A Eurohoops.net report indicated Osman had an offer on the table from the Lakers to join the team for training camp but that he turned it down without having assurances he’d make the regular season roster. Stein’s report suggests that wasn’t the case.

The Lakers already have 15 players on guaranteed contracts and are less than $50K away from exceeding the second apron, so even if Osman had joined them in training camp, it wouldn’t have made sense to retain him on a standard contract. Osman hopes he can play his way back to the NBA next season, Stein adds.

We have more on the Lakers:

• Head coach J.J. Redick isn’t concerned about LeBron James and Anthony Davis shortening their usual offseason regimens after playing in the Paris Olympics, Daniel Starkand of LakersNation.com relays via a ‘Spectrum’s Lakeshow Podcast.’ “I mean, look, those guys are professionals in every sense of the word,” Redick said. “My concern for them about whether or not they’ll be ready to play on Oct. 22 and be in shape, I don’t have that concern. We’re gonna work with (athletic trainer Mike Mancias and associate athletic trainer Jon Ishop) making sure that they feel that they’re in a great place to start the regular season. They’ll certainly be involved in training camp and the preseason here in September, as well as preseason games.”
• Former head coaches Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks are among the assistants on Redick’s staff. The first-year head coach is thrilled with what he’s seen so far, Starkand notes from the same podcast. “I couldn’t be happier with the staff that we’ve built here, we have a blend of youth, experience,” Redick said. “Obviously Nate and Scotty, but also Bob Beyer, who has been at the front of the bench for almost two decades in the NBA. The biggest thing for me was I wanted to make sure I had a bunch of sickos on my staff and I think I’ve accomplished that. They’re grinders.”
• In case you missed it, Christian Wood required knee surgery that will sideline him for the early weeks of the season. Get the details here.

Most of the Lakers’ hires, headlined by former NBA head coaches Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks, have been previously reported, but here’s the full list of assistants in one place:

• McMillan, who has compiled a 760-668 (.532) career regular season record as the head coach of the SuperSonics, Trail Blazers, Pacers, and Hawks.
• Brooks, who most recently served as an assistant in Portland and was a longtime head coach in Oklahoma City and Washington. He had a 521-414 (.557) regular season record and a 49-48 (.505) postseason mark, having led the Thunder to the NBA Finals in 2012.
• Bob Beyer, a veteran assistant who spent time with the Raptors, Magic, Warriors, Bobcats, Pistons, Thunder, Kings, Pelicans, and Hornets from 2003-24.
• Greg St. Jean, who was a Lakers player development coach from 2019-21 before spending the past three seasons as an assistant coach in Dallas (2021-23) and Phoenix (2023/24).
• Lindsey Harding, the reigning G League Coach of the Year for the Stockton Kings and the first full-time female assistant coach in Lakers franchise history.
• Beau Levesque, who has held the title of player development coordinator with the Clippers for the past four seasons.

The Lakers also announced that they hired Michael Wexler as their head video coordinator. He was a coaching associate last season with the Suns and previously served as the head video coordinator for the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx.

The Lakers’ goal was to surround Redick, a first-time NBA coach, with an experienced staff that could help him learn the ropes, which is why the club targeted former head coaches like McMillan and Brooks and a longtime assistant like Beyer to lead the group.

“Through an international and thorough process, we’ve brought together an experienced, diverse, and dedicated coaching staff,” Redick said in a statement. “Our goal from day one is about fostering a high-performing environment of player development and team alignment through relentless work, daily collaboration and innovation. Players and staff are here to enjoy the pursuit of excellence every time they step on the court. The expectations are clear, and my staff and I are committed to doing everything we need to do to ensure success at the highest level.”

McMillan and Brooks are the first assistants confirmed to be joining Redick’s staff. The Lakers had been looking for experienced coaches as former NBA sharpshooter Redick is a first-time head coach. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin recently reported (via Twitter) that Dwane Casey, another longtime coach who is currently in a front office role with Detroit, withdrew from consideration for an assistant job with L.A., as he “did not want to uproot his family at this time.”

One of the NBA’s top perimeter defenders during his 12-year playing career with the Sonics, McMillan transitioned to coaching after he retired from playing, including multi-season head coaching stints with Seattle, Portland, Indiana and Atlanta. The 59-year-old holds a career regular season record of 760-668 (.532 win percentage) and 28-48 record in the postseason (.368%). McMillan took a year off to reportedly spend time with family after he was fired by the Hawks in 2023.

Brooks is another former NBA player turned coach, spending 10 years in the league as a backup point guard from 1988-98. He was the lead coach of the Thunder for seven seasons and the Wizards for five, compiling a 521-414 regular season record (.557%) and 49-48 mark (.505%) in the postseason. The 58-year-old has been an assistant with Portland the past three seasons.

Rajon Rondo, Sam Cassell, Jared Dudley, and Jacque Vaughn are among the other names that have been floated as possible candidates for Redick’s staff, though Cassell (Boston) and Dudley (Dallas) may not be available.

In other Bulls news, Chicago is interested in re-signing center Andre Drummond, league sources tell Scotto. The big man will be an unrestricted free agent this summer after spending the past two seasons backing up Nikola Vucevic.

Scotto also states that – prior to last week’s Alex Caruso/Josh Giddey swap – there was a belief around the league that the Bulls and Thunder would consider a possible sign-and-trade deal involving Patrick Williams. It’s unclear if that idea is off the table now or if the two clubs will look into making a second offseason trade.

Finally, Scotto reports that before they struck deals to add Wes Unseld Jr. and Dan Craig to Billy Donovan‘s coaching staff, the Bulls also reached out and talked to former head coaches Nate McMillan and Dwane Casey.

Here are a few more items of interest from around the Central:

• The Pistons – along with the Magic – were expected to be in the mix for Monk before he reached an agreement to return to Sacramento, according to Scotto, who says Detroit will continue to explore the trade and free agent markets for shooting help this offseason.
• Elsewhere on the Pistons front, Scotto writes that a number of executives around the NBA believe Detroit will come to terms on a maximum-salary rookie scale extension for former No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham.
• The Bucks, still very much in win-now mode, are open to the idea of trading the No. 23 pick in the draft, league sources tell Scotto. Executives with rival teams also get the sense that Milwaukee would be willing to move Bobby Portis and/or Pat Connaughton in order to upgrade the roster, though Scotto notes that both players have come up in trade talks in the past and nothing has come of it to this point.
• James Borrego was considered the frontrunner for the Cavaliers‘ head coaching job last week before the front office met with team owner Dan Gilbert, per Shams Charania, Joe Vardon, and Jason Lloyd of The Athletic. After that meeting between management and Gilbert, Kenny Atkinson‘s candidacy “gained considerable momentum,” The Athletic’s trio adds. Assistant coaches Jordan Ott and Trevor Hendry, who worked with Atkinson in Brooklyn, are viewed as potential additions to his new staff in Cleveland, notes Scotto.

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.

While Beal has not requested a trade, per Haynes, the Wizards are reportedly mulling the idea of a roster reset that would involve moving the star guard. Since Beal has a no-trade clause, he’ll be very much a part of any trade negotiations, so it’s no surprise that his camp has been granted permission to talk directly to potential suitors.

[RELATED: Wizards, Bradley Beal Discussing Trade Scenarios]

The Heat and Bucks are among the teams expected to speak with Bartelstein, sources tell Haynes. The Heat and Beal have been linked in the past and appear to have mutual interest, but the 29-year-old isn’t attempting to force his way to Miami or to any other specific team, a source tells Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

As for Milwaukee, Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports confirms there have been rumblings about the Bucks having interest in Beal, as others have reported. But a Bucks trade for Beal would probably have to include Khris Middleton, according to Fischer, who says all indications are that Milwaukee intends to bring back Middleton and free agent center Brook Lopez.

Here’s more from Haynes’ latest rumor round-up:

• The Pacers have made the No. 7 pick available and are in the market for a starting-caliber wing, per Haynes, echoing a report from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (Twitter video link via Evan Sidery of Forbes). According to Fischer, Indiana previously explored trade scenarios for Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter (for Chris Duarte and draft capital) and Raptors forward OG Anunoby. The Pacers are also expected to be among the suitors for Celtics restricted free agent forward Grant Williams, Fischer adds.
• The Clippers are considered unlikely to reach an agreement on a contract extension with head coach Tyronn Lue this offseason, Haynes reports. Lue has one more guaranteed year on his contract, with a team option for 2024/25. Haynes adds that the Suns never officially made contact with the Clippers about their interest in Lue this spring, since L.A. would have wanted draft assets to release Lue from his contract, and Phoenix used most of its draft picks at the trade deadline to acquire Kevin Durant.
• Nate McMillan turned down an offer to join the Mavericks‘ coaching staff and intends to take a year off from coaching to spend time with his family, sources tell Haynes.
• Scoot Henderson will return to North Carolina on Monday to meet with Hornets owner Michael Jordan, writes Haynes. Fischer previously reported that Charlotte wanted to bring both Henderson and Brandon Miller back early next week to meet with Jordan. It’s unclear whether or not Miller will also return to Charlotte.

However, Collins went through warm-ups unscathed and is available this afternoon, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post.

Through 50 games (31.1 MPG) in 2022/23, Collins is averaging 13.2 PPG, 7.1 RPG and 1.2 BPG on .506/.248/.813 shooting splits. Trade deadline acquisition Saddiq Bey, who started in Collins’ place during Friday’s victory over Cleveland, was moved back to a reserve role.

Here’s more on the Hawks:

• Trae Young spoke to the media for the first time on Friday following former coach Nate McMillan‘s dismissal. While their relationship may not have been perfect, Young says he was surprised by the timing of the move and has “nothing but love and respect” for McMillan, as Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution relays. “I was waking up from a nap and heard about it,” Young said. “And it was surprising to me. I mean, the timing and stuff, right now. But obviously, I know what this league is and Nate knows. We’ve talked since then and had a conversation and stuff like that. So, I got nothing but love and respect for Nate and the type of person he is, and things like that. So it’s not the last time me and him are going to talk. I mean I talk to all my coaches that I’ve played for. So, that’s what I was expressing to him, and I appreciated him for, I mean, being a part of that run that took us in this franchise further than it’s been. So, he should get a lot of love for that alone (and) for what he’s done for us and his team and this organization. So I got nothing but love for him, and it’s a tough situation. But, it’s part of this league, and I got nothing but love for him.”
• There had been rumblings about the Hawks moving on from McMillan in the offseason and a report that he had considered resigning himself, so the news wasn’t totally unexpected. Still, as Young alluded to, the timing of the firing seemed to catch many within the organization off guard, ESPN’s Zach Lowe recently said on his Lowe Post podcast (hat tip to RealGM). “I think a lot of people within that team, players, coaches, staff were blindsided by 23 games to go at the end of the All-Star break,” Lowe said. “‘… We’re pulling the trigger now on this?’“
• In case you missed it, the Hawks have reportedly offered their head coaching job to former Jazz coach Quin Snyder, and the two sides are said to be nearing a deal.

According to Fields, the possibility of a coaching change had been on his radar for “the last month or so,” and he finalized the decision to make the move over the All-Star break after the Hawks closed the first half with losses to Charlotte and New York.

Asked about reports that McMillan considered resigning earlier in the season, Fields said that the Hawks’ coach never expressed that desire to him.

Fields also stated that Atlanta has already begun speaking to potential candidates to replace McMillan on a permanent basis, confirming that Quin Snyder is among the options the team will consider (Snyder was identified by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski as a leading candidate). The Hawks’ general manager declined to confirm any other names on Atlanta’s list of possible targets, explaining that he didn’t want to discuss anyone who’s under contract with another club.

Here are a few more highlights from Fields’ Wednesday presser, as relayed by Williams:

On whether Trae Young or any other Hawks players had input in the decision to dismiss McMillan:

“They did not have any role in this decision. I would not ever go to players on something like this. This was solely my decision at the end of the day. As far as a new candidate, to me our objectives and our values are clear. And the players fall in line with those, as well. So (I) don’t necessarily need their feedback on who that will be.”

On whether McMillan’s relationship with Young was part of the reason for his ouster:

“No, I think that at the end of the day, it came down to how all players were responding to his voice, and I just didn’t see it. I didn’t see the trajectory going anywhere that was going to be beneficial for us.”

On what qualities the Hawks are looking for in their next permanent head coach:

“Well, it always starts with a shared vision. And I always simplify that as being a championship-caliber franchise. And that’s not just with our goals, that’s our day-in-and-day-out approach.

“Character is something that is going to be high on our list, and I think it’s a big broad word but for us, having a great degree of emotional intelligence being able to connect not just with staff members, but also with players, is gonna be high on the list. Somebody that is able and willing to hold the line, accountability is huge for us. And then at the end of the day has a strong emphasis on development. That is something that we will be making sure is part of our priorities here with Atlanta. So, those would be some to start.”

On his expectations for the Hawks going forward:

“I believe we can get a lot better. I think that this is a very talented roster. And looking at our record, like it’s not acceptable with what I believe this roster can be. So that’s why we’re trying to make a change and level up.”

“I would like to thank Nate for his leadership and professionalism during his time with the Hawks. He is truly a class act, and we appreciate the graciousness and work ethic he brought with him every day,” Hawks GM Landry Fields said. “Decisions like these, especially in-season, are always extremely difficult, but we believe it’s in the best interest of our team to move forward with another voice leading the way.”

4:24pm: The Hawks have fired head coach Nate McMillan, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

Atlanta is one of the league’s most disappointing teams. The Hawks currently rank eighth in the Eastern Conference with a 29-30 record.

Assistant Joe Prunty will be the interim coach, but the franchise is looking at some bigger names to become the permanent head coach, according to Wojnarowski.

Former Jazz coach Quin Snyder tops the list of candidates with Bucks assistant Charles Lee and Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson also on the Hawks’ radar (Twitter links). The team will conduct a wide-ranging search, which will begin immediately.

The Hawks have one of the league’s top point guards in Trae Young and made a blockbuster trade to acquire Dejounte Murray from San Antonio as his backcourt partner. Yet, they have floundered around the .500 mark for much of the season.

McMillan was named the club’s interim coach in March 2021 in place of Lloyd Pierce. Atlanta made a surprise run to the Eastern Conference Finals, prompting the Hawks to remove the interim tag and give him a four-year contract in July 2021.

The Hawks finished the regular season at 43-39 and lost in the first round of the playoffs last spring. A report surfaced last month that stated McMillan was unlikely to remain the head coach beyond this season.

Young has had disagreements with McMillan, although their relationship has reportedly been smoother since an incident that was highly publicized in early December. McMillan had reportedly considered resigning this season, but team officials were able to talk him out of it.

Prunty was the Bucks’ interim head coach during the 2017/18 season and finished with a 21-16 record. Milwaukee lost to Boston in the opening round of the playoffs that season.

Prunty has been an assistant on eight NBA teams. He spent a season with Phoenix and wasn’t in the league for two years before joining the Atlanta staff prior to last season.

“I think Kyrie ends up with a short extension with the Nets,” one executive predicted. “A sign-and-trade for Kyrie this summer would be tough given the length needed and assets to make it happen from another team. I think there’s an incentive for an extension on a one-plus-one or two-year deal.”

The Lakers, who were rumored to have interest in Irving during the 2022 offseason, loom as perhaps the biggest threat to lure him away from the Nets during the summer of 2023. They’re currently on track to open up about $30MM in cap space and could offer Kyrie the opportunity to form a Big Three alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Here’s more from Scotto:

• The Rockets are expected to go “star hunting” during the offseason, according to Scotto, who notes that Houston will have a significant chunk of cap space and wants to be more competitive in 2023/24.
• Echoing previous reports, Scotto says the prevailing belief from outside the Hawks‘ organization is that head coach Nate McMillan won’t still be coaching the team next season.
• Donovan Williams‘ new two-way contract with the Hawks covers next season in addition to the rest of this one, according to Scotto, who tweets that Atlanta has long been intrigued by Williams’ upside.
• Wizards two-way player Jordan Goodwin is a strong candidate to be promoted to Washington’s 15-man roster before the end of this season, assuming the team can open up a spot, league sources tell Scotto. Goodwin is 10th among Wizards in minutes played this season, having earned playing time over several players who are on standard contracts.
• Before he signed with the Nets over the summer, guard Edmond Sumner also received interest from the Suns, Pistons, and Pacers, per Scotto. Sumner worked out for Phoenix and had a workout scheduled with Detroit that he had to miss due to COVID-19.

Star guard Trae Young has been involved in disputes with McMillan, although their relationship has reportedly been smoother since an incident that was highly publicized in early December. Williams and Vivlamore hear from several sources that McMillan has considered resigning (as previously reported), but team officials were able to talk him out of it. When asked for a response, McMillan said he is focused on the playoff race and will delay any decisions on his future until after the season.

New head of basketball operations Landry Fields and Kyle Korver, who is finalizing a deal to become assistant general manager, both denied talking to agents about the team’s plans for McMillan.

“We’ve got half a season (left),” Fields said. “That’s a lot of basketball. There’s been transition. There’s been stories that come out. There’s been so much investment that we have to have today to think about beyond this season. It’s not just like Nate, it’s with a lot of different people. Like for us, how are we thinking about ourselves going forward?

“To start to live into that space without honoring this space would be unfair for everyone involved — Nate, myself, Kyle included — like, that’s somewhere. We believe in Nate right now. He’s for us. He’s trying to do things in this whole transition of leadership that are hard. They’re hard for everyone. So having this partnership right now for the objectives that we have for this continued season is our only focus.”

There’s more on the Hawks, all from Williams and Vivlamore:

• The relationship between Young and former president of basketball operations Travis Schlenk deteriorated over the past few months, leading to Schlenk’s decision to move into an advisory role in December, according to the authors’ sources. They add that even though Schlenk is listed as a senior advisor, he’s had no actual input into the organization since stepping down, confirming a recent Sam Amick report. The dispute reportedly began after Game 2 of last season’s playoff series when Young chartered a private flight home from Miami without telling anyone from the team. He was subsequently fined.
• Several controversial personnel decisions led to the front office shakeup, sources tell Williams and Vivlamore. Among them was a John Collins trade last season that was ultimately vetoed by ownership. Other moves include the trade of Kevin Huerter to the Kings made just to avoid the luxury tax, the high price the team paid to the Spurs for Dejounte Murray, the signing of Aaron Holiday, who was Nick Ressler’s teammate in high school, and the trade of Luka Doncic to the Mavericks after drafting him in 2018.
• The Hawks are focused on portraying an atmosphere of stability amid all the recent changes, Williams and Vivlamore add. The organization is looking for a new uniform sponsor and doesn’t want to scare away a potential advertiser with any appearance of turmoil.

“I read that article briefly,” McMillan responded (Twitter video link via Brad Rowland). “I’ve never spoken to that reporter before. I think the last two weeks, he’s written a couple articles with some sources in our organization that are making some comments about me and some things that I’m saying and doing.”

Earlier in December, Charania also received a byline (along with Sam Amick) on a story about a verbal confrontation between McMillan and star Trae Young, which is presumably the other report McMillan was referring to.

“Look, at the end of the year, I’ll do as I’ll always done,” McMillan continued. “At the end of the season, I talk with my family and see if I still have that flame, that fire to continue next season. But that’s the end of the season. All of us think about retiring. But that’s at the end of the season.

“We’re going to move on past that, that story. We have a (playoff) race to prepare for. We’re trying to get our guys healthy and make another run at the playoffs. But the things that were reported — look, I’m here to coach this team and I’ve talked to (team owner) Tony (Ressler) many times. Our goal is to make the playoffs and that’s what we’re working towards.

After concluding his statement, McMillan waited a beat and jokingly added, “So we’ve squashed that, right?”

While it sounds like McMillan doesn’t intend to step down from his position anytime soon, his comments probably won’t quell speculation about his long-term future in Atlanta. Charania wrote that McMillan “appears to be near the end of his tenure with the Hawks after the season,” suggesting that either the head coach or the team (or both) may want to move on in the spring. That still sounds like a very real possibility.

Of course, winning solves a lot of problems, so if McMillan can replicate his second-half success from the last two seasons, perhaps his future will look a whole lot different a few months from now. McMillan, who took over for Lloyd Pierce midway through the 2020/21 campaign, led the team to a 27-11 record and two playoff series wins that year. In ’21/22, following a 17-25 start, Atlanta went 26-14 the rest of the way and won a pair of play-in games to secure a postseason berth.

This season, following a splashy summer trade for Dejounte Murray, the Hawks are once again off to a slow start. The club has lost three games in a row and nine of its last 13 to drop its overall record to 17-19. Atlanta holds the No. 9 seed in the East and is only ahead of the No. 11 Raptors by a single game.

Charania’s report comes just weeks after he and Sam Amick of The Athletic described a verbal confrontation between McMillan and Hawks star Trae Young. McMillan’s job security came into question following that incident, per Charania, but sources tell The Athletic that his job has been considered safe and the team wants him to finish the season in his role.

However, McMillan “appears to be near the end of his tenure with the Hawks after the season,” Charania writes, which presumably means the club is mulling the idea of making a coaching change in the spring — if McMillan hasn’t stepped down before then.

Sources tell The Athletic that no McMillan resignation is imminent and that he and new head of basketball operations Landry Fields have had positive recent conversations about the direction of the team.

Still, Charania points to the alleged confrontation between McMillan and Young as a sign of the “disconnect” between the two. Given that Young is in the first season of a five-year, $215MM contract, he’s unlikely to be the odd man out if the franchise ultimately has to make a decision between its head coach and its star player.

As Charania observes, McMillan spoke last week about the challenges of coaching today’s players, telling reporters, “They see the game different than when I played it and when I started coaching.”

The Hawks hoped to take a major step forward this year after trading for Dejounte Murray over the summer, but it has been up and down season in Atlanta so far. The team has an underwhelming 17-18 record and ranks ninth in the Eastern Conference.

McMillan was initially hired in 2020 by Travis Schlenk, first as an assistant, then as Lloyd Pierce‘s replacement in 2021. Schlenk transitioned last week from Atlanta’s president of basketball operations to a senior advisory role.

According to Charania, the Hawks made some other changes to their front office while reassigning Schlenk and promoting Fields — senior adviser Rod Higgins, director of pro scouting Stephen Giles, and VP of player personnel Derek Pierce were all let go, sources tell The Athletic. It remains to be seen whether a coaching shake-up will follow the one that occurred in the front office.

“I had high expectations, especially after this summer,” Markkanen said. “I got my confidence going with the national team. There were a lot of NBA guys [in EuroBasket]. Physically, I’m in the best shape of my life. So, I had high expectations from the beginning. We have a lot of good players on this team. So, I had high expectations with the team even coming into the year, especially after training camp started.

“We have a good team. We just have to stay on the same page and build off our chemistry. We have a lot of new guys. But that was the same thing last season when I was in Cleveland. Everyone was doubting you at the beginning of the year. Then we started out well. Having that experience and then going into training camp, I knew we had a good team. We just have to keep going and keep getting better with knowing each other and staying on the same page.”

Markkanen also says he was limited to highlights and recaps growing up in Finland due to games being on in the middle of the night, and didn’t actually start watching NBA games until he came stateside to play college ball at Arizona. It’s an interesting interview from Medina and worth checking out in full.

Here’s more on the Jazz:

• Big man Kelly Olynyk, who recently missed four straight games with a left ankle sprain, was able to return to the lineup in Wednesday’s loss at Golden State, tweets Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. The 31-year-old Canadian is having a solid season for Utah, averaging 12.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 3.2 APG and 1.1 SPG on .520/.431/.835 shooting through 33 games (28.5 MPG).
• Marc J. Spears of Andscape details how David Fizdale went from coaching to an assistant general manager position with the Jazz. Fizdale was an assistant coach with the Lakers last season, but Darvin Ham decided to go in a different direction. Fizdale had a job offer to be an assistant coach under Nate McMillan with the Hawks, but he ultimately declined it when he was offered the Jazz’s front office position. According to Spears, Fizdale told friend and Jazz part-owner Dwyane Wade that “being a more present husband and dad” played a big factor in his desire for a new role, with Wade later informing president Danny Ainge of Fizdale’s interest.
• On the How ‘Bout This Jazz podcast, Walden and Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune explored the reported rumor of Utah discussing a three-team trade, rookie Walker Kessler being a pleasant surprise, potential lineup changes, and other topics.

“When they win, everybody’s happy for a minute,” one source told Bulpett. “But when they lose, it gets messy. Instead of trying to get it figured out, there’s a lot of blame being thrown around.”

According to Bulpett, one opposing coach said that Young and McMillan don’t like each other, and suggested that “other players have issues with Trae” as well.

“There were teams that questioned whether he’d ever be this good because of his size when he was coming out,” a front office source said of Young. “So it’s good to have that kind of fight in you. But at some point, you’d hope he’d realize the effect he can have on his team, both positive and negative. Sometimes you have to take a step back and maybe take a hit to make the whole thing work.”

Meanwhile, although John Collins‘ name has once again come up in trade rumors, sources who spoke to Bulpett pointed to the big man’s contract as a potential roadblock as the Hawks seek a trade partner. He’s still owed $78.5MM across three seasons after this one.

“He’s not a bad player. He’s actually a good player,” a source told Bulpett. “The problem is he’s not worth 23-and-a-half million. There are places he could go where he’d really be helping a team and really be happy, but right now that contract is in the way. We’ll see if anyone’s going to bite or if Atlanta’s going to make it worth another team’s while.”

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

• Asked on Tuesday if there’s a chance Delon Wright will return to action for the Wizards on Thursday, head coach Wes Unseld Jr. responded, “I hope so,” tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Wright has been on the shelf for nearly two months, but finally seems on the verge of being reactivated.
• In a story for The Athletic, Robbins and Jovan Buha explore whether it’s realistic to think the Wizards and Lakers could work out a trade that sends Bradley Beal to Los Angeles for Russell Westbrook and draft picks. Robbins is skeptical, but points out that Beal’s no-trade clause will make it challenging for the Wizards to maximize the guard’s value if he ever wants to be dealt, since he could veto deals to unwanted destinations.
• With several Heat regulars unavailable, Victor Oladipo made his first start of the year and played a season-high 34 minutes in Tuesday’s loss to Chicago. As Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel relays, head coach Erik Spoelstra made it clear after the game that he doesn’t intend to lean that heavily on Oladipo often as he continues to work his way back to 100%. “I wouldn’t have done this with Vic if it wasn’t clearly communicated with him and with the training staff and if we didn’t have two days after the last game, two days before the next game,” Spoelstra said.