Portland Trail Blazers Wiretap

Trade rumors continue to swirl around Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. With the Bucks self-imposed deadline of having clarity by the 2026 NBA Draft being roughly three weeks away, the market for Antetokounmpo may be clarifying a bit.

The Miami Heat are seen as the frontrunners to land Antetokounmpo if he's traded. Many around the NBA believe that this trade process ultimately ends with the superstar forward landing in Miami. There has been long-standing mutual interest between Antetokounmpo and the Heat.

Both the Oklahoma City Thunder and New York Knicks could be options for Antetokounmpo as well. The Knicks are playing in the NBA Finals, and their interest may have lessened. It's also unclear what approach the Thunder will take to the offseason after falling short in their quest to win back-to-back titles.

The Portland Trail Blazers have also been mentioned as potential Antetokounmpo suitors. The Trail Blazers control future Bucks first-round picks as a result of the Damian Lillard trade. However, Antetokounmpo would like to stay in the Eastern Conference, which makes a trade to Portland less likely.

Rick Adelman has passed away at the age of 79. Adelman was best known for his two trips to the Finals as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers in 1990 and 1992. Adelman also led the Sacramento Kings to the cusp of the Finals in 2002. Adelman's final coaching stint came with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2014.

Adelman was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021 and was awarded the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.

Adelman's son, David Adelman, is currently the head coach of the Denver Nuggets.

"The Sacramento Kings organization is deeply saddened by the passing of Rick Adelman, a beloved coach whose leadership, character, and vision helped define an era of Kings basketball that inspired our city and captivated fans around the world," the Kings said in a statement Monday. "During his eight seasons in Sacramento, he led the team to unprecedented success and helped create some of the most memorable moments in franchise history."

The Atlanta Hawks, Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers are all believed to have "legitimate trade interest" in Jaylen Brown should the Boston Celtics make him available.

Brown has three years and $183 million remaining on his five-year, $304 million contract extension with the Boston Celtics. Brown can sign a two-year extension this offseason. Brown cannot become a free agent until 2029 and is represented by Jason Glushon.

Brown was a Second Team All-NBA selection this season as the Celtics outperformed expectations in the regular season before their seven-game elimination in the first round to the Philadelphia 76ers. Brown helped keep the Celtics near the top of the Eastern Conference despite not getting Jayson Tatum back from his Achilles tear until March along with the exits of Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet. 

The Hawks, Rockets and Blazers each have a number of tradeable first round picks that could create an enticing trade package for the Celtics. Boston has also been linked with Giannis Antetokounmpo and sending out Brown in a trade could see him go to one of those teams instead of the Milwaukee Bucks, who will presumably look toward a rebuild. 

Boston Celtics assistant Tyler Lashbrook and Utah Jazz assistant Mike Williams have advanced to the latter stages of the Portland Trail Blazers' head coach search, according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line.

The two join Tiago Splitter, Jeff Van Gundy and Micah Nori as finalists for the job.

Candidates will fly into Portland this weekend for in-person interviews. 

Tiago Splitter, Jeff Van Gundy and Micah Nori are the three known finalists for the Portland Trail Blazers head coaching vacancy. The Blazers are searching for a replacement for Chauncey Billups, who was arrested on federal charges in October. Splitter filled in for Billups on an interim basis.

Van Gundy returned to coaching as an assistant with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2024 after a lengthy broadcasting career with ESPN. Van Gundy was most recently ya head coach with the Houston Rockets before he was fired in 2007.

Nori is a longtime assistant coach under Chris Finch with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Nori has been considered a finalist for previous head coaching jobs that eventually went to other candidates. 

The Portland Trail Blazers reportedly laid off more than 70 employees as the team undergoes a reorganization under new owner Tom Dundon.

"As part of our plans to position the organization for the future, we made the difficult decision to restructure several areas of the business," Blazers president Dewayne Hankins told The Oregonian in a statement. "These changes impacted talented people who have helped shape the Trail Blazers over many years. We are deeply grateful for their contributions, their leadership and the care they showed every day for our team, our fans and the Portland community. Our focus now is supporting those affected through the transition and positioning the organization for long-term success."

Dundon has been criticized for cutting costs after purchasing the team, including not bringing two-way players on playoff road trips.

It was also reported in April that Dundon is not looking to spend more than $1.5 million on a new head coach.

With Tiago Splitter unlikely to receive the full-time head coach position, the Blazers have interviewed Rockets' assistant Ben Sullivan and Nuggets' assistant Jared Dudley.

The Portland Trail Blazers are continuing their search for their next head coach by looking at current NBA assistant coaches. One coach would like a second chance in Portland is Terry Stotts. After recently leaving his role as an assistant coach on Steve Kerr's staff with the Golden State Warriors, Stotts has let it be known that he'd like to be the Trail Blazers coach again.

“I would love to come back to the Blazers and Portland,” Stotts reportedly texted longtime Blazers reporter Dwight Jaynes. It was also reported by Jaynes that Stotts had his agent reach out to Portland to express his interest in the job.

Stotts was the Trail Blazers coach for nine seasons from 2012 to 2021. He amassed a 402-318 regular season record, while leading Portland to eight consecutive playoff appearances from 2014 to 2021.

Veteran guard Jrue Holiday has moved around a lot in recent years. In the last few years, Holiday has been traded from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Portland Trail Blazers to the Boston Celtics then back to the Trail Blazers. Now, Holiday hopes to stay in Portland long-term.

"I hope so. I don’t like being traded and moved and stuff," Holiday said when asked if he hopes to stay with the Blazers. "I like being a part of something and building with the team and seeing the progress and going through the progress with them. So I hope so. I’d love to be here.

"Honestly, just kind of how we ended the season, fighting and clawing, knowing that we have a team that has proven ourselves to some extent to be a playoff team. We have a good mix of older gentlemen and then young guys that are still hungry. You hear them. They’re still in the gym now and it’s been two days (since) we lost in the playoffs. So I’m really excited for that."

Portland is entering the offseason with a logjam at the guard position. In addition to Holiday, the Trail Blazers have Scoot Henderson heading into the final season of his rookie scale contract and Shaedon Sharpe starting his four-year extension. The Blazers will also have Damian Lillard in the lineup, as he missed the entirety of last season while recovering from a torn Achilles' tendon.

That amount of talent in the backcourt, along with Holiday's significant salary, has led to speculation that Portland could look to move the veteran guard. If Holiday has his way, he'll stick around to help the Trail Blazers continue to climb up the Western Conference standings.

The Portland Trail Blazers interviewed Houston Rockets assistant coach Ben Sullivan and Denver Nuggets assistant coach Jared Dudley, sources told Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

Sullivan interviewed for the Suns job last summer.

Dudley was also an assistant for the Mavs.

It was reported on Thursday that Tiago Splitter is unlikely to receive the full-time coaching position with the Blazers. 

The Dallas Mavericks have named Mike Schmitz as General Manager, the team announced Friday. Schmitz will report to President Masai Ujiri and oversee day-to-day basketball operations and strategic planning.

Schmitz joins Dallas after serving as Assistant General Manager with the Portland Trail Blazers, where he contributed to player evaluation, scouting, roster strategy and organizational planning. He is widely regarded as one of the NBA's top talent evaluators.

"Mike is one of the most respected evaluators and basketball minds in the NBA," Ujiri said. "He brings intelligence, discipline, humility and a relentless work ethic to everything he does. Just as importantly, he understands how to build an aligned, collaborative culture across every part of a basketball organization. We are building something special in Dallas, and Mike will be a major part of that vision."

"Joining the Dallas Mavericks is an incredible opportunity," Schmitz said. "I have tremendous respect for Masai, this ownership group and the vision they have for the future of this franchise. I'm excited to get to work alongside the talented people already in place and help build a championship-caliber organization."

Before joining Portland in May 2022, Schmitz spent five years as a draft analyst for ESPN. He has served as an assistant coach for the Ugandan national team since 2018 and worked as a global scout for DraftExpress since 2012. He is a 2012 graduate of the University of Arizona.