Rasheed Wallace

Rasheed Wallace Not Joining Lakers’ Coaching Staff

After initially reporting in early June that Rasheed Wallace was on track to join the Lakers‘ coaching staff as one of new head coach Darvin Ham‘s assistants, Shams Charania of The Athletic says that’s no longer happening. Wallace won’t be part of Ham’s staff after all, according to Charania.

Emiliano Carchia of Sportando first reported on Friday (via Twitter) that Wallace was “very unlikely” to become a Lakers assistant.

Wallace, who played for six NBA teams from 1995-2013, made four All-Star teams and won a championship during that time, compiling more than 16,000 career points and over 7,400 career rebounds. He has done a little coaching since retiring, including with the Pistons in 2013/14 and as an assistant with the University of Memphis in ’21/22.

Ham and Wallace were teammates in Detroit for parts of two seasons in 2004 and 2005, winning a title together in ’04.

Ham confirmed in June that Wallace was a candidate for an assistant coaching role with the Lakers — it’s unclear why it didn’t work out. Perhaps either Wallace or the Lakers decided to go in another direction before talks got serious, or maybe the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement on Wallace’s role and/or financial compensation.

Chris Jent Candidate To Become Lakers Assistant Coach

Hawks assistant coach Chris Jent is a candidate to become an assistant under new Lakers head coach Darvin Ham, sources tell Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).

Jent, 52, had a short playing career after four seasons at Ohio State, winning a championship with Houston in 1993/94. He’s a long-time NBA assistant, with stints in Philadelphia, Orlando (where he was briefly an interim head coach in ’04/05), Cleveland, Sacramento and now Atlanta.

He was a Cavs assistant from 2006-11, with four seasons of overlap with star LeBron James, so the two are obviously familiar with each other. Jent has been with Atlanta for the past five seasons and served as acting head coach earlier this season when Nate McMillan was placed in the league’s health and safety protocols.

Ham and Jent also have experience together, as they were both assistants with the Hawks under Mike Budenholzer in ’17/18.

Echoing an earlier report from Shams Charania of The Athletic, Turner says Rasheed Wallace remains a candidate to become an assistant coach as well.

Lakers Notes: Davis, Wallace, Ham, Draft, Westbrook

Speaking to the media on Monday for the first time since being named the Lakers‘ head coach, Darvin Ham didn’t undersell Anthony Davis‘ importance to the franchise moving forward, as Jovan Buha of The Athletic relays.

“I think he’s the key,” Ham said of Davis. “We’ve all seen what can happen when he’s healthy and playing at a high level and in rhythm. We saw it in the bubble. His skill set, his size, his versatility, his defensive acumen, his relentlessness, his ability to give multiple efforts defensively is key. It’s going to be the foundation of the type of standard we set in the ‘Darvin Ham era.’ It’s going to be built on that defense and he’s going to be the main piece, the centerpiece of it.

LeBron (James) is always going to be great; LeBron is going to be LeBron. Russ (Westbrook) is going to be Russ. But we need consistency out of Anthony Davis. We need him to be healthy, we need him to be in a good mental space. And we need him to be as consistent as possible, like we’re playing that championship-type level of basketball. And we’re going to do everything in our power to support him.”

Davis has been limited to just 76 games across the last two seasons due to injuries, but has played at his usual All-Star level when healthy, averaging 22.5 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 3.1 APG, and 2.0 BPG in those 76 appearances.

Here’s more on the Lakers:

  • Addressing the rumor that his former Pistons teammate Rasheed Wallace will join the Lakers’ staff as an assistant, Ham referred to is a “fluid” situation, according to Buha. “He’s definitely a candidate that we’ll take a look at, but we’re working through that,” Ham said, confirming that no formal agreement is in place yet.
  • In a column for The Los Angeles Times, Dylan Hernandez argues that the Lakers’ leaders – including Ham and VP of basketball operations Rob Pelinka – are lowering expectations for the offseason moves they can make and shifting the responsibility for next season’s success from the front office to the players.
  • Pelinka has interest in buying a second-round pick in this month’s draft, he told Mike Bresnahan during a Spectrum SportsNet interview (Twitter link via Marc Stein). The Lakers still have about $4.44MM available to send out in trades before the 2022/23 league year begins, as our cash tracker shows.
  • Although Ham said all the right things about Russell Westbrook during his introductory press conference on Monday, it remains to be seen whether he’ll have more luck than Frank Vogel did getting the former MVP to fully buy in to his message, Bill Oram writes for The Athletic.
  • In case you missed it, at least three Lakers assistant coaches – including David Fizdale – won’t be retained for 2022/23, but Phil Handy will be back. Here’s our full story.

Rasheed Wallace To Join Lakers As Assistant Coach?

11:34am: Charania has walked back his initial report, tweeting that Wallace is a candidate for Ham’s staff, but the two sides don’t have a formal agreement in place yet.


11:22am: Former NBA forward Rasheed Wallace has reached an agreement to join Darvin Ham‘s staff as an assistant coach for the Lakers, Shams Charania of The Athletic confirms (via Twitter).

As we relayed earlier today, University of Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway had suggested to The Memphis Commercial Appeal that Wallace could be headed to Los Angeles after spending the 2021/22 season as an assistant coach for the Tigers.

Wallace, who played for six NBA teams from 1995-2013, made four All-Star teams and won a championship during that time, compiling more than 16,000 career points and over 7,400 career rebounds. He has done a little coaching since retiring, including with the Pistons in 2013/14.

Ham and Wallace were teammates in Detroit for parts of two seasons in 2004 and 2005, winning a title together in ’04.

Pacific Notes: Kings, Lakers, R. Wallace, Payton, Poole

The Kings are willing to listen to inquires on the No. 4 overall pick in this month’s draft and are open to making a move with it if the price is right, according to James Ham of The Kings Beat, who explores a handful of options the team will have with that lottery selection.

As Ham writes, it would be an easy decision for the Kings to keep the pick if Chet Holmgren or Jabari Smith is available, but they’ll likely be gone by No. 4, along with Paolo Banchero. Jaden Ivey is widely viewed as the fourth-best prospect in the draft, but would be a risky bet alongside De’Aaron Fox in Sacramento’s backcourt, given his defensive limitations and inconsistent three-point shot.

Still, in Ham’s view, if the Kings hang onto the pick and view Ivey as the best player available in that spot, they should be willing to roll the dice on him — if he and Fox prove to be a poor match, the Kings can cross that bridge when they come to it.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

  • Asked today about the status of Rasheed Wallace, Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway said Wallace may be headed to the Lakers to join Darvin Ham‘s coaching staff, per Jason Munz of The Memphis Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). Wallace was an assistant with the Tigers in 2021/22.
  • Gary Payton II returned to the Warriors‘ rotation on Sunday for the first time since fracturing his left elbow in the Western Semifinals vs. Memphis and made an immediate impact, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. As Slater details, Payton – whose point-of-attack defense helped slow down Boston in Game 2 – looks capable of playing a major rotation role going forward.
  • Through the first six quarters of the NBA Finals, Warriors guard Jordan Poole struggled against a Celtics defense he describes as “extremely lengthy,” according to Slater. However, he got going in the second half of Game 2 on Sunday and finished with 17 points. Poole, who was 5-of-9 on three-pointers, will be looking this series to put the final touches on his case for a lucrative offseason extension.

And-Ones: Hinton, Vaccinations, Wallace, Selby

Free agent guard Amir Hinton is signing in Finland with Kouvot Kouvola, agent Jerry Dianis of Team Entertainment Sports confirmed to Hoops Rumors.

Hinton has also been selected to play for the Syrian National Team, Dianis said. The 24-year-old signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Knicks as an undrafted free agent in 2019, attending training camp with the team later that fall. He spent all of the 2019/20 season with the club’s G League affiliate.

Throughout his 36 games in the G League, Hinton averaged 7.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 15.7 minutes per contest. The 6-foot-6 swingman played collegiately at Lock Haven and Shaw University.

Here are some other odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • The NBA is requiring that all team, arena and league personnel who interact with players and referees be vaccinated for the 2021/22 season, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). As Charania notes in a separate tweet, this includes staff in coaching, performance/medical, equipment, player development, security, public relations, social media, scorer’s table and attendants. More specifically, this applies for staff that come within 15 feet of a player or referee, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps. The league has set an October 1 deadline for personnel to be vaccinated, the duo adds.
  • Sixteen-year NBA veteran Rasheed Wallace has joined the University of Memphis as an assistant coach for the men’s basketball team, the school announced in a press release. Wallace joins a coaching staff that includes Larry Brown and Cody Toppert as assistants, along with Penny Hardaway as head coach.
  • Former Grizzlies guard Josh Selby has signed in Lithuania with Pieno Zvaigzdes, the team announced today (via Instagram). Selby holds 38 games of NBA experience and was the No. 49 pick in the 2011 draft. He has spent most of his professional career overseas.

And-Ones: R. Wallace, Exum, Underclassmen

Four-time NBA All-Star Rasheed Wallace has secured a new job, having been named the boys’ basketball coach at Jordan High School in Durham, North Carolina, according to Jonas Pope IV of The News & Observer. Wallace, who last played in the NBA during the 2012/13 season, says that he considered taking an NBA job before instead opting for a head coaching position at the high school level.

“I did have some offers from a few NBA teams to be on their staff,” Wallace said. “The money was good, but it’s not about the money to me, it’s about that knowledge. Knowledge should be free and it doesn’t cost anything to pass that knowledge to these young men.”

A member of the Pistons’ 2004 championship team, Wallace briefly served as an assistant coach on Detroit’s staff in 2013/14 after he retired as a player.

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

  • The Jazz offered an update on Dante Exum today, announcing that the point guard – who has been on the shelf since January 5 due to an ankle injury – plans to return to practice this week. The news suggests that Utah should expect to get Exum back in its rotation sometime in the not-too-distant future.
  • Evan Daniels of 247Sports.com identifies eight NCAA underclassmen who could face tough decisions on whether or not to forgo their remaining college eligibility and go pro this season. Tyler Herro (Kentucky), Jordan Nwora (Louisville), Tre Jones (Duke), and Coby White (UNC) are among the prospects on Daniels’ list.
  • Brian Windhorst’s latest column at ESPN.com focuses on several subjects of interest, including the challenges facing the Heat as they try to acquire a star, and commissioner Adam Silver‘s recent comments on the state of the NBA.

Atlantic Rumors: Korkmaz, Kanter, Marks, Wallace

The Sixers are still mulling whether to pick up swingman Furkan Korkmaz‘s option for next season, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. Philadelphia has a Wednesday deadline to make a decision. His option for the 2019/20 season is slightly over $2MM. If the Sixers decline, Korkmaz will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. The 6’7” Korkmaz has made four brief appearances this season after seeing action in 14 games last season.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Knicks center Enes Kanter isn’t thrilled about being demoted to the second unit, Howie Kussoy of the New York Post reports. Kanter came off the bench against Golden State on Friday even though he’s the team’s second-leading scorer and top rebounder.  Coach David Fizdale is determined to develop his younger players.  “We all understand where our team is at and what we’re trying to accomplish right now,” Fizdale said. “One way or another we do have to bring our puppies along.” Kanter’s $18,622,514 salary comes off the books at the end of the season and the Knicks are expected to pursue higher-level free agents.
  • Warriors GM Bob Myers believes Nets GM Sean Marks has a blueprint for future success, as he told Brian Lewis of the New York Post. Brooklyn has hoarded cap space to be a major player on the free agent market next summer. “I think they’re on their way,” Myers said. “They play in a great city, and Sean is smart. They’re in a position now with their picks and cap space where they’ll be able to make some change, and it’ll probably be positive.”
  • Rasheed Wallace, who won a championship with Detroit in 2004, was invited to Knicks practice on Sunday to instruct the big men, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News reports. Wallace, who was invited by GM Scott Perry, gave rookie Mitchell Robinson plenty of food for thought. “He pushed me to talk more on defense. I have a tendency to be a little quiet. And him, he brings it,” Robinson told Bondy. Fizdale plans to invite another ex-Piston, Chauncey Billups, to deliver tips to his young guards.

And-Ones: Fisher, Vaulet, Rasheed, Huestis

Derek Fisher admits to feeling more comfort as a coach this season, though Knicks team president Phil Jackson hasn’t been working more closely with Fisher, as Jackson said before the season that he would. Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News has the details.

“Maybe a couple times earlier in training camp, we had some kind of sat down and talked about some things visually at the same time. So far, it’s our typical mornings-after-the-game conversations or email exchanges,” Fisher said. “Sometimes before practice we’ll visit for a few minutes. But not really any hardcore film sessions together. Although when those opportunities do present themselves, I’ll definitely be happy to participate.”

The Knicks are 6-6, a significant improvement on last season’s 17-65 mark, though Fisher cautions that .500 isn’t the team’s goal. See more from around the NBA:

  • Draft-and-stash prospect Juan Vaulet is pleased that the Nets own his NBA rights, citing the way team doctors cared for the stress fracture in his leg, as he said in an interview with ESPN Argentina earlier this month (YouTube link), as NetsDaily relays. Still, the 6’6″, 19-year-old Argentian, who fashions himself a point guard, believes he’s a ways off from signing to play in the NBA.
  • Rasheed Wallace, Al Harrington and Keyon Dooling are among the 60 players who’ve so far committed to The Champions League, an upstart minor league circuit with plans to play in the summers beginning in 2016, USA Today’s Sam Amick reports. The league intends to pay annual player salaries that average around $200K, league chairman and CEO Carl George told Amick.
  • The Thunder have assigned Josh Huestis to the D-League, the team announced via press release. It’s the second trip to the D-League this season for the small forward, who averaged just 7.0 points in 28.4 minutes per game across two appearances in his first D-League stint this year.

Central Rumors: Bucks, Pistons, Pacers

Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry told Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times that the team would retain GM John Hammond, assistant GM David Morway and coach Larry Drew for next season, but fellow co-owner Wesley Edens wouldn’t confirm that, according to Woelfel. Edens is the team’s representative on the Board of Governors, which would appear to give him final say. Bucks officials and executives around the league told Woelfel that former owner Herb Kohl became “livid” with Hammond last season, and that Kohl, had he not sold the team, would have fired the GM, Woelfel hears. There’s more on the Bucks amid the latest from the Central Division:

  • Steve Ballmer and Chris Hansen bid $650MM for the Bucks earlier this year, with plans to move them to Seattle, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Kohl rejected the bid in favor of Edens and Lasry, who’ve pledged to keep the team in Milwaukee, but the indirect role Ballmer played in pushing for new arenas in Milwaukee, Minnesota and Sacramento is part of why the NBA finds him appealing for the Clippers, Windhorst hears.
  • Pistons boss Stan Van Gundy calls Andre Drummond and soon-to-be restricted free agent Greg Monroe an “ideal pairing,” but he also points to their shortcomings on defense and the team’s struggles with those two in the lineup together with Josh Smith. Keith Langlois of Pistons.com has that and more from his conversation with Van Gundy.
  • The Pistons hired Brendan Malone and Bob Beyer as assistant coaches and cut ties with assistants Rasheed Wallace, Henry Bibby and Bernard Smith, the team formally announced. Beyer leaves the Hornets to take the job in Detroit. John Loyer, who served as the team’s interim head coach last season, remains as an assistant, but there’s a decent chance the team will reassign him, tweets Vincent Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.
  • The NBA’s revenue sharing system paid the Pacers $15MM last season, multiple sources tell Grantland’s Zach Lowe, who also hears that the Grizzlies received that amount, too.