March 2016 Basketball Wiretap

Vivek Ranadive Most Intrigued By Kevin McHale In Kings' Coaching Search

Apr 30, 2016 11:02 PM

Vivek Ranadive is believed to be the most intrigued by the candidacy of Kevin McHale as the Sacramento Kings search for their next head coach.

McHale was fired at the start of this season by the Houston Rockets.

McHale has been cautious in his approach to the job as the Kings have gone through several coaches during the ownership tenure of Ranadive. 

McHale has broadcasting opportunities available to him should he decide to remain out of coaching.

Adrian Wojnarowski/The Vertical

Tags: Sacramento Kings, NBA, NBA Misc Rumor

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Patrick Ewing To Interview For Kings' Head Coaching Job

Apr 30, 2016 10:58 PM

Patrick Ewing will interview for the Sacramento Kings' head coaching vacancy.

Ewing is currently an assistant coach with the Charlotte Hornets.

Ewing has become a more serious candidate in recent seasons as he's taken on more responsibilities. Ewing has been an assistant coach with Steve Clifford, Stan Van Gundy and Jeff Van Gundy.

The Kings are intrigued by the possibility of having Ewing coach DeMarcus Cousins.

Sacramento VP of Basketball Operations Vlade Divac has expressed to people a desire to have three finalists to bring to ownership for a final round of interviews.

Adrian Wojnarowski/The Vertical

Tags: Charlotte Hornets, Sacramento Kings, NBA, NBA Misc Rumor

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Jacque Vaughn Agrees To Become Nets' Top Assistant Coach

Apr 30, 2016 8:46 PM

Jacque Vaughn is joining the Brooklyn Nets as the top assistant to new head coach Kenny Atkinson.

Vaughn was head coach of the Orlando Magic from 2012 until 2015, posting a 43-121 record.

Vaughn spent the 2015-16 season in the San Antonio Spurs’ front office as a pro personnel director.

Sean Marks worked closely with Vaughn during their shared time together with the Spurs.

Adrian Wojnarowski/The Vertical

Tags: San Antonio Spurs, Brooklyn Nets, NBA, NBA Misc Rumor

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Warriors To Replace Luke Walton From Outside Organization

Apr 30, 2016 5:15 PM

The Golden State Warriors plan on hiring a replacement for Luke Walton from outside the organization.

Walton has become the second member of the Warriors' coaching staff to get a head coaching job following Alvin Gentry with the New Orleans Pelicans.

Ron Adams is Steve Kerr's other top assistant and is not a candidate for other head coaching jobs.

David Blatt was a candidate to be an assistant coach with the Warriors in 2014 before he joined the Cleveland Cavaliers, but he isn't as certain of a target now.

Marc Stein/ESPN

Tags: Golden State Warriors, NBA, NBA Misc Rumor

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Luke Walton's Deal With Lakers Worth $25M Over Five Seasons

Apr 30, 2016 4:58 PM

Luke Walton agreed to a contract with the Los Angeles Lakers worth $25 million over five seasons.

Walton was the only candidate interviewed by the Lakers.

Walton emerged as one of the NBA's most coveted head coaches with how he led the Golden State Warriors on an interim basis when Steve Kerr was out.

Mike Bresnahan/Los Angeles Times

Tags: Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, NBA Misc Rumor

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Rockets Dispute Notion Chemistry Isn't Properly Considered

Apr 30, 2016 12:33 PM

Daryl Morey took responsibility for the Houston Rockets' disappointing season that ended in a five-game series loss to the Golden State Warriors as the eighth seed.

"This is on me," he said. "A lot of the guys we brought in didn't work out. That's on me. We're going to do better. We're going to get back to Rockets basketball. We're going to get back to winning."

Morey disputed the notion that he does not value chemistry.

"I think it's hugely important," Morey said. "I don't remember articles about how our chemistry was great last year. I don't remember articles last year that said how great our guys were together. That's a label people throw on a team when it's not going well. The reality is we didn't have enough guys playing together and playing well. Last year, we had a lot of guys playing well and playing together. It's the same group of guys. They had good chemistry. They just didn't play well.

"It's the convenient thing to say the chemistry is bad. We lost games. Everybody is trying to figure out why we lost games. The reality is our defense was a lot worse. That was guys not playing as well as we needed them to play."

Jonathan Feigen/Houston Chronicle

Tags: Houston Rockets, NBA, NBA Misc Rumor, NBA B-Ball IQ

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Daryl Morey Accuses Rival Teams Of Shaping Negative Stories About Rockets

Apr 30, 2016 12:20 PM

Daryl Morey defended the Houston Rockets' season from criticism and also accused other teams of planting or influencing stories about the team.

Morey believes the stories are a free agent ploy.

"It's been disappointing - and obviously we're all disappointed - that people are painting the season we just had and trying to make it into a larger thing than it is, which is one season that was disappointing in a sea of a lots of seasons that were successful," Morey said. "Not as successful as we want, but for sure not the entire negative environment that people are trying to paint.

"It's smart for other teams to try to paint us in a negative way. It's a very competitive free-agent situation. All the articles you see out there are other teams I think very smartly trying to paint our situation as negative. Being kicked while you're down is a smart situation by teams leaking things, trying to put stuff out there to make us look bad."

There were stories about players not wanting to play with James Harden.

"I think that's very smart, strategic positioning," Morey said. "I had to address that last year when a certain owner was painting our team in a bad light. This year is no different. I think it's very smart that other teams are trying to paint our players in a bad light. … James Harden, I don't know who wouldn't want to play with him. A top-five player in the league, unbelievable passer, unbelievable scorer. … Everything we hear is that people only want to play with him."

Jonathan Feigen/Houston Chronicle

Tags: Houston Rockets, NBA, NBA Misc Rumor

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Lakers Canceled Interview With Ettore Messina After Meeting With Walton

Apr 30, 2016 11:15 AM

The Los Angeles Lakers moved quickly on hiring Luke Walton as head coach after their interview with him on Thursday in Oakland.

The Lakers had plans to interview Ettore Messina at some point next week between Games 2 and 3 of the San Antonio Spurs' series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but they canceled following Walton's interview.

Walton and Messina quickly emerged as the top candidates for the Lakers' job after they fired Byron Scott.

Mark Medina/Los Angeles Daily News

Tags: Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, NBA, NBA Misc Rumor

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Paul Pierce '50-50' On Retiring

Apr 30, 2016 10:48 AM

Paul Pierce says he's "50-50" on whether he'll retire this offseason.

Pierce signed a three-year, $10 million contract with the Los Angeles Clippers last offseason.

Pierce struggled in his first season with the Clippers after a successful run in 14-15 with the Washington Wizards. Pierce's PER dropped from 15.1 with the Wizards to 8.2 with the Clippers and his minutes fell to under 20 per game.

Arash Markazi/ESPN

Tags: Paul Pierce, Los Angeles Clippers, NBA, NBA Misc Rumor

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Tyronn Lue Hasn't Signed New Contract As Cavs' Coach

Apr 30, 2016 10:02 AM

Tyronn Lue continues to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers without having signed a new contract since he took over for David Blatt.

Lue was already the league's top-paid assistant coach when he was added to Blatt's staff in the summer of 2014 with a four-year deal worth a total of $6.5 million.

The Cavs and Lue's representatives came to a verbal agreement on a renegotiated deal that would pay him $3 million prorated for 2015-16 and $3 million next season, with a team option for a third year at $3.5 million with a buyout.

There were no standards or stipulations for the verbal agreement.

Lue fully expects to remain head coach of the Cavaliers next season no matter the result of these playoffs. Lue also has no interest in vacancies with the Houston Rockets, New York Knicks or Sacramento Kings. The Cavaliers would have to grant permission to another team for Lue to interview.

Lue's reasoning for delaying an official agreement was respect and deference to Blatt.

Dave McMenamin/ESPN

Tags: Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA, NBA Misc Rumor

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Warriors Give Permission For Lakers To Interview Luke Walton

Marc Stein/ESPN

Kings Choose Ken Catanella To Be New Assistant General Manager

Marc Stein/ESPN

David Blatt Meets With Phil Jackson About Knicks' Job

Adrian Wojnarowski/The Vertical

David Morway, Kings No Longer Discussing Front Office Job

Adrian Wojnarowski/The Vertical

Dirk Nowitzki 'Definitely Won't Retire' This Season

Tim McMahon/ESPN

Jeanie Buss Did Not Know Byron Scott Would Be Let Go

Kristine Leahy/FS1

Chris Paul Undergoes Surgery on Right Hand, Re-Evaluated in 4-6 Weeks

Official Release From LA Clippers

Lakers To Consider Luke Walton, Jeff Van Gundy, Kevin Ollie, Ettore Messina

Adrian Wojnarowski/The Vertical

Lakers Fire Byron Scott

Adrian Wojnarowski/The Vertical

Knicks Have Trade Interest In Darren Collison

Ian Begley/ESPN

Kevin Garnett Waiting To See If 'Everyone Has Same Loyalty'

Marc Stein/ESPN

Dell Demps To Meet With Pelicans' Ownership, Expected To Keep Job

Scott Kushner/The Advocate

Seth Curry Declines $1M Option With Kings To Become Free Agent

Shams Charania/The Vertical

Ivan Rabb Remains Undecided On Draft

Connor Letourneau/San Francisco Chronicle

Jared Dudley Would Like To Re-Sign With Wizards But Wants Three-Year Deal

Jorge Castillo/Washington Post

Carmelo Anthony Skips Phil Jackson's Triangle Workshop

Marc Berman/New York Post

Kevin Durant Not Keen On Playing In Washington

Chris Mannix/The Vertical

Scott Brooks Agrees To Five-Year, $35M Deal With Wizards

Adrian Wojnarowski/The Vertical

Paul Pierce Will Decide Upon Possible Retirement After Season

Chris Mannix/The Vertical

Knicks Only Currently Considering Kurt Rambis, David Blatt

Ian Begley/ESPN