Western Notes: Kobe, Young, Mavericks
Sitting outside of Staples Center tonight with late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, Lakers guard Kobe Bryant says that he'll never accept being called the greatest Laker ever from Magic Johnson considering that he learned so much from him. As for his injury timetable, he's not sure if he'll be back by opening night at this point but is trying his best to get ready (ESPN Los Angeles' Arash Markazi via Twitter). Here are the rest of tonight's miscellaneous tidbits from the Western Conference:
- Markazi and ESPN LA's Ramona Shelburne relay that Kobe would have picked North Carolina instead of Duke had he not decided to make the jump to the NBA out of high school, and shared that the Clippers feared they wouldn't be taken seriously if they drafted a 17-year-old despite telling him that he'd given them the best workout they've ever had (All Twitter links).
- Flabbergasted that his team was projected to finish 12th in the West this year, Nick Young is "upset and ready for the season," writes Markazi: "How are you going to be ranked that low with Kobe and Pau and Nash? There’s always going to be haters and we just have to keep proving them wrong."
- Tim Cowlishaw of SportsDayDFW thinks that the seventh or eighth-seed will be the best-case scenario for the Mavericks if all goes well this year. Jarret Johnson of the Star-Telegram looks at why there's optimism surrounding the team heading into the season.
- Noting that six general managers around the league have previous ties with the Spurs along with four former coaching assistants now leading teams of their own, Dan McCarney of Spurs Nation describes why San Antonio's structure is a model that many teams want to follow but will find hard to duplicate.
- Timberwolves' president Flip Saunders says that Kevin Love is now 242 lbs after playing last season at 250 (Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press via Twitter).
- Paul Coro of AZ Central tweets a picture of the Suns' new uniforms, which were debuted tonight.
Sixers Hire Brett Brown As Head Coach
WEDNESDAY, 2:34pm: The Sixers introduced Brown at a press conference this afternoon, and have officially sent out a press release announcing that the former Spurs assistant is Philadelphia's new head coach. Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer has a few details and quotes from today's presser.
MONDAY, 9:21am: The NBA's longest head coaching search of the year has finally come to an end, nearly four months after the team parted ways with Doug Collins. The Sixers have reached an agreement with Spurs assistant Brett Brown that will make him Philadelphia's new head coach, reports Ian Thomsen of SI.com. According to Thomsen (via Twitter), the two sides agreed on a four-year deal that will be fully guaranteed.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first reported last week that the 76ers had offered their head coaching job to Brown, but it wasn't immediately clear whether or not he'd accept. According to ESPN.com's Marc Stein, people close to Brown were advising him to pass on the position, since the Sixers are in full-fledged rebuilding mode and don't figure to contend for the next couple seasons. With a guaranteed four-year deal in hand though, Brown has some long-term security, and shouldn't be in danger of being replaced before he sees the rebuilding process through.
Brown was one of about 10 different candidates linked to the Sixers' coaching opening since Collins left in April. As Alex Lee of Hoops Rumors wrote last week in his primer on the team's coaching search, Brown has long been considered one of the frontrunners for the position, with a report back on draft night indicating that he was Philadelphia's choice.
The Spurs have now lost two assistant coaches to the head coaching ranks this summer. After Mike Budenholzer was hired by the Hawks, Brown was positioned to be Gregg Popovich's lead assistant if he had returned to San Antonio.
Odds & Ends: Union, Lucas, Draft, Brown
With the offseason winding down, Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld identified who the real contenders will be in 2013/14. The back-to-back champion Heat top the list with some of the other usual suspects, including the Spurs and Thunder. The Bulls should be vaulted back into contention with the long-awaited return of Derrick Rose. The Clippers are a bona fide contender after re-signing Chris Paul, landing Doc Rivers as coach, and adding J.J. Redick. The Nets, who now boast the most expensive roster in the NBA by far, hope to be among the league's elite with first-time coach Jason Kidd at the helm. And of course, the Rockets will be one of the most intriguing teams to keep an eye on after luring Dwight Howard away from L.A. Here's more from around the Association..
- NBPA executive committee member Jerry Stackhouse told Ken Berger of CBSSports.com that LeBron James' comments about the union felt like a "kick in the stomach". "I don't think he's had any dialogue with anybody since the All-Star break, but it is what it is," Stackhouse said. "To make that statement about where we are as a union right now, he was misinformed."
- Point guard John Lucas III was a safe choice for the Jazz, in the sense that he won't threaten Trey Burke or expect to be the main one-guard for the long-term. However, Utah believes they have more than a capable stop-gap and more than a positive locker room influence in the veteran, writes Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune.
- Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd) runs down the 2014 NBA Draft and notes that its remarkable depth could make it the best ever. Ford's latest big board has Andrew Wiggins at the top, followed by Kentucky's Julius Randle, Australian Dante Exum, Duke's Jabari Parker, and Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart.
- Sean Deveney of the Sporting News gives his immediate and long-term outlook for the league's 13 new coaches. The list starts with the latest hire, 76ers coach Brett Brown.
- Jordan Hill's summer assignment is to become the stretch four that the Lakers need, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Hill missed 53 games last year, mostly because of back and hip trouble.
Northwest Notes: Nuggets, T’Wolves, Brown, Curry
Flip Saunders is the leading man in the Timberwolves' front office, but he's searching for two executives to help assist him in day-to-day operations. This morning, we learned that Wizards vice president of player personnel Milt Newton sat down with the T'Wolves to formally interview for the GM position while they could also promote former Raptors GM Rob Babcock from within. Here's the latest out of the Northwest Division..
- The Northwest Division is the best example this offseason of the cyclical nature of the league, writes Royce Young of CBSSports.com. The Nuggets have slipped after losing their GM and failing to re-sign their top offseason target in Andre Iguodala. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves could take the divisional crown after making a few shrewd moves and getting Kevin Love back.
- Bobby Brown has until August 15th to exercise his opt out clause with China's DongGuan Leopards and AJ Mitnick of Sheridan Hoops sees the Jazz as a good fit for the lighting quick point guard. Brown averaged 18.3 PPG in Euroleague last year and improved greatly as a true one-guard.
- Seth Curry says that Timberwolves are among the teams that have extended a training camp invitation to him, writes Mark Berman of The Roanoke Times. The Warriors, Spurs, and Bobcats have also invited the undrafted Duke guard to camp.
- Earlier today, we looked at the latest on the Thunder.
International Notes: McGrady, Cooley, Snaer
The NBA free agent market is drying up, leading many players to look for work overseas. Here's the latest from the international scene:
- Tracy McGrady spent most of 2012/13 in China before hooking on with the Spurs in the final week of the regular season, and he's mulling whether to return to China or seek another NBA deal, according to the Global Times.
- We heard yesterday that undrafted big man Jack Cooley spurned several training camp invitations from NBA teams for a deal with a Turkish team, and agent Adam Pensack let Shams Charania of RealGM.com know the identity of those clubs, some of whom offered partially guaranteed contracts. The Blazers, Grizzlies, Spurs, Thunder, Nets, Heat, Lakers, Rockets, Pacers and Cavs all wanted to sign Cooley, Pensack says.
- The Nets also invited Michael Snaer to camp, but Sportando's Enea Trapani hears that he'll sign with Enel Brindisi of Italy instead (Twitter link).
- A report last month indicated that 42nd overall pick Pierre Jackson, whom the Pelicans acquired in the Jrue Holiday trade, would sign with ASVEL Villeurbanne of France, and Jackson added confirmation via Instagram. Tony Parker owns a share of the French team.
- Shooting guard Carlon Brown was in training camp with the Warriors last fall and spent the season in the D-League, but he'll be overseas for 2013/14, having signed with Hapoel Tel Aviv of Israel. The Israeli league announced the signing via Twitter (hat tip to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando).
Atlantic Rumors: Sixers, Brown, Pierce, Knicks
The Sixers and Brett Brown are negotiating the terms of a deal that would end the team's nearly four-month search for a coach, as Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. That jibes with what Marc Stein tweeted Friday, when the ESPN.com scribe wondered if the Sixers would make their offer tempting enough to pry Brown away from his assistant coaching position with the Spurs. Here's more from Philly and the rest of the Atlantic Division:
- Hinkie has been plain about his intentions, so no one should be shocked that the Sixers have waited so long to hire a coach, Pompey argues.
- Paul Pierce tells Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe that he sensed he was headed out of Boston months prior to the trade that brought him to the Nets, so much so that he told his wife to start packing up their stuff even before this past regular season ended. Pierce still isn't certain of what lies ahead. "Who knows what’s going to happen after this year?" Pierce said to Washburn. "I don’t know what the future is going to bring. I don’t know if I’m going to be back with the Nets. I don’t know if I’m going to retire, you never know what’s going to happen. I feel like I have more in the tank but you never know with injuries, how your body feels. Sometimes those things tell you a lot quicker. Right now, I’ve been feeling good. My legs, my body feels strong."
- Washburn had more from Pierce, who sympathizes with Celtics president of basketball ops Danny Ainge. "We were pretty much stuck on a treadmill as far as where we were and people don’t see the financial part of it," Pierce said. "That kind of straps a team from getting better. We were kind of in that position. How do we get better without spending money? So you have to determine if we want to stay right where we are, which is [a] four through eight seed? Or do we want to rebuild and hopefully get a player that can take us to that next level . . . This was pretty much almost inevitable."
- David Lee takes a trip down memory lane with Marc Berman of the New York Post to ponder what might have been if Knicks brass had stuck with Lee and others from a fast-starting team five years ago.
No Timetable For Sixers, Brett Brown
3:55pm: Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears talk indicating that the Spurs are bracing for Brown to take the Sixers job sooner or later (Twitter link).
9:04am: The Sixers coaching search is now at 110 days and ticking, and even though there is a very clear frontrunner for the position, it's still impossible to say when a hire could be made. Spurs assistant Brett Brown has been offered the job, but there is no time frame for the team to expect an answer, a source tells Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News.
Even if Brown decides to take the position today, there likely won't be an announcement until Monday, though it would make sense for them to wait until the first business day of the week to make everything public. Meanwhile, people close to Brown are urging him to say no to GM Sam Hinkie & Co. since the 76ers project to be one of the worst teams in the NBA this season. Waiting for another head coaching job could be a risky proposition, but Spurs assistants are highly coveted throughout the league and it's likely that he would be among the top available coaching candidates again next summer.
Sixers Offer Coaching Job To Brett Brown
5:22pm: People close to Brown are urging him not to take the Sixers job, considering how inept the team team figures to be this season, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Turning down the gig would be a risk, but as Stein points out, coaches from the Gregg Popovich tree are in vogue around the league (Twitter links). If Philly doesn't come up with enough money to woo Brown, Curry is their fallback option, Stein adds, via Twitter, indicating that Curry could be something of a lame duck if he winds up with the job.
2:45pm: The 76ers have offered their head coaching job to Spurs assistant Brett Brown, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Nothing is official yet, but the two sides are discussing a contract, according to Wojnarowski.
Brown was one of about 10 different candidates linked to the Sixers' coaching opening since the team parted ways with Doug Collins in April. As Alex Lee of Hoops Rumors indicated last night in his primer on the team's coaching search, Brown has long been considered one of the frontrunners for the position, with a rumor surfacing back on draft night that he was Philadelphia's choice.
If Brown accepts the job, he'll be taking over a Sixers team that looks headed for a top-five pick in 2014, and still needs to add more salary to reach the minimum payroll threshold. Sixers assistant Michael Curry, Celtics assistant Jay Larranaga, and Trail Blazers assistant David Vanterpool were among the other candidates believed to still be in the running for the vacancy.
Several Teams In Mix For Anthony Tolliver
FRIDAY, 2:58pm: Rather than narrowing down his list of suitors, Tolliver seems to be heading in the other direction. The Magic, Spurs, and Knicks are also interested in him, according to Tomasson (via Twitter). Still, Tolliver expects to make a decision next week.
THURSDAY, 3:16pm: The Lakers have entered the mix for Tolliver, writes Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida (via Sulia). According to Tolliver, talks with the Lakers are still preliminary, but he's considering them alongside the Bobcats, Bulls, and Jazz. Tolliver added that he visited Charlotte on Monday and the team made him a minimum-salary contract offer.
WEDNESDAY, 1:08pm: Anthony Tolliver has narrowed his free agent decision down to three teams, and is expected to finalize a deal this weekend, according to Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype. Sierra reports that Tolliver will likely sign with either the Bobcats, Bulls, or Jazz.
Tolliver, 28, spent the 2012/13 season with the Hawks, averaging 4.1 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 62 contests (15.5 MPG). The last report we heard on Tolliver came nearly a month ago, and suggested that the 6'8" forward was in talks with five teams, including Atlanta.
Utah still has a little cap space left, along with its room exception, but Charlotte and Chicago appear to be capped out. As such, it looks like Tolliver will sign another minimum-salary deal, unless the Jazz outbid the other two finalists.
Greg Oden Signs With Heat
AUGUST 7TH: The Heat have officially signed Oden, the team announced today (Twitter link).
AUGUST 2ND: Greg Oden will sign with the Heat, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. It's a two-year deal with a player option for the final season, Goodman adds. The two sides agreed on a minimum-salary contract, according to fellow ESPN.com scribe Marc Stein, who adds that Oden will officially sign the pact on Monday (Twitter links).
The deal is a coup for Heat president Pat Riley, not only because Oden chose Miami over five other finalists, but because he consented to the minimum salary, tweets Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. That allows the Heat to preserve their mini mid-level exception should an enticing player come available at some point this season.
The Spurs and Mavs appeared as of last night to be Miami's primary competition, with the Pelicans next in line, followed by the Kings and the Hawks. Sources from three Western Conference teams among those spurned finalists told Stein minutes before news broke of Oden's decision that they were informed that they wouldn't be landing the former No. 1 overall pick, and that they believed he was headed to Miami (Twitter link).
Oden tells former Ohio State teammate Mark Titus of Grantland.com that the Heat became the front-runners for him when he visited Miami during the NBA Finals. Three months ago, Oden told Titus that he wanted to play in Cleveland because he liked playing in Ohio. About a year ago, Oden let Titus know that the plan was to reunite in Memphis with Mike Conley, another of their Buckeye teammates. Conley's father, Mike Conley Sr., is one of Oden's agents.
The 7'0" center has only played 82 games in his NBA career, but he was on the Blazers roster for five seasons, meaning he qualifies for a minimum salary of $1,027,424 this season, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports confirms (Twitter link).