Kelvin Sampson Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nets Strongly Considering Kelvin Sampson

December 28th, 2012 at 12:45pm CST by Luke Adams

Rockets assistant Kelvin Sampson has emerged as a "significant" candidate for the Nets' head coaching job, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Brooklyn GM Billy King is intrigued by Sampson and is expected to reach out to him, among others, as the team searches for Avery Johnson's replacement.

Sampson took over for Kevin McHale on the Rockets' bench earlier this season when McHale left the team to be with his ailing daughter. The Rockets were 7-6 while Sampson was the team's acting head coach.

According to Wojnarowski, Rockets officials praise Sampson's ability to connect with star players, something that would prove useful in Brooklyn, where Deron Williams and Johnson didn't always seem to be on the same page.

The rest of today's Nets coaching rumors can be found right here.

Kevin McHale Takes Leave Of Absence

November 10th, 2012 at 4:20pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:20pm: McHale is taking time to be with his daughter, who is ill, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).

2:50pm: Rockets coach Kevin McHale will take a leave of absence from the team to tend to a personal matter regarding his family, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26. Assistant coach Kelvin Sampson will be in charge of the team while he's away, reports Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).

It's unclear just how long McHale will take to return. Sampson will coach the team tonight against the Pistons.

"Kevin is a devoted family man who is needed back home in Minnesota at the moment," Rockets GM Daryl Morey said in a press release sent out by the team. "The Rockets organization will keep Kevin and his family in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time."

Odds & Ends: Team Canada, Harrellson, Magic

August 23rd, 2012 at 2:17pm CST by Chuck Myron

A handful of players with NBA ties have been invited to a weekend training camp that will take place soon to give Team Canada officials a first glimpse at candidates for their national team, as Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun reports (Sulia link). Tristan Thompson of the Cavs, Joel Anthony of the Heat, Cory Joseph of the Spurs, Andrew Nicholson of the Magic and Kris Joseph of the Celtics are on the list. Robert Sacre, the 60th pick in this year's draft by the Lakers, remains unsigned, but he's been invited as well. The team has officially named former Raptors head coach and current Blazers assistant Jay Triano as head coach, Wolstat also writes, and Rockets assistant coach Kelvin Sampson will also be an assistant with Team Canada. Lakers guard Steve Nash, serving as Team Canada's GM, said he wouldn't have accepted the position if Triano wasn't coming aboard, too, Wolstat notes. Here's more from around the Association this afternoon:

The Heat conducted a workout with Josh Harrellson today, as we heard earlier, but the Timberwolves have no interest in the 6'10" University of Kentucky product, as they prefer a center with more length, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News in Minneapolis. Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel notes that Harrellson is just one of several big men the Heat are considering (Sulia link).
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel looks at the options the Magic have at power forward to replace Ryan Anderson.
The Bulls, Lakers, Clippers, Timberwolves and Warriors all have some significant injury issues with training camp about a month away, and Sam Amick of SI.com checks in on the status of Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard and others.
Robin Lopez is recovering from left knee surgery that took place a week after the Hornets acquired him in a sign-and-trade, but he's expected to be ready for training camp, as John Reid of The Times-Picayune reports. Lopez expressed his enthusiasm about coming to New Orleans, saying, "I’m excited to be here. We’ve got a young, energetic group. The good thing is we’ve got some youth that has a little bit of experience as well. Hopefully we can parlay that into something special.’’
Joe Dumars, Pistons president of basketball operations, traveled overseas with assistant GM George David to watch Jonas Jerebko and Slava Kravtsov in FIBA Eurobasket qualifying, as Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press writes.