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Latest On Hawks’ Front Office Search

May 16th, 2017 at 3:00pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Hawks placed former team president Mike Budenholzer and former GM Wes Wilcox into new roles earlier this month and it appears the team’s search for new front office members is progressing out of its “infancy stage.”

Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link) hears that Sacramento’s Scott Perry is being considered for the open GM position. The Kings hired Perry as their executive VP of basketball operations less than four weeks ago.

Earlier today, we learned that the Knicks have granted the team permission to interview their Director of Player Personnel Mark Hughes for the Hawks’ open GM position. Like New York, Houston will allow Atlanta to interview a member of its front office. The Hawks have their eye on Rockets VP of Basketball Operations Gersson Rosas.

Atlanta is reportedly also considering Cavs GM David Griffin and Joe Dumars. The team also plans on discussing the position with TV analysts Chauncey Billups and Brent Barry.

Magic Await Permission To Talk To David Griffin

May 16th, 2017 at 10:21am CST by Arthur Hill

The Magic have submitted a formal request to the Cavaliers to speak with GM David Griffin, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Griffin is believed to be the front-runner to become Orlando’s president of basketball operations, with a report last month saying he will be offered the job when he becomes available.

The Cavaliers have not responded to the request, Wojnarowski adds, and have the option of holding onto Griffin until his contract expires at the end of June. With free agency starting July 1st, it’s possible that Cavs owner Dan Gilbert will deny the interview request as a stall tactic to see if Orlando turns to someone else.

Sources tell Wojnarowski that Gilbert hasn’t made a substantive offer to try to keep Griffin, who built the Cavaliers into a championship team after LeBron James returned in 2014. James has been an outspoken advocate of keeping the GM, but his public comments seem to have had little effect on negotiations.

The Magic are getting ready to start interviewing other candidates for the position, including Hall of Famer Kevin McHale and Bucks GM John Hammond, who still has a year left on his contract in Milwaukee. Interim Magic GM Matt Lloyd has already been through the interview process and is highly thought of in the organization, according to Wojnarowski.

Orlando launched a front-office shakeup when the season ended, firing GM Rob Hennigan and assistant GM Scott Perry. The Magic plan to put control of the front office in the hands of a president, who will then hire the next GM.

The team faces competition from the Hawks, who recently relieved Wes Wilcox of GM duties. Griffin is seen as a candidate in Atlanta, along with former Pistons executive Joe Dumars, Rockets VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, Knicks director of player personnel Mark Hughes and former players and current TV analysts Chauncey Billups and Brent Barry. Wojnarowski reports that the Hawks have received permission to interview Rosas and Hughes.

Pistons Notes: Drummond, Combine, Johnson, Dumars

May 13th, 2017 at 9:53pm CST by Arthur Hill

Pistons center Andre Drummond may start wearing a facemask to protect his nose, according to Vincent Ellis of The Detroit Free Press. Drummond recently underwent surgery to fix a deviated septum, which has limited his breathing for several years. Coach Stan Van Gundy said the procedure could make Drummond more vulnerable to having his nose broken, which is why the mask is being considered. “The only thing is there’s a little bit of a chance that it makes you more susceptible to breaks, which he knew going in, which means he may have to wear a mask, at times,” Van Gundy said. “Or if it gets hit. So we’ll see.” He added that Drummond is ” feeling a thousand times better” since the procedure.

There’s more news out of Detroit:

The Pistons asked the prospects they interviewed at this week’s draft combine to break down film clips, Ellis adds in the same story. Gonzaga big man Zach Collins said Detroit was one of the few teams he talked to that asked for film analysis, but Van Gundy is a believer in the technique. “There is no right or wrong answer; I just like to hear them talk about basketball and articulate what they see on the court,” Van Gundy said. “Most of them will go back to their rules in college about defensive rotations. I’m not worried about what it is [they know], but more if guys have a pretty clear understanding of what they think should be done.”
Second-year swingman Stanley Johnson expressed a willingness to play in the Orlando Pro Summer League, but the Pistons seem to have decided against it, Ellis relays in another story. Van Gundy says the decision was made in last month’s exit meeting. “I think what we might do with him is – and he talked it about when he left – go down [to Orlando] and practice with us,” Van Gundy said. “[Reggie] Bullock did it with us last year. Go down and practice, but not anything else.” He added that rookies Henry Ellenson and Michael Gbinije will definitely be part of the summer league team.
Pistons legend and former executive Joe Dumars is honored to be a candidate to run the Hawks, Vincent adds in a separate piece. Appearing this week on ESPN’s “The Jump,” Dumars addressed rumors that he is being considered for the top job in Atlanta. “There’s only 30 of these jobs in the world,” he said. “If I’m fortunate enough to be with the Hawks or anyone else, I look at it as a great opportunity because these are tough jobs.” Grant Hill, Dumars’ former teammate in Detroit, is a minority owner of the Hawks.

David Griffin, Joe Dumars On Hawks’ Radar?

May 5th, 2017 at 2:16pm CST by Luke Adams

Having restructured their front office, the Hawks are in the market for a new top basketball executive, and according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter), league sources suggest that David Griffin and Joe Dumars are expected to emerge as candidates for that job.

Mike Budenholzer had previously served as the president of basketball operations in Atlanta, but relinquished that title and will simply be the club’s head coach going forward. Meanwhile, Wes Wilcox was the Hawks’ general manager, but will now serve as a special advisor to team ownership. Both Budenholzer and Wilcox are expected to have a say in personnel decisions, but the Hawks are on the lookout for someone who will have the final say.

Griffin has emerged as the most popular front office target around the league early in the 2017 offseason. Despite playing a significant role in building the Cavaliers’ roster, the GM is on an expiring deal with the defending champs, and contract talks between the two sides have reportedly stalled. That has opened the door for rival suitors to prepare pitches for Griffin. In addition to the Hawks, the Magic are believed to have the Cavs GM high on their wish list, though those teams won’t be able to talk to him until Cleveland’s season ends.

As for Dumars, the Pistons’ former president of basketball operations stepped down from that role in 2014. During his time in Detroit, he helped lead the club to a 595–536 (.527) regular-season record, 73 postseason wins, and an NBA championship in 2004, and was named Executive of the Year in 2003. In recent years, he has been linked most frequently to the Pelicans’ front office, should New Orleans decide to shake things up.

As Stein observes (via Twitter), Hawks minority owner Grant Hill, who was expected to have a hand in the team’s search for a new executive, has ties to both Griffin and Dumars. Griffin worked in the Suns’ basketball operations department when Hill was in Phoenix as a player, and Dumars played with Hill in Detroit.

Earlier today, Hawks principal owner Tony Ressler said that he hopes to have a GM in place before June’s draft, though he has confidence in the current basketball operations department to handle things in the coming weeks. Ressler added that he hopes Wilcox remains with the Hawks in his new role, admitting that the former GM will have many other options around the NBA (all Twitter links via David Aldridge of NBA.com).

Southwest Notes: Leonard, Gentile, Pelicans

April 4th, 2017 at 4:58pm CST by Austin Kent

It may not be up to him but Kawhi Leonard has told the Spurs coaching staff that he would prefer to play out the final six contests of the regular season, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News writes.

Unfortunately for Leonard, the club’s final six games come in a span of nine days, including one set of four games in five nights. Considering historically cautious Spurs bench boss Gregg Popovich, it’s unlikely that Leonard’s wish will be granted.

In 69 games for the Spurs this season, Leonard has averaged 25.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Though his season average is 33.8 minutes per game, that usage increased to 36.0 in March.

Suffice it to say, though Leonard is approaching a career high in games played for a season, it’s unlikely he closes out all six. As McDonald writes, he only needs four to set a new career mark with 73 in a campaign.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Veteran big man David Lee signed on with the Spurs after falling out of favor in Dallas and Golden State. The 33-year-old’s energy has added a new element to the traditionally subdued roster. “I know the team, especially when Tim Duncan was here, was a lot more quiet. Then Dewayne Dedmon and I both came in, and we are quite outgoing,” Lee told Tom Osborn of the San Antonio Express-News. “I don’t know if that is right or wrong, but that’s just being ourselves.“
Italian swingman Alessandro Gentile, a 2014 second-round pick of the Timberwolves whose rights are currently held by the Rockets, has signed on to play in Israel, E. Carchia of Sportando relays.
With possible newcomer Joe Dumars waiting in the wings, Pelicans general manager Dell Demps and head coach Alvin Gentry will be evaluated this summer, writes John Reid of the Times-Picayune. The pair have struggled to build a framework for success around Anthony Davis.

Front Office Shakeups Ahead?

March 28th, 2017 at 7:11pm CST by Arthur Hill

Disappointing seasons could lead to front office changes for at least five teams this summer, writes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders.

The most obvious team headed for a shakeup is Sacramento, which reportedly wants to position someone above GM Vlade Divac and may have interest in former Sixers GM Sam Hinkie, despite an official statement denying it. There are also ongoing rumors of a rift between Vivek Ranadive and the minority ownership, which has grown frustrated with the way the team has been managed.

Kyler notes that Ken Catanella was hired as an assistant GM last summer, but wasn’t given the power that many expected him to have.

Change may also be coming to these organizations:

Orlando — The Magic seem ready to replace GM Rob Hennigan, with Pistons executive and former Orlando player Pat Garrity as the leading candidate to be offered the job. The Magic had hoped to be playoff contenders after signing Bismack Biyombo and trading for Serge Ibaka, but the new combination never worked out. Orlando is 14th in the East at 27-47, and Ibaka was shipped to Toronto last month. Kyler cites league sources who say several of the Magic’s lower level executives are expecting changes and have started contacting other organizations.
New Orleans — A recent report said coach Alvin Gentry and GM Dell Demps could both be fired without significant progress by the end of the season. Demps may have bought himself more timee with the DeMarcus Cousins trade, but the Pelicans have reached the playoffs just twice during his seven years at the helm. Louisiana native Joe Dumars is close to ownership and is reportedly being considered as a replacement.
Phoenix — The Suns will miss the playoffs for the seventh consecutive year, and many believe that owner Robert Sarver wants to turn things around quickly. Ryan McDonough has amassed an impressive group of young talent in his four years as GM, but that may not be enough to convince Sarver to keep him.
Atlanta — It’s unlikely that coach/executive Mike Budenholzer or GM Wes Wilcox gets replaced, but several staff additions are expected. The Hawks have been shaken by the loss of free agent Al Horford last season and the possible exit of Paul Millsap this summer, along with a late-season losing streak that may knock them out of the playoffs. More voices may be brought on to help Budenholzer and Wilcox with the decision-making process.

Uncertainty Surrounds Jason Kidd, John Hammond

April 11th, 2016 at 4:51pm CST by Chuck Myron

League sources who spoke with Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times believe Bucks GM John Hammond will either be fired or resign soon, and people close to the team tell Woelfel that coach Jason Kidd is also on shaky ground. The news on Kidd jibes with a February report from The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski indicating that Kidd was losing his influence with Bucks owners in the wake of player personnel moves that haven’t panned out. Kidd has exerted control over the composition of the roster, as Woelfel told Hoops Rumors earlier this season.

Some around the league speculate that Hammond will end up with the Pelicans, who’ve long been linked to Joe Dumars, Hammond’s former boss, Woelfel hears. The Bucks signed Hammond to an extension this past September that carries through next season, which is also the last on Kidd’s deal. Lottery-bound Milwaukee has disappointed this year and can finish no better than 35-47 after last season’s 41-41 record.

Woelfel indicates the Bucks plan to shop Greg Monroe and Michael Carter-Williams this summer, though it’s unclear if that plan would persist if neither Hammond nor Kidd is around to execute it. The Bucks reportedly had talks with the Pelicans about Monroe before the trade deadline, and Wojnarowski heard Bucks owners vetoed a would-be trade with the Pelicans that Kidd was spearheading, though it’s unclear if that would have involved Monroe.

Latest On Pelicans Front Office

January 11th, 2016 at 1:54pm CST by Chuck Myron

An increasing volume of chatter indicates that it’s “only a matter of time” before the Pelicans hire former Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars to run their front office, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Executive vice president of basketball operations Mickey Loomis, who also oversees the NFL’s Saints, has exerted greater control of the team lately in his role, which puts him above GM Dell Demps, but rival executives say that’s only temporary, with one exec calling him a football guy, not a basketball guy, according to Berger.

Dumars, a Louisiana native, has a close relationship with Pelicans owner Tom Benson, Berger notes. Loomis and other Pelicans officials reportedly met multiple times with Dumars in the fall of 2014, though the team said in May that it hadn’t had talks with Dumars about any potential job. Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders wrote shortly thereafter that people around the league had believed for a while that Dumars would eventually replace Loomis atop the Pelicans basketball hierarchy, and Zach Lowe of ESPN.com wrote in early May that Dumars was in play for a role that would place him above Demps in the organization. Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher said a year ago that Benson was eyeing Dumars as a possible future hire. Demps said this spring, on the day that the team fired coach Monty Williams, that Loomis had told him the rumors about Dumars were untrue.

The Pelicans are enduring a nightmare season after a rash of October injuries laid waste to many of new coach Alvin Gentry‘s plans. New Orleans is 11-25, though the team appears to be resisting the notion of trading soon-to-be free agent Ryan Anderson, despite reports of talks with the Suns that involved Anderson and Markieff Morris. The Pelicans, who have an open roster spot, reportedly expressed interest in trading for Solomon Hill, though that was more than a month ago. The team has since traded Ish Smith to the Sixers for a pair of second-round picks.

Dumars had high-profile hits and misses in his nearly 14-year tenure in charge of the Pistons, constructing the 2004 NBA champions and drafting Darko Milicic. He stepped down from atop the team’s front office in April 2014.

To find out more about Loomis and his future with the Saints, check out the rumors pages dedicated to Loomis and the Saints on our sister site, Pro Football Rumors, and follow @pfrumors on Twitter.

Demps On Williams, Coaching Search, Dumars

May 12th, 2015 at 4:26pm CST by Chuck Myron

Pelicans GM Dell Demps reportedly pushed for today’s ouster of coach Monty Williams, but Demps characterized the move to reporters today as an organizational decision, notes Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune (Twitter link). The GM also insisted that there was no disconnect between him and Williams, in spite of Smith’s earlier report, as Smith and fellow Times-Picayune scribe John Reid relay (Twitter links). Demps had much more to say this afternoon about the coaching change and other Pelicans issues, and we’ll pass along the highlights:

One point Demps didn’t address was the status of his own contract, which remains unclear, though executive vice president of basketball operations Mickey Loomis indicated that the GM was under contract for a few years, Smith tweets. Still, it’s not clear just how many years are left. The Pelicans apparently hadn’t exercised their option on Demps for next season as of last week, as Reid wrote then. In any case, Demps said he’ll be in charge of finding a replacement for Williams, as Jim Eichenhofer of Hornets.com relays (Twitter link). “We’re going to begin that process immediately after this,” Demps said. “I don’t have a timetable. I’m going to lead the search.”
Demps confirmed that Loomis told him that rumors regarding Joe Dumars and the Pelicans were untrue, according to Smith (Twitter link). The Pelicans last week denied that the team had talked to the former Pistons exec about a role in the organization, though it appears that if Dumars were to come aboard, it would be in a capacity that would oversee Demps but not replace him, as multiple reports have indicated.
The GM said that he spoke with a number of Pelicans players, including Anthony Davis, after the team announced the firing, Smith tweets.
Demps and Williams talked just about every day and spoke about all player personnel moves, the GM said, Smith notes (Twitter links). There wasn’t a specific loss or incident that precipitated the firing, Demps added, according to Reid (on Twitter).
The fate of the team’s assistant coaches depends on the team’s next head coach, Demps said, as Smith passes along (Twitter link).

Southwest Notes: Dumars, Rockets, Parsons

May 12th, 2015 at 11:05am CST by Chuck Myron

The top two centers on the Pelicans roster are both set for unrestricted free agency, and Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune argues that Alexis Ajinca would be a better value than Omer Asik. Ajinca showed more offensive capabilities and blocked shots at about twice the rate that Asik did, but Asik is likely to command the higher salary, Smith observes. I made a similar suggestion when I looked at the offseason ahead for the Pelicans, but New Orleans would prefer to bring back both Asik and Ajinca, along with all of their other free agents, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe wrote recently. There’s more on the Pelicans amid the latest from around the Southwest Division:

People around the NBA have believed for a while that Joe Dumars would at some point be likely to take over the responsibilities that Mickey Loomis has atop the Pelicans franchise, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, writing in his NBA AM column. The Pelicans issued a statement denying that the team has spoken with the former Pistons exec about a job in the New Orleans organization, but Loomis, who is a friend of Dumars, and other Pelicans higher-ups reportedly met multiple times with Dumars this past fall. Loomis serves as the team’s executive vice president of basketball operations, though Dell Demps runs the day-to-day affairs as GM. Grantland’s Zach Lowe recently suggested that Dumars remained in play for a supervisory role above Demps.
Rockets GM Daryl Morey is perhaps the most notorious practitioner of analytics among top NBA execs, but valuing numbers too highly over qualities that can’t easily be expressed in numbers, like leadership, may well be Houston’s downfall in the Clippers series, SB Nation’s Tom Ziller opines.
The Spurs scheduled a workout with draft prospect Pat Connaughton, trainer Erik Kaloyanides revealed via Twitter (hat tip to Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi). Connaughton, a shooting guard coming off his senior year at Notre Dame, is the 71st best prospect in the rankings that Chad Ford of ESPN.com compiles, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him 98th.
Mavs GM Donnie Nelson believes Chandler Parsons will someday become an NBA GM himself and says that he’d be glad to mentor the small forward toward a front office career once his playing days are over, as Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com relays.