NBA coaching changes
- Thread starter DJnVa
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Going to be an interesting spring. Suns and Grizzlies jobs are also open after the firings of Watson and Fizdale earlier in the season. Bucks job is very likely to be open as well, unless Joe Prunty leads the Bucks to a miraculous championship later this spring.
I would expect Jay Larranega and Ettore Messina will get serious consideration for some of these openings. Ron Adams too, although if he wanted to be a head coach he would have taken a job long before this.
It would not surprise me if Doc Rivers is fired as well. following the revelation that one of the reasons Chris Paul left was Rivers.
It would not surprise me if Doc Rivers is fired as well. following the revelation that one of the reasons Chris Paul left was Rivers.
In addition to those mentioned other hot coaching names are David Fizdale, Jerry Stackhouse, James Borrego, Igor Kokoskov, Nick Nurse and Jay Wright. I don't expect that Wright will take a job in the NBA and the connections to Phoenix and NYK are just out there to get a better deal from Nova.
Rivers has to be on the hot seat. Same with Steve Clifford in Charlotte. Budenholzer could try to force his way out in Atlanta. Going to be quite the carousel this offseason.
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Does it? He left the Celtics to not go through a rebuild because he thinks it’ll tarnish his legacy.
I think Clifford is done. He and Rich Cho are, I believe, of a mind. And Rich Cho is out.
Yeah that timing of that piece overall smells to me like he is being slow walked out of the Staples Center. Your long national Austin nightmare may be over!
Top 5 Cliffords:
5. Steve Clifford
4. Clifford the Big Red Dog
3. Clifford Robinson
2. Clifford Ray
1. Stephanie Clifford
5. Steve Clifford
4. Clifford the Big Red Dog
3. Clifford Robinson
2. Clifford Ray
1. Stephanie Clifford
No love for Cliff Floyd?
I was trying to stick to people who actually go by Clifford (or Stormy) rather than just Cliff, but now I fear I've driven this whole thread off a ...
Edit: in the interests of bringing it back to hoops, please enjoy this pic of Clifford Ray and Dave Cowens.
I was trying to stick to people who actually go by Clifford (or Stormy) rather than just Cliff, but now I fear I've driven this whole thread off a ...
Edit: in the interests of bringing it back to hoops, please enjoy this pic of Clifford Ray and Dave Cowens.
He left the Celtics to become the Sr VP of Basketball Ops which was a step up from his role with the Celtics organization. As soon as West took over that role it became obvious Doc's time in LA would be short.
It's about money and responsibility. If Orlando puts more than simply coaching on the table I'm sure Doc would jump at the opportunity.
Clifford was well-liked but was in a tough situation. Charlotte has been one of the worst run franchises over the last several years. They have sucked at drafting; too many top ten picks never turning into impact guys (MKG, Zeller, Kaminsky) or just complete busts (PJ Hairston, Voleh). Vonleh at least netted them Batum in a trade, but whatever value he gave them has been negated by Cho giving him that ridiculous contract. Monk is still too early to write off, but he was basically a zero this season for them.
The only good thing that franchise has done has been drafting Walker and then signing him to a sweetheart deal.
The only good thing that franchise has done has been drafting Walker and then signing him to a sweetheart deal.
Budenholzer lives a few houses down from me. If I see a “For Sale” sign in his yard I’ll let you know.
Doc is certainly an opportunist, I thought while in Boston he would say he didn’t want to be GM, then he took the Clippers job. I think Doc cares most about money and was using his reputation to secure that.
It was clear this year that Coach Bud wasn't committed to a full-scale reset of the Hawks - he did too much down the stretch to win too many games. But man, it's going to be awfully tough for Atlanta to find a better coach than him...and it stings not to be getting any compensation for his departure. At least the early signs are that the Hawks are looking at up-and-coming assistants (like Bud was himself) instead of retreads who have failed as head coaches before.
Things are looking good for the Grizz pick being a high one for us, as they are looking to keep Bickerstaff. He's not great and should help keep their win total down.
I know that the Horford/Millsap Hawks topped out as good but not great and that a rebuild was coming but I'm not a fan of Travis Schlenk's burn it down approach. That roster is completely bereft of talent and the one asset they did have (Budenholzer) is now gone. It's going to take five years to get them back into a competitive position.
Wouldn't NY have to move two of Kanter, Noah, Hardaway to get anywhere close to enough space? Good luck with that
The article discusses the moves they’d need to make. They claim it wouldn’t be hard. But they can’t make them without some kind of word from LBJ. Which won’t happen.
Sources: Spurs assistant Becky Hammon interviewing for Bucks coaching vacancy
Good for her. I hope she gets it.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23407719/becky-hammon-san-antonio-spurs-assistant-interview-milwaukee-bucks-opening
Good for her. I hope she gets it.
It'd be pretty shocking, she's the 4th assistant in SA and has no other experience. This is a good step for her though. I'd guess someone else gets it, and at least 1 of the other SA assistants get a job and she moves up. It'd be big for her to get some kind of international job. That helped Igor get the Suns job, helps Larranega and Messina.
This just the Yankees fan side of NY. They will just get the best player out there, easy, problem solved.
I got mocked in the playoff thread for suggesting this, but Casey likely out in Toronto:
https://www.tsn.ca/talent/sources-raptors-leaning-towards-coaching-change-1.1079529
https://www.tsn.ca/talent/sources-raptors-leaning-towards-coaching-change-1.1079529
I can't imagine Hammon being a legitimate candidate at this stage of her career after being behind Messina and Borrego on Popovich's assistant tree last season. Pretty obviously a PR move by Milwaukee here but good for Becky to face a live interview process to prepare her for the day if/when she has the credentials to be a Head Coach candidate.
I expect him to opt-out for sure while locking into a long-term deal. He could surely get a James Johnson-like 4/$60m out of the Knicks should they wish to retain him or be the target of a rebuilding team currently under the cap to put up numbers for them while putting a competitive product on the floor.
Back to back first round exits with home court advantage, a good showing in 2015-2016, and back to back sweeps where his teams didn't bother showing up against Cleveland--with the latter being when they had a clear path to the finals--I'd have been surprised (though far from shocked) had he kept his job. They've been a pretty consistent disappointment in the playoffs.
Interesting, I'd be really surprised if Kanter opted out.
With teams going smaller and smaller every year in the playoffs, it's tough to play a center who can't switch, and can't space the floor. I'd be really surprised if a team stepped up to pay that much for a guy to just pile up numbers on a bad team.
I don't think he gets either four years or a salary near 15M on his next contract.
The Knicks should celebrate if he opts out.
The only forwards or centers under contract available to begin next season should Kanter opt-out would be Lance Thomas and Joaquim Noah. If he opts-out as I expect I can't imagine the Knicks being happy at all as they would either have to eat up cap space for the summer of '19 to retain him or have to fill major frontcourt holes in FA anyway. Having Kanter play out his contract when the team is desperate for both offense and bigs, and really even forwards to play the 3 or 4, while preserving space for the summer of '19 would seem to be their optimal result. I just don't see how that makes any sense for Kanter though coming off such a strong year at age 25.
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