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Coaching Rumors: Magic, Bucks, Pacers, McMillan, Borrego

June 14th, 2021 at 10:02am CST by Luke Adams

Of all the active head coaching searches around the NBA, the Magic‘s appears to be the most fluid, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report. Kenny Atkinson, identified last week as a candidate for the job, has been the named most frequently linked to Orlando’s vacancy, says Fischer, but the search is expected to be wide-ranging.

Lakers assistant Jason Kidd has been connected more and more to the Magic’s opening, per Fischer, who notes that Kidd has a connection to Orlando general manager John Hammond — the two worked in Milwaukee together from 2014-17 after Hammond hired Kidd as the Bucks’ head coach.

Former Warriors assistant Jarron Collins has talked to the Magic, sources tell Bleacher Report. Fischer says Nets assistant Ime Udoka is another candidate league sources have “strongly linked” the Orlando job, though there’s a sense Udoka may have more interest in the Celtics‘ job. Sixers assistant Sam Cassell may also be on the Magic’s radar, according to Fischer, who says Cassell would be popular among Orlando’s returning players.

Here are several more coaching-related notes and rumors from Fischer’s latest report:

With the Bucks tied at 2-2 in their second-round series, Mike Budenholzer is in a better position now than he was a few days ago, but if Milwaukee falls short of the Finals, there’s an expectation the team may make a change, per Fischer. In that scenario, Bucks assistants Darvin Ham and Charles Lee could be candidates for a promotion, since the team may just want a change at the top rather than an overhaul of the entire coaching staff, Fischer notes.
If the Bucks make a change, Mike D’Antoni would likely have interest in the job, and Olimpia Milano coach Ettore Messina would be another name to keep an eye on, Fischer writes. Rick Carlisle could also receive interest from Milwaukee, Fischer adds, though Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has said Carlisle’s not going anywhere.
Among the teams seeking a new coach, the Pacers appear to be the club most focused on hiring someone with previous head coaching experience, Fischer reports. Given how badly the hire of first-time head coach Nate Bjorkgren worked out, that’s not a huge surprise.
All indications are that Nate McMillan will sign a new contract with the Hawks to become the team’s permanent head coach, but until that happens, he’ll likely receive interest from other teams with coaching openings, including the Celtics, says Fischer.
Sources tell Fischer that the Hornets and head coach James Borrego are expected to work out a contract extension this offseason.

Scotto’s Latest: Magic, Hartenstein, Allen, Ennis, Theis

June 10th, 2021 at 1:47pm CST by Luke Adams

Appearing on the HoopsHype podcast alongside Yossi Gozlan, Michael Scotto identified Nets assistant Ime Udoka and former Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson as potential candidates to watch for the Magic‘s open head coaching position.

Clippers assistant Dan Craig and Bucks assistant Darvin Ham are among the other names Scotto has heard linked to the job in Orlando. If the Bucks lose their second-round series to Brooklyn, it could be the end of the road in Milwaukee not just for Mike Budenholzer, but for several members of his staff, including Ham, Scotto notes.

Here’s more from the podcast:

Scotto says Cavaliers big man Isaiah Hartenstein plans to turn down his player option, after hinting as much last month. Hartenstein will be eligible for restricted free agency and is a good bet to remain in Cleveland, either on a multiyear contract or on his qualifying offer, according to Scotto.
Some executives around the NBA believe the Hornets and/or Mavericks could pursue Jarrett Allen, but Scotto expects the RFA center to ultimately remain with the Cavaliers, who gave up a first-round pick for him earlier this year.
James Ennis, who has played for seven teams since entering the NBA in 2014, will be seeking some stability as a free agent this offseason, per Scotto, who says Ennis is hoping for a deal that covers three years, or at least two. After knocking down 43.3% of his three-pointers in 2020/21, the veteran forward will be looking for a salary worth at least the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, Scotto adds.
Scotto has heard from people around the league that free agent center Daniel Theis could command a deal worth at least the mid-level exception. Theis would like to join a winning team, but also wants the opportunity to play regularly.

Nets Notes: Atkinson, Dinwiddie, Pelle, Big Three

February 2nd, 2021 at 1:32pm CST by Arthur Hill

Former Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson will hardly recognize his old team when he sees them for the first time since being fired, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. After reportedly being considered for several head coaching jobs, Atkinson caught on as an assistant with the Clippers, who make their only visit of the season to the Barclays Center tonight.

Atkinson led the Nets back to respectability during his nearly four years with the team. He was fired last March in a surprising move, reportedly because of an inability to relate to star players. With Kevin Durant now healthy and James Harden acquired in a trade, Brooklyn’s future is based around stars.

“He’s done a great job everywhere he’s been,” said Clippers coach Tyronn Lue. “Player development was always a strong suit in how he developed these young guys and other players; we’ve seen how good they’ve gotten.”

There’s more from Brooklyn:

It would be surprising if Spencer Dinwiddie ever plays for the Nets again, contends Alex Schiffer of The Athletic. In a column with Danny Leroux discussing Brooklyn’s roster options, Schiffer notes that Dinwiddie may be tempted to opt out of his $12.3MM salary for next season and test the free agent market. Dinwiddie is expected to miss the rest of the year after ACL reconstruction surgery, but some teams still may be interested in trading for him, according to Schiffer and Leroux.
Norvel Pelle‘s new deal is a minimum-salary contract with several guarantee dates, tweets Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports. This season will become guaranteed at the league-wide date on February 24, while next season is fully non-guaranteed. Pelle would receive $150K if he’s still on the roster 30 days after the offseason moratorium is lifted, and $250K on opening night.
Because of injuries, Durant, Harden and Kyrie Irving have only played together four times since Brooklyn’s Big Three was formed, but Zach Kram of The Ringer believes coach Steve Nash already has an ideal minutes distribution worked out. Charting their playing time so far, Kram finds that either Harden or Irving has been on the court for every minute of close games when they’ve both been available, and the Nets usually have at least two of their stars playing at the same time whenever all three are active.

Pacific Notes: Green, Wiseman, Whiteside, Clippers, More

December 8th, 2020 at 1:10pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors haven’t publicly announced which two players on their roster tested positive for the coronavirus, but head coach Steve Kerr “spelled it out pretty plainly” on Monday, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Seventeen of the team’s 20 players participated in the first practice of the season. Besides Klay Thompson, the only players missing were Draymond Green and James Wiseman.

“I will not comment on that any further,” Kerr said, per Slater. “I’m not allowed to comment on that. You can make your own deductions … I’m just trying to figure out which one of you has put all the pieces together and has figured out what is happening here.”

Assuming Green and Wiseman are indeed the two players who tested positive for COVID-19, the Warriors are expected to be without them until at least next week, Slater notes. That will give some of Golden State’s other frontcourt players a chance to play more significant roles during the preseason as they potentially audition for regular season minutes.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

New Kings center Hassan Whiteside is dealing with a mild calf strain and likely won’t be available for the team’s preseason opener, head coach Luke Walton said on Monday (Twitter link via Jason Jones of The Athletic).
Analytical data provided by new Kings general manager Monte McNair is expected to influence Walton’s new uptempo offensive system, as Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee writes. “It’s been great working with Monte,” Walton said. “We’ve talked and he’s going to bring ideas analytically to what he sees, and then at the end of the day I can take what ideas I want and leave the ones I don’t.”
Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said that assistant coach Larry Drew is focusing on the team’s offense, while Dan Craig is leading the defense with the help of Roy Rogers. Chauncey Billups is focusing on both sides of the ball, while Kenny Atkinson is leading player development, Lue added, per Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).
Abdel Nader isn’t concerned about being considered “the other guy” sent to Phoenix in the Chris Paul trade and is looking forward to playing for the Suns, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. “I haven’t really spent time in Phoenix but I knew (the Suns) had a nice, young unit with a lot of talent,” Nader said. “Ability to grow. Also the city sounds like a nice place to me. I wasn’t complaining too much.”

Clippers Officially Announce Coaching Staff

November 16th, 2020 at 3:08pm CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers have officially announced Tyronn Lue‘s coaching staff for the 2020/21 season, confirming today in a press release that former Heat assistant Dan Craig has come aboard as L.A.’s associate head coach.

The team has also hired Kenny Atkinson, Chauncey Billups, Larry Drew, and former Bulls assistant Roy Rogers as assistant coaches. Rogers, who was let go by Chicago earlier this fall, reportedly drew interest from Doc Rivers in Philadelphia, but will instead join Rivers’ old team.

Previous reports had indicated that Craig, Atkinson, Billups, and Drew would be part of Lue’s staff.

Cam Hodges, Shaun Fein, Beau Levesque, and Dahntay Jones – who played for Lue in Cleveland in 2016 and 2017 – will also be part of the new-look staff in various coaching and player development roles, according to the team. Additionally, L.A. retained assistants Jeremy Castleberry and Brendan O’Connor.

“We have assembled a strong and experienced group of coaches with diverse backgrounds and perspectives,” Lue said in a statement. “They will provide our players with every opportunity to improve individually and excel as a team. As coaches, their skillsets are different, but they are all great teachers with a passion for player development, who understand how to impart their knowledge. I couldn’t be more excited to get on the court with this group.”

Craig, Atkinson, Billups Expected To Join Lue’s Clippers Staff

October 26th, 2020 at 2:52pm CST by Luke Adams

Heat assistant coach Dan Craig is leaving Miami to take a job as an assistant on Tyronn Lue‘s Clippers staff, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald confirms (via Twitter). According to Jackson, the Clippers offered more money than the Heat, and Craig hopes the role will help him eventually become an NBA head coach.

Mike Robinson of The Ball Out first reported today that Craig and former Brooklyn head coach Kenny Atkinson would be joining the Clippers as assistants.

Marc Stein of The New York Times, who revealed last week that Craig and Atkinson were drawing interest as potential additions to Lue’s staff, tweeted today that Chauncey Billups has also interviewed for an assistant coach position with the Clippers. The expectation in coaching circles is that Craig, Atkinson, and Billups will all formally finalize deals to join the Clips, Stein adds (via Twitter).

Shams Charania of The Athletic first reported back on October 15 when Lue was promoted by the Clippers that Billups would join him in Los Angeles. Billups was still a candidate in the Pacers’ head coaching search at that time. Now that Indiana has gone in another direction, hiring Nate Bjorkgren, it appears Billups is on track to complete an agreement with L.A.

Craig, who reportedly received head coaching interest from the Bulls and Pacers this year, has been with the Heat for the better part of two decades after initially being hired as a video intern in 2003. He has been an assistant on Erik Spoelstra‘s staff since 2012, spending one year during that time (2015/16) as the head coach of the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s G League affiliate.

Like Craig, Atkinson generated some head coaching interest around the NBA this summer, having been linked to the Knicks, Rockets, Bulls, and Pelicans jobs. The former Knicks and Hawks assistant was hired by the Nets as their head coach of the Nets in 2016 and held that role until he was let go by the organization in March of this year. He compiled a 118-190 (.383) record in Brooklyn as he led the franchise through a challenging rebuild.

As for Billups, he’s a former NBA Finals MVP who expressed interest this year in becoming a head coach. Since his retirement as a player, Billups had reportedly “toyed with the idea” of getting into coaching, and it appears he’ll do so alongside Lue, a longtime friend with whom he shares an agent. A report in August suggested that Billups thought working on Lue’s staff might help him eventually land a head coaching job — he apparently has that in common with Craig.

Assuming the Clippers officially lock up Craig, Atkinson, and Billups, they’ll have gone a long way toward putting together Lue’s staff for 2020/21. Former NBA head coach Larry Drew is also expected to be hired by the Clippers as an assistant coach.

Pacific Notes: Handy, Clippers, Suns, Warriors

October 22nd, 2020 at 8:19pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Despite some rumors linking him to Brooklyn in recent weeks, Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy suggested this week in a conversation with Jason Dumas of KRON4 News (Twitter link) that he intends to remain with the 2020 NBA champs.

“I am a Los Angeles Laker. What’s next for me is waiting for (Lakers head coach) Frank Vogel to pick up the phone and… give me what my next directives are,” Handy said.

There’s more out of the Pacific Division:

New Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue is apparently strongly considering former Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson and current Heat assistant Dan Craig as additions for his bench, per Marc Stein of the New York Times (Twitter link). Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times tweets that Atkinson, renowned for his ability to develop young players, could be a fit considering that owner Steve Ballmer is hoping his new coaching staff does just that.
Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic assesses the prospects of a 2020/21 Suns squad if the team essentially maintains its 2019/20 roster and rely on internal player growth. Backup center Aron Baynes is the only rotation player entering unrestricted free agency this offseason.
As the Warriors look to build at the edges of their roster, Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area takes a look at two potential swingman bench fits: sharpshooting Bucks guard Pat Connaughton and hyper-athletic Heat forward Derrick Jones Jr.

Rockets Coaching Candidates Knew Of Morey’s Decision

October 16th, 2020 at 6:16pm CST by Dana Gauruder

While Daryl Morey’s decision to step down as the Rockets’ GM surfaced this week, he said that coaching candidates were notified during the interviewing process that he was departing, Kelly Iko and Sam Amick of The Athletic report.

Morey made up his mind nearly a month ago, a day after the team was eliminated from the Western Conference playoffs. Family considerations were the main reason why he chose to leave at this time.

“I mean he just said, ‘You know, I’m kind of just struggling and don’t know what I want to do,’” owner Tilman Fertitta said. “To tell y’all, when we signed Daryl’s last extension, Daryl told me, ‘You know, I’m not going to always be here (and) when my last son graduates (I might leave).'”

Head coach Mike D’Antoni decided he didn’t want to remain in the organization on the plane ride home and Morey said all of D’Antoni’s potential replacements were told that he was headed out, as well.

“We’ve been up front with all the candidates that this was coming and they’ve been respectful to not have it get out early,” said Morey, who added that D’Antoni’s parting did not impact his decision. “It’s been baked in.”

The Athletic duo, though, said that it hasn’t been quite that transparent. At least two of those candidates were uncertain why Rafael Stone, the executive VP of basketball operations who is replacing Morey as GM, was leading the interviewing process. They were not directly told Morey was going to step down.

Morey had essentially been operating as a consultant the past few weeks, The Athletic confirmed.

Houston has interviewed Jeff Van Gundy, Ty Lue, Kenny Atkinson, Stephen Silas, David Vanterpool, Wes Unseld Jr., and John Lucas for the vacant coaching job. Lue has agreed to coach the Clippers, while Van Gundy, Silas and Lucas appear to be the top remaining candidates for the Rockets.

Latest On Rockets’ Head Coaching Search

October 12th, 2020 at 11:39am CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets‘ pool of candidates to replace Mike D’Antoni as the team’s new head coach still consists of seven names for now, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. According to Feigen, the club hasn’t ruled out expanding the interview process beyond those seven candidates, but has been “pleased” with its meetings so far.

Houston met last week with current assistant coaches Stephen Silas (Mavericks), David Vanterpool (Timberwolves), and Wes Unseld Jr. (Nuggets), as well as former Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson.

According to Feigen, team officials have since met with Rockets player development coach John Lucas as well, and Tyronn Lue‘s interview is scheduled to happen today. Jeff Van Gundy is also expected to interview with Houston now that his broadcasting duties for ABC and ESPN have come to an end for the season.

It’s not clear yet whether the Rockets will be prepared to make a decision on their new head coach after completing their meetings with Lue and Van Gundy. As Feigen writes, it’s possible the team will want to narrow down the field and bring back finalists for follow-up sessions, but team owner Tilman Fertitta has been part of the interview process already, so it’s not as if contenders for the position still need to meet with him.

The Rockets are one of five NBA teams still seeking a new head coach, along with the Pelicans, Pacers, Thunder, and Clippers.

Rockets Interview Kenny Atkinson For Coaching Job

October 7th, 2020 at 1:33pm CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets interviewed former Brooklyn head coach Kenny Atkinson for their head coaching opening this week, according to Alykhan Bijani and Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Atkinson was identified as a possible candidate to coach the Rockets shortly after Mike D’Antoni parted ways with the team. Houston’s interest was later confirmed in a separate report, but the fact that Atkinson has met with the club is new information.

Atkinson, who began his coaching career in France in 2004, later served as an assistant for the Knicks from 2008-12 and for the Hawks from 2012-16 before taking over as the Nets’ head coach. He led a rebuilding Brooklyn club to a 118-190 (.383) record over three-and-a-half seasons, earning a playoff berth in 2019. The Nets let him go in March, less than a week before the NBA went on hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Tyronn Lue and David Vanterpool are among the other candidates who are reportedly meeting with the Rockets about their head coaching position. Houston assistant John Lucas is said to be an “emerging candidate” for the role, while the team has also been linked to the likes of Jeff Van Gundy, Sam Cassell, and Chris Finch, as our tracker shows.

The timeline for a Rockets hire is unclear.