Tom Thibodeau Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Central Rumors: Pistons, Thibodeau, Bucks

June 1st, 2015 at 9:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Arizona small forward Stanley Johnson could be a perfect fit for the Pistons if he’s available with the No. 8 overall pick, according to David Mayo of MLive. The team’s biggest weakness is at small forward, which was manned by aging Tayshaun Prince and Caron Butler during the second half of last season. Prince, an unrestricted free agent, is expected to sign elsewhere this summer while the team holds a $4.5MM option on Butler’s contract. Johnson has the ability to create off the dribble, make mid-range shots and defend multiple positions, attributes that coach Stan Van Gundy covets, Mayo continues. Johnson is also the bulkiest of the small forwards expected to go in the first round, which will allow him to play a physical style at both ends, Mayo adds.

In other news around the Central Division:

The Pistons are unlikely to move their first-round pick to accelerate their rebuilding process because Van Gundy has long-term security, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press tweets. Instead, they are taking a long look at stretch fours with the pick, particularly Kristaps Porzingis and Frank Kaminsky, Ellis reveals in a separate tweet.
Tom Thibodeau will likely take a year off and then explore his coaching options, Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders opines. The recently-fired Bulls coach will likely wind up with an Eastern Conference contender, where the path to the NBA Finals is easier, Brigham continues. The Wizards, Raptors and Hornets are potential suitors for Thibodeau, depending upon how next season unfolds, though it’s conceivable that a team like Washington could pull the trigger this offseason if it feels Thibodeau is the missing link to a serious title run, Brigham adds.
The Bucks would like to draft an athletic big man who can play power forward and center, and failing that, a guard who can shoot, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who writes in his NBA PM piece that Georgia State shooting guard R.J. Hunter seems like a fit.

Eastern Notes: Skiles, Wizards, Varejao

May 29th, 2015 at 7:33pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The big news of the day is the Magic‘s hiring of Scott Skiles as the team’s new head coach. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports previously reported that Skiles’ arrangement with the team was for four years, and Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link) adds that the fourth year (2018/19) is a team option. Robbins also tweets that Skiles said he would like to keep former interim coach James Borrego on his coaching staff.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

The Wizards have workouts scheduled for this Monday with Jerian Grant (Notre Dame), Darian Hooker (New York Institute of Technology), Cady Lalanne (UMass), Stefan Nastic (Stanford), Juwan Staten (West Virginia), and Delon Wright (Utah), Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post reports (via Twitter).
Cavs big man Anderson Varejao, who has been out of action since suffering a torn left Achilles tendon, could be activated for the NBA Finals if something were to “go bad” for Cleveland, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com said in an appearance on ESPN Cleveland radio (Twitter link).
Former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau didn’t deserve the shots he took on the way out the door from the franchise, but he did deserve to be fired because of the team’s lack of offensive creativity and production despite having a potent roster and rotation, Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo! Sports opines.
Working out for the Sixers today were T.J. McConnell (Arizona), Chasson Randle (Stanford), Jarvis Threatt (Delaware), K.T. Harrell (Auburn), and Gabe Olaseni (Iowa), Jake Fischer of LibertyBallers.com relays (Twitter link).

Pelicans Interview Alvin Gentry, JVG

May 29th, 2015 at 7:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

MAY 29TH, 7:30pm: Gentry was in New Orleans today for a second interview with the team, Fletcher Mackel of WDSU NBC New Orleans tweets. Van Gundy is also still in contention for the job, Mackel adds.

MAY 22ND, 6:04pm: The Pelicans interviewed Van Gundy on Tuesday, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. The two sides had previously spoken over the phone, but this was the first face-to-face meeting, Wojnarowski’s sources relayed.

10:16pm: Van Gundy has expressed interest in coaching the Pelicans, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets.

MAY 21ST, 12:50pm: Gentry sees the chance to coach Davis as career-defining and is “more than interested” in the job, a source close to Gentry told John Reid of The Times-Picayune. The source pointed to clear indications that Gentry will meet again with Pelicans management after the season is over for the Warriors, Reid adds. New Orleans wants a coach who’ll install an exciting, up-tempo attack while further developing Davis, Reid hears from league sources, and Gentry’s last NBA head coaching gig came with the fast-paced Steve Nash-era Suns.

8:34pm: Gentry is being interviewed by Pelicans president Mickey Loomis and GM Dell Demps tonight in San Francisco, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Gentry, who was granted permission by the Warriors to interview in between playoff series, will try to sell the Pelicans’ brass on offensive strategies that he would institute to expand Anthony Davis‘ game, Wojnarowski continues. Loomis is also interested in Thibodeau, who is waiting to hear from the Bulls about his future with the franchise, but Demps isn’t as sold on the hard-edged Chicago coach after having endured much internal conflict with former coach Monty Williams, Wojnarowski hears. The Pelicans have also made calls on Jeff Van Gundy and have an interest in Scott Brooks, Wojnarowski adds.

5:11pm: There was a lot of talk at the combine that the Pelicans would be hesitant to give up compensation to Chicago in return for the Bulls allowing them to hire Thibodeau, Johnson reports (Twitter link). That doesn’t mean the team will necessarily hire Gentry instead, but it supports the idea that the Pelicans will wait to see how things shake out between the Bulls and Thibs, Johnson tweets.

4:40pm: The Bulls and Thibodeau are still operating as though Thibs remains Chicago’s coach, Stein writes in a full story. Stein still says the sides are widely expected to part ways. It’s unclear just when Gentry’s interview with the Pelicans will take place, Stein notes.

MAY 18TH, 4:15pm: The Pelicans have received permission from the Warriors to interview assistant coach Alvin Gentry, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Most of the reports regarding the New Orleans vacancy have centered on Tom Thibodeau, so it appears the Pels are expanding their base of candidates. Gentry is reportedly a front-runner for Chicago should the Bulls part ways with Thibodeau, so perhaps the Pelicans’ interest in Gentry is brinksmanship of sorts to entice the Bulls to let Thibs go for minimal compensation, though that’s just my speculation.

Gentry has reportedly drawn interest from the Nuggets and Magic, too, as he helps head coach Steve Kerr guide the Warriors toward a title. The sought-after candidate has made it clear he enjoys coaching in Golden State even though he’d like to return to a head coaching capacity. Gentry is a veteran of parts of 12 seasons as an NBA head coach with the Heat, Pistons, Clippers and Suns. He took Phoenix, where he made his last head coaching stop, to the Western Conference Finals in 2009. Gentry left a job as an assistant for the New Orleans franchise, then known as the Hornets, after one season in 2004 to join Mike D’Antoni‘s staff with the Suns, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic points out (on Twitter).

New Orleans was reportedly waiting for clarity on Thibodeau’s situation with the Bulls as of last week. There’s apparent mutual interest between Thibs and the Pelicans, and a pair of reports Friday indicated that if he’s not coaching in Chicago, he’ll most likely end up on the Pelicans bench. However, his contract with the Bulls runs through 2016/17, so Chicago controls his fate if he wants to coach in the NBA anytime soon. Thibodeau isn’t about to walk away from the money remaining on his deal, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link), an amount Stein last week pegged at close to $9MM. Still, Johnson suggests it’s possible that Thibodeau will sit out next season if the Bulls indeed decide to go with someone else.

Bulls Rumors: Hoiberg, Thibodeau, Reinsdorf

May 29th, 2015 at 10:29am CST by Chuck Myron

Those in Tom Thibodeau‘s inner circle heard that the Bulls and Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg reached an understanding that he would accept an offer from Chicago, prompting the team to fire Thibs, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. GM Gar Forman has been “obsessive” about hiring Hoiberg, according to Wojnarowski, who details Thibodeau’s failings to act more diplomatically in a Bulls organization that’s hostile to those who don’t give deference to management, Wojnarowski believes. Here’s more on the coaching change in Chicago:

Several close to Thibodeau have suggested that he sit out this coming season, when the Bulls will continue to pay him toward the nearly $9MM left on his contract, and wait for the NBA coaching vacancies of 2016/17, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.
One NBA coach likened the way the Bulls let go of Thibodeau to a crucifixion while another insinuated that owner Jerry Reinsdorf stabbed the coach in the back, according to Steve Aschburner of NBA.com. Indeed, Thibodeau confidants told Wojnarowski that the coach was especially hurt by Reinsdorf’s comment in the statement the team released to announce the firing, having deeply valued his relationship with the owner.
Forman and executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson weren’t the only ones in the organization who didn’t get along with Thibodeau, as Jon Greenberg of ESPNChicago.com heard from staffers whose attitudes toward Thibs ranged from apathy to loathing.

Fallout From Tom Thibodeau Firing

May 28th, 2015 at 3:21pm CST by Chuck Myron

Bulls GM Gar Forman and executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson didn’t say as much in their press conference today, but the now-vacant Bulls coaching job is Fred Hoiberg‘s to lose, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. There has been some doubt about whether Hoiberg, coming off heart surgery last month, would head to the Bulls this year, but sources close to the Iowa State coach tell Randy Peterson of The Des Moines Register that they believe Hoiberg would accept if, or when, offered. Indeed, several close to Hoiberg are confident that he’s ready for the challenge of the NBA, Johnson hears (Twitter link). There’s much more on Hoiberg, the fired Tom Thibodeau, and the Bulls, as we relay:

There’s no way Hoiberg would turn down the Bulls job, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press, and the coach was ready to jump to the NBA if the Warriors had offered him their job last season, according to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (on Twitter). However, the Warriors got the sense then that Hoiberg wasn’t quite ready, notes Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group (via Twitter). Still, Hoiberg last month told recruiting target Cheick Diallo that he couldn’t guarantee that he’d remain the school’s coach for 2015/16, sources told Travis Hines of the Ames Tribune (hat tip to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv).
The Bulls have also fired assistant coach Andy Greer, Forman confirmed at the press conference today, as Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com notes (on Twitter).
Forman also said that Bulls management got the sense they needed to make a change after meeting with players and other team personnel, Friedell tweets. That would jibe with Johnson’s report that some players conveyed in their exit meetings this month that they didn’t endorse Thibodeau’s return.
The GM denied that the Bulls viewed Thibodeau as an asset they could use to extract compensation from other teams and confirmed that no team had called to ask permission to interview the coach this year, Friedell passes along (on Twitter).
Paxson suggested that the Bulls would have kept Thibs if they’d won the title this year, advancing the idea that the team’s inability to get past the Cavs in the playoffs further lowered Thibodeau in the eyes of management. “We wouldn’t be sitting here if we won a championship,” Paxson said, according to Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com (Twitter link). “I feel like we had a real chance.”

Bulls Fire Tom Thibodeau

May 28th, 2015 at 11:08am CST by Chuck Myron

The Bulls have fired coach Tom Thibodeau, the team announced via press release. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reported overnight that resolution to the long-running drama between Thibodeau and Bulls management was expected no later than Friday.

Apr 18, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau during the second quarter in game one of the first round of the 2015 NBA Playoffs against the Milwaukee Bucks at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

“When Tom was hired in 2010, he was right for our team and system at that time, and over the last five years we have had some success with Tom as our head coach,” Bulls GM Gar Forman said in the team’s statement. “But as we looked ahead and evaluated how we as a team and an organization could continue to grow and improve, we believed a change in approach was needed.”

Owner Jerry Reinsdorf also made a lengthy comment in the statement that spoke to a breakdown in cohesion among the coach and management, essentially confirming a well-documented storyline that’s persisted for more than a year. The Bulls let Thibodeau know his fate at a meeting today, but the coach knew the news was coming, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). The Bulls are still on the hook for the nearly $9MM they owe Thibodeau for the rest of his contract, which covered the next two seasons, but that would be offset if he takes a coaching job elsewhere within two years.

The Magic and the Pelicans are known to have interest in talking to Thibodeau, Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote Wednesday, but as of last week, no team had contacted the Bulls to ask permission to hire Thibs, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Thibodeau wasn’t willing to meet with teams or talk to them about their vacancies while he remained under contract with the Bulls, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders heard. The Nuggets are not an option for Thibodeau, sources told Berger. The Bulls reportedly wanted to hold off on firing Thibodeau and seek compensation in return for allowing another team to hire Thibs, but teams didn’t appear willing to give it up for a coach whom Chicago was well-known not to want back.

Multiple reports have cast Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg as Chicago’s top choice to succeed Thibodeau, but the Bulls are interested in Warriors assistant Alvin Gentry, too, Kyler reported, and one source who spoke with Howard Beck of Bleacher Report considers Gentry the favorite for the job. Bulls lead assistant coach Adrian Griffin is also in the mix as a potential Thibodeau replacement, as Stein reported. Hoiberg had open heart surgery last month to replace his aortic valve, and Kyler and Beck have heard doubts that he’ll jump to the Bulls this year. The Nuggets and Magic appeared to have interest in Gentry at various points this spring, and the Pelicans interviewed him.

Thibodeau had plenty of on-court success in his five seasons with the Bulls, who gave the longtime assistant his first NBA head coaching job. He went 255-139 in the regular season, winning the 2010 Coach of the Year award, though he was just 23-28 in the playoffs, and Stein heard that the Bulls were displeased with his team’s inability to get past a banged-up Cavs team in the second round this year.

Bulls Warming To Idea Of Outright Thibs Firing

May 28th, 2015 at 9:36am CST by Eddie Scarito

9:36am: Thibodeau isn’t willing to meet with other teams or talk to them about their coaching vacancies while he remains under contract with the Bulls, sources tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders for his NBA AM piece.

THURSDAY, 8:37am: A resolution is expected no later than Friday, sources tell K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, and the Bulls are set to fire Thibodeau unless owner Jerry Reinsdorf intercedes. Some players, during exit meeting interviews with the team, didn’t endorse the return of Thibodeau, as Johnson also hears from sources. Thibodeau and executive VP of basketball operations John Paxson haven’t spoken since January, Johnson adds. Still, Johnson heard from three sources who refuted the report that the Bulls tried to hire Collins as an assistant to Thibodeau. Instead, Collins was the one who came up with the idea of joining the Bulls, and he approached Thibodeau about it in 2013, not 2014, according to Johnson’s sources. Bulls management didn’t find out about it until months later, Johnson hears.

4:18pm: Some Bulls players and personnel have already been informed that Thibodeau won’t be returning next season, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News relays.

WEDNESDAY, 3:30pm: The Bulls are considering firing coach Tom Thibodeau without attempting to garner compensation from another team and simply absorbing the resulting financial hit, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports. The chances that the franchise fires Thibodeau is growing increasingly likely as the days pass, Stein adds. Thibodeau’s contract with the team still has two more years and nearly $9MM left, which Chicago obviously would prefer not to fork over if Thibs was no longer calling the plays.

The relationship between the coach and the front office has grown increasingly contentious and the team was reportedly waiting for all the remaining coaching vacancies to fill up before parting ways with its coach, thus potentially freezing Thibodeau out of the NBA for the 2015/16 campaign. This is a curious tact for the team to take if it truly desires to avoid compensating Thibodeau, since the coach’s contract contains a set-off clause which could allow the Bulls to recoup as much as 100% of his salary if the franchise fires him and he ends up with another job.

According to Stein’s sources, there is more to the front office’s displeasure with Thibodeau than a difference in philosophies and opinions. Team management is reportedly frustrated with the team’s inability to defeat the injury-depleted Cavaliers in the second-round of the playoffs this season, as well as with the squad’s continued lack of flow on the offensive end of the court, the ESPN scribe adds. The team had reportedly tried to get Thibodeau to hire Doug Collins to help revamp the Bulls’ offense, Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun Times notes.

The only remaining coaching vacancies are with the Magic, who are reportedly looking at Scott Skiles as the front-runner, and the Nuggets, who may simply promote interim coach Melvin Hunt to fill their vacancy. So unless another coaching position unexpectedly opens up, it is looking increasingly likely that Thibodeau will be a spectator, albeit a well-paid one, when the 2015/16 season tips off.

Central Notes: Thibodeau, Blatt, J.R. Smith

May 27th, 2015 at 1:02pm CST by Chuck Myron

It’s well-known throughout the NBA that the Bulls would grant other teams permission to interview Tom Thibodeau if they asked, but no team has done so this year, reports K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. Johnson believes that suggests the options for Thibs to coach elsewhere next season are fading and sees Chicago’s slow-paced approach to Thibodeau so far this offseason as a sign that the team isn’t opposed to simply paying off the $9MM left on his contract and parting ways with him. There’s more on the Thibodeau drama amid the latest from the Central Division:

There is indeed a set-off clause in Thibodeau’s contract, so the Bulls would recoup at least part of that money — and as much as 100% of it if his contract is like that of most coaches, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com recently detailed — if the Bulls fire him and he ends up with another job, Johnson reports in the same piece. Still, it’s unknown how owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who Johnson refers to as an occasional “oasis” of sorts for Thibodeau amid the coach’s squabbles with management, wants the situation to play out, Thibs received more pushback from players this year than ever, Johnson adds.
Cavs owner Dan Gilbert insists that the team never considered firing coach David Blatt, in spite of a report to the contrary and another that indicated the organization was concerned by Blatt’s uneven early season performance, as Gilbert said to Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. The owner said his confidence never wavered about the coach who’s in his first NBA job. “It really didn’t,” Gilbert said. “I don’t care what the expectations were, especially after we changed coaches twice in two years. This was a guy with a long-term record of success. You have to at least give a season, maybe more than just one. I think it would have destabilized the entire franchise and it would have been bad.”
Cleveland received permission from the Knicks to talk to J.R. Smith prior to trading for him in January, and he impressed upon the Cavs that he was excited for the chance to play with them, writes Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Smith later said that he would walk to Cleveland to play with LeBron James, Isola adds amid a story that casts the Cavs as a long-term threat atop the Eastern Conference.

Southeast Notes: Wizards, Hawks, Thibodeau

May 26th, 2015 at 5:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Wizards majority owner Ted Leonsis said that the team will look to establish its own D-League franchise once its new practice facility was completed, Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post relays (Twitter links). Leonsis said the team wishes to have a site secured by the end of this offseason, and potential locales include Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, Castillo adds. The Wizards were one of the 13 teams that shared the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this past season. Washington only assigned one player to the D-League during the 2014/15 campaign.

Here’s more from the Southeast Division:

The Hawks‘ difficulties in this year’s NBA playoffs have shown the need for the franchise to add another outside shooter, as well as a defensive-minded big man this offseason, Jeff Schultz of The Atlanta Journal Constitution opines. Atlanta has been hampered by injuries, but the team’s lack of depth has certainly been exploited by the Cavs this postseason.
Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers, who has close ties to the Magic organization, has called the team advocating for the franchise to acquire current Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune reports. Scott Skiles is the current front-runner for the team’s vacant coaching position, and the Magic are reluctant to offer Chicago compensation in return for Thibodeau, Johnson notes.
The Heat would be best served not to deal the No. 10 overall pick in this year’s draft for multiple picks, opines Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. Winderman’s reasoning is that the team doesn’t intend to rebuild anytime soon, so nabbing a potential starter at No. 10 would be a wiser move than hoping to get lucky with lesser picks.

Latest On Tom Thibodeau

May 25th, 2015 at 4:02pm CST by Chuck Myron

MONDAY, 4:02pm: People around the league who look up to Thibodeau increasingly express worry that the Bulls indeed plan to wait for the three NBA vacancies to fill up and then simply fire Thibs, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.

SATURDAY, 2:58pm: The Bulls are determined to hold on to Thibodeau until the remaining coaching vacancies have been filled, meaning that if they then fire him, it would likely leave him out of coaching for the 2015/16 season, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports.

THURSDAY, 2:39pm: The Magic’s interest in Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau has been overstated, a source tells K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter links). Thibodeau, whose seemingly rocky relationship with Bulls management appears poised to result in a split this summer, has long been linked to Orlando’s vacancy. However, recent reports that the Magic would be willing to pay him $7-9MM a year and that the Orlando job is Thibodeau’s for the taking are off-base, Johnson hears, as is the notion that the team is prepared to give the Bulls compensation for the right to hire him. The Bulls are widely expected to demand assets in return for letting Thibodeau out of his contract, which runs two more seasons, and a recent report indicated that the Magic would likely be willing to give up one or two second-round picks for the right to hire Thibs.

Still, the Magic may indeed still wind up talking to Thibodeau at some point, Johnson adds. As of Wednesday, no team had yet contacted the Bulls to request to interview Thibodeau, a league source told Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. The Bulls haven’t spoken with Fred Hoiberg, reportedly the team’s top choice to replace Thibodeau if Chicago indeed parts ways with its coach, the source also said to Berger. Alvin Gentry, another apparent front-runner for the would-be Bulls opening, reportedly has strong interest in the Pelicans job, which he interviewed for Monday. The Bulls want to set up a clear plan of succession before starting talks about what sort of compensation they’d want from other teams in exchange for letting them hire Thibodeau, Berger wrote last week.

Thibodeau isn’t about to quit and simply give up the nearly $9MM left on his contract, as Johnson recently observed, and if the Bulls are determined to make Thibodeau go away, they likely have a distinct financial motivation to work out a deal with another team. Most NBA coaching contracts, including those the Bulls have given out in the past, have a set-off clause that would absolve the team of whatever it owes the coach if he takes another job at an equal or greater salary during the term of the pact, Berger explains. So, if Thibodeau can find another team willing to pay him at least $4-5MM a year, the Bulls probably won’t owe him any money, according to Berger. The Nuggets are “not an option” for Thibodeau, Berger also wrote, apparently leaving Orlando and New Orleans as the only teams with existing vacancies left to bid.