John Loyer

Central Rumors: Cavs, Van Gundy, Love

The Cavs’ head coaching vacancy could filled within the next 10 days, reports Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (on Twitter). The team has been linked to Alvin GentryVinny Del NegroLionel Hollins, and Tyronn Luebut Amico adds in the same tweet that there’s a mystery candidate in the mix for the job who hasn’t been revealed to the media. Here’s the latest from the Central:

  • The Cavs have interest in LaMarcus Aldridge, but it’ll be tough to pry the big man away from Portland after the Blazers’ unexpectedly strong season, writes Amico in a full-length piece. Cleveland has also shown interest in Joakim Noah, says Amico, noting the club is just “lukewarm” on Al Horford.
  • Two teams with lottery picks have contacted the Cavs, passes along Amico in the same piece. Each club would ostensibly be interested in moving up in the draft by dealing for the number one overall selection.
  • When Stan Van Gundy was hired by the Pistons, he told staff members left over from the previous management team that they would have a six week working interview to prove they belong in the organization, explains David Mayo of Mlive.
  • Bulls management holds Carmelo Anthony in higher esteem than Kevin Love, according to Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com. Friedell says it’s true Chicago would be excited to add Love, but the team sees ‘Melo as their primary target this summer.

Central Rumors: Bucks, Pistons, Pacers

Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry told Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times that the team would retain GM John Hammond, assistant GM David Morway and coach Larry Drew for next season, but fellow co-owner Wesley Edens wouldn’t confirm that, according to Woelfel. Edens is the team’s representative on the Board of Governors, which would appear to give him final say. Bucks officials and executives around the league told Woelfel that former owner Herb Kohl became “livid” with Hammond last season, and that Kohl, had he not sold the team, would have fired the GM, Woelfel hears. There’s more on the Bucks amid the latest from the Central Division:

  • Steve Ballmer and Chris Hansen bid $650MM for the Bucks earlier this year, with plans to move them to Seattle, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Kohl rejected the bid in favor of Edens and Lasry, who’ve pledged to keep the team in Milwaukee, but the indirect role Ballmer played in pushing for new arenas in Milwaukee, Minnesota and Sacramento is part of why the NBA finds him appealing for the Clippers, Windhorst hears.
  • Pistons boss Stan Van Gundy calls Andre Drummond and soon-to-be restricted free agent Greg Monroe an “ideal pairing,” but he also points to their shortcomings on defense and the team’s struggles with those two in the lineup together with Josh Smith. Keith Langlois of Pistons.com has that and more from his conversation with Van Gundy.
  • The Pistons hired Brendan Malone and Bob Beyer as assistant coaches and cut ties with assistants Rasheed Wallace, Henry Bibby and Bernard Smith, the team formally announced. Beyer leaves the Hornets to take the job in Detroit. John Loyer, who served as the team’s interim head coach last season, remains as an assistant, but there’s a decent chance the team will reassign him, tweets Vincent Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.
  • The NBA’s revenue sharing system paid the Pacers $15MM last season, multiple sources tell Grantland’s Zach Lowe, who also hears that the Grizzlies received that amount, too.

Central Rumors: Bucks, Pistons, Calipari

The NBA is set to announce approval on Thursday of the $550MM sale of the Bucks from Herb Kohl to Marc Lasry and Wesley Edens, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Lasry, who’ll have to divest his minority share of the Nets, and Edens had prioritized taking control before Tuesday’s lottery, Windhorst writes. Still, opposition groups are lining up against public funding for a new arena in Milwaukee, and the NBA has the right to buy the team for $575MM if a deal for a new building isn’t in place by November 2017. Kohl put that clause in the purchase agreement to keep the new owners from moving the team, Windhorst notes. Here’s more from the Central Division:

  • A league executive told Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press that Stu Jackson is a possibility to serve as Pistons GM under Stan Van Gundy, noting that Van Gundy worked under Jackson as an assistant at the University of Wisconsin in the 1990s (Twitter link).
  • The fate of John Loyer isn’t immediately clear in the wake of Van Gundy’s hiring, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com, who notes that Loyer has one season left on his contract. Loyer had been serving as Pistons interim head coach, and it’s possible he’ll return to the role of assistant coach that he occupied before the team fired Maurice Cheeks in February, according to MLive’s David Mayo.
  • It’ll be business as usual at this week’s draft combine for Pistons assistant GM George David and director of basketball operations Ken Catanella, who jointly ran the team’s front office following the end of Joe Dumars‘ tenure, Ellis tweets.
  • John Calipari would love to coach LeBron James someday, as he tells Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer, but he’s committed to Kentucky and won’t be in the mix to replace Mike Brown on the Cavs, who loom as a possible free agent destination for James.

Pistons Rumors: GM Search, Monroe, Loyer

Vincent Ellis of Detroit Free Press looks at the background of the interim team currently running the Pistons front office, led by assistant GM George David and director of basketball operations Ken Catanella. Ellis believes ownership would be comfortable progressing through the draft without making a GM hire, based on the current personnel’s experience. Here’s more out of Detroit:

  • Ellis says that David and Catanella will be considered for the permanent GM role, and that interim coach John Loyer will likewise be a candidate for the permanent head coaching job.
  • Loyer told David Mayo of MLive.com that he is proud of his time at the helm this season, working with a team under-performing and fractured by the firing of Maurice Cheeks“I felt very confident going in that I’d earn their trust. And I feel very confident, going into the last game of the season, that I’ve got their trust,” said Loyer. “I’ll let what I’ve done and what I’ve brought to the table every day speak for itself.”
  • In a separate mailbag post, Mayo opines that Greg Monroe‘s tendency not to make strong statements concerning the team could be influenced by Detroit’s decision to bring in Josh Smith rather than trust Monroe to lead a young frontcourt.
  • Mayo thinks Detroit’s plans for the offseason are a crapshoot at this point, citing the front office turmoil.
  • Mayo doesn’t believe the uncertainty surrounding Detroit’s first round pick in the draft is as significant as the myriad of other issues and decisions the team needs to work through.

Pistons Notes: Lionel Hollins, Cheeks Fallout

With today’s firing of Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks, this has started the speculation as to who their next coach will be. Assistant John Loyer has been named the interim coach, and coaching sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com that Lionel Hollins is a prime target (Twitter link) for the job. If there was a good time to fire a coach, it was now, writes Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders.com, as there are a number of qualified coaches available on the market. Hollins has a career record of 214-201, and led the Grizzlies to 56 wins in 2012/2013. Greene also notes that Hollins was offered the opportunity to join Cheeks’ staff this season, but declined. Hollins has also made it well-known that he desires to return to coaching, stating that, “I believe that I’ve established myself as a head coach and I’d like another opportunity to show that my success wasn’t a fluke”. Greene also points to Hollins’ success in developing Memphis’ frontcourt players such as Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol as a selling point, considering the Pistons glut of big men.

More on the Pistons coaching change:

  •  It should be embarrassing to the team that the players had to find out via Twitter, writes Sean Highkin of USA Today. Judging by the reactions he posts in the article, the players were blindsided by the news.
  • Hollins has already sounded off on the possibility of him taking the Pistons job, according to Chris Haynes of CSNNW (via Twitter). Hollins told him, “Of course I’m interested“, though Hollins also said he had not been contacted yet. Haynes also writes that it’s only a matter of time before the Pistons reach out to Hollins.
  • Sam Amick of USA Today (via Twitter) has also supported the idea of Lionel Hollins coaching the Pistons.
  • Brandon Jennings tweeted his support for departed coach Maurice Cheeks.
  • Cheeks took the fall for a disastrous run of decisions by GM Joe Dumars, writes Tom Ziller of SB Nation.com. Ziller details a number of moves that have derailed the organization, including the Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon signings, the hiring of John Kuester, trading Arron Afflalo, and signings of Josh Smith and Jennings.