The remaining candidates in Orlando's search for a general manager are being told to consider Warriors assistant coach Michael Malone and Magic assistant coach Steve Clifford for the team's head coaching vacancy, reports HoopsWorld's Yannis Koutroupis. Absent from the list is Pacers assistant coach Brian Shaw, who is currently under consideration for the Bobcats' head coching position. The Magic will reportedly compile a list of finalists by next weekend which is expected to include former Hornets general manager Jeff Bower, Spurs assistant general manager Dennis Lindsey, former Trail Blazers vice president of basketball operations Tom Penn and Thunder assistant general manager Troy Weaver.
The next few weeks figure to be eventful for the Warriors, who have four picks in this year's draft and should be active in exploring deals. Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle writes in his latest piece that Golden State may face some trade competition from the Raptors, who pick one spot after the Warriors in the draft and are seeking the same thing in a potential trade — an athletic veteran small forward. Here are a few more notes from Simmons' article for the Chronicle….
It's been about a month since the Bobcats announced they wouldn't be bringing back Paul Silas to coach the team next season. Since then, the Bobcats have conducted an extensive search for their new head coach that has seen them interview eight candidates, with more to come. In case you've lost track of all the names in the running for the Charlotte job, here's a round-up of what we've heard to date:
- Mike Dunlap, St. John's assistant: Interviewed on May 16th. Dunlap is probably a long shot for the Bobcats' job.
- Patrick Ewing, Magic assistant: Interviewed on May 17th. A source told Marc Berman of the New York Post shortly after Ewing's interview that it was hardly a courtesy meeting and that Ewing has a "good chance" of becoming Charlotte's next coach.
- David Joerger, Grizzlies assistant: Interviewed on May 18th. We haven't heard much about how his meeting went, so I wouldn't think he's a frontrunner.
- Michael Malone, Warriors assistant: Interviewed on May 8th. Malone is considered one of the top potential head coaches available, and also has has some interest in the Trail Blazers job.
- Nate McMillan, former Trail Blazers coach: Interviewed on May 22nd. One of the more high-profile candidates, McMillan has ties to the Charlotte area, having played college ball at NC State.
- Brian Shaw, Pacers assistant: The Bobcats are in the process of setting up an interview with Shaw, who wanted to wait until the Pacers' season ended to explore coaching opportunities. The Magic also figure to have strong interest in the Indiana assistant.
- Stephen Silas, Bobcats assistant: Interviewed on May 21st. Paul Silas was hoping his son would take over for him, but I'd be pretty shocked if the Bobcats went in this direction.
- Jerry Sloan, former Jazz coach: Interviewed on May 25th. Sloan said his interview went well but that he didn't receive an offer and he expected the Bobcats to meet with more candidates.
- Quin Snyder, Lakers assistant: The Bobcats plan to meet with Snyder sometime before the NBA pre-draft camp in Chicago.
- Nate Tibbetts, Cavaliers assistant: Interviewed on May 14th. Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving had high praise for the Cavs assistant, which suggests Tibbetts is adept at working with young talent.
- Stan Van Gundy, former Magic coach: The Bobcats are expected to at least reach out to Van Gundy, if they haven't already. However, it continues to look like the ex-Magic coach will take a year off.
In McMillan and Sloan, the Bobcats have interviewed a pair of respected veteran coaches, but the team has also sought out under-the-radar options and up-and-coming assistants. I expect the search to wrap up sometime in mid-June, and considering their wide list of candidates, it'll be interesting to see which direction Michael Jordan and the Bobcats go.
Let's catch up on the latest news and happenings from around the NBA…
- NewsOk.com's Berry Tramel writes about how the Spurs and Thunder are so similar in their foundation.
- In a tweet, NBA.com's Scott Howard-Cooper says the Warriors will be conducting a workout on Monday. Some players expected to participate are Tony Wroten, Draymond Green, Royce White, and others. The Warriors currently hold the 30th pick from their trade deadline deal to acquire Richard Jefferson.
- Danny Green is enjoying a dream season with the Spurs after once wondering if he'd ever make it in the NBA, writes Al Iannazzone of Newsday. The former North Carolina star has gone from being cut by the Cavaliers after his rookie season to starting at shooting guard for the Spurs.
- Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com wonders what the Warriors will do next if assistant head coach Michael Malone leaves the franchise for a head coaching job this offseason. Malone has been a major part of head coach Mark Jackson's coaching staff as the former point guard has only 66 games of coaching experience to draw from as he enters his second season guiding the Warriors.
- The Bulls are exploring leaving their suburban practice facility, the Berto Center, in favor of a downtown location to cut down on commuting before home games, reports K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. A move downtown would save the Bulls money as they currently provide players free access to a hotel room prior to home games so that they can avoid rush hour traffic.
- Matt Moore of CBSSports.com wonders where the Sixers go from here now that they've been eliminated from by the playoffs by the Celtics. The team will continue to look for a star player to add to the roster while facing many decisions about its current roster heading into next season.
- USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo is ready to field the most competitive roster for the 2012 Summer Olympics, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. While most of the players from the 2008 squad should be back on this year's roster, the team will be without Dwight Howard as he is currently rehabbing from back surgery in Los Angeles.
Coveted head coach candidate Michael Malone has already interviewed with the Bobcats for their opening, and it likely won't be his last job interview this summer. For his part, the Warriors assistant could be eyeing one position in particular. According to Chris B. Haynes of CSNNW.com, Malone would have a "great deal" of interest in the Trail Blazers' head coaching job.
Malone's agent Steve Kauffman declined comment on his client's interest in the position, but acknowledged that the Portland job would be a desirable one: "The Blazers have great ownership, it's a beautiful diverse city and probably has the best fans in the NBA."
The Blazers haven't begun to search for a head coach in earnest yet, since the team is still interviewing general manager candidates, with the new GM expected to play a role in hiring a coach. Interim coach Kalab Canales currently holds the position, though it would be surprising if Portland didn't make an outside hire this summer.
Blazers president Larry Miller confirmed to Haynes that the team is focused primarily on finding a new GM. Miller added, however, that if a coach of interest is available, the Blazers won't hesitate to pursue him.
Big news out of Orlando today as the club has fired coach Stan Van Gundy and agreed to part ways with GM Otis Smith. The latest on the Magic..
- Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld tweets that plenty of executives are interested in the Magic GM job, and they aren't scared away by the Dwight Howard saga.
- David Baumann of Bright House Sports Network says that Lakers assistant Chuck Person is on Howard's list of preferred coaches, noting D12's preference for candidates with no head coaching experience (Twitter links, and a hat tip to Sam Amick of SI.com). That might be moot, however, if Howard still wants to leave the Magic.
- Warriors assistant Michael Malone and Pacers assistant Brian Shaw are candidates to replace Van Gundy, tweets Sam Amick of SI.com.
- Amick also tweets that many of the same candidates for the Blazers GM job will be in the running for the same post in Orlando, and links to a story from earlier this month specifying Pacers GM David Morway and former Hornets GM Jeff Bower as candidates for the Portland gig.
- Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio says that the Magic had interest in signing Greg Oden, but that's likely changed in the wake of today's news (Twitter link).
- Orlando Sentinel columnist George Diaz encourages the Magic to be "creative, aggressive and different" with their GM and coaching hires.
Let's keep track of some Thursday night odds and ends here as Heat-Pacers gets underway. The Clippers will look to rebound from a dissapointing game one loss later tonight in San Antonio.
- Aaron Bruski of NBC Sports writes a piece providing great detail about the unfortunate business practices of the Maloofs with regard to the NBA franchise situation in Sacramento. Bruski says the Maloofs actions could lead the NBA to force them into selling.
- The agent of Nicolas Batum will have all the leverage in negotiations with the Blazers this summer, writes John Canzano of the Oregonian. Batum will become a restricted free agent in the offseason.
- Conrad Brunner from Pacers.com extols Larry Bird in an in depth look at the Pacers' President. In light of Wednesday's announcement that Bird won the 2012 NBA Executive of the Year award, Brunner says that the former Celtic great is as discreetly brilliant as a roster builder as he was as a player and coach. He credits Bird with changing the organizational culture by drafting wisely with middle of the first round picks and carefully managing the salary cap.
- As we mentioned yesterday, Patrick Ewing interviewed for the vacant Bobcats' job today. Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer says that Ewing, a prototypical NBA big man as a player, would be a coaching rarity should be get the job.
- According to the New York Post, Charlotte owner and Ewing friend Michael Jordan did not plan to sit in on the interview. The Post adds that the Bobcats will also interview Memphis assistant Dave Joerger on Friday and have already interviewed Michael Malone, Nate Tibbetts, Mike Dunlap, Stephen Silas and has expressed interest in Brian Shaw.
- A group of ESPN.com writers offered their take on the greatness of the San Antonio Spurs. The three popular picks for the biggest reasons for the organization's success are Tim Duncan, Greg Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford, with honorable mention going to Tony Parker and owner Peter Holt. Teams should look no further than San Antonio for a blueprint on how to build a team.
4:11pm: The Bobcats have also requested permission to speak with Pacers assistant Brian Shaw, according to Sam Amick of SI.com. However, Shaw prefers to focus on the playoffs for now, so no interview has been scheduled yet.
1:42pm: A week after announcing that Paul Silas won't coach the team in 2012/13, the Bobcats' search for a new head coach has them eyeing Warriors assistant Michael Malone. According to Adrian Wojnarowksi of Yahoo! Sports, the Bobcats will interview Malone for the position.
Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer identified Malone as a candidate for Charlotte's coaching vacancy last week, and new Warriors GM Bob Myers recently said he expects Malone to be "a hot commodity" this summer. Although Golden State has the assistant coach under contract, Myers says the team wouldn't hold Malone back if he received a head coaching opportunity.
According to Wojnarowski, Malone is believed to be the first candidate to receive a formal interview, though the team will reportedly interview Stephen Silas as well. Malone is expected to meet with Bobcats president of basketball operations Rod Higgins and GM Rich Cho on Tuesday.