Nick Van Exel Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southwest Rumors: Grizzlies, Mavs, Terry, Parker

June 2nd, 2016 at 9:00am CST by Luke Adams

After a solid showing as the head coach of the D-League’s Texas Legends, Nick Van Exel appears poised to join the Grizzlies‘ coaching staff as an assistant under new coach David Fizdale, reports Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News (via Twitter). ESPN’s Marc Stein confirms (via Twitter) that Memphis is attempting to close deals with both Van Exel and J.B. Bickerstaff, as the team looks to fill out Fizdale’s staff.

According to Stein (Twitter links), the Grizzlies are also “aggressively pursuing” former Cavs and Lakers head coach Mike Brown, who has also drawn interest from the Warriors. Stein suggests that Brown is more likely to head to Memphis than Golden State, but Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal (Twitter link) hears from Brown’s agent that the former head coach is no lock to join the Grizzlies.

As we wait for Memphis to officially name its assistant coaches, let’s check in some other items from around the Southwest division….

Even as he inches closer to age 40, Dirk Nowitzki remains the face of the Mavericks, but the team will attempt to infuse more youth into its roster around the longtime star, writes Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. Veteran guard Jason Terry suggested on SiriusXM NBA Radio (SoundCloud link) that he doesn’t expect to return to Dallas as a free agent, with the team focused on getting younger.
Despite Terry’s pessimism about signing with the Mavericks this summer, Sefko includes the veteran in a list of five free agent shooting guards who he believes would be fits for Dallas.
Spurs guard Tony Parker aspires to become an NBA general manager once his playing days are done, and as he tells Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, the NBA’s 2011 lockout provided him an opportunity to get a head start on his training for such a job. “The best thing was to be in the office every day during the lockout and see the everyday operations,” Parker said. “I looked at everything. How to manage a team, marketing, ticket sales, sponsors. It was a great learning experience for me. It’s getting me ready to work in an NBA front office.”

Coach Rumors: Rockets, Borrego, Pacers, Kings

May 24th, 2016 at 12:36pm CST by Luke Adams

As the Rockets continue to scour the market for their next head coach, Spurs assistant James Borrego appears to have emerged as a serious candidate for the job. According to ESPN’s Marc Stein (via Twitter), Borrego, who interviewed with Houston on Monday, will have a second meeting with the team later this week. That second interview will include owner Les Alexander, Stein reports.

Borrego’s second meeting with the Rockets doesn’t come with any guarantees, as Houston is also believed to be considering Magic assistant coach Adrian Griffin, Sixers assistant Mike D’Antoni, and Hornets assistant Stephen Silas for its head coaching opening. Still, Borrego remains in the mix for now.

Let’s check in on a few more coaching updates from around the NBA, courtesy of Stein…

After promoting Nate McMillan from an assistant coach job to replace Frank Vogel as head coach, the Pacers will have at least one opening on their bench, and the team is in pursuit of Bill Bayno, says Stein (Twitter link). A longtime coach at a variety of levels, Bayno most recently served as an assistant for the Trail Blazers, Timberwolves, and Raptors.
Bayno isn’t the only potential assistant being targeted by Indiana. Sources tell Stein (Twitter link) that the Pacers have also expressed interest in hiring Nick Van Exel. The former NBA guard, who coached the D-League’s Texas Legends this past season, is believed to be drawing interest from teams besides Indiana, Stein adds (via Twitter).
Dave Joerger is attempting to put together his staff for his first year as the Kings‘ head coach, and Stein tweets that the ex-Grizzlies head coach is targeting Elston Turner and Bryan Gates. Turner, who was mentioned as a candidate early in Sacramento’s coaching search, was a part of Joerger’s staff in Memphis, while Gates spent the 2015/16 season as a Timberwolves assistant.

Southwest Notes: Villanueva, Udrih, Conley

July 6th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

It’s a good bet that Charlie Villanueva will end up back with the Mavericks on a deal for the minimum salary, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. MacMahon wrote last month that the Mavs would welcome him back if he were to play for that amount, and Villanueva has spoken of his desire to play for coach Rick Carlisle again. There’s plenty more from the Southwest Division, where all five teams made the playoffs this past season even before the summer’s two most talked–about free agents agreed to go there:

Beno Udrih‘s full salary of more than $2.17MM is guaranteed since he remained on the Grizzlies roster through Sunday. It had been partially guaranteed for only $923K, as the schedule of salary guarantee dates shows.
Mike Conley triggered a $200K bonus because the Grizzlies went to the second round of the playoffs this past season, so his cap figure for this coming season goes up by that amount, bringing it to $9,588,426, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
Rockets draft-and-stash point guard Sergio Llull has signed an extension with Real Madrid of Spain that runs until 2021, the team announced (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). Llull rejected reported overtures from Houston to join the NBA for this coming season, though his new deal does include a lower NBA buyout. Carlos Sanchez Blas of Marca.com first reported the deal.
The Mavs will soon announce the hiring of Nick Van Exel as the team’s D-League coach, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
Pelicans free agent Jimmer Fredette is mulling an offer from Italy’s Olimpia Milano, sources tell Paola De Persis of Sportando. Fredette would nonetheless prefer to stay in the NBA, De Persis notes.

Odds & Ends: Jaiteh, Celtics, Heat, Bucks

June 17th, 2013 at 1:04pm CST by Luke Adams

With the deadline for international prospects to withdraw from the draft coming up in a matter of hours, Mouhammadou Jaiteh remains undecided on whether or not he'll keep his name in, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. As fellow HoopsWorld scribe Steve Kyler writes, Jaiteh is seeking a first-round guarantee, so if he exits the draft, he was probably unable to secure that promise. You can check out today's full list of draft decisions by international prospects right here.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA:

Assuming Doc Rivers parts ways with the Celtics, former Nets head coach and Celtics assistant Lawrence Frank may emerge as a candidate for the Boston job, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com.
Kevin McHale, on the other hand, wouldn't be a candidate for the Celtics' position, since the Rockets wouldn't let him leave, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel spoke to Ray Allen and James Jones about their player options for 2013/14, which they'll have to decide on within the next couple weeks. Allen was noncommital on his decision, but Jones told Winderman he expects to exercise his, which is no surprise. Jones played only 221 minutes for the Heat in 2012/13, so he's not about to turn down a $1.5MM salary.
The Bucks have added Nick Van Exel and Bob Bender to Larry Drew's staff as assistant coaches, according to the team (Twitter link). Drew worked with both Van Exel and Bender in Atlanta as well.
New MLSE CEO Tim Leiweke has fired longtime Raptors employee Alvin Williams, according to Doug Smith of the Toronto Star, who thinks the decision to fire a fan favorite who wanted to spend his career with the franchise sends a bad message.
Jay-Z's Roc Nation Sports has inquired with the NBA about the procedure for getting individuals certified as NBA agents, tweets Liz Mullen of Sports Business Journal.