Josh Gasser Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Central Notes: Blatt, Bucks, Love

June 18th, 2015 at 5:45pm CST by Eddie Scarito

LeBron James‘ attitude and demeanor toward Cavaliers coach David Blatt during the NBA Finals was unbecoming and inappropriate, Marc Stein of ESPN.com writes. Stein references LeBron essentially calling his own timeouts and making substitutions, as well as eschewing Blatt for assistant coach Tyronn Lue. James also nixed a number of plays that Blatt had drawn up during timeouts, which only served to undermine the coach in the eyes of the rest of the team, Stein notes.

Here’s more out of the Central Division:

While some have speculated that Cavs owner Dan Gilbert might make a play for former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, a number of Cleveland’s front office personnel insist that Gilbert is Blatt’s biggest supporter, Zach Lowe of Grantland tweets. GM David Griffin downplayed any issues between Blatt and James in today’s season-ending news conference, saying, “Sensationalism sells. LeBron said David’s a hell of a coach,” Sam Amico of FOX Sports.com relays (Twitter link).
Griffin said that he expects James and Kevin Love to both opt out of their deals this summer, but he anticipates that both will re-sign with the Cavs, Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group tweets. While this news isn’t a surprise as far as LeBron is concerned, it does run counter to what Love told Haynes back in January that he planned to do.
The Bucks held workouts today for Josh Gasser (Wisconsin), Keifer Sykes (Wisconsin-Green Bay), Olivier Hanlan (Boston College), Cady Lalanne (Massachusetts), Amere May (Delaware State), and TaShawn Thomas (Oklahoma), the team announced (via Twitter).
Cavs veteran forward Shawn Marion confirmed today that he is indeed retiring after 16 years in the league, Stein relays in a separate article. “I wanted to go out on my terms,” Marion said. “The biggest thing is having a son. I got attached to him. Seeing him periodically is hard. Watching him grow up on pictures and videos is hard.” The Matrix’s final career numbers through 1163 contests are 15.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game.
Bucks coach Jason Kidd is excited about the team’s possibilities for tweaking its roster this offseason, Genaro C. Armas of The Associated Press writes. “Yeah, I like what [GM John] Hammond has done, the position he has put us in pre-draft,” Kidd said. “We’ll see what happens,” Kidd continued. ”You’ve got a lot of different things, possibilities that you’re not landlocked to get better, and that means not moving a major piece.”

Eastern Notes: Kirk, Boylen, Porzingis

June 11th, 2015 at 9:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Pistons got an early jump on their offseason today, acquiring Ersan Ilyasova from the Bucks in exchange for Caron Butler and Shawne Williams. Milwaukee GM John Hammond had nothing but praise for the departed big man, Charles F. Gardner and Matt Velazquez of The Journal Sentinel write. “Ersan always represented this organization and this community in a first-class manner,” Hammond said. “He gave 100% night in and night out. We wish Ersan nothing but the best as he continues his career in Detroit.” Here’s more out of the East:

The Bulls are pursuing San Antonio assistant Jim Boylen to become the top assistant on coach Fred Hoiberg‘s staff, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. Chicago has received permission from the Spurs to speak to Boylen, league sources told Wojnarowski. Chicago has expressed a willingness to discuss the title of associate head coach with Boylen, the Yahoo! scribe adds.
The Nets held pre-draft workouts today for Dakari Johnson (Kentucky), George Lucas (Brazil), Lucas Dias Silva (Brazil), Josh Gasser (Wisconsin), and Luis Montero (Westchester CC), Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops tweets.
Center Alex Kirk worked out for the Knicks today with the hope he can earn an invite to training camp, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv writes. “I’m not going to come in and try to score 30 points and try to do some of these amazing things that these other guys are going to try to do,” Kirk told Basketball Insiders (video link). “I just want to come in and be Alex Kirk and try to play as hard as I possibly can and hopefully that turns into some training camp offers and just see where that goes from there.” Kirk was waived by New York shortly after being acquired from the Cavaliers this past season.
The Knicks will be one of a number of teams attending a workout for Kristaps Porzingis in Las Vegas this Friday, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com relays (Twitter links). This is likely to be Prozingis’ only pre-draft showcase, Begley notes. Also participating in the workout will be Myles Turner (Texas) and Jarell Martin (LSU), the ESPN scribe relays.
Kansas swingman Kelly Oubre plans to work out for the Heat in the near future, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel relays. You can see our full prospect profile for Oubre here.