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Lawrence On Thibs, Irving, Love, Knicks

May 24th, 2014 at 2:54pm CST by Zachary Links

The Grizzlies are on a shoestring budget and don’t have the room necessary to bring coach Tom Thibodeau over from the Bulls, writes Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News. “Do they realize how much that will cost?’” said one Chicago official, when word surfaced that the Grizzlies will look at Thibs if Memphis winds up allowing Dave Joerger to take the Timberwolves’ head coaching position. An Eastern Conference president, factoring in Stan Van Gundy’s $7MM/year deal in Detroit, estimated that it would cost Memphis $8MM per year to have Thibodeau serve as their coach and president. Here’s more from today’s column…

The Cavs are making noises that they aren’t going to offer Kyrie Irving “max money’’ this summer via a long-term extension. They don’t want to deal the 2014 All-Star Game MVP, but it could come to that, especially if the guard and his family continue to tell people that he wants out. Irving hasn’t been a leader in his first three seasons and he’s also gained the unwelcomed reputation as a locker-room problem. “He was just handed too much, too soon,’’ said one source. “You’ve got to make these young guys earn it, and that’s where this team did a bad job with him.’’
The Cavs are not looking for a coach with a strong veteran presence who wants to do things only his way. That probably rules out Jeff Van Gundy, George Karl, and Lionel Hollins, although Lawrence is a fan of all three. New GM David Griffin is looking for a college or NBA coach who agrees to accept input and instructions from himself and hands-on owner Dan Gilbert.
The Cavs know they can’t get Kevin Love from the Wolves in a deal for the No. 1 pick. If they keep it, they’re expected to take Kansas big man Joel Embiid, unless the stress fracture in his back injury from last season has the chance to become a long-term issue. Meanwhile, agent Arn Tellem might not make his client’s medical records available to teams with which he doesn’t want Embiid to play.
The Nuggets aren’t going to allow coach Brian Shaw to come to the Knicks if they fail to land Derek Fisher, even if the Knicks offer compensation. “We didn’t hire Brian for a one-year position with our team,’’ Nuggets president Josh Kroenke said. “We see Brian being with us for years to come.’’ If Fisher turns Jackson down, Kurt Rambis is the next in line.
Just because Bucks GM John Hammond and Pelicans exec Dell Demps came to New York for the lottery doesn’t mean that they’re going to be around for the long haul. Lawrence gets the sense that both are on the hot seat.

Draft Rumors: Embiid, Lavine, Gordon

May 23rd, 2014 at 9:10pm CST by Cray Allred

BDA Sports Management held workouts today for NBA teams to view some of the top prospects in this year’s draft. Here’s a roundup of tonight’s draft notes:

Joel Embiid took the first step in assuaging concerns about his back, working out for NBA scouts and executives to demonstrate his health, per Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Embiid impressed, leading one scout to tell Zagoria he belongs at the top of the draft. “He looks great. Running, jumping, dunking, bent up like a pretzel in warmups and stretching exercises,” the scout said. “He passed the eyeball test big time. Move him up.”
The Warriors were well represented in watching Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon at the workouts, tweets Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times. Golden State was a notable presence, since they do not currently possess a first-round draft pick.
Pincus relays in a separate tweet that the buzz around LaVine puts his floor in the 10-14 range of the lottery, and that he could get picked in the top 10.
One executive told Pincus that he prefers Gordon over Noah Vonleh and Julius Randle, the Los Angeles Times scribe relays in another tweet.

Draft Links: Cavs, Jazz, Stauskas

May 22nd, 2014 at 10:56pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Sources tell Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio that the Cavaliers are apprehensive about Joel Embiid’s potential long-term back issues, which appears to have consequently put the Kansas star out of the running for their number one selection. This probably won’t prevent the team from doing their due diligence on Embiid, though Amico intimates that the team will do their own extensive health evaluation rather than rely on independent testing. As for their other draft options, Cleveland is still reportedly unsure about who they’d choose between Jabari Parker or Andrew Wiggins (All Twitter links).

Here are more draft-related links worth passing along tonight:

The Jazz currently have the fifth, 23rd, and 35th selections in this year’s draft, and GM Dennis Lindsey tells Jody Genessy of the Deseret News that he’ll be actively exploring his options on draft night. “We think those are terrific assets and we feel really good about them. We’ll see if we can aggregate them and move up. We’ll see if we want to move out via trade…there are several good options and I think we’ll have a ton of interesting conversations. I think we’ll have a dilemma — and I say that in a good way — because we’re going to have several good options. Our job is to pick the best option.”
Nik Stauskas tested well enough athletically at last week’s combine to give some encouraging signs about his defensive potential, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Known more for his shooting ability in college, Stauskas has faced some concerns about his ability to defend at the NBA level.
At last week’s NBA pre-draft camp, more than half of 31 draft-eligible players said that they would select Parker with the first overall pick, says Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times.
The individual pros and cons of Wiggins, Parker, and Embiid, along with what executives should consider when picking in the mid-lottery, are just two of several hot topics that Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and SB Nation’s Paul Flannery tackle on the latest Drive & Kick podcast.

Kyler’s Latest: Lee, Magic, Cavs, Bucks, Sixers

May 22nd, 2014 at 10:39am CST by Chuck Myron

The Magic aren’t quite as high on David Lee as a report earlier this week made it appear, sources tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who suggests trading for him is one of a number of options the team is considering. Kyler concentrates most of the rest of his NBA AM piece on the draft, and we’ll round up some of the highlights here:

The Cavs regard Jabari Parker as a notch below Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins, Kyler hears.
Parker and Dante Exum are the top two prospects in the eyes of the Bucks, according to Kyler. That conflicts with Wednesday’s report from Chad Ford of ESPN.com, who identified Embiid, Wiggins and Exum as the first three on Milwaukee’s list.
The Sixers are “lukewarm” on Embiid, sources tell Kyler, who notes that Philadelphia is high on Wiggins and Exum. Noah Vonleh and Aaron Gordon are players who intrigue the team, too, Kyler writes, though the Sixers would probably have to trade up from No. 10 or down from No. 3 if they were to draft either of those two.
Wiggins, Parker and Exum seem like the Magic‘s top three targets, as Kyler indicates.
The Jazz appear to be among the most flexible teams, willing to trade up, down or out of the draft altogether, according to Kyler.

Chad Ford On NBA Draft

May 21st, 2014 at 6:26pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With the draft order now set, the speculation can truly begin as to what each team will do in June’s NBA Draft. Chad Ford of ESPN.com held his weekly chat and here are some of the highlights:

Though the Cavaliers currently have Jabari Parker at the top of their draft board, Ford believes they will end up selecting Andrew Wiggins with the first overall pick.
The only way the Cavs trade the top pick is for a young, star-caliber player like Kevin Love, opines Ford.
The top three players on the Bucks draft board are Joel Embiid, Wiggins, and Dante Exum, per Ford.
The Magic are looking at taking a point guard with the number four overall pick, reports Ford. The team’s top two choices would be Exum and Marcus Smart. Ford also believes that with the 12th pick, the team will focus on acquiring outside shooting.
Ford believes the Jazz are likely to select Noah Vonleh with the fifth selection, unless they attempt to trade up to snag Exum.
Being slotted sixth makes the Celtics more likely to try and trade their pick for established talent, notes Ford. If they keep the pick, he believes that Aaron Gordon would be the choice of GM Danny Ainge.
The Lakers are in a similar position to the Celtics in regard to trading their pick, opines Ford. If they keep the pick, he sees either Julius Randle, Smart, or Dario Saric being their favorites.
Ford’s sleeper picks for the draft are Mitch McGary, Jarnell Stokes, and Elfrid Payton.

Cavs Rumors: Draft, Love, Coaches

May 21st, 2014 at 2:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavs have Joel Embiid atop their wish list as long as they can determine his back is healthy, sources tell Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. Agent Arn Tellem is still deciding whether to let Cleveland’s doctors examine his client, a source tells fellow ESPN.com scribe Andy Katz, as Goodman notes in his piece. Still, Chad Ford of ESPN.com reported Tuesday night that the Cavs liked Jabari Parker best before hearing that Andrew Wiggins was the team’s most likely choice. There’s little clarity on whom the Cavs want to draft, or even if they intend to keep their pick, as we detail amid the latest on the lottery winners:

The Cavs have legitimate interest in trading for Kevin Love, just as they did last season, but the Timberwolves don’t think that Cleveland is willing to include the top pick, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
Cleveland is nonetheless likely to gauge what they can get for the No. 1 overall pick, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com notes amid the latest on LeBron James, and GM David Griffin is already getting inquiries about the pick from other teams, as Griffin told ESPN Cleveland. The GM expressed a willingness to trade the top draft choice, but he’s far more likely to retain it, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.
Deveney casts Mark Jackson, George Karl and Lionel Hollins as the leading contenders for the Cavs coaching job, though the team will also look at Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue among other previously reported candidates, as Deveney writes in the same piece. The Cavs are strongly considering college coaches as they conduct their search, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, but the idea that they’ll hire Kentucky’s John Calipari is “almost pure imagination,” Deveney writes.
The vast majority of the scouts who’ve spoken with Sam Smith of Bulls.com say the top pick will be either Embiid or Parker. Smith runs down Cleveland’s trade options with the No. 1 overall choice.

Draft Rumors: Harris, Smart, Jazz, Magic

May 17th, 2014 at 7:58pm CST by Cray Allred

With the Chicago predraft combine wrapping up, Jeremy Bauman of Sheridan Hoops looks at a number of prospects that increased their draft stock with their performances. These players include Zach LaVine, Kyle Anderson, Elfrid Payton, James Young, and Jordan Clarkson. More on the draft front:

The athletic testing results from the combine are in and Draft Express runs them down.
Gary Harris was invited to the Draft Lottery broadcast by the NBA as part of a 10-player group deemed the top-10 prospects, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets. The inviation, which Harris declined, could signify a boost in his draft stock. Some projections, including Jonathan Givony’s at DraftExpress, have had Harris well outside of the top 10.
In a combine wrap-up, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes that Marcus Smart stood out as an exceptional physical specimen and hard worker among the point guards in attendance.
Dante Exum fared well during interviews at the combine, a team official who met with the Aussie tells Chris Mannix of SI.com. “He seems like a really good kid,” the official said. “He’s confident, but not cocky. Now we have to see if he can play.” With far less exposure than the other prospects at the top of the draft, Exum hopes to impress teams during his individual workouts.
If Joel Embiid doesn’t clear medically prior to the draft, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders tweets that the big man could drop out of the top five. Embiid sat out of combine activities as he recovers from a back injury suffered late in his season at Kansas.
Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey told Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune that he “has to listen to everything” when asked about whether he was willing to trade Utah’s draft picks (Twitter link).
The Magic aren’t trying to trade away their extra first round pick, according to Kyler (on Twitter).
Tommy Dee of Sheridan Hoops looks at some of the older draft prospects, laying out why each could follow in Damian Lillard‘s footsteps in making an impact exceeding many of the younger, more well-known players from the same talent pool.
Joe Kotoch of Sheridan Hoops released his second mock draft of the year.
Earlier, we passed along word that we could be in for a busy pre-draft trade season.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

Draft Notes: Combine, Parker, Embiid

May 11th, 2014 at 5:29pm CST by Charlie Adams

Next week’s predraft combine in Chicago will give prospects a chance to show off their skills for NBA clubs. Two players who have a chance of being the first selection in the draft, Jabari Parker and Joel Embiid, declined their invites to participate in the combine, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Their absence isn’t likely to dramatically hinder their stock, but it does raise questions about Embiid’s back injury, Wojnarowski says. Here’s more on the combine and the 2014 draft:

Front offices around the league took note that Parker wasn’t in great shape last season, so his absence from the combine might be a concern, relays Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com (via Twitter).
Andrew Wiggins is also unlikely to accept his combine invitation, passes along Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe (on Twitter).
Chane Behanan, Sim Bhullar, Eric Moreland, Jakarr Sampson, and Roscoe Smith are some notable early entrants that weren’t invited to the combine, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com.
David Nurse of Perfect Shots Shooting breaks down Embiid’s game and discusses his immense potential, noting he has the tools to excel at the next level but will need to work to refine his offensive game.

Draft Rumors: Embiid, Huestis, Agents

May 8th, 2014 at 8:30pm CST by Cray Allred

While the NFL draft has the sports world’s attention this evening, the NBA draft lottery is less than two weeks away. Here’s a look at all the latest surrounding the draft:

Joel Embiid is the No. 1 prospect in ESPN Insider Chad Ford‘s [subscription only] ranking of the top 10 big man players in this year’s draft.
Draft prospect Josh Huestis is being worked out by the Jazz, and says he would revel in an opportunity to play for Utah. Huestis tells Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune that he’s transitioning from a frontcourt player to a small forward to find a role in the NBA. “I’ve been trying to get my handle down, and I think it can still be tighter,” Huestis said. “I’ve gone from never leaving the paint in high school to playing strictly small forward. It’s been a process.” Huestis told Hoops Rumors more about his draft preparation last week.
Jabari Parker has signed with Wasserman Media Group, tweets Darren Rovell of ESPN.com (H/T Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv). He will work specifically with agents B.J. Armstrong and Arn Tellem, per another tweet from Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal. This contradicts an earlier report that the potential No. 1 pick had agreed to be represented by the Klutch Sports Group agency.
Both Patric Young and James McAdoo have signed with agent Jim Tanner of Tandem Sports, reports Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (via Twitter).

Draft Rumors: Parker, Embiid, Wiggins

April 22nd, 2014 at 11:05am CST by Chuck Myron

Many have assumed that the top overall pick in the draft will be Kansas star Andrew Wiggins or teammate Joel Embiid, but ESPN.com’s Jeff Goodman, for an Insider-only piece, surveyed 30 NBA execs and Duke’s Jabari Parker came out on top. Parker got 17 votes while Embiid got eight and Wiggins took home five. The uncertainty surrounding the top of the draft makes for plenty of intrigue with the June 26th event just a little more than two months away. Here’s the latest:

Mouhammadou Jaiteh is withdrawing from this year’s draft, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM, who reported last month that the French center was entering the field. It’s a little surprising to see the 19-year-old withdraw this early, before he had a chance to work out for NBA teams, as he did when he tested the waters last year. He’s ranked No. 63 with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, and 98th with Chad Ford of ESPN.com.
Spanish league big man Kristaps Porzingis won’t enter the draft this year, he tells Kārlis Krēgers of Latvian website LETA (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). That sets him up with a strong chance to become a first-round pick in 2015, as he’s ranked No. 15 on Givony’s 2015 mock. Ford has Porzingas as the 65th-best prospect for this year.
There are plenty of high-scoring small forwards available in this year’s class, writes NBA.com’s David Aldridge. Aldridge’s list starts with the obvious (Wiggins, Parker) but goes on to highlight mid-first round types like Duke’s Rodney Hood, N.C. State’s T.J. Warren, and Syracuse’s Jerami Grant.
A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com ranks the top point guards and summarizes their strengths, topping the list with Dante Exum.