Mike D’Antoni Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Coaching Rumors: Kerr, Messina, D’Antoni

May 1st, 2014 at 12:35pm CST by Chuck Myron

There are four head coaching vacancies in the NBA, or five, if you count the Pistons, for whom John Loyer finished the season as interim coach. Others may follow once the first round of the playoffs concludes in a few days, so the coaching market is in full gear. Here’s the latest:

Steve Kerr won’t use other openings as leverage against the Knicks and team president Phil Jackson, sources tell Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Lute Olson, Kerr’s former college coach, rejects the notion that Kerr prefers a West Coast job and thinks he’s more than likely to accept an offer from the Knicks, as Olson tells Marc Berman of the New York Post.
Sources tell Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops.net that Ettore Messina has already told CSKA Moscow that he’ll leave this summer, but Varlas hears Messina is more likely to wind up as a Spurs assistant than an NBA head coach next season. Messina has drawn mention as a candidate for head coaching jobs with the Lakers and Jazz this year.
Mike D’Antoni is still interested in coaching, a source tells Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. Bresnahan writes that the portion of next year’s $4MM salary that the Lakers agreed to pay him even though he resigned is less than $2MM, but Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com hears that it’s more than that (Twitter link).

Reports have indicated that Mark Jackson and the Warriors never engaged in extension talks, but Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group hears that they briefly discussed the subject this past summer. Jackson is set to enter the final year of his contract next season, though it’s unlikely he’ll return for 2014/15 barring a long playoff run.

Mike D’Antoni Resigns As Lakers Coach

April 30th, 2014 at 8:55pm CST by Eddie Scarito

8:55pm: Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link) reports that D’Antoni will receive an undisclosed portion of the $4MM he was set to earn next season as part of his resignation.

8:21pm: Mike D’Antoni has resigned as coach of the Lakers, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link). D’Antoni had been having discussions with GM Mitch Kupchak over the phone in regards to his future, writes Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. These talks were also scheduled to continue on Thursday, prior to his resignation. Although no timetable has been established, the search for a replacement will begin immediately.

The Lakers have confirmed the news on their website. Kupchak said, “Given the circumstances, I don’t know that anybody could have done a better job than Mike did the past two seasons. On behalf of the Lakers, we thank Mike for the work ethic, professionalism and positive attitude that he brought to the team every day. We wish him the best of luck.”

Medina reports (Twitter link) that D’Antoni’s agent Warren Legarie said D’Antoni hit an “insurmountable impasse” with Lakers refusing to provide assurances they will exercise his team option for the 2015/2016 season. D’Antoni had concerns about having a “lame duck” status next season.

D’Antoni, who was hired by the Lakers to replace Mike Brown on November 12, 2012, had a 67-87 record in his two seasons with the team. He previously was head coach of the Nuggets, Suns and Knicks, and has a career record of 455-426.

Lakers To Keep Mike D’Antoni?

April 28th, 2014 at 10:55pm CST by Cray Allred

MONDAY 10:55pm: D’Antoni is still pushing to get his option for 2015/16 exercised but the Lakers are still resisting, a source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).

SATURDAY, 12:23am: The team doesn’t plan on exercising D’Antoni’s 2015/16 option, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick, who suggests that the coach might walk away from the team if it doesn’t alter that stance, though it’s not clear if he would do so, Amick writes.

12:14am: The Lakers insist they’ve yet to make a decision about D’Antoni, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. Still, the coach is pushing the team to make its choice, and he’s asked the Lakers to pick up his team option for 2015/16, Shelburne also reports (Twitter link). D’Antoni has been adamant in talking with his bosses that he needs more job security to succeed, Shelburne adds (on Twitter).

FRIDAY, 10:22pm: Lakers management has reached internal agreement to keep coach Mike D’Antoni for next season, a source tells Mark Heisler of The Orange County Register. D’Antoni hasn’t been informed of the decision yet, which comes a week after his exit interview for the season.

D’Antoni has been on shaky ground with the Lakers heading into the third and final year of his $12MM contract with Los Angeles. D’Antoni was chosen over Laker legend Phil Jackson to replace Mike Brown early in the 2012/13 season, and has gone just 67-87 in two years at the helm for one of the most storied franchises in all of sports.

Some Lakers players have voiced displeasure with how they’ve been utilized within D’Antoni’s system, including former All-Star Pau Gasol. While Gasol and Kobe Bryant have expressed their wishes that the Lakers make significant changes to return to championship form, the GM Mitch Kupchak has been adamant that basketball decisions won’t be made in reaction to player frustration.

D’Antoni’s first two seasons were both times of transition, with a single year of Dwight Howard last year and a landslide of injuries affecting the team this year. Next year could be just as tumultuous, with potential for significant roster turnover and the implementation of the franchise’s first lottery pick since their 2005 selection of Andrew Bynum.

Coaching Rumors: D’Antoni, Kerr

April 26th, 2014 at 9:49am CST by Cray Allred

While a report of the Lakers retaining Mike D’Antoni for next season may have been premature, Mark Medina of Los Angeles Daily News tweets that the Lakers have been leaning toward keeping the coach for a month. Here’s more on the coaching front:

In a series of tweets, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders says Lakers brass are partial to D’Antoni because of the way he handled young players this season. Kyler thinks that the Lakers have “kicked the tires” on other named possibilities, but have determined that there are no hires that would be a guaranteed upgrade.
A source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that D’Antoni hopes to meet with the Lakers next week in regards to his fate, but no date has been set (Twitter link).
Steve Kerr will likely meet with Knicks president Phil Jackson this weekend to discuss New York’s head coaching job, per Peter Botte and Frank Isola of New York Daily News. Kerr is in town to broadcast the Nets/Raptors game on Sunday.
Kerr would be open to discussing a job with the Warriors, should Golden State act on their rumored preference for Kerr over Mark Jackson, a league source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post.

Lakers Rumors: Nash, Gasol, D’Antoni

April 24th, 2014 at 7:49pm CST by Charlie Adams

The Lakers won’t be playing postseason basketball for the first time since the 2004/05 campaign, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing happening in Lakerland. Let’s catch up on the latest:

The Lakers were impressed with many of the players on this year’s lottery-bound squad, writes Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report, who sizes up the chances each Laker has of returning next season. Steve Nash has an 80% chance to come back, while there’s only a 9% chance Pau Gasol stays, Ding surmises.
Dan D’Antoni‘s hiring as the new head coach at Marshall isn’t related to Mike D’Antoni‘s potentially shaky situation with the Lakers, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
Another tweet from Shelburne reveals that it was Mike D’Antoni who recommended his brother Dan for the role at Marshall, perhaps suggesting that the Laker head coach never actually had any interest in the position, despite rumors claiming otherwise.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Mike D’Antoni Won’t Leave Lakers For Marshall

April 23rd, 2014 at 11:55am CST by Ryan Raroque

APRIL 23RD: D’Antoni told Marshall athletic director Mike Hamrick that he won’t take the job, reports Chuck McGill of the Charleston Daily Mail. Borzello confirms that it’s unlikely D’Antoni ends up at Marshall next season. Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com refutes the part of McGill’s report indicating that D’Antoni has met with Lakers co-owner Jim Buss and GM Mitch Kupchak several times regarding his future with the club (Twitter links). Shelburne says that they haven’t met with him outside of the team’s exit interviews last week, and that his return for next season remains undecided.

MARCH 27TH: 10:16pm: There is mutual interest between D’Antoni and Marshall, a source tells Jeff Borzello of CBS Sports, who also hears that there are donors willing to pony enough up money to woo the current Lakers coach back to his alma mater.

7:09pm: Marshall University has reportedly reached out to Lakers head coach Mike D’Antoni to gauge his interest in coaching the team next year, according to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman and Marc Stein. The program is looking to replace former head coach Tom Herrion, who was recently fired after four seasons. This isn’t the first time that Marshall has pursued D’Antoni to coach their team, and sources tell Goodman and Stein that the latest inquiry was made because the school always “(sounds) him out” any time they have an opening. The 62-year-old coach D’Antoni attended Marshall from 1970 to 1973 before being selected in the second round of the 1973 NBA Draft and continues to be held in high regard by his alma mater.

Though Marshall’s interest coincides with D’Antoni’s uncertain future in Los Angeles, Goodman and Stein hear that it’d be highly unlikely for the embattled coach – who is still under contract for two more years after 2013/14 (one season guaranteed) – to make a move to the collegiate level even if the Lakers parted ways with him this summer.

After leading Phoenix to at least 54 wins each year and topping the 60-win mark twice between 2004 to 2008, D’Antoni has struggled to consistently replicate that success in New York in Los Angeles, respectively. Once coined an “offensive genius” by LeBron James and an “offensive mastermind” by Kobe Bryant, D’Antoni holds just a .430 winning percentage since 2008/09 and is yet to win his first playoff game in nearly six years.

Western Notes: Calathes, Jackson, D’Antoni

April 19th, 2014 at 12:52pm CST by Cray Allred

Grizzlies point guard Nick Calathes has issued a statement to Sam Amick of USA Today on his suspension. “I deeply regret my actions and apologize to my teammates and the organization for my poor judgment,” says Calathes. “Let me be clear: I never took any medication whatsoever for a performance-enhancing reason. I don’t agree with this outcome, and I will come back a better player and person when I return.” Here’s more from out West:

Tim Kawakami of Bay Area News Group says that it has been emphasized to him that no decision on Mark Jackson‘s future with the Warriors has been made (via Twitter). That would support the perception that Golden State’s performance in the playoffs could largely determine whether he is the coach beyond this year.
Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss are expected to meet with Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni within the next two weeks to discuss his future with the team, per Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News.
Tyrone Corbin‘s agent has joined the Jazz in refuting the report that a decision had already been made to let him go, per Jody Genessy of Deseret News.
The Clippers are poised to make a deep playoff run, and Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune credits Doc Rivers, who has improved the roster through acquisitions and development as both head coach and senior vice president of basketball operations.

Lakers Rumors: Gasol, D’Antoni, Kobe, Draft

April 18th, 2014 at 2:54pm CST by Chuck Myron

Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak spoke to reporters today after the team completed the last of its exit interviews with players, and he reiterated the team’s significant interest in re-signing Pau Gasol, as Mark T. Willard of ESPN LA 710 radio notes via Twitter.

“When you look at the free agents on the board, there’s probably not a player better than Pau Gasol,” he said.

That’s quite a stretch, as Gasol doesn’t appear in our 2014 Free Agent Power Rankings, which go 10 deep. We have plenty more on the Lakers, courtesy of Dave McMenamin and Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News, and Mike Trudell of Lakers.com. All links go to their Twitter accounts, unless otherwise noted.

Mike D’Antoni said he’s optimistic about returning, referencing his contract, which runs through 2015/16 with a team option in the final season. “Yeah. I’ve got one or two years left, depending on how you look at it. And I’m their coach,” D’Antoni said.
Kupchak praised the job D’Antoni did this past season. “Under the circumstances, I’m not sure anybody could have done a better job than he did,” Kupchak said. The GM said he’s not concerned about what Kobe Bryant thinks of the coach, and says Gasol’s opinion doesn’t have any bearing, either.
Gasol said yesterday that style of play will weigh into his decision about where to sign, indicating his frustration with D’Antoni’s small-ball attack, but the coach is confident that he and the big man can continue to work together.
Kupchak thinks Bryant could play beyond 2015/16, the final season of his two-year extension.
The Lakers reportedly plan to keep Kendall Marshall, whose contract is non-guaranteed for next season, and though it seems he’d probably make more on the open market, he said today he hopes the Lakers keep him. Kupchak said the team is “optimistic” about him going forward, but the GM nonetheless plans to address the point guard position in the offseason.
Kupchak doesn’t regret staying above the tax threshold this season.
The GM acknowledged that the Lakers might trade their first-round pick, though by rule they can’t do it until after the draft, since they’ve already traded their 2015 first-rounder.

Western Notes: D’Antoni, Jazz, Lakers

April 12th, 2014 at 6:35pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Lakers don’t want to bring back Mike D’Antoni for another season, and are looking for a “peaceful way” in which to part ways with their coach, writes Mitch Lawrence of The New York Daily News. D’Antoni has one season left on his contract at $4MM, with a team option for 2015/16. The team would prefer to not have to fire him, and instead are hoping for what Lawrence writes, is a “best case scenario.” This scenario would have another team asking permission to hire D’Antoni. Lawrence also notes that despite the rumors that the Lakers want to hire John Calipari as coach, his sources say the team has no interest in bringing the Kentucky head man aboard.

Lakers Rumors: D’Antoni, Kupchak, Jeanie Buss

April 9th, 2014 at 12:19pm CST by Chuck Myron

Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak has as much job security as anyone with a fresh extension in hand, but the same can’t be said for coach Mike D’Antoni. We have more on both members of the Lakers braintrust, as we detail:

Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com hears the Lakers aren’t leaning toward keeping D’Antoni for next season (video link), which conflicts with last week’s dispatch from Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report. If anything, the Lakers are leaning toward firing him, McMenamin says, but Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News seconds Ding’s original report, tweeting that the Lakers are indeed leaning toward keeping their coach.
D’Antoni “probably” won’t be around next season, writes Sam Amick of USA Today, adding that the coach nonetheless has Kupchak’s respect.
Late Lakers owner Jerry Buss had Byron Scott on a shortlist of coaching candidates, Amick notes in the same piece, though it’s unclear if the Buss family would want to pursue him.
D’Antoni is weary from a losing season and heaps of criticism, but he still wants to coach the Lakers, as Amick observes. “Hey look, this is a great place,” D’Antoni said. “Any player who has a destination of L.A. — it’s pretty good. I’ve been lucky to be here. I don’t want to say, ‘Oh yeah [I’ll be back],’ but I don’t know. And I’m sure that everybody is going to have to sit down and figure it out. I think the franchise will have a way that they want to get to the best, to the top, and you go with it. And if I’m included in that, great. That’s how it goes.”
Part of the reason the Lakers extended Kupchak is so he wouldn’t enter next season on an expiring contract, Medina tweets.
This season “isn’t how we roll,” Lakers owner Jeanie Buss tells Patt Morrison of the Los Angeles Times, but Buss nonetheless sees bright spots and is optimistic the team is on the right path for the future. Buss also touches on fiancee and Knicks president Phil Jackson and her working relationship with brother and co-owner Jim Buss.