Jerry Colangelo Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Dunn, Thompson, Expansion, Rest Problem

February 20th, 2023 at 4:22pm CST by Rory Maher

Kris Dunn has been competing in the G League this season in the hopes of receiving a promotion to the NBA. According to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report (Twitter link), Dunn is receiving call-up interest and has signed with a new agent, Bernie Lee of Thread Sports Management.

Through 20 regular season games (29.7 MPG) with the Capital City Go-Go, Washington’s affiliate, the former No. 5 overall pick is averaging 16.2 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 5.3 APG and 2.6 SPG on .522/.412/.755 shooting. A defensive stalwart, Dunn played 14 games for Portland last season.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Ausar Thompson of the Overtime Elite league has won the regular-season MVP award, an OTE representative tells ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (via Twitter). Thompson, who is projected to go No. 5 overall by ESPN in the upcoming draft, is averaging 15.3 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 5.4 APG, 2.3 SPG and 1.1 BPG, per Givony.
Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame chairman and former NBA owner and executive Jerry Colangelo thinks the time is right for the league to add a couple more teams, writes Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. “Personally, I do. OK, I do,” Colangelo told Yahoo Sports. “And I think you just hit on a couple of markets that make the most sense, (Seattle and Las Vegas).” Colangelo says there’s enough talent in the NBA for 30 more standard roster spots. “The stars continue to come,” Colangelo said, per Goodwill. “(Mikal) Bridges in Brooklyn, he gets 45 in his (third) game. That’s a new (star). I don’t worry about, ‘Well, how are you going to populate these new teams?’ There’s plenty of talent and more stars on the rise.” Colangelo went on to explain that he believes the game is in “great shape” due to the global interest in basketball. Commissioner Adam Silver has stated multiple times that expansion won’t be considered until the new media rights deal is negotiated following the ’24/25 season.
The Associated Press’ Tim Reynolds queried 48 players, coaches, owners and executives to see if the NBA should change current the 82-game, 170-day schedule to address the problem of star players resting throughout the season. The results were completely mixed, with 40% saying they’d go along with what the league deems best, 35% saying they want no changes, and 25% wanting change. “I think if you want to get the best player availability, shortening the season may be in the best interest of everybody involved,” Denver coach Michael Malone said. “But that’s also a lot of money being lost — TV games, money. Let’s not forget: This is a business.” Some believe expanding the 174-day schedule by a week or two and eliminating back-to-back games would help, but there’s there’s clearly no easy solution to the issue, as Reynolds notes.

Kevin Love Stung By Criticism From Colangelo

May 14th, 2022 at 11:55am CST by Dana Gauruder

Following heavy criticism from his experience with USA Basketball prior to the Olympics, Kevin Love finally spoke out on the subject in an interview with Taylor Rooks posted on Twitter by Bleacher Report, and said some people “threw me under the bus.”

The Cavaliers power forward said he was still recovering from a calf injury when he committed to play. Love eventually withdrew from Team USA before the squad headed to Tokyo.

“I was not able to be in the best shape I could have been because I couldn’t fully run yet with my calf, I couldn’t really push off,” he said. “I still could really shoot the ball, I could space the floor, I could rebound but as far as switching one-through-five and how they wanted to play, it just wasn’t appropriate for me.”

Jerry Colangelo, the former managing director of USA Basketball, criticized the 2012 gold medalist last summer for not being in shape when he showed up to camp.

“I didn’t think Kevin Love was going to play. I wasn’t even sure he had much left to play,” Colangelo said. “He reached out to us and said he was in shape and said he felt he owed us. And on the basis of that, we’re looking at someone with international experience who at one time was a heck of a rebounder and could still shoot the ball. You know, being like a 12th man on a roster. Well, it didn’t work out. He wasn’t in shape. And he was way behind as it turned out. So you move on. Call it a mistake.”

Love said those comments stung.

“People that I’ve had relationships with throughout USA basketball for that long, threw me under the bus. And I didn’t like that,” Love said. “I felt that I did the right thing by coming to the landing spot and landing point that I eventually got to. I just thought it was very unfair and coming from this elite fraternity that we have in our 450 players. You would think, like, you take care of each other. … I hope I’m a part of that family from here on out.”

And-Ones: Colangelo, Love, Irving, 2022 Draft, Bleijenbergh

July 31st, 2021 at 11:59am CST by Dana Gauruder

Jerry Colangelo, managing director of USA Basketball, admitted that adding Cavaliers big man Kevin Love to the 12-man roster was a mistake, Joe Vardon of The Athletic reports. Speaking to reporters this week, Colangelo was blunt in his assessment of Love, stating that the 2012 gold medalist was not in shape when he showed up to camp. Love eventually withdrew from Team USA before the squad headed to Tokyo.

“I didn’t think Kevin Love was going to play. I wasn’t even sure he had much left to play,” Colangelo said. “He reached out to us and said he was in shape and said he felt he owed us. And on the basis of that, we’re looking at someone with international experience who at one time was a heck of a rebounder and could still shoot the ball. You know, being like a 12th man on a roster. Well, it didn’t work out. He wasn’t in shape. And he was way behind as it turned out. So you move on. Call it a mistake.”

We have more from the basketball world:

Nets guard Kyrie Irving has fired Roc Nation as his representative, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. It’s unclear why Irving, who can opt out of his contract after next season, made the move. He did rip Nike on social media for its shoe design and marketing of the upcoming Kyrie8 brand.
Just hours after the completion of this year’s draft, Jonathan Givony of ESPN released his 2022 mock draft. Gonzaga big man Chet Holmgren heads the list, followed by Duke’s Paolo Banchero and the G League Ignite’s Jaden Hardy.
Belgian guard Vrenz Bleijenbergh was a candidate to be a second-round pick, but went undrafted on Thursday. Bleijenbergh explained on Twitter that none of the teams interested in selecting him were willing to offer a guaranteed contract and thus, he couldn’t get out of his European deal. “I had multiple teams offering me two-way deals. But because of my contract in Europe, I wasn’t be able to sign them, it was against the rules,” he wrote. “The only option was a guaranteed contract, I didn’t receive it. It really hurts, I was really close.”

And-Ones: Olympics, Bubble Talk, Private Equity, Vaccinations

January 26th, 2021 at 8:41pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

In his 16th and last year as Team USA managing director, Jerry Colangelo talked extensively about the upcoming Tokyo Olympics with Chris Sheridan of Basketball News.

Colangelo indicated that he is in daily communication with the NBA and FIBA, discussing the Olympics as COVID-19 continues to spread across the globe. The games were originally scheduled to take place during the summer of 2020 before being pushed back a year.

“We have no choice but to proceed on the basis that the Olympics will be played, and so that’s basically what we are doing,” Colangelo told Sheridan. “We are preparing in every way possible until we hear otherwise, officially. I would guess, from what I’ve been told, it’s a go — unless they cancel because some other thing has developed regarding the pandemic, [like a] new strain, depending on how things go in Japan and Tokyo, in particular.”

There’s more from around the basketball world:

Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated observes that there appears to be growing support around the NBA, among at least some players and coaches, for a potential return to something along the lines of the contained “bubble” campus environment that was such a success last summer for the conclusion of the 2019/20 NBA season. “F— this,” a veteran assistant coach texted Mannix. “I’m ready to go back [to the bubble].”
After the NBA’s Board of Governors greenlit a plan to allow private equity firms to own portions of NBA teams, the league is striving to lure private equity money, according to Jabari Young of CNBC. Young details the process through which the league can sell stakes in teams to private equity firms.
Dr. Leroy Sims, the NBA’s senior vice president of medical affairs, recently spoke with Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated about pending COVID-19 vaccinations for players. “We understand that the vaccine is rolling out in such a way that you’re trying to get to the people who are most at risk or most vulnerable first, that includes front-line workers like myself working in the ER [emergency room], because we’re around so many people who could have the virus,” according to Dr. Sims. “After that, we’ll open it up. The vaccine will start to be distributed to others in the community. We recognize that our basketball players are young and healthy, so they will get vaccinated or have the opportunity to get vaccinated when it’s their turn. So we won’t be jumping the line there.”

How Olympic Postponement May Impact NBA, Team USA

March 25th, 2020 at 1:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Tokyo and the International Olympic Committee announced on Tuesday that the 2020 Olympics have been postponed until sometime in 2021. As a result, the NBA no longer has to consider the possibility of overlapping with the Games if the league resume its 2019/20 season this summer.

However, the potential dates for the 2020/21 NBA season and the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics remain very much up in the air. As such, there’s no guarantee that we’ll see the ’20/21 campaign end in June and the Olympics begin on July 24, which was the plan for this year before the coronavirus crisis worsened.

Here’s what we know so far about the impact the Olympic postponement might have on the NBA and Team USA specifically:

USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo and head coach Gregg Popovich had only been committed to the program through 2020, but that commitment will now extend to 2021, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst confirms. “We’re all-in and we’re committed,” Colangelo said. “It’s important to deal with the unknowns and this virus. This too shall pass, and we’ll be back for everyone’s well-being.”
Within that Windhorst story, Colangelo says USA Basketball will adjust if NBA players aren’t available for the rescheduled Olympics, but points out that changing the window for the NBA season or the Olympics would be a significant undertaking. “Changing the window for the NBA is easier said than done. There’s a lot of logistics and contracts to deal with,” Colangelo said. “Same for the Olympics. You have to assume it will be around the same dates (in 2021).”
As Windhorst and Tim Bontemps of ESPN note in a Q&A on the rescheduled Olympics, it’s possible Team USA will no longer be able to send its top players as a result of the postponement. However, it’s also possible that players like Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving – who may not have been ready to go for the 2020 Games – will be healthy and available to participate by the time USA Basketball finalizes its roster in 2021.
Joe Ingles, who will represent Australia in the Tokyo Olympics, said he’d be disappointed if a schedule conflict prevent him from playing for the Boomers, as Joe Vardon of The Athletic relays. “I do understand that the NBA and the Utah Jazz pay my salary and it’s really good money and I’m obviously obligated to be here (in the NBA),” Ingles said. “I absolutely love playing for Australia and would do anything to keep playing for Australia, representing my country. We obviously don’t really know what that looks like yet. I hope (the NBA season and the Olympics) don’t clash.”

Colangelo Won’t Forget World Cup Pullouts

September 12th, 2019 at 6:56pm CST by clarkcrum

Fresh off a second consecutive loss in the 2019 FIBA World Cup that will ensure USA finishes no better than seventh – the worst finish ever by an American men’s team in a major tournament – Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press reports that USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo won’t forget those who backed out of commitments to play in the World Cup this summer when the time comes to start assembling the 2020 Tokyo Olympics roster.

“I can only say, you can’t help but notice and remember who you thought you were going to war with and who didn’t show up.” Colangelo said. “The players (we have) did everything they can do… But we went in with higher expectations in terms of roster and it didn’t kind of happen the way we were hopeful and anticipating and expecting. That, to me, was a big disappointment.”

As Reynolds notes, of the 35 players originally selected for the U.S. player pool, only four are in China for the World Cup. Many pullouts cited schedule concerns and lingering injuries, but it appears Colangelo isn’t satisfied with some of the players’ excuses.

“Going forward for USA Basketball, we’re going to need the cooperation of teams, agents and then there has to be communication with players 1-on-1 to solidify those commitments,” Colangelo said. “I am going to be anxious to see how many players reach out early to indicate that they wish and want and desire to play (in the 2020 Olympics)… But I’ll make this statement: It’s as much about maybe who we don’t want as much as who we want.”

World Cup Notes: Teodosic, Colangelo, Tatum, Fox

August 11th, 2019 at 12:04pm CST by Arthur Hill

Former Clippers guard Milos Teodosic will miss the FIBA World Cup tournament after going through another bout of plantar fascitiis in his foot, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Teodosic, who reached an agreement last month to play for Virtus Bologna in Italy, was part of a powerful Serbian team that is expected to challenge for a gold medal.

“He suffered again a plantar fascitiis injury,” said Serbian team doctor Dragan Radovanovic. “We already started intense therapies and they will continue in the next couple of days. We will see how the foot reacts and after we will able to know more precisely how long he has to rest.”

Teodosic was a star in the EuroLeague before coming to the NBA, but only played 60 games in two seasons for the Clippers before being waived in February. He suffered a plantar fascia tear during the 2017/18 campaign that ended his season early.

There’s more World Cup news to pass along:

Jerry Colangelo, who serves as director of USA Basketball, isn’t concerned about the number of big-name players who turned down invitations to training camp, relays Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. Even though Kyle Lowry and Harrison Barnes are the only members of the 2016 Olympic team who have returned for the World Cup, Colangelo doesn’t see it as a crisis. “There isn’t any one reason—there’s myriad reasons,” he said. “We had 30 guys here last summer — they all said they wanted to play. Things happen. I think as we move forward, the World Cup is going to played with young players. It’s going to be a training site for the Olympics.”
Jayson Tatum and De’Aaron Fox were standouts in Team USA’s first public scrimmage Friday night, according to Colin Ward-Henninger of CBS Sports. Tatum led all scorers with 17 points and hit 3-of-5 shots from 3-point range. He also displayed a quicker release that was a welcome sight for Celtics fans. Fox had 12 points off the bench and brought plenty of energy to the game that resulted in several steals and fast-break dunks. He could have a significant role in the World Cup if Lowry is unable to play after thumb surgery.
Argentina’s final roster contains several familiar names, Carchia writes in a separate story. In addition to Luis Scola, who played 10 NBA seasons, the roster features Nicolas Laprovittola, Nicolas Brussino and Patricio Garino.

And-Ones: Team USA, McAdoo, Bennett, Drafts

October 11th, 2018 at 10:59pm CST by JD Shaw

Warriors coach Steve Kerr, Pacers coach Nate McMillan and Villanova coach Jay Wright have been named assistant coaches of the 2019-20 USA Basketball Men’s National Team, USA Basketball announced in a press release. The three assistants will join Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich to round out the coaching staff of the Olympic team.

“Led by coach Popovich, we have assembled an incredible coaching staff for the USA National Team, and we are excited to have Steve Kerr, Nate McMillan and Jay Wright join the team as assistant coaches,” said Jerry Colangelo, managing director of USA Basketball Men’s National Team. “It’s special that each coach has prior USA Basketball experience as either a player or coach, and each coach has compiled a successful and impressive resume. I’m very confident that the USA Basketball National Team is in excellent hands the next two years.”

Popovich, Kerr, McMillan and Wright share decades of combined coaching and playing experience, with each coach highly respected by their peers and by players across the NBA.

“I am honored and fortunate to have such gifted coaches share this USA Basketball responsibility with me,” Popovich said. “Steve Kerr, Nate McMillan and Jay Wright are not just knowledgeable, dedicated individuals, but they exhibit the creativity, tenacity and respect for the game needed to compete in the international arena.

“I look forward to joining them as USA Basketball attempts to extend the stellar success they’ve enjoyed over the past 12 years.”

The USA National Team has won 76 straight games, including three straight gold medals in 2008, 2012 and 2016. The impressive coaching staff – followed by an expected All-Star team of talent in 2020 – puts Team USA in a good position to win a fourth straight gold medal.

There’s more news around the basketball world:

The Maine Red Claws completed a trade today in the G League, sending the returning player rights of Anthony Bennett to the Agua Caliente Clippers in exchange for the returning player rights to James McAdoo and a 2018 third-round pick in the upcoming G League Draft. The Maine Red Claws are the G League affiliate of the NBA’s Celtics, while the Agua Caliente Clippers are the Clippers‘ affiliate.
ESPN.com writers Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz published a detailed story on young prospects, focusing on players from the 2019 recruiting class who could become draft-eligible in 2020. Class of 2019 center James Wiseman remains an intriguing talent, with the 7-footer still considering offers from a handful of schools.
We discussed several more basketball odds and ends in our last And-Ones roundup, including an update on the NBA’s new international plans for the 2019 preseason.

Jerry Colangelo’s Time With Sixers Coming To End

July 30th, 2018 at 12:16pm CST by Luke Adams

Sixers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo resigned from his post last month after burner Twitter accounts that revealed private information about the team were uncovered and linked to Colangelo and his wife. Now, Bryan’s father Jerry Colangelo, a special advisor for the 76ers, is poised to leave the organization as well.

As Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post details, Colangelo refers to his tenure in Philadelphia as being over, later clarifying that it will technically conclude “at the end of the year.” A league source confirmed to Bontemps that Colangelo remains under contract through the end of the calendar year, and while the Sixers will be honoring that contract, it won’t be renewed.

Given the events that transpired in Philadelphia leading up to his son’s departure from the Sixers, the elder Colangelo was put in an uncomfortable position. As he tells Bontemps, Colangelo prefers not to publicly address Bryan’s situation.

“I haven’t made any public comments about what transpired,” Colangelo said. “I don’t think it would be appropriate. It’s a very difficult summer for him, and his family.”

While his time with the Sixers is set to come to an end, Colangelo remains involved with USA Basketball, and he and head coach Gregg Popovich will be responsible for picking which players represent Team USA at the next major international tournaments. Colangelo, who will turn 79 this fall, intends to continue his work with Team USA through 2020, but isn’t sure what his future holds beyond the next Olympics, he tells Bontemps.

Sixers Notes: Colangelo Fallout, Brown, GM Search

June 7th, 2018 at 1:45pm CST by Luke Adams

It has been an eventful day in Philadelphia, where the Sixers announced that president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo has resigned from his position following an investigation into several burner Twitter accounts connected to him. Independent investigators hired by the franchise concluded that Colangelo’s wife Barbara was behind the tweets, but suggested that Colangelo himself was “careless” and “in some instances reckless” with sensitive information, a charge he strongly disputed in his own statement.

Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com provides another fascinating detail on the saga, writing that multiple people who spoke on the condition of anonymity indicated that special advisor Jerry Colangelo attempted to intervene on his son’s behalf, delaying the team’s decision. According to Neubeck’s sources, the elder Colangelo may have threatened to interfere with Sixers relationships around the NBA.

As the 76ers look to recover from an unexpected and unusual setback, let’s round up a few more notes out of Philadelphia…

While head coach Brett Brown will run the basketball operations department on an interim basis, he said today he has no interest in taking on that role permanently, tweets TNT’s David Aldridge.
According to Sixers principal owner Josh Harris, the club would like to have a new general manager in place before the start of free agency on July 1. However, Harris acknowledged that a full-fledged search may take a little longer than that (Twitter link via Aldridge).
In the view of Jake Fischer of SI.com, the Sixers should exercise patience when it comes to picking a new GM, focusing on finding the perfect fit for the job rather than rushing to bring someone new on board within the next few weeks.
With a big summer looming for the Sixers, ESPN’s Kevin Pelton takes a closer look at the next steps for the franchise, both in terms of possible player acquisitions and front office changes.
Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype offers up some names to watch as the Sixers’ search for a GM gets underway.