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Tyrone Corbin

Northwest Notes: Jazz, T-Wolves, Clibanoff

September 28th, 2013 at 9:53pm CST by Spencer Lund

Tyrone Corbin is entering his fourth year as the coach of the Jazz. We mentioned earlier ESPN Insider Amin Elhassan's belief Corbin is on the coaching hot seat this season, with front court nucleus Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson gone in free agency to the Hawks and Bobcats, respectively. 

Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune profiles Corbin as he enters the final year of his contract with the Jazz "where an extension is unlikely." Corbin will shepherd an inexperienced group unlikely to cause much of a ruckus in the tough Western Conference. His place as part of the rebuilding Jazz is murky, at best.

Here's what else is happening around the Northwest division on a jam-packed Saturday night as NBA training camps finally open…

  • The Deseret News' Jody Genessy details the 20 training camp Jazz invites, including Justin Holiday, the older brother (Twitter) of Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday.
  • Justin Holiday, Genessy adds via Twitter, is one of 7 players who will be in Jazz camp with non-guaranteed deals, as well as the 13 players (Twitter) already with guaranteed deals.
  • Jerry Zgoda of the Star-Tribune details the five major issues facing the Timberwolves as they enter training camp. The primary issue is health with their nucleus of Nikola Pekovic, Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio, all missing time last season as the 'Wolves again failed to reach the playoffs. 
  • Zgoda also goes through the uncertain contract status of power forward Derrick Williams. If the 'Wolves don't exercise their option paying him $6.33MM next season, the former No. 2 overall pick will become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
  • With the 'Wolves facing a lot of contract unknowns in the near future Williams place with them is uncertain. 
  • The Timberwolves' Chase Budinger may miss 6-8 weeks as swelling and discomfort continue in the same left knee that sidelined him for all but five games last season, Zgoda reported earlier today. An MRI revealed, according to coach Flip Saunders, "a little something in there." The news comes fresh after Budinger re-signed with the 'Wolves for three years and $15MM this summer.
  • Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman asked Thunder players Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka what nicknames they'd put on their jerseys if the NBA allowed the practice.
  • Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski tweets that the Nuggets have hired Jim Clibanoff as Director of Scouting. Previously, Clibanoff ran a respected private scouting service. 

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Atlantic Notes: Woodson, Kidd, Sixers, Knicks

September 28th, 2013 at 8:50pm CST by Spencer Lund

Despite the Knicks having their best year since the 1990s, their coach, Mike Woodson, is on the hot seat, writes ESPN Insider Amin Elhassan [subscription only]. Elhassan goes through five coaches entering the 2013/14 campaign on the hot seat, where their team's success could determine whether they're brought back for the 2014/15 season.

The other four coaches mentioned include Mike D'Antoni of the Lakers, Monty Williams of the Pelicans, Tyrone Corbin of the Jazz, and Randy Wittman of the Wizards. 

Conversely, when Roderick Boone of Newsday spoke with new Nets coach Jason Kidd, the new face in Brooklyn told him there was "exciting nervousness" as the team entered training camp. It will be the first training camp for Kidd as a head coach and the first training camp he hasn't begun as a player since the summer before he entered the league in 1994.  

Kidd went on to explain to Roderick why he's lucky to start as the coach with the veteran-laden Nets:

"The nice thing about this opportunity with this team is guys being able to sacrifice," Kidd told Boone, "and that's another thing with these guys. Maybe sacrifice a shot or two. Maybe even some of the younger guys will say, 'Yeah, I don't mind not playing the fourth quarter,' and that's sacrifice. It's less minutes and less shots and it gets us a win."

Here's more from around the top-heavy Atlantic division…

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Jazz Rumors: Offseason, Corbin, Burke, Leslie

September 21st, 2013 at 4:05pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Jazz took a step back competitively this summer to open up playing time for their younger guys, and GM Dennis Lindsey promises Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune that the team won't reverse course.

"… We are not running away from the decisions we made," Lindsey said. "We are looking to embrace this and we will embrace it — all the challenges of being so young. I believe we have the talent and character to move forward — incrementally. We are very much looking forward to the start of the journey with this young core group."

Lindsey passed along a couple of other noteworthy tidbits in his conversation with Luhm, and we'll round them up here along with an update on a member of last year's Jazz team:

  • The GM explained why the team abandoned its hunt for an annual playoff berth. "We were O.K. with being playoff-competitive as long as we had [salary cap] flexibility, too," he said. "But if we had invested in our veteran players, we were going to lose that flexibility, especially with some other [contract] extensions coming up."
  • Lindsey emphasizes a collaborative approach in the front office, which also includes VP of basketball operations Kevin O'Connor and newly hired assistant GM Justin Zanik. Coach Tyrone Corbin has a say, too, and his input was critical in swaying the team to trade for Trey Burke on draft night, Lindsey says.
  • Travis Leslie was briefly a member of the Jazz last season, though he didn't appear in a game. He signed with JSF Nanterre in France last month, but comments the team's head coach recently made suggest that Leslie could once more make a quick exit, notes Gabriel Pantel-Jouve of Catch & Shoot (translation via HoopsHype).
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Western Notes: Suns, Mavericks, Jazz

June 20th, 2013 at 11:33pm CST by Ryan Raroque

A well-deserved congratulations to the Heat for winning the NBA Championship as well as the Spurs for putting up a hard fought series. As we wrap up one of the more memorable Finals matchups in recent history, here are some of tonight's news and notes out of the Western Conference:

  • Paul Coro of AZ Central says that Suns GM Ryan McDonough could use one of his three draft picks on an international player under contract and keep him overseas for more seasoning before bringing him over. Coro adds that if Phoenix doesn't select a center with their fifth overall pick, it could certainly be a targeted position with their 30th. 
  • Given their draft history, Eddie Sefko of SportsDayDFW thinks that the Mavericks will either trade this year's pick or draft an international player with the intent of keeping him overseas as to not take up any of this summer's salary cap space. If they do keep the pick, Sefko thinks that they'll look at either Michael Carter-Williams or Dennis Schroeder. In a separate piece, Sefko boldly predicts that the Mavs will wind up with Dwight Howard this offseason.
  • Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin is excited to have Jerry Sloan involved with the franchise again, writes Bill Oram of The Salt Lake Tribune. 
  • Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times thinks that the Clippers going after Doc Rivers at the expense of a first round pick is a no-brainer.
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Odds & Ends: Hornacek, Oden, Celtics, Thunder

May 18th, 2013 at 9:26pm CST by Spencer Lund

The coaching carousel this offseason is personified by Jazz assistant coach Jeff Hornacek. The former Jazz player was a smart shooting guard next to Hall-of-Famer John Stockton, in the backcourt of some consistently excellent Jazz teams. But even with less than three years of experience on the Jazz bench, he's become a go-to interview for teams with a coaching vacancy. 

Brad Rock of the Salt Lake City Desert News opines on Hornacek's bonafides as a head coach somewhere in the league, while current head coach Tyrone Corbin is also in a state of flux, but appears set to return to the sidelines next season after a vote of confidence from general manager Dennis Lindsey. In a summer of discontent for 29 NBA teams (and the city of Seattle), there are still plenty of question marks, like Hornacek, with uncertain, yet bright futures. Like the next item on our list…

  • Greg Oden continues to impress those who have seen him workout, with the latest being predraft workout partner and former Ohio State forward, Deshaun Thomas, who told the The Oregonian's Jason Quick the former number one pick, "looks unbelievable." We've already shared Mary Schmitt Boyer's assessment that Oden looks terrific. A number of Eastern Conference teams have already targeted the rehabilitating center and it appears only a matter of time before he's back in the league. 
  • Speaking of comebacks, what are the Celtics going to do this offseason? Steve Bulpett at the Boston Herald did an informal survey of general managers at the predraft combine in Chicago on Friday, and they were as undecided as most observers. Some believe the Celtics may make another go of it with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, while others think they could blow the whole thing up and trade their franchise mainstays since the summer of 2007 for younger players and draft picks. 
  • The Thunder aren't undecided; they're title contenders now, and Barry Tramel writes at the Oklahoman that the Thunder are unlikely to make any splashy moves this offseason with about $66.12MM in salary for 10 players next season. The time for the young team to win is now.
  • Also, the Oklahoman's staff answered four different questions about the Thunder's 2012/13 season, the most tenuous one being: was the Thunder's season a failure?
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Jazz Links: Corbin, Williams, Carroll, McNeal

April 18th, 2013 at 9:33pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Earlier, we heard that Tyrone Corbin's job was safe after GM Dennis Lindsey showed public support for the Jazz head coach. Brad Rock of the Deseret News examines the situation a step further, noting that Utah had finished off the season winning nine of their remaining 12 games in addition to Corbin's ability to do so with much of the roster's status up in the air for next season and beyond. Here's more of what we've heard out of Salt Lake City tonight:

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Dennis Lindsey, Jazz Endorse Tyrone Corbin

April 18th, 2013 at 6:55pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Although there have been a handful of newly created head coaching vacancies in the NBA, don't expect the Jazz to join the list anytime soon. Despite Utah coming up just two wins shy of a postseason berth, general manager Dennis Lindsey offered a strong endorsement of head coach Tyrone Corbin, reaffirming that he's "our coach" and has full support from team ownership (Jody Genessy of the Deseret News tweets). Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune (via Twitter) also noted Lindsey's support, hearing that Corbin is seen as the right person to lead the team and is growing as a coach. 

After being swept in the 2011-12 playoffs, the Jazz returned this season competitively in the hunt for a return to the playoffs. While Utah held the seventh seed in the Western Conference as far as mid-February, a 3-12 record from late February into late March pushed them to ninth – where they would ultimately finish the season. Still, as Oram mentions, Lindsey believes that Corbin deserves credit for working with nine impending free agents and four quality big men.

According to Genessy, team brass will wait until next week to evaluate this year's performances and shortcomings. 

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Odds & Ends: Coaches, Mavericks, Pacers

April 13th, 2013 at 9:04pm CST by Ryan Raroque

The NBA has its first official playoff matchup cemented in the postseason schedule, as the Bucks' loss to the Bobcats tonight guaranteed them a first round dance with the Heat. Now that Boston is a lock for seventh place, five of the remaining playoff seeds in the Eastern Conference are still yet to be determined. We've got plenty of miscellaneous links to share tonight, and you can find them below: 

  • Kurt Kragthorpe of The Salt Lake Tribune thinks Tyrone Corbin will face plenty of scrutiny next season from the Jazz front office. Corbin appears likely to keep his job regardless of whether the team captures the final playoff spot this year.
  • Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times figures on at least six coaching vacancies in the offseason, with the Pistons most likely to have one of them. Woelfel hears Rockets assistant coach Kelvin Sampson is already drawing serious consideration from a couple of teams. Sampson was recently linked to the Bucks, where coach Jim Boylan appears on unsteady footing.
  • According to Paul Franklin of The Times of Trenton, Lakers assistant coach Eddie Jordan is expected to be announced as the new head basketball coach at Rutgers University. Tom Luicci of the Star-Ledger heard about the possibility earlier this afternoon (Twitter link). 
  • Dirk Nowitzki believes the outcome of the Mavericks' attempt to retool this summer might determine the effectiveness of Mark Cuban's decision to break up his 2011 championship team, observes Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com.
  • Even without a superstar, the well-balanced Pacers appear to be primed as a dangerous post-season matchup, writes Zach Schonbrun of the New York Times. 
  • Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register tweets that Kobe Bryant will likely seek advice from soccer star and friend David Beckham, who also suffered an Achilles injury but returned after six months. Dan Woike (also of the OC Register) says that Clippers guard Chauncey Billups – who also suffered the same injury last season – is also willing to lend his support (Twitter link). Lastly, the LA Times' Sam Farmer and Broderick Turner gathered some thoughts from NFL star Terrell Suggs, who shed some light on the process of recovery.

Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors contributed to this post. 

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Stein’s Latest: Josh Smith, Boylan, Collins, Holiday

April 12th, 2013 at 10:19pm CST by Chuck Myron

Marc Stein's final ESPN.com Weekend Dime of the season doubles as his awards ballot, and he has LeBron James winning MVP, of course. More intriguing are his selections in some of the tighter races: George Karl for Coach of the Year, Kevin Martin for Sixth Man of the Year, Tim Duncan for Defensive Player of the Year and Jrue Holiday for Most Improved Player. Stein also has plenty of news from around the league, as we round up: 

  • Before the season, the Hawks offered Josh Smith a three-year extension for the maximum amount, which would have been about $45MM, but Smith made it clear he wanted to hit free agency. That's no surprise, since an extension would have meant a smaller annual salary than he can sign for as a free agent, per collective bargaining agreement rules. The Hawks, wary of letting Smith walk, aggressively pursued trades, according to Stein, but wound up keeping him when an offer from the Bucks wasn't to their liking.
  • Bucks GM John Hammond is publicly heaping praise on coach Jim Boylan, but Stein hears Boylan has little to no shot of retaining the job, based on the team's late-season slump.
  • Doug Collins may join the Sixers front office or simply become an adviser to the team if he decides to step away from coaching.
  • Justin Holiday's deal with the Sixers includes a team option for next season, and it appears the deal is partially guaranteed for $50K, becoming fully guaranteed if he's not waived by August 15th.
  • The Nets also have a team option on Kris Joseph's deal for 2013/14.
  • A source insists to Stein that the Jazz will retain Tyrone Corbin for the final year of his contract next season, regardless of whether the team makes the playoffs.
  • Jermaine O'Neal, 34, is leaning strongly toward playing again next season. He signed a one-year, minimum-salary deal with the Suns last summer. 
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Western Notes: Kobe, Ridnour, Odom

January 26th, 2013 at 10:49pm CST by Ryan Raroque
Although Kobe Bryant registered a season low of 10 field goals on Friday night, his 14 assists proved to be instrumental in the Lakers' rout of the Jazz. Mike D'Antoni praised his star shooting guard's approach, saying that the dip in field goal attempts shouldn't be looked at as a sacrifice if the team ultimately comes out on top, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles. McMenamin also takes a closer look at the impending return of Steve Blake, who practiced with the team today and could return to game action next week. You'll find the rest of tonight's Western Conference notes here:
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