Marc Lasry Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Bucks Notes: Horst, Ownership, Zanik, Ferry

June 30th, 2017 at 8:58pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bucks’ general manager search, conducted after John Hammond‘s departure for Orlando, appeared to take some unexpected twists and turns throughout the process — the club reportedly narrowed its options to three candidates, then opted to promote Jon Horst, who hadn’t been one of those three finalists.

In an interesting piece for ESPN.com, Brian Windhorst and Zach Lowe detail the machinations behind Horst’s promotion, which caught even Horst himself off guard. Sources tell Windhorst and Lowe that the GM job was already earmarked for him when he was called to New York to meet with team ownership, even before he knew he was viewed as a candidate. The Bucks then began planning Horst’s introductory news conference before he signed his deal.

Here are more of the highlights from ESPN’s report on the Bucks’ unique search:

Bucks assistant GM Justin Zanik, who has since left the organization, was considered Hammond’s successor when he joined the franchise and had built a good relationship with head coach Jason Kidd. Although his contract didn’t explicitly state he’d replace Hammond, his annual salary reflected an anticipated increase in his decision-making power, per ESPN. However, only two of Milwaukee’s three co-owners were on board with a promotion for Zanik — Wes Edens was the holdout, and wanted to conduct a full-fledged search, according to Windhorst and Lowe.
After going through their search process, Edens still wasn’t sold on Zanik. He was outnumbered 2-1 by co-owners Marc Lasry and Jamie Dinan, but Edens is technically the Bucks’ designated governor, which gives him unilateral power on all basketball-related decisions if he chooses to wield it, per ESPN.
The three co-owners had previously agreed to settle all decisions with a vote, but this situation revealed that Edens ultimately could have the final say, even if he was outnumbered. In two years, that will change, however — the Bucks’ ownership agreement calls for the governorship role to alternate between Edens and Lasry every five years, per ESPN.
With the search for a new GM having stalled, commissioner Adam Silver suggested the Bucks ought to consider Danny Ferry for the opening, according to ESPN. Milwaukee reached out to Ferry, but the two sides never had a formal meeting, with the Bucks’ co-owners opting instead to reach a compromise — they all liked and respected Horst, and brokered an agreement to promote him for the role.
Horst will be inexpensive compared to other general managers around the NBA. According to Windhorst and Lowe, his three-year deal starts at just $500K.
The Bucks continue to seek a veteran executive to complement Horst in the front office, though the three co-owners will likely all have to agree to move forward with a hire.

Bucks Ready To Start GM Interviews

June 4th, 2017 at 2:51pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Bucks are finalizing their list of GM candidates with interviews expected to start Monday, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.

Assistant GM Justin Zanik remains a strong candidate to replace John Hammond, who left to become GM of the Magic. Sources tell Wojnarowski that Zanik has strong support inside and outside the Bucks organization.

Others expected to interview for the position are Minnesota assistant GM Noah Croom, Indiana vice president of basketball operations Peter Dinwiddie, Detroit assistant GM Pat Garrity, Denver assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas and Memphis VP of player personnel Ed Stefanski. Many of the names were already known, but Croom is a new addition, Wojnarowski tweets.

Sources indicate that Bucks owners Marc Lasry and Wes Edens will participate in the interviews. An original list of candidates was trimmed by a search firm.

Central Notes: Bucks, Pistons, Rondo, Wade

November 8th, 2016 at 12:31pm CST by Luke Adams

While players from many teams around the NBA will be watching today’s U.S. election results closely, the voting results could have an even more significant impact on the Bucks. According to Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times, many league observers believe that one of the Bucks’ three majority owners, Marc Lasry, may give up some or all of his duties with the franchise to take on a government position if Hillary Clinton wins. Lasry is a Democrat and a strong supporter of Clinton. Of course, the results aren’t in yet, and the possibility of Lasry’s departure appears to be informed speculation at this point, but it’s worth keeping an eye on if Clinton becomes the next president.

Here’s more from around the NBA’s Central division:

Pistons owner Tom Gores reiterated on Monday that his team is “making progress” on negotiations to team up with the NHL’s Red Wings and move his franchise to downtown Detroit. “In the next few weeks, we’ll know for sure,” Gores said, per Rod Beard of The Detroit News.
As Keith Langlois of Pistons.com details, Gores has also been pleased with the way the Pistons have been able to better the community during the five years he has owned the team, suggesting that the franchise’s ability to have a local impact has exceeded his expectations. “Our ability to impact the community has been more than I ever thought in my life,” Gores said. “As much as I would like to win a championship, the real championship is to affect the city and impact the city. It’s beyond anything I could have expected, to be honest.”
Rajon Rondo‘s “occasional surliness may have irritated superiors” in the past, as Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe writes, but the veteran point guard has meshed well in Chicago with Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg and former adversary Dwyane Wade so far, per Washburn. “We had battles, but I had battles with a lot of guys,” Wade said of Rondo. “When the opportunity presents itself, you always want to play with people that you respect, people that you feel are competitors and you know what they’re going to bring on a nightly basis. Rondo signing here was another eye-opener for me.”

Coaching Rumors: Scott, Thibodeau, Kidd, Brooks

April 14th, 2016 at 10:28am CST by Chuck Myron

A strong belief exists within the Lakers organization that the team will keep Byron Scott, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, nonetheless revealing that next season is a team option on Scott’s contract. Still, too much discord exists within Lakers ownership for a consensus to form on a coaching change, sources tell Wojnarowski. Primary owner Jeanie Buss is advocating for Scott behind the scenes, and Scott has a “major chance” to remain in his job, one source told Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.

See more coaching rumors around the NBA with the regular season having come to a close:

Carmelo Anthony would prefer the Knicks hire Tom Thibodeau as coach, a source close to Anthony insisted to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Team president Phil Jackson doesn’t seem to have any interest in Thibodeau, as Isola points out, and strong indications exist that Thibodeau is looking for player personnel power as he seeks a coaching job, sources tell Chris Mannix of The Vertical (Twitter link).
Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry publicly backed coach Jason Kidd on Wednesday in the wake of rumors that Kidd is on shaky ground with the team, as Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays. Lasry said it’s reasonable to assume the team will give Kidd an extension on the three-year, $15MM contract that expires after next season, Gardner notes. Lasry has long been close to Kidd, and it’s the other owners to whom Kidd hasn’t endeared himself, as Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times wrote this week, but Gardner indicates that fellow primary owners Wesley Edens and Jamie Dinan made it clear Wednesday that they also want Kidd to stay. “At the end of the day, Jason is our coach,” Lasry said. “I know there’s been a bunch of articles. We think he’s done a great job. He’s our guy. Everybody who keeps talking about it, it’s a non-issue. I never understand why in this league you have these issues.”
Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff and Nets interim coach Tony Brown are unlikely to have their interim tags removed, barring unforeseen events, according to Berger. Rockets candidate Scott Brooks is wary of the uncertainty about whether Dwight Howard will opt out, Berger writes, which suggests that it’s not an open-and-shut case that Howard will opt out as he’s long been expected to do.

Central Notes: Pistons, Love, Bucks, Stephenson

December 22nd, 2014 at 5:55pm CST by Chuck Myron

Greg Monroe and agent David Falk have made it clear that they don’t want any trade this season, though the Pistons have asked about Monroe’s willingness to approve a trade, writes Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News. Monroe has the right to block any deal because he signed his qualifying offer in the offseason, and he’d lose his Bird rights if he were to be traded. There have been conflicting reports about whether the Pistons are shopping Brandon Jennings, but Goodwill writes that he is indeed on the block. The team’s brass is setting a high price for its assets, but other front offices have yet to meet those demands, according to Goodwill, who wrote his piece before today’s Josh Smith bombshell. We’ve been tracking the latest on Smith all day, and as we continue to do so, here’s more news from the Central Division:

Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders insists that had it not been for the offer from the Cavaliers, he wouldn’t have traded Kevin Love this year, as Saunders told reporters, including Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (Twitter link). There were simply no other proposals he liked, despite seemingly fevered interest from half of the league’s teams.
Saunders also seemed to confirm that Love had forced his way off the Wolves, as Krawczynski relays in a full piece. “Minnesota people are pretty loyal,” Saunders said. “When you turn on Minnesota they don’t forgive you.” Still, Saunders added that he has no hard feelings, Krawczynski tweets.
Bucks owners Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry saw the Milwaukee franchise as a “blank slate,” Krawczynski writes in another piece, adding that the ownership duo has quickly revamped the business side of the team and is very pleased with how their roster is taking form. “It’s better than the Spurs. Those are the old guys,” Edens told Krawczynski. “Would you trade Giannis [Antetokounmpo] and Jabari [Parker] and all the rest of the young guys for them?”
While initial reports had Edens and Lasry pledging $100MM towards a new arena in Milwaukee, the actual number the owners have agreed to commit has since grown to $150MM, reports Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Walker reminds us that former Bucks owner Herb Kohl agreed to kick in $100MM himself and that there might be additional private capital coming. Whatever amount on top of that is required to build the arena will come from public financing, Walker says, adding that the team faces an NBA-mandated deadline of fall 2017 to have the new facility in place.
Pacers players aren’t embracing the idea of bringing Lance Stephenson back to the team, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears (Twitter link). Indiana’s front office was reportedly cool to the idea as the Pacers engaged in preliminary talks with the Hornets about trading for the shooting guard.

Alex Lee contributed to this post.

Eastern Notes: Anthony, Bucks, Magic

May 30th, 2014 at 8:37pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Marc Berman of The New York Post notes that Carmelo Anthony has until June 23rd to decide if he will opt out of his contract with the Knicks and become an unrestricted free agent. Most NBA players have until June 30th to decide. It was reported earlier that Anthony is considering opting in and putting off free agency until next summer.

Bucks Notes: Ownership, Hammond, Drew

May 29th, 2014 at 10:02pm CST by Chuck Myron

New Bucks owners Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry have met with candidates to buy minority shares in the team, and they hope to add five to 10 new investors, reports Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Former Bucks player Junior Bridgeman and Milwaukee businessman Ted Kellner are candidates, Walker hears, and Lasry acknowledged Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s desire to get in the mix, tweets Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times. Here’s more on the Bucks and the rest of the Central Division:

Edens appears to have assumed the role of primary owner, as he’ll represent the Bucks on the Board of Governors, Gardner notes (Twitter link).
Edens and Lasry spoke of their support for GM John Hammond and coach Larry Drew, but the owners stopped short of guaranteeing their long-term futures with the club, Journal Sentinel scribe Charles F. Gardner reports. Edens said previously that Hammond will remain with the Bucks at least through the draft.
The Bucks will work out a handful of big man prospects tomorrow, including former Marquette standout Davante Gardner, per Gery Woelfel of the Journal Times (Twitter link).

Ryan Raroque contributed to this post.

Wesley Edens, Marc Lasry Purchase Bucks

May 15th, 2014 at 6:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

MAY 15TH, 6:12pm: The league has unanimously approved the sale of the Bucks to Edens and Lasry, per the team (Twitter link).

APRIL 16TH, 3:02pm: Edens says he’d like to see the arena built within a couple of years, and suggests that the $200MM puts the team halfway toward the price of the new building, as Woelfel tweets.

2:49pm: Edens and Lasry will put $100MM toward the construction of a new arena in addition to the purchase price of the team, Gardner tweets. Kohl will also give $100MM for the arena, the team announced (Twitter link).

2:43pm: Kohl announced in a press conference that he’s transferring full ownership of the club to Edens and Lasry, pending league approval, as Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes via Twitter.

11:34am: Longtime Bucks owner Herb Kohl will announce the sale of the team to Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry later today, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The sale of what’s presumably a majority stake in the team to the hedge fund billionaires will be subject to league approval, but Kohl made keeping the team in Milwaukee a condition of the deal, Stein adds (Twitter link). Grantland’s Bill Simmons first identified Edens and Lasry as having been close to purchasing the team last week. The sale price is $550MM, according to Stein.

Edens is a principal and co-chairman of the Board of Directors of Fortress Investment Group LLC, while Lasry is the CEO of Avenue Capital Group. Forbes.com pegs Lasry’s net worth at $1.7 billion. Other suitors made late bids to purchase the team, Simmons wrote, but it appears that Edens and Lasry have emerged with a deal.

Part of the cost of the team will be redirected into funding a new arena in Milwaukee, tweets Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times. It seems likely that Edens and Lasry aren’t shelling out the full $550MM, but rather paying a percentage of that based on a valuation of the entire franchise at that price. Vivek Ranadive and his partners last year paid about $348MM to purchase 65% of the Kings, who were valued at a total of more than $534MM.

There have been several rumored to be in the mix for all or part of the Bucks in recent months, including Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner, agent Arn Tellem, former Raptors and Suns GM Bryan Colangelo, former Wolves GM David Kahn, one-time Bucks player Junior Bridgeman, and Milwaukee health care executive Jon Hammes.

Kohl announced in December that he was seeking to sell minority shares in the club, but Woelfel reported about a month ago that Kohl was close to selling a majority stake. He’s campaigned for a new arena to replace the nearly 25-year-old Bradley Center, though it appears that finding public funding to built it will be difficult. Kohl’s apparent decision to use a portion of his take from the sale to foot the bill for the arena fits with Woelfel’s report from January that suggests the former U.S. Senator wants the new home for the Bucks to be an important part of his legacy in the area. Woelfel wrote then that Kohl was considering giving more than $100MM toward the building’s construction.

Bucks Notes: Kohl, Edens, Lasry

April 16th, 2014 at 9:55pm CST by Charlie Adams

News broke today that the Bucks’ ownership had officially found a group to purchase the organization. Pending league approval, the ownership of Milwaukee will change hands for the first time since 1985, when Herb Kohl purchased the team from Jim Fitzgerald. Let’s round up the latest news and notes on the Bucks in wake of the sale:

New owners Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry were one of nine groups bidding for the team, as Steve Greenberg of Allen & Co., the firm overseeing the transfer, told Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times (Twitter link).
Kohl acknowledged that while there were other good offers on the table, Edens and Lasry were the best fit for the team, reports Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter links).
A change in ownership will impact the Bucks’ quest for a new arena, and Michael Hunt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looks at what steps ownership will need to take in order to secure a new home court.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.