Kevin Durant Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Reaction To Thunder’s Billy Donovan Hiring

May 1st, 2015 at 9:53am CST by Chuck Myron

People around former Thunder coach Scott Brooks believe he never had a chance this year and that GM Sam Presti had long planned to replace him with Billy Donovan or Kevin Ollie, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Ollie’s sizable buyout, which Wojnarowski refers to as $5MM but previous reporting indicated was $4MM, was a “non-starter” for the Thunder, according to Wojnarowski. The Pistons made a run at hiring Donovan last year, Wojnarowski reveals in the same piece. Here’s more in the wake of the Thunder’s hiring of Donovan on Thursday:

Kevin Durant tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com that he wants to gather as much information on Donovan as possible and that he isn’t thinking about how the hire could affect his decision as free agency looms in a year (See all six Twitter links here). He also expressed a trust in Presti, who didn’t consult with him during the hiring process. “I know what my job is,” Durant said to Goodman. “I let him do his.”
Durant downplayed Donovan’s lack of NBA experience in an interview with Royce Young of ESPN.com and said he spoke with Mike Miller and Chandler Parsons, both of whom played under Donovan at Florida. “I met him one time out in Vegas. He was there for USA Basketball,” Durant said of Donovan in his chat with Young. “And I’ve heard good things about him. I’m sure we’ll click pretty quickly. But I don’t have a relationship with him. I don’t know him. He didn’t recruit me at Florida, so I don’t really know him too well. I’m just going off of what guys that played for him said. And I’m looking forward to meeting him and getting a feel for him myself.”
The Thunder’s choice of Donovan is a bold but worthwhile gamble, USA Today’s Sam Amick argues. There’s risk in hiring just about any coach, The Oklahoman’s Berry Tramel believes, but Donovan’s success with and without NBA talent made him stand out to Presti, Tramel writes.

Thunder Coaching Rumors: Donovan, Messina

April 23rd, 2015 at 5:28pm CST by Chuck Myron

A third NBA head coaching vacancy opened Wednesday when the Thunder cut ties with Scott Brooks, and college coaches Billy Donovan and Kevin Ollie have emerged as perhaps the most prominent candidates. We’ll round up the latest on the Thunder’s search here, with any additional updates added to the top:

While Donovan is the current favorite to land the Thunder’s coaching position, Spurs assistant Ettore Messina is also on the team’s list of candidates, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets.

1:18pm update:

“Very personal reasons” have led Ollie to call Presti and tell him he wouldn’t take the job, a source told Zagoria. A second source said to Zagoria that the Thunder made it clear that they were indeed interested, but there were a variety of reasons why Ollie decided against it.

12:10pm update:

Ollie has “removed himself from consideration” for the Thunder job, sources tell Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com (Twitter link; hat tip to Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman). Given the doubt that lingered Wednesday even after Ollie issued his statement that he would stay at Connecticut, it’s unclear if that completely closes any reasonable chance that Ollie will end up in the Oklahoma City job.

12:00pm update:

“All signs point to” Donovan becoming the next Thunder coach, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, who hears sentiments similar to those that Marc Stein of ESPN.com heard earlier this spring indicating that the Florida coach is ready to jump to the NBA. Donovan, a friend of Thunder GM Sam Presti, is tired of recruiting and while he would jump to the NBA only for a winning situation and a GM he knows and trusts, as a person who knows Donovan tells Berger, the Thunder fit the bill. Donovan would seek a deal worth $25MM over five years, or similar terms, league sources tell Berger.
Donovan doesn’t have the credibility or relationship with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook that Ollie does, a source points out to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. The same source who earlier identified Ollie as the Thunder’s No. 1 target tells Zagoria that Ollie is “listening” as Oklahoma City pursues him, despite Ollie’s statement from Wednesday in which he indicated that he would remain at Connecticut. The source also suggests to Zagoria that if the Thunder’s next coach can’t manage the two-superstar dynamic between Durant and Westbrook to Durant’s liking, last year’s MVP will leave in free agency next summer.
Durant expressed “100%” support for the team’s decision to part ways with Brooks but said the news was difficult to take and lauded Brooks for his mentorship on and off the court, as the injured star posted on his Instagram account.

Thunder Non-Committal Toward Scott Brooks

April 16th, 2015 at 10:50am CST by Chuck Myron

10:50am: For his part, Brooks remains optimistic, telling reporters today that he expects to return for next season, as Royce Young of ESPN.com tweets.

7:51am: Several league sources close to Thunder coach Scott Brooks have expressed doubt about his job security as the Thunder are expected to “spend time evaluating the partnership” with the coach before committing to him for another season, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Magic and Nuggets would have significant interest in Brooks if he became available, sources told Wojnarowski. Oklahoma City’s contract with Brooks runs through 2016/17, with a team option on the final season, Wojnarowski adds.

Thunder GM Sam Presti has long been friends with University of Florida coach Billy Donovan, according to Wojnarowski. Donovan is another Nuggets and Magic candidate who has an increasing desire to coach in the NBA, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported a couple of weeks ago. League sources who spoke with Wojnarowski brought up the possibility of Presti targeting Donovan should the Thunder let go of Brooks.

Injury-plagued Oklahoma City went 45-37 and remained alive for a playoff berth until the final night of the regular season, but the Thunder missed the postseason for the first time since 2009. Brooks took over midway through that season, and in spite of the Thunder’s fast rise to title contention, the coach has come under fire from critics for his in-game strategy. The Thunder organization has largely remained supportive, but negotiations in the 2012 offseason on a four-year extension worth about $18MM were difficult, according to Wojnarowski, even though Oklahoma City was fresh off a trip to the NBA Finals. The Blazers were among several teams with interest in swooping in to hire Brooks then if those talks fell apart, Wojnarowski notes.

Many in the Thunder organization like Brooks, who has close relationship with management and players alike, Wojnarowski writes. Still, the specter of Kevin Durant‘s contract, which expires after next season, clouds the Thunder’s future. Durant, the league’s reigning MVP and scoring champ, played in only 27 games this season largely because of a broken foot, precipitating the Thunder’s slide down the standings.

Northwest Notes: Aldridge, Durant, Contracts

April 1st, 2015 at 5:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

LaMarcus Aldridge feels as though the Blazers didn’t always support him the way they do now, as he explains to Michael Lee of The Washington Post. The soon-to-be free agent, who pledged this past summer to re-sign with the Blazers in the offseason ahead, wonders what it would have been like if he felt they were behind him for his entire career, and if the team still finds him expendable on some level.

“It’s bittersweet,” Aldridge said of his ascendance to a superstar level with the Blazers. “I think God has a plan for everybody. Maybe my plan wasn’t to be loved right away. My role was a little tougher than other franchise players, but it happens. I think it helped me build character and not take anything for granted. I know that I had to really earn it, so it makes me appreciative. It also makes me wonder how easily they can move on, too.”

Here’s more from around the Northwest Division:

Kevin Durant recently said perhaps his most encouraging words to date for the Thunder regarding his free agency in 2016, but the matter of which team he’ll sign with remains far from decided, observes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
The three year, minimum salary deals that Chris Johnson and Jack Cooley inked with the Jazz contain no guaranteed salaries beyond this season, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link).
Tim Frazier‘s two year deal with the Blazers calls for him to make $845,069 for the 2015/16 campaign, and includes no guaranteed salary beyond this season, Pincus tweets.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

Western Notes: Durant, Kanter, Frazier, Kings

March 31st, 2015 at 10:53pm CST by Charlie Adams

Rumors are already suggesting that Kevin Durant might be eyeing an exit from Oklahoma City in the summer of 2016, but the reigning MVP spoke out and expressed an interest in spending the rest of his career with the Thunder, as Royce Young of ESPN.com transcribes.

“I love it here, man. I love my teammates, I love the city, I don’t really think about anywhere else,” Durant told Revolt TV. “I love staying in the moment, and I’m one of those guys that would love to stick it out with one team my whole career; Kobe [Bryant], Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki type. That’s awesome. But you never know what the future holds sometimes and how teams may feel about you after a while, but I love it here and I would love to get my jersey retired here.”

While Durant’s comments are far from a guarantee that he’ll stick around in OKC for life, they certainly must provide a level of comfort for Thunder fans who have seen reports linking KD to several different clubs. We’ve got more on the bunch from Oklahoma City in tonight’s look out west:

The candid way in which Enes Kanter has spoken about the Jazz since Utah traded him to the Thunder at the deadline has some executives wondering if the big man will be able to land a lucrative new deal this summer as a restricted free agent, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Concerns about his attitude coupled with his less-than-stellar defense might scare some teams off, the executive suggests.
Tim Frazier will have a chance to remain with the Blazers beyond this season, hears Joe Freeman of the Oregonian, who says Portland’s latest addition will get the opportunity to appear with the team in training camp next fall. However, it’s unclear if Frazier has a non-guaranteed year tacked on to his deal or if he’s merely a just lock to garner an invite to camp before next season begins.
Chris Mullin’s recent departure from the Kings organization isn’t a total shock, given that Mullin opposed the pursuit of George Karl, hoping he could land Sacramento’s vacant coaching position himself, as Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee observes. If Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro can’t mesh with Vlade Divac, the team’s new VP of basketball operations, D’Alessandro might not be long for the organization either, Voisin writes.
Holly Mackenzie of Triangle Offense chronicles Brandon Knight’s evolution as a player and steps through the series of events that brought him to the Suns. Knight is poised for a significant raise as a restricted free agent this summer, Mackenzie believes.

Kevin Durant To Miss Rest Of Season

March 31st, 2015 at 10:31am CST by Chuck Myron

TUESDAY, 10:31am: Durant had his surgery today, the Thunder announced via press release. The timetable for him to return to basketball activities remains four to six months.

FRIDAY, 2:00pm: Kevin Durant will undergo surgery on his ailing right foot and miss the rest of the season, the Thunder announced via press release. GM Sam Presti said in the team’s statement that the healing of the so-called Jones fracture in his foot is showing signs of regression. He’ll have a bone graft procedure that is standard for the 5% to 8% of Jones fracture patients who don’t demonstrate success after their first surgeries, according to the team. Durant first broke the foot before the season and had another procedure in February that was to have alleviated lingering soreness. He hasn’t played since that procedure.

The news is a devastating blow to the Thunder, though it’s not a thoroughly unexpected one after Presti last week raised the specter of Durant missing the balance of 2014/15. Oklahoma City is also without Serge Ibaka for perhaps the rest of the regular season. The playoffs are no guarantee for Oklahoma City, a Western Conference power in recent years, though the team has a three-game lead on the Suns for the final playoff spot with less than three weeks to go. The Thunder are without much recourse to offset the loss of Durant with a roster addition, as I examined last week, without the ability to apply for a disabled player exception or, at least for now, a hardship exception.

Durant played in just 27 games this season, the first time in his NBA career that he’s missed more than eight contests. Only Michael Jordan, who retired, and Bill Walton, who suffered devastating foot problems, played fewer games than Durant has the season after winning an MVP award, as ESPN points out (Twitter link).

The 26-year-old is expected to return to basketball activity in four to six months, Presti said in the statement, a timeframe that should have him ready for the start of training camp in the fall. That’s the start of a season that’s the last under the five-year extension he signed in 2010. Chatter about the top unrestricted free agent in the 2016 class has already begun and is sure to intensify with Durant staring at perhaps only one last season in a Thunder uniform. Still, Presti has insisted that trading Durant to avoid watching him walk in free agency is not an idea he’s considering.

Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Aldemir, Smart

March 29th, 2015 at 8:47pm CST by Will Joseph

The Knicks were ranked last in the ESPN Forecast panel’s ranking of the league’s front offices. The management team of Phil Jackson and Steve Mills was ranked 29th; coach Derek Fisher was ranked 30th and owner James Dolan also came in at No. 30. Good times might be on the horizon, however, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com writes in his analysis of the panel’s rankings. The Knicks will have at least $25MM to spend and could have a high first-round pick in this year’s draft, Begley noted while also adding that things could also change because Dolan is a willing spender.

Here’s more on the Knicks and the Atlantic Division:

It would be unwise for the Knicks to sign Kevin Durant when the reigning MVP is expected to become an unrestricted free agent after next season, Frank Isola of the New York Daily News opines. Isola believes that acquiring the superstar would be a risk the Knicks cannot afford to take, especially after the Thunder announced Durant will need another surgery to repair a broken bone in his foot and will miss the rest of the season.
Furkan Aldemir, a native of Turkey who is in the first year of a four-year deal worth about $12MM with the Sixers, has struggled to adapt to life in the NBA, but is expected to get more playing time as the season winds down, Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Daily News writes. Aldemir, 23, has played in five straight games.
Clippers president of basketball operations and coach Doc Rivers is reminded of himself — albeit a better version, he said — when he watches Celtics rookie point guard Marcus Smart, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. “He’s a really good defensive player,” said Rivers, who played 13 seasons in the NBA. “On the ball, off the ball. Yet he’s making plays offensively. I like him a lot.”

Reaction To Latest On Durant

March 20th, 2015 at 9:47pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Kevin Durant hasn’t officially been ruled out for the season, but GM Sam Presti doesn’t sound optimistic about the forward’s injury. Despite the down season, Amin Elhassan of ESPN.com believes the Thunder shouldn’t panic and make rash decisions this offseason. The team still has the talent to contend and unless Durant himself declares he is leaving, the franchise shouldn’t think about trading its superstar.

Here’s more reaction to Durant’s latest news:

The Thunder have had major injuries in each of the last three years and Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report believes the window for Oklahoma City to win a championship is closing. Ding compares this team to another small market team, the 2004 Wolves. That team was built around Kevin Garnett, Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell and considered a contender to win it all. Cassell injured his hip and Minnesota lost in the Western Conference Finals to the Lakers. The Wolves never even made the playoffs since and a few years later, they traded their star forward to the Celtics. While it’s unlikely the Thunder trade Durant, he becomes an unrestricted free agent after the 2015/16 season.
The burden of taking over a heralded franchise in a monster market such as New York or Los Angeles is something that may be attractive to Kevin Durant, opines Ding in the same piece. Ding cites Durant’s history in making documentaries as reason why the forward wouldn’t mind the spotlight.
Preparing for the future without Durant is something the Thunder might have to start thinking about, opines Zach Lowe of Grantland.com. By being extra cautious with Durant’s injury, the Thunder likely lost their last chance to chase a ring before the forward becomes the most talked-about pending free agent since LeBron James. A championship with Oklahoma City would go a long way in keeping the reigning MVP in town, but the buzz surrounding Durant will do nothing but add pressure to the team during the 2015/16 season.

Latest On Kevin Durant

March 20th, 2015 at 11:56am CST by Chuck Myron

Thunder GM Sam Presti wouldn’t declare Kevin Durant out for the season and the playoffs, but he said in a press conference today that’s essentially “the direction we’re headed right now,” according to Royce Young of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The reigning MVP won’t be back unless the soreness in his foot abates, Presti added, as Michael Lee of The Washington Post tweets. Presti said that Durant, who had been ramping up for a return that was expected within the next week, has been removed from basketball activity, and the GM doesn’t sound optimistic about a return this season, observes Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman (Twitter link).

The high-scoring forward hasn’t played since February 19th after undergoing a second procedure that was designed to alleviate the lingering pain in the Jones fracture that he suffered in his right foot before the season. Various ailments have limited Durant to just 27 games so far in 2014/15.

The Thunder are also without Serge Ibaka for as many as six weeks, with the playoffs set to begin in a little more than four weeks. They’re just a game up on New Orleans and two and a half up on Phoenix for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, and they have little recourse for upgrading their roster to help them salvage a postseason berth, as I examined. Oklahoma City has 15 players on contracts that run through at least the end of the season, and the team is already a taxpayer, making it difficult for the Thunder to waive a contract to sign someone else.

Durant is in the next to last season of his contract, which puts pressure on the Thunder to maximize their championship window. The team already has more than $78MM in commitments for next season, which doesn’t include a new contract for soon-to-be restricted free agent Enes Kanter.

Northwest Notes: Wolves, Durant, Jazz

March 19th, 2015 at 8:46pm CST by ChrisCrouse

President of basketball operations Flip Saunders says signing Sean Kilpatrick came down to proximity, according to Alan Horton, who is the play-by-play announcer for the Wolves (Twitter link). Minnesota played the Knicks tonight and Kilpatrick was playing for the Delaware 87ers, the D-League affiliate of the Sixers. After a three hour car ride to New York, the Cincinnati product was in uniform for the Wolves. Minnesota had only eight healthy players active, the league minimum, in the game tonight.

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

Kevin Durant had a setback at practice today and isn’t playing in Friday’s game against the Hawks, according to Royce Young of the TrueHoop Network. “Just he experienced some soreness,” coach Scott Brooks said. “I think when you go through rehab, we all know through the rehab process you’re going to have some peaks and valleys, and you just have to adjust accordingly. That’s why he was off today, and he’s definitely not playing tomorrow. That’s all part of the process with his rehab.” Durant has missed 17 of the last 23 games, including 13 straight, because of a foot injury.
The Jazz have one of the youngest rosters in the league and Ben Detrick of Grantland.com chronicles how the franchise turned itself into a team with one of the brightest futures in the Western Conference. Detrick points out that Utah’s success lately is partially a result of trading away Enes Kanter. The move cleared up a jumbled frontcourt situation and gave Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors ample playing time. Of the power forwards in the league, only Blake Griffin and Anthony Davis have a higher PER than Favors’ 22.4 rating this season.
The Jazz have recalled Grant Jerrett from their D-League affiliate, the Idaho Stampede, according to the team’s website. The Arizona product appeared in four games for the Stampede, averaging 12.8 points and 1.5 blocks per game.