Pablo Prigioni facing free agency, Raymond Felton will be the only point guard still on the roster.

Kidd Still Deciding On Future

May 30th, 2013 at 6:18pm CST by Ryan Raroque

ESPN New York's Ohm Youngmisuk spotted Knicks guard Jason Kidd at a charity event in New York city this evening, and heard "that's the plan" when the 40-year-old veteran was asked if he is coming back next season. Kidd added that he'll take the next couple of days to think about whether or not he'll decide to return, and if so, it would be with the Knicks (Twitter links). Having just completed his 18th season in the NBA, the 6'4 guard is still under contract for two more seasons at about $3.09MM per year.

Marc Berman of the New York Post followed up with an article that shared some of the specifics of Jason's comments, later mentioning that Kidd had told Knicks GM Glen Grunwald last week that he had planned on returning:

"I am thinking about it. We’ll see. I have to make a decision. We’ll see what happens. Right now I plan on coming back but in the next couple of days or a week or so, I’m going to think about it if I should keep playing or trying something different…There’s a lot different stuff I may have the opportunity to do,’’ said Kidd. “If I play, I plan on playing for the Knicks.’’

Atlantic Notes: Nets, Watson, Sund, Knicks, White

May 21st, 2013 at 9:07pm CST by Alex Lee

Here are some notes from the only division in the East with no team left standing:

While the timing is unclear, C.J. Watson's former agent, Jared Karnes, confirmed that Watson is now represented by Excel Sports, tweets Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. Watson, who played 19 minutes per game for the Nets this year, owns a player option for the league minimum next season and told Bondy last month he'd love to return to Brooklyn.
Besides Masai Ujiri and Kevin Pritchard – names that we've already heard – the Raptors are also considering Rick Sund for their newly available general manager position, report Jeff Zillgitt and Sam Amick of USA Today.
In the wake of the Knicks playoff exit this weekend, Frank Isola of the New York Daily News offers his thoughts, via Twitter, on what Glen Grunwald and company must do in the offseason to improve. While they are hindered by cap issues, Isola tweets that the Knicks should try to find a way to add unrestricted free agent Kyle Korver, and then draft a point guard or a big man in June. Isola also tweets that he believes Jason Kidd's time in New York is over, despite what Grunfeld said, but hopes the team persuades Pablo Prigioni to stay.
According to his agent, James White is unlikely to return to the Knicks next season if they don't pick up his option, reports Jared Zwerling of ESPN New York. William McCandless, White's agent, is confident that his client will garner NBA interest this offseason but because White values playing time, he has no problem going back overseas to continue his career.

Knicks GM Talks Cap, Prigioni, Copeland, Kidd

May 21st, 2013 at 12:13pm CST by Luke Adams

Knicks general manager Glen Grunwald spoke to the media today, reflecting on a Knicks season that ended with a second-round loss to the Pacers and looking ahead to the team's plans for the coming summer. A number of New York reporters, including Al Iannazzone of Newsday, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com, Marc Berman of the New York Post, and Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, passed along a few of Grunwald's more notable comments, so let's round them up:

The Knicks will focus on continuing to build and add to their core group, but won't be able to acquire anyone via sign-and-trade, says Grunwald (Twitter link). That rules out the pursuit of a top free agent like Chris Paul.
New York will have access to the taxpayer mid-level exception rather than the full $5.15MM MLE, and Grunwald says the club may have to dip into it to match offer sheets for restricted free agents Pablo Prigioni and Chris Copeland (Twitter link).
Despite the team's limited cap flexibility, Grunwald is confident the team can be "creative" when it comes to adding talent, noting that the Knicks "have some ideas" for what can be done (Twitter link).
After speaking to Jason Kidd, Grunwald is confident the veteran point guard will be back next season, as opposed to retiring (Twitter link).
Grunwald declined to comment on J.R. Smith's free agency, but added: "I don’t think you should read that one way or another" (Twitter link).
Although Grunwald was disappointed by the way the Knicks' season ended, he stressed that he likes the team and is excited about its future (Sulia link).

Atlantic Notes: Colangelo, Raps, Copeland, Knicks

May 21st, 2013 at 9:41am CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors have scheduled a pair of conference calls this morning, one with MLSE president/CEO Tim Leiweke and one with Bryan Colangelo, who appears to be taking on a new non-basketball role with the franchise. While we await word on Colangelo's official title, let's check in on a few other notes related to the Raptors' front office changes and related to one of Toronto's division rivals….

The Raptors' top target to replace Colangelo as the head of basketball operations, Masai Ujiri, isn't going to talk to Leiweke before Wednesday, says Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. Smith also suggests that if the Raptors miss out on Ujiri, they should try to convince current advisor Wayne Embry to become the team's new president.
Bruce Arthur and Eric Koreen of the National Post each provide retrospectives for Colangelo's tenure as the Raptors' general manager.
A few days after Chris Copeland's agent said that money would be an important factor in free agency this summer, Copeland stressed that he's "never chased the highest bidder," as Mark Hale of the New York Post details. "I love it here [with the Knicks]," Copeland said. "The finances play a part, but I have a lot of emotional ties here that it would be harder for me to break."
In his latest piece for the New York Post, Marc Berman touches on the contract situations for a number of Knicks players. The highlights: Tyson Chandler says he's not sure whether or not Jason Kidd will continue his playing career, while Carmelo Anthony expresses a desire to see J.R. Smith re-sign with the team.

Atlantic Rumors: Sixers, Sampson, Howard, Kidd

May 16th, 2013 at 10:21am CST by Luke Adams

Let's round up the latest out of the Atlantic, where the division's lone remaining team (the Knicks) will attempt to stave off elimination at Madison Square Garden tonight….

The Sixers have received permission to interview Rockets assistant Kelvin Sampson, according to John N. Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Sampson had already been on Philadelphia's list of candidates before former Rockets assistant GM Sam Hinkie was hired by the Sixers, but it will be interesting to see whether or not the Houston connection makes Sampson a stronger candidate for the opening.
Mitchell adds in the same piece that Hinkie is believed to be eyeing Jazz assistant Jeff Hornacek as well.
Hinkie says he'll look at all options in building his team back up to contention, writes PhillyBurbs.com's Tom Moore.
In identifying Dwight Howard's five likeliest free agent destinations, Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld writes that there's still mutual interest between Howard and the Nets. While Kennedy notes that, due to their cap situation, the Nets are a "long shot," I'd classify Brooklyn's odds of landing Howard as even more miniscule than that.
Mark Hale of the New York Post notes that Jason Kidd has said there's no guarantee he'll finish his current three-year contract, and wonders if Kidd's struggles during this postseason could influence a retirement decision.

Michael Pina contributed to this post.