Kevin O’Connor Rumors

Northwest Notes: Cancar, Clingan, Edey, Caruso, Jazz, Nuggets

June 24th, 2024 at 7:51pm CST by Dana Gauruder

It appears Vlatko Cancar won’t be testing free agency. The Nuggets and Cancar are negotiating a new contract, The Athletic’s Tony Jones tweets.

Denver is declining the $2,346,606 option on Cancar’s current contract due to luxury tax concerns, but it appears that move is the first step in getting the forward back on a deal that would benefit both sides. If Cancar re-signs with the Nuggets on a minimum-salary deal, he would project to make $2,432,511 in ’24/25, while the team would carry a cap hit of $2,093,637.

We have more from the Northwest Division:

The Trail Blazers have worked out Donovan Clingan and Zach Edey and seem to be leaning toward drafting a center, The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor reports. The Blazers own the No. 7 and 14 picks. Clingan is expected to be off the board by the No. 7 pick but the Blazers are high enough on Edey that they may grab him with the first of those picks, according to O’Connor, who suggests that if they wind up with a center on draft day, they could look to move Deandre Ayton and/or Robert Williams.
While the Thunder have ample cap space this summer, they will be hard-capped at the first tax apron in 2024/25 due to the Alex Caruso trade, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report tweets. That’s because they took on a higher salary than they’re sending out (Josh Giddey).
The Jazz hold the No. 10, 29 and 32 picks in the draft. How valuable are those latter two picks and should they try to deal them? Kevin Reynolds of the Salt Lake Tribune explores that topic.
Due to a lack of contracts they could package with their first-round pick at No. 28 to obtain another impact player, the Nuggets are likely to retain the pick and seek out another late-round gem, Bennett Durando of the Denver Post writes.

Draft Notes: Lottery, Williams, Sarr, Holland, Sheppard, Shannon

May 10th, 2024 at 8:31pm CST by Luke Adams

This year’s draft lottery isn’t nearly as highly anticipated as the 2023 event that determined which team would get the opportunity to select generational prospect Victor Wembanyama. Still, each team involved in the 2024 lottery would love to come away Sunday with the No. 1 overall pick, as Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo write for ESPN.com (Insider link).

In a team-by-team look at the lottery teams, Givony and Woo explore what’s at stake for each franchise on Sunday and which prospects they’ll be eyeing if they claim a top spot in the draft or if they end up where they are.

Although ESPN’s draft experts have French forward Zaccharie Risacher ranked as the No. 1 prospect in this year’s class, they suggest that both the Wizards and Hornets may prefer another Frenchman (Alexandre Sarr) if they land the top pick, while the Spurs could be an ideal fit for guard Rob Dillingham, whose perimeter shooting and ball-handling would complement Wembanyama’s skill set.

UConn center Donovan Clingan, meanwhile, could be a perfect match for the Grizzlies, who traded away big men Steven Adams and Xavier Tillman earlier this year. Woo also points out that – if he’s still on the board at No. 12 – Colorado prospect Cody Williams would have an opportunity to potentially team up with older brother Jalen Williams on the Thunder.

Here are a few more draft-related items:

Cody Williams isn’t the only lottery prospect with an older brother under contract in Oklahoma City — Alexandre Sarr’s older brother Olivier Sarr finished the season on a two-way contract with the Thunder. Marc J. Spears of Andscape spoke to Jalen Williams and Olivier Sarr about the prospect of their younger brothers entering the NBA as high draft picks later this year.
Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer and Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report have updated their big boards for the 2024 draft, with several notable differences between them. The top two prospects on Wasserman’s board – Ron Holland and Reed Sheppard – don’t crack O’Connor’s top five. O’Connor also published a new mock draft, which has UConn’s Clingan coming off the board at No. 2.
Wasserman (via Twitter) shares the rosters for the four teams that will scrimmage at the G League Elite Camp this weekend. The standouts from the event will be invited to participate in the NBA’s draft combine next week.
A June 10 trial date set for former Illinois guard Terrence Shannon, the No. 33 prospect on ESPN’s top-100 list, who faces felony charges of first-degree rape and sexual aggravated battery, reports Myron Medcalf of ESPN. Shannon’s attorneys say the trial is expected to conclude before the NBA draft, which takes place on June 26 and 27. He has pleaded not guilty.

Latest On Bucks’ Coaching Situation

January 23rd, 2024 at 10:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Bucks have reached out to Doc Rivers to discuss having him take over their head coaching job, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski confirms.

As reported earlier in the day, Rivers is the top choice to replace first-year coach Adrian Griffin, who was abruptly fired on Tuesday.

CNN Sports, as relayed by the NBA on TNT, reported on Tuesday night that Rivers had accepted the position (video link). However, that report has yet to be corroborated by other media outlets.

Rivers already has a connection to the Bucks, having informally served as a consultant for Griffin this season at the behest of the club.

Here’s more on the Bucks’ coaching situation:

Griffin offered a diplomatic answer to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report regarding his dismissal: “I appreciate the opportunity the Bucks gave me. You can’t control everything,” Griffin said in a phone interview. “I feel good about the job we did. I appreciate my coaching staff for all their hard work. I always wanted to be a head coach in this league. I couldn’t have asked for a better roster. I got to coach Giannis (Antetokounpo), Dame (Lillard), Khris (Middleton), Brook (Lopez). Dream come true. Hopefully, I get another shot at it, but overall, I’m just thankful.”
Bucks general manager Jon Horst and assistant GM Milt Newton began closely observing practices and shootarounds in the last 10 days or so, Haynes reports in the same story. That began raising the eyebrows of the coaching staff and players. If they don’t land Rivers, the Bucks also have Jeff Van Gundy and Nate McMillan on their short list of candidates, Haynes adds.
Griffin met with his top four players after the team’s loss to Indiana during the in-season tournament last month and they all spoke about what was working, what wasn’t working and how they could best be utilized. Griffin told the players that sacrifices were required, but bickering in the locker room continued shortly thereafter.
Griffin was hired at the endorsement of Antetokounmpo, but that endorsement had more to do with whom the two-time MVP didn’t want as head coach, writes Marc Stein at Substack. Nick Nurse was high on the Bucks’ list of candidates before he was hired by the Sixers, according to Stein, who says Antetokounmpo wanted the franchise to go in a different direction and chose to back Griffin. Moving on from Griffin now was a far easier move than finding a difference-making trade, given Milwaukee’s limited assets, Stein adds.
When Lillard’s former head coach, Terry Stotts, chose to resign from the Bucks’ staff just prior to the season opener, the reason was that Griffin felt that he was being undermined by Stotts, according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. Stotts was brought in to mentor Griffin but they clashed on scheme and philosophy.

Kevin O’Connor Denies He’s Stepping Down

May 1st, 2013 at 11:07am CST by Luke Adams

11:07am: Jazz president Randy Rigby has released a statement on the issue, refuting the report that O'Connor is stepping down from his current role:

"Media reports of Kevin O’Connor’s departure are inaccurate and he is not stepping down. He is fully engaged in Jazz preparations for draft season. The working relationship between Kevin and Dennis Lindsey is unchanged as both individuals provide valuable expertise, knowledge and perspective toward building a championship-caliber team. Kevin will be a member of the Jazz family for a long time. No further comment is needed."

10:05am: Jazz CEO Greg Miller tweets that O'Connor is not stepping down as executive VP of basketball operations.

8:36am: A KUTV report out of Utah last night suggested that Jazz executive vice president of basketball operations Kevin O'Connor will be stepping down from his current front office role to transition into a consulting role with the team. However, asked if he was stepping down, O'Connor told Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune, "Not true, and I have no comment."

Despite O'Connor's denial, we probably shouldn't dismiss the story entirely quite yet. As Oram notes (via Twitter), he asked O'Connor about stepping down, rather than moving to a consultant position, so the former Jazz general manager could be denying one but not the other. Oram and Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune both point out (Twitter links) that O'Connor hired Dennis Lindsey as Utah's new GM last summer with the intention of Lindsey eventually becoming the head of basketball operations. Change at some point in the not-so-distant future is inevitable, Luhm suggests.

Luhm also confirms KUTV's report that O'Connor sold his house in Holladay, Utah on April 17th, the same day the Jazz's season ended when they were eliminated from playoff contention by the Grizzlies. While that could be a further sign that O'Connor will assume a reduced role from his home in North Carolina, as KUTV reported, for now it appears nothing is official.

The Jazz are entering a crucial offseason, with many of the team's key veterans, including Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson, and Mo Williams, facing free agency. Armed with a pair of first round picks and plenty of potential cap space, whoever is running the team's basketball operations this summer will have plenty of work to do.

Eastern Notes: Magic, Sixers, Nets, Celtics

September 21st, 2012 at 5:24pm CST by Luke Adams

The biggest NBA news of the day so far has come out of Philadelphia, where the 76ers are announced Tony DiLeo's promotion to general manger. SI.com's Sam Amick has a few additional details on the move, including some other names that the Sixers pursued. According to Amick, the Sixers were turned down when they asked permission to speak to Jazz executive Kevin O'Connor and Thunder exec Troy Weaver. Here are a few more Friday notes out of the Eastern Conference:

Harkless' and Smith's injuries will not be healed in time for the regular season, keeping them out of the Magic lineup until mid-November, Schmitz writes, updating his earlier tweet (below).

Earlier updates:

Amick adds that the 76ers may still hire a more analytically-inclined executive to work alongside DiLeo in the Philadelphia front office.
Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov had praise for GM Billy King and coach Avery Johnson, whose contracts are set to expire at season's end. Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News passes along Prokhorov's quotes in a pair of tweets.
Al Harrington, Maurice Harkless, and Ish Smith, all recovering from offseason surgery, are expected to miss training camp, tweets Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. All three players were added by the Magic this summer.
J.J. Redick understands that the Magic are in a transition year, but says he loves playing in Orlando and that he and GM Rob Hennigan are "on the same page" when it comes to his future (Twitter links via John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com).
A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com looks into which Celtics on non-guaranteed contracts are the best bets to earn a roster spot, concluding that Dionte Christmas is a clear-cut favourite.
Raja Bell tells Andy Slater of 640 AM Sports in Miami that the Heat would be his first choice in free agency if he can work out a buyout with the Jazz (Sulia link via Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel).
In his latest mailbag for the Sun Sentinel, Winderman debates whether the Heat or Celtics had the better offseason and examines where Miami's roster stands.

Jazz Hire Dennis Lindsey As GM

August 7th, 2012 at 11:33am CST by Zachary Links

The Jazz held a press conference this afternoon to formally announce the promotion of longtime General Manager Kevin O'Connor to Executive Vice President of basketball operations and the hiring of Dennis Lindsey as GM. Lindsey previously served as the assistant GM of the Spurs.

At the presser, Jazz President and CEO Randy Rigby told reporters that Lindsey was the club's top choice for the position, tweets Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune. O'Connor says that he has been pondering the move for some time but wanted to first help guide the club through the lockout-shortened season (Twitter link). The 13-year GM says that he will still have an active role in day-to-day operations but will not be fielding calls from agents, Smith tweets.

Lindsey joined the Spurs in the summer of 2007 after spending the previous eleven years in the Rockets organization. Smith tweets that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich gave O'Connor a sterling endorsement on Lindsey, saying that he is the person he'd hypothetically appoint as GM if R.C. Buford were to step away.