Mike Woodson Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Young, Woodson, Nets

April 18th, 2014 at 7:56pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Thaddeus Young is confident that the Sixers would meet any demands he makes on the organization, as he told reporters, including Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News. Young indicated that he might use the possibility of declining or exercising his player option for 2015/16 as leverage, and he also raised the possibility that he’ll ask for a trade, as we noted last night.

Knicks Rumors: ‘Melo, Woodson, Jackson

April 17th, 2014 at 1:45pm CST by Chuck Myron

Carmelo Anthony offered another qualified endorsement of the Knicks today in his exit interview with reporters, saying “I want to come back. I want to come back. But I also want to win,” as Newsday’s Al Iannazzone notes via Twitter. There’s more from ‘Melo amid our look at the latest from the aftermath of a disappointing season for the Knicks:

Anthony said that he doesn’t know if he “can afford another season of losing,” and added that he’s “not at the point in my career where I want to rebuild,” as Frank Isola of the New York Daily News and Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com pass along via Twitter.
The Knicks star said at the All-Star break that he’d take a discount to re-sign with the Knicks under the right circumstances, and he reiterated today that money isn’t his priority, Isola tweets.
Anthony would endorse Mike Woodson if the Knicks consult him about the coach’s future, as Marc Berman of the New York Post observes.
A source tells Berman that Knicks president Phil Jackson doesn’t intend to “clean house” and make sweeping changes to the team’s front office personnel, as the Post scribe writes in a separate piece. Jackson has brought former Bulls scout Clarence Gaines Jr. aboard to help him, but Gaines has no official role with the team yet, Berman notes.
Kenyon Martin‘s one-year contract is up, but he’d like to remain with the Knicks, as Berman observes in the same piece in which he covered the front office news. “I’ve got a lot of basketball left and I hope it will be here,’’ Martin said.

Atlantic Notes: Woodson, ‘Melo, Lowry, Nets

April 16th, 2014 at 4:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

Mike Woodson has had little contact with Knicks president Phil Jackson, and a source close to the coach believes he knows he’ll be fired, reports Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Woodson’s assistants have been given no assurances of their future, and if Woodson is fired, all but Herb Williams seem certain to lose their jobs, too, Isola adds. With a coaching change seemingly on the horizon, here’s more on the Knicks and their Atlantic Division rivals:

Carmelo Anthony‘s longtime teammate J.R. Smith isn’t worried about the prospect that ‘Melo will head elsewhere and is confident he’ll re-sign with the Knicks this summer, as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com observes.
The Raptors are so deep into plans to move forward with soon-to-be free agent Kyle Lowry on the roster next season that Lowry would be “derailing the train” if he were to sign elsewhere, writes Cathal Kelly of The Globe and Mail.
Shaun Livingston, also set to hit free agency, will be a priority for the Nets this summer, and he hasn’t been disappointed with his experience in Brooklyn, as Dave D’Alessandro of NJ.com notes. “I like where I’m at, let’s put it that way,” Livingston said. “This year’s been everything I could have asked for.”

Eastern Notes: Knicks, Celtics, Booker, Cavs

April 10th, 2014 at 5:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Knicks GM Steve Mills denies last month’s report that he met with Phil Jackson about the possibility of the Zen Master coaching the team, though he admits that the team’s pursuit of Jackson, now team president, caused “problems” with coach Mike Woodson. Mills made his comments to Spike Lee in an interview airing tonight on SiriusXM NBA Radio, and Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com provides an early peek. Mills also said that he feels he and Jackson can “do something special” as they work together in the Knicks front office. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Danny Ainge wants to “blow off some fireworks” with splashy moves this summer, but he isn’t making promises, as he said today in his weekly radio appearance on 98.5 the Sports Hub (transcription via Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com). Ainge reiterated that he’s looking for rim protection and said he’s also seeking a “closer.” The Celtics boss also expressed concern about the injury history of soon-to-be free agent Avery Bradley, though Ainge once more spoke of the team’s interest in the guard.
Trevor Booker started his 41st game for the Wizards on Wednesday, so the value of the qualifying offer the Wizards must make to keep him from unrestricted free agency this summer has risen from $3,420,443 to $4,677,708. I explained last month that Booker was approaching the league’s “starter criteria” for restricted free agents.
The Cavs have assigned Sergey Karasev and Scotty Hopson to their D-League affiliate in Canton, the D-League team announced (Twitter link). Karasev and Hopson, who’d just been recalled to Cleveland on Wednesday, will be available for Canton’s playoff game tonight.
We rounded up more on the Cavs and other Central Division news earlier today.

Knicks To Fire Woodson If Team Misses Playoffs

April 4th, 2014 at 12:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

The late run the Knicks are making for the playoffs is critical for the future of coach Mike Woodson, whom the Knicks plan to fire if the team falls short of the postseason, a source tells Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops.com. It’s no surprise, since reports of an imminent firing have dogged Woodson all season, and few around the league have expected the team to retain him beyond this season. New York sits percentage points above the Hawks for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but the Knicks are one game behind Atlanta in the loss column.

The Knicks were reportedly evaluating Woodson on a game-by-game basis in December and appeared close to ousting him in February, but he’s remained on the bench, even as the team took GM Steve Mills‘ title of president and gave it to the newly hired Phil Jackson. Knicks owner James Dolan was publicly supportive of Woodson in November, but he’s since promised to let Jackson make all of the team’s basketball decision. Jackson, in his introductory press conference last month, praised Woodson but offered no guarantee that the coach would be back next season. Woodson’s contract became guaranteed for 2014/15 when the Knicks picked up their team option on him this past September.

Woodson’s future with the team has looked so grim that today’s news could be interpreted as a glimmer of hope, since it suggests the team might hang on to him if it reaches the postseason. Still, the Knicks seem unlikely to make a run if they reach the playoffs, with a matchup against the Heat or the Pacers almost a certainty, as Scotto notes.

Jackson On Shumpert, Defense, Coaching

April 3rd, 2014 at 10:31pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Earlier today, we relayed some noteworthy comments from Phil Jackson about his willingness to do away with ties between the Knicks and Creative Artists Agency as well as his insistence that he won’t return to coaching. During his media session, the Zen master also praised Mike Woodson for how he’s handled the speculation about his future and shared more about the team’s recent performance. Here are a few more interesting things to relay from Jackson, transcribed by Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN New York:

On Iman Shumpert about what will be expected from him:

“I’m still a coach that believes in pressure, pressure defense, playing like we saw the Knicks play last night — anticipation, turnovers become run-outs…I was able to tell Iman today that’s what has to be seen on a basis that we’d like to see from game to game…It might not happen every game, but those are the things that break games open and give you opportunities to win when you have easy baskets. And defense can do that, so that’s a really important aspect.”

On the team’s defense:

“I think (Mike Woodson) has a philosophy,..It’s worked for him in the past. It’s worked for him in Atlanta. The big thing is you’ve got to have players buy into it. They have to believe in it…I think one of the reasons why they’ve been successful in the last month-and-a-half, whatever this run has been, has been their defense has improved…Mike likes to switch with bigs a lot of times and ends up rotating from the other side of the court, trying to get bigs on bigs and smalls on smalls. You know, that’s his style. Players have to buy into it. That’s what coaching is about.”

On whether or not he still gets the urge to coach:

“No, I don’t, but I do know that I can’t be too vocal about what I see going on all the time out there…If a flagrant foul happens, or there’s a couple of situations out there (that is) beyond the level of what is legitimate basketball, and I want to give my voice and my opinion to the referees, I don’t want to do that.”

On not traveling with the team for road games:

“My job is not to travel with the team…Mike is in control of this team, he’s the coach, he’s got that sculpt ahead of him, he knows what he is doing on the road. (Steve Mills) has chosen to go out there, and maybe (James Dolan) encouraged him to go out there…Steve has been away from the game a while so maybe that associated him back with the game…So he has traveled with the team but I don’t see general managers going on the road. However, in playoff situations, yes, I will be there at all games.”

Coaching Rumors: Jackson, T’Wolves, Adelman

March 27th, 2014 at 8:45pm CST by Ryan Raroque

The topic of Mark Jackson’s job security with the Warriors is riddled with complexity, and ESPN’s Israel Gutierrez and J.A. Adande discuss how this year’s struggles may affect the third-year head coach’s future in Oakland. Gutierrez suggests that Jackson bears some responsibility for Golden State’s frustrating play at times this year, while Adande surmises that Jackson will be in big trouble if the Warriors fail to improve on their six playoff wins from last season. Adande adds that ownership has spent nearly half of a billion dollars to purchase the team and upgrade the arena, and doesn’t think that patience accompanies those types of expenditures.

You can find additional coaching-related links below, including more from the above piece:

Adande believes that a contract extension for Jackson would imply a significant vouch of support from management; however, the fact that there hasn’t been one yet makes him wonder if anyone within the organization’s hierarchy has Jackson’s back.
Gutierrez thinks the Warriors are hastily trying to figure out Jackson’s potential as a head coach, and that Jackson could be heading into the postseason with his future in Golden State on the line.
Timberwolves executive Flip Saunders is close to college coaches Fred Hoiberg and Tom Izzo, both of whom owner Glen Taylor admires, notes Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Walters senses that the chances of Rick Adelman returning to coach the Wolves are “remote” and points to the team’s coaching search from six years ago, when the team was willing to give the job to Izzo. Still, Izzo was strident in saying this week that he has no interest in coaching the Pistons. Saunders will be in New York to watch both Hoiberg and Izzo coach in the NCAA tournament this week, Walters adds via Twitter.
Aside from Mark Jackson, there are many other coaches are in worse situations, notes Sean Deveney of the Sporting News. Toronto’s Dwane Casey, Washington’s Randy Wittman , Portland’s Terry Stotts, and Utah’s Tyrone Corbin are all finishing up their contracts this year and have yet to receive extensions.
Deveney also groups Knicks coach Mike Woodson with Corbin as two contract-year coaches who are on “ice that is thin as ice can get”, though it’s worth mentioning that Woodson actually had his 2014/15 contract option picked up last September.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Isola’s Latest: Jackson, Lakers, Dolan

March 20th, 2014 at 8:40am CST by Chuck Myron

Phil Jackson‘s hiring as Knicks president has been one of the most well-documented stories in the NBA this season, but Frank Isola of the New York Daily News has managed to reveal a few fresh angles to the news. We’ll share the highlights of his latest piece here:

The Lakers believed Jackson was going to take a salary of $2MM a year to join the Knicks as a consultant when New York first began talks with Jackson in December. Instead, he’ll make $12MM a year as team president, though he’ll still spend time in Southern California as well as New York.
Dolan, in spite of his promise to remove himself from basketball decision-making for the Knicks, still considers himself a “basketball guy” and wants to be remembered for bringing Jackson and Carmelo Anthony together.
Two of Mike Woodson, Andrea Bargnani and J.R. Smith won’t be with the Knicks next season, and none will be around for 2015/16, Isola writes. It would be no shock if Woodson is in his final days with the Knicks, but Bargnani’s deal runs through next year, and Smith’s goes until the summer of 2016, so it appears that Isola is suggesting the team will trade Bargnani and Smith.
Woodson, Bargnani and Smith are all Creative Artists Agency clients, but the emergence of Eagles manager Irving Azoff as a trusted confidant of James Dolan has helped diminish CAA’s once-widespread influence at Madison Square Garden.

Notes From Phil Jackson’s Press Conference

March 18th, 2014 at 11:22am CST by Chuck Myron

The greatest indication that today is a red-letter day for the Knicks was perhaps that tight-lipped owner James Dolan made public comments in the press conference to introduce Phil Jackson as team president. The owner admits he’s been out of his element trying to exert authority on basketball decisions, and said he’ll cede power, with Jackson noting that he wouldn’t have come if Dolan hadn’t promised not to meddle.

“Regardless of your record, when you have a chance to get Phil Jackson to run your team, you do it,” Dolan said, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).

We’ve rounded up much more from the press conference with tweets from Berger, Isola, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, TNT’s David Aldridge, USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt, Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling, Fred Kerber of the New York Post, Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal, and Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. All links go to Twitter unless otherwise noted:

Jackson said there’s no doubt that Carmelo Anthony is in his plans for the future, and the coach-turned-executive believes that he can build a championship team around him.
Jackson believes Mike Woodson is a good coach and said he’ll have “discussions” with him, but he made no guarantees that Woodson will be back for next season.
The Knicks have stripped Steve Mills of his title of president, but he’ll remain the club’s GM, as we noted in our full story on Jackson’s hiring. Both Jackson and Mills will report directly to Dolan, but the owner made it clear that Jackson will oversee all basketball decisions.
Jackson said he’ll move to New York, but he admitted that family and medical reasons will have him making frequent trips to Los Angeles. Jackson has undergone five surgeries in recent years, and he calls himself “too lame to coach.”
Dolan said that he started his talks with Jackson with the idea that he’d become coach, but they quickly moved past that idea.
Jackson expressed his belief in “system basketball” and defended the triangle offense his teams have usually run, but he said he would not make the triangle mandatory for whoever coaches the team.
Jackson said he’s going to “work the bushes” to find players for next season and that he’ll attempt to make an “impact” in the summer of 2015.
In an odd twist, Dolan credited the manager of his favorite band, The Eagles, for introducing him to Jackson in December, confirming a story from Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.

Knicks Notes: Jackson, Cleamons, Woodson

March 15th, 2014 at 10:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Carmelo Anthony is one of the players on the Knicks who is excited about Phil Jackson joining the organization, writes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Anthony said, “I’m a chess player. That was a power move right there. You know what I mean? So, now we’re going to see what’s the next move, but that was a great power move.” Whether or not Anthony re-signs will play a huge part in shaping the team’s future, so any endorsement could be considered a positive sign, opines Begley.