Pat Zipfel Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Knicks Notes: Thibodeau, Pinckney, Zipfel, Payne

July 31st, 2020 at 7:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Tom Thibodeau was officially hired as the Knicks’ head coach on Thursday and calls it his “dream job,” according to Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press. Thibodeau was an assistant coach with New York under Jeff Van Gundy from 1996-2003.

“I think I experienced it during the ’90s that there’s no better place to be than Madison Square Garden,” he said. “And so I love challenges, I love that city, I love the arena, I love the fans and I’m excited about the team.”

We have more on the Knicks:

Thibodeau gained a reputation of riding his star players but he’s more open now to keeping them fresh, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. It’s easier to do that with so many teams employing load management strategies for their top players. “Those numbers (minutes) have gone down now. So you won’t be at that disadvantage where they have the best player out there and you don’t,” Thibodeau said. “Talking with sports scientists and athletic trainers, you’re always are monitoring that.”
Ed Pinckney, an assistant coach under Thibodeau with the Bulls and Timberwolves, is getting strong consideration to join the Knicks’ staff, Marc Berman of the New York Post reports. He would be the team’s “big man” coach if hired. Pat Zipfel could be hired as an advance scout or bench coach, Berman adds. Zipfel also worked for Thibodeau in his previous head coaching stints.
University of Kentucky assistant Kenny Payne is under consideration as a potential addition to the coaching staff, Ian Begley of SNY reports. There are also discussions within the organization to hire a significant number of player-development coaches, according to Begley.

Western Notes: Suns, McCollum, Jazz, Middleton

September 24th, 2018 at 8:52am CST by Luke Adams

The Suns used a portion of their room exception to sign De’Anthony Melton to his first NBA contract, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). Without using that exception, Phoenix would only have been able to offer Melton a first-year salary of $838K. Instead, the Suns were able to bump that figure to $949K. They still have $3.5MM of their room exception available.

Meanwhile, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders indicates (via Twitter) that while Devin Booker‘s new extension with the Suns is projected to start at 25% of the cap in 2019/20, there are triggers in the deal that could push that figure higher. Pincus isn’t sure of the specific details, but reports that Booker could get 27.5%, 28.5%, or 30% of the cap if he meets certain criteria. I’d guess that those criteria are related to whether he earns spots on the first, second, or third All-NBA teams.

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

C.J. McCollum is often the subject of trade speculation, but the Trail Blazers guard tells Michael Scotto of The Athletic that he’d welcome a long-term stay in Portland. “I’m forever grateful for the opportunities they’ve given me and would love to be a Blazer for life,” McCollum said.
While it may be a little early to start speculating about 2019’s free agent period, Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune suggests (via Twitter) that Bucks wing Khris Middleton is a player the Jazz like a lot. With Ricky Rubio, Alec Burks, and others on expiring deals this season, Utah could have plenty of cap flexibility next summer.
As Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com details, Jahlil Okafor said there were a “multitude of reasons” for him to sign with the Pelicans, calling the decision a “no-brainer.” Keith Smith of RealGM.com (Twitter link) hears that New Orleans was comfortable with waiving Emeka Okafor in part due to how good Jahlil has looked. “He’s in amazing shape, and he’s going hard on both ends too,” Smith’s source said. “Seems like he really gets it now.”
The Timberwolves recently announced some additions and promotions on their coaching staff, including Pat Zipfel as an advance scout and Malik Allen and Larry Greer as assistant coaches (link via Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune).

Northwest Notes: Jazz, VanVleet, Blazers, Wolves

September 19th, 2018 at 3:58pm CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz were fairly quiet in free agency over the summer, reaching new deals with their own free agents like Derrick Favors, Dante Exum, and Raul Neto, but not bringing in any outside targets. However, according to Blake Murphy of The Athletic, Utah was in the mix for at least one noteworthy free agent: Fred VanVleet.

In a story on VanVleet’s restricted free agency, Murphy – citing a league source – reports that the Jazz “somewhat unexpectedly tried to get into the mix” for the Raptors’ point guard. Utah didn’t have cap room this offseason, but could have used the mid-level exception to give VanVleet a similar deal to the one he received from Toronto (two years, $18MM). It’s not clear how seriously the Jazz considered VanVleet, but if they had landed him, it’s unlikely that the club would have invested so heavily in Exum ($28.8MM over three years).

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

The Trail Blazers have become the latest NBA team to secure a jersey patch sponsorship deal, announcing today that they’ve partnered with Performance Health. As a result, a Biofreeze logo will be featured on Portland’s uniform starting in the 2018/19 season. The Blazers are the 24th NBA club to add an advertisement patch to their jerseys since the start of last season.
Pat Zipfel, who had been the head coach at Division II school Mansfield, has accepted a role with the Timberwolves, per Andy Malnoske of NBC Elmira (Twitter link). Previously an assistant coach for the Rockets and Timberwolves, Zipfel also has served as an advance scout for multiple NBA teams. It’s unclear what his new title in Minnesota will be.
Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News takes an in-depth look at Jairus Lyles‘ quest to earn a roster spot with the Jazz for the 2018/19 season. The former UMBC standout will face an uphill battle — Utah has 14 players on guaranteed contracts, with Royce O’Neale expected to fill the 15th and final roster spot.
In case you missed the biggest news out of the Northwest today, Jimmy Butler has requested a trade from the Timberwolves. Here are the latest rumors on Butler.