Pat Garrity Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Stein’s Latest: Simmons, Sixers, NBPA Executive Director

September 21st, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The structure of Ben Simmons‘ contract may embolden him in his plans to hold out from the Sixers, Marc Stein of Substack writes in his latest newsletter. As Stein explains, Simmons received 25% of his 2021/22 salary on August 1 and will receive another 25% on October 1, meaning he’ll already have earned half of his $33MM salary for the season by the time the preseason starts.

League rules permit the Sixers to assess substantial fines for each game he misses during his holdout (approximately $228K per game), but Stein suggests those fines won’t be docked from Simmons’ pay until November, after the first pay period of the regular season. If Simmons was on a more traditional payment schedule, those fines would be more costly, but it will take a while for them to put a dent into the $16.5MM he’ll already have earned this season.

Here’s more from Stein:

Don’t expect the Sixers and Simmons to follow the blueprint that Al Horford and the Thunder or John Wall and the Rockets have, according to Stein. While those rebuilding teams were comfortable holding out their veteran players until they found a suitable trade partner, the 76ers continue to try to convince Simmons to report to training camp and have “zero interest” in reaching a mutual agreement to allow the three-time All-Star to remain away from the team, says Stein.
According to Stein, many of the teams that have engaged the Sixers in Simmons trade talks – including the Timberwolves, Raptors, Spurs, Cavaliers, and Kings – typically aren’t major players in free agency, and like the idea of securing a young impact player who is under contract for four years. However, most of those teams don’t have stars that would interest Philadelphia, or have made them unavailable in trade negotiations (such as the Wolves with Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards, or the Kings with De’Aaron Fox).
The NBPA has enlisted Chicago-based search firm Heidrick & Struggles to help seek out a new executive director to replace Michele Roberts, according to Stein, who says that “well-placed observers” believe Roberts’ replacement could be an unexpected selection who hasn’t yet been publicly identified.
Stein, who previously named Malik Rose as a candidate to become the NBPA’s executive director, suggests Noah Croom, Arne Duncan, Nichole Francis Reynolds, Pat Garrity, and Mark Termini are other viable contenders for the job. Croom and Garrity are veteran team executives, Termini is a longtime player agent, and Duncan and Reynolds work outside of the NBA in education/politics and business, respectively.

Pat Garrity Leaving Pistons’ Front Office

July 6th, 2020 at 10:06am CST by Luke Adams

Pistons assistant general manager Pat Garrity is leaving the team’s front office, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). As Wojnarowski explains, Garrity had been on an expiring contract and new general manager Troy Weaver has begun to reshape Detroit’s front office.

Garrity, a former NBA forward for the Suns and Magic, joined the Pistons’ front office in 2014 as the team’s director of strategic planning. He received a promotion in 2016 to assistant GM and continued to hold that position when Ed Stefanski became the club’s head of basketball operations in 2018.

The Pistons’ front office is undergoing some changes this year. Besides the hiring of Weaver, the team has now lost a pair of assistant GMs, with Garrity joining Malik Rose in departing the organization. Rose was hired by the NBA league office as a vice president of basketball operations.

It’s not known what the next step is for Garrity, though he previously interviewed to be the NBPA’s next executive director. As for the Pistons, they were already believed to be in the market for a new assistant GM under Weaver — with Garrity and Rose both now out of the picture, it’s possible the franchise will make multiple hires.

Search For New NBPA Executive Director On Hold

May 16th, 2020 at 3:29pm CST by Arthur Hill

The National Basketball Players Association will delay its search for a new executive director until it has a better understanding of what’s going to happen with this season, sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

Michele Roberts, who has led the union since 2014, won’t seek a contract extension when her current four-year term expires in 2022. The NBPA announced in March that it would begin its search for a successor, allowing plenty of time for a smooth transition.

The union has interviewed several candidates in recent weeks, including Pistons assistant general manager Pat Garrity, according to Haynes’ sources. Garrity served as treasurer for the union’s executive committee during his playing career. An executive search firm has been accepting nominations and is exploring a diverse set of applicants who have been in charge of other organizations.

There is no set timeline to find a replacement for Roberts, sources tell Haynes. She still has “unwavering support” from the players and will be counted on to guide the union through the coronavirus crisis, including negotiations that could affect how much the players earn in the next collective bargaining agreement. The current CBA will expire in 2024.

Central Notes: Stephenson, Love, Polinsky, Evans

July 6th, 2018 at 11:03pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pacers offered a better contract to swingman Lance Stephenson than he received from the Lakers, Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said on Friday (Twitter link via Mark Monteith). Stephenson agreed to a one-year, $4.5MM deal from the Lakers. A phone call from LeBron James influenced Stephenson’s decision to choose L.A., Monteith adds. However, the Pacers declined Stephenson’s team option of $4.36MM prior to free agency, so it seems odd Pritchard then turned around and offered more in the open market.

In other news around the Central Division:

The Cavs don’t plan on tanking or trading their top remaining player Kevin Love, Joe Vardon of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. GM Koby Altman said he’s intent on keeping the team competitive despite the loss of LeBron James. “Kevin is an All-Star and you don’t get better by moving Kevin,” Altman said. “Kevin’s been incredible for us for four years and he wants to be here, and to me that’s a big part for guys that are here and the guys that we’re gonna acquire, is that they want to be here and be a part of this new chapter and culture that we’re creating.”
The Pistons have hired Nets executive Gregg Polinsky as their director of player personnel, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. Pistons senior advisor Ed Stefanski and Polinsky worked together in Brooklyn, Wojnarowski adds. Polinsky had the same title with the Nets but his role will expand in Detroit. Pat Garrity and Andrew Loomis, who were assistant GMs under former team president Stan Van Gundy, will continue in their roles, according to Rod Beard of the Detroit News. The Pistons could bring in another assistant GM to focus on analytics, Beard adds.
Tyreke Evans is content with coming off the bench for the Pacers, Monteith writes for the team’s website. Evans joined the Pacers on a one-year, $12MM deal. Pritchard didn’t have to coax Evans into being a sixth man. “Not one bit,” he said. “We told him, ‘Here’s your role, does that interest you?’ He said, ‘Yes, I’m in.’ I think in his mind he’s going, ‘Boy, I’ve been scoring a lot of points and doing a lot of good stuff against starters, this is going to be fun.'”
Tim Grgurich is likely to join Dwane Casey’s coaching staff with the Pistons, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press tweets. Grgurich, 76, has a long career as an NBA assistant and most recently was a consultant with the Bucks.

Pistons Will Exercise Patience In Free Agent Market

June 15th, 2018 at 9:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pistons will wait until the big free-agent signings are made before trying to fill out their roster, new senior advisor Ed Stefanski told Rod Beard of the Detroit News. Salary constraints will likely prevent Detroit from being active during the early days of free agency. “We’ll see who’s out there in the second wave,” Stefanski said. In general, Stefanski doesn’t foresee much of a roster turnover due to the decisions made by the previous regime, headed by former coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy. “The luxury-tax line is on us,” Stefanski said. “We’ll see what players are available. The team we have now is our team because we don’t have the flexibility at this time.” Re-signing veteran power forward Anthony Tolliver, an unrestricted free agent, will be difficult because of that lack of flexibility unless the Pistons can somehow clear cap space by moving a big salary.

Here’s more from Beard’s interview with Stefanski:

The Pistons feel they lucked out that Dwane Casey essentially fell into their laps during their coaching search. “We’re very happy to bring Casey on board; it was our first priority,” Stefanski said. “We’re very fortunate that the Coach of the Year was sitting out there without a job. It’s unusual in any sport that that caliber of coach is out there.”
All of Detroit’s draft preparation is complete, thus there’s no rush to hire a GM. The team doesn’t own a first-round pick in the upcoming draft. Assistant GM Pat Garrity remains in the running for a front-office position.
Casey met this week with many of his top players this week during summer workouts in California, including Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond, Reggie Jackson, Stanley Johnson and Luke Kennard. “He’s getting an idea of how each guy will play and have them work that into their individual (summer) workouts,” Stefanski said.

Central Notes: Irving, Bamba, Lee, Brown, Pistons

June 1st, 2018 at 10:59pm CST by marksuleymanov

In a series of tweets before the Cavaliers went down 0-1 in their series against the Warriors, owner Dan Gilbert voiced his thoughts about Cleveland’s’ journey, Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com writes. The Cavs are back in the NBA Finals for a fourth straight season and team owner Gilbert said that trading Kyrie Irving was a crucial part of that.

Gilbert said that general manager Koby Altman‘s decision to deal Irving, and then restructure the roster at the deadline was critical in getting the team to this point.

“W/o either of these 2 bold moves orchestrated by Koby & the @Cavs front office, we would not be here w/ a good chance to bring another one home to CLE,” Gilbert wrote in one tweet. Gilbert also praised LeBron James, writing that “his impact is magical,” and also lauded the play of his support cast.

Much was made of the Cavaliers’ decision to part with Irving last summer as the point guard helped lead the team to an NBA title two seasons ago. James himself admitted to ESPN’s Rachel Nichols that he doubted the Cavaliers’ ability to compete after the team dealt Irving.

“Even if you start back to the summertime where I felt like it was just bad for our franchise just to be able to trade away our superstar point guard,” James said. “A guy that I had been in so many battles with over the last three years, and obviously I wasn’t a part of the communications and know exactly what went on between the two sides. But I just felt like it was bad timing for our team.”

Check out more Central Division notes down below:

Former Hawks assistant coach Charles Lee has signed a contract with the Bucks to join the staff of new head coach Mike Budenholzer, tweets Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
During a press conference before Game 1, NBA commissioner Adam Silver addressed the January police video that showed Bucks player Sterling Brown being arrested. Jeff Zillgitt of USA TODAY Sports writes that Silver called the footage “horrific” and that he has been in contact with Brown.
After working out and interviewing with the Bulls, Texas big man Mohamed Bamba has made a compelling case to be drafted by the Bulls as the seventh overall pick, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes.
With the departure of GM Jeff Bower, assistant GM Pat Garrity is likely a strong candidate to land a key role in the Pistons’ front office, tweets Vincent Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.
Keith Langlois of NBA.com looks at the Pistons‘ search for a head coach and a general manager. With Ed Stefanski hired to oversee the hiring process, Langlois writes that Detroit should prioritize a head coach.

Central Rumors: Butler, Garrity, Griffin, Pacers

June 5th, 2017 at 7:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jimmy Butler held a meeting with Bulls management on Monday to discuss the team’s direction, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune tweets. Butler had only met with team officials briefly after the season, the tweet adds. Chicago isn’t looking to move the three-time All-Star swingman but will listen to any offers, Johnson wrote in an earlier story. Butler had been training in Los Angeles and will leave for Europe later in the month to train there, Johnson adds.

In other developments around the Central Division:

Pistons assistant GM Pat Garrity interviewed for the Hawks GM position and will soon interview for the Bucks‘ GM opening, according to Tony Paul of the Detroit News. Atlanta chose Warriors executive Travis Schlenk. Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy confirmed to Paul that Garrity will interview for the job formerly held by new Magic GM John Hammond.
There are several more hurdles to clear before the Pistons can move into a new downtown arena next season, the Detroit Free Press reports. The Detroit City Council on Tuesday will vote on a package of agreements that would allow the move, while the lease agreement with Little Caesars Arena has not been finalized, the report continues. The league also has to give its final approval. The franchise hopes to have all the elements completed in time for the annual July board of governors meeting in Las Vegas, the report adds.
Cavaliers GM David Griffin will seek a significant raise from owner Dan Gilbert, Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com reports. Griffin is making less than $2MM annually, according to Vardon’s sources. The two sides have not yet discussed financial terms on a new contract for Griffin, whose current contract expires at the end of the month. The Magic and Hawks were denied permission to interview Griffin for front-office openings and the Bucks appear to be moving away from Griffin in their GM search, Vardon adds.
The Pacers will bring in six players for a pre-draft workout on Tuesday, according to the team’s website. That group includes Antonio Blakeney (LSU), Isaac Hamilton (UCLA), Zak Irvin (Michigan), Naz Long (Iowa State), Johnathan Motley (Baylor) and Rashawn Thomas (Texas A&M-CC). It’s a group of second-round hopefuls, headlined by Blakeney, a shooting guard ranked No. 85 by DraftExpress.

Bucks Ready To Start GM Interviews

June 4th, 2017 at 2:51pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Bucks are finalizing their list of GM candidates with interviews expected to start Monday, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.

Assistant GM Justin Zanik remains a strong candidate to replace John Hammond, who left to become GM of the Magic. Sources tell Wojnarowski that Zanik has strong support inside and outside the Bucks organization.

Others expected to interview for the position are Minnesota assistant GM Noah Croom, Indiana vice president of basketball operations Peter Dinwiddie, Detroit assistant GM Pat Garrity, Denver assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas and Memphis VP of player personnel Ed Stefanski. Many of the names were already known, but Croom is a new addition, Wojnarowski tweets.

Sources indicate that Bucks owners Marc Lasry and Wes Edens will participate in the interviews. An original list of candidates was trimmed by a search firm.

Latest On Bucks’ GM Search

June 1st, 2017 at 5:16pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Milwaukee will begin formal interviews for its open GM position on Monday, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports.

The team has been granted permission to speak with Blazer assistant GM Bill Branch, Heat assistant GM Adam Simon, and Pistons assistant GM Pat Garrity, according to Wojnarowski.

The scribe adds that the Bucks have reached out to the Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon about the opening. Hammon has been working under coach Gregg Popovich for three seasons.

Milwaukee previously reached out to Indiana and gained permission to speak with the team’s VP of basketball operations Peter Dinwiddie. Wojnarowski adds that the franchise also has permission to speak with Denver assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas, Grizzlies VP of player personnel Ed Stefanski and Hawks special advisor Wes Wilcox.

Justin Zanik, who is currently running the team as its assistant GM, remains a strong candidate for the position. Zanik is gathering “significant support” inside and outside the organization, Wojnarowski writes. He joined the team with the expectation that he would be the GM-in-waiting once John Hammond‘s contract expired. Hammond recently left the franchise to become Orlando’s GM.

Bucks Rumors: GM Search, Garrity, Simon, Kidd

June 1st, 2017 at 12:56pm CST by Luke Adams

A Wednesday report indicated that the Bucks have received permission to interview at least four executives from various teams around the NBA for their open general manager position. However, Milwaukee’s list of potential GM targets in longer than that. A source familiar with the team tells Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times that at least five other execs are under consideration by the Bucks, with about three dozen NBA officials having expressed interest in the job.

While Woelfel doesn’t specify any additional candidates, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical provides two more names, tweeting that Milwaukee has been granted permission to speak to Pistons executive Pat Garrity and Heat assistant GM Adam Simon. Garrity was said to be a candidate for the top job in Orlando before the Magic hired Jeff Weltman and John Hammond.

Woelfel has more info on the team’s GM search in his latest piece, so let’s dive in and round up the highlights…

Head coach Jason Kidd may be considered down the road for a top basketball operations role, but he’s not a candidate to take over that role in the short term, sources tell Woelfel. Still, Kidd will meet with the finalists for the position to ensure that they’ll have a good working relationship.
Assistant GM Justin Zanik is viewed as a strong candidate to be promoted to GM, but even if he doesn’t receive an official promotion, he’ll be well-compensated. According to Woelfel, Zanik’s contract includes a unique clause that stipulates his pay will be equal to that of the new GM.
Grizzlies VP of player personnel Ed Stefanski, one of the four candidates the Bucks received permission to interview, is viewed by several NBA officials as the frontrunner for the Bucks’ top job, reports Woelfel. Previous report have indicated that the relationship between Stefanski and Bucks consultant Rod Thorn is a strong factor working in Stefanski’s favor. The two men worked together in New Jersey and are longtime friends.
On Thursday, we examined five key questions facing the Bucks this offseason, including who will be calling the shots on personnel decisions.