Category: Rumors & Gossip (Page 75 of 225)

      Jackson not willing to take big pay cut?

      May 26, 2010 /

      I wrote earlier today about Jackson’s willingness to field questions about his future in the middle of the Western Conference Finals, and now CBSSports is reporting that a person close to Jackson believes that the coach would be unwilling to take a major pay cut to stay with the Lakers.

      While Jackson reiterated his hunch Tuesday that there’s a 90 percent chance he’ll either be coaching the Lakers next season or retiring, a person with close ties to Jackson told CBSSports.com that it’s too early to set odds. If Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss insists on a massive pay cut, the person said, Jackson would not return. Published reports have indicated that Buss is seeking to pay Jackson $5 million next season, a pay cut of $7 million.

      The source close to Jackson indicated that the question of how much Jackson’s pay would be reduced is, to some degree, semantics. Given that he is close to retirement age, a significant portion of Jackson’s salary could be deferred in the form of retirement benefits that he would see without penalty in two years.

      Another person with knowledge of Jackson’s situation said it would be difficult to imagine him leaving the Lakers with Kobe Bryant in the prime of his career and having just signed a three-year extension. The person equated it to overtures that frequently came Jackson’s way when he coached Michael Jordan in Chicago, saying Jackson never would’ve left Jordan in his prime, either.

      But one of those sources said circumstances could change with the possibility of Jackson becoming bait to lure LeBron James to the Bulls, who have maximum salary-cap space to sign him and a quality roster that Jackson views favorably. The person said the Jackson/LeBron situation was plausible, considering Jackson would have the chance to complete a potentially irresistible trifecta – coaching Jordan and Bryant, and then capping his career with James.

      The bit about the “irresistible trifecta” is interesting. Jackson has been fortunate in that he has been in a position to coach some of the league’s greatest players, but if he were able to join forces with LeBron and win his 11th (or 12th) NBA title, it would certainly cap what has already been a remarkable career. Yes, he has been fortunate in the quality of player that he has coached, but it takes more than great players to win championships, and Jackson’s ability to manage massive egos and get 12 players pointed in the same direction is, for lack of a better word, uncanny.

      He’s not going to grind out 50+ wins with an inferior roster like Jerry Sloan does year in and year out, but if Jackson has the most talented roster, he’s a good bet to be the last coach standing at the end of the postseason.

      And that’s probably worth $12 million a season.


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      Phil Jackson not interested in coaching the Bulls

      May 26, 2010 /

      Before last night’s Game 4, Phil Jackson shot down the rumors about a possible return to Chicago.

      “I have no, at all, desire to go back to Chicago and coach the Bulls,” Jackson said, responding to an ESPN.com report from Monday night that the Bulls had reached out to Jackson through back channels to gauge his interest in a return.

      Jackson went on to say that the “probabilities are great” that he’d be coaching the Lakers next season, though the franchise has made it clear that they expect him to take a pay cut.

      The timing of this is curious. The Lakers are still in the playoffs, and Jackson is fielding questions about his 2010-11 salary and a possible job change. Sometimes he gets caught up in using the media to tweak his players or tweaking the media just for fun, but there’s a possibility that this is becoming a distraction to a Laker team that came to Phoenix looking invincible and is leaving the Valley of the Sun knotted in a 2-2 series and licking its proverbial wounds.

      With the media in a tizzy trying to predict the landing spot for LeBron James and several other big-name free agents, these questions are going to come up over and over again. Sometimes the best way to answer is just to say “no comment.”

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      The curse of the Coach of the Year award

      May 25, 2010 /

      DIME MAGAZINE noticed something very odd with the last few NBA COY winners…

      2005–06: Avery Johnson, Dallas Mavericks, 60–22 (Fired April 30, 2008)
      2006–07: Sam Mitchell, Toronto Raptors, 47–35 (Fired December 3, 2008)
      2007–08: Byron Scott, New Orleans Hornets, 56–26 (Fired November 12, 2009)
      2008–09: Mike Brown, Cleveland Cavaliers, 66–16 (Fired May 24, 2010)
      2009–10: Scott Brooks, Oklahoma City Thunder, 50–32 (???)

      They were all fired within two years. The post goes on to speculate that the reason behind this trend is heightened expectations and I tend to agree. I’d go a step further, however. The award often goes to a coach who “got the most out of his team” (i.e. the team played “over their heads”). When this kind of outlier occurs, it’s far more likely that the team will return to the mean instead of continuing to develop into an NBA champion.

      In other words, all it takes is one bad/mediocre season and the guy is a bum again. And with 30 teams vying for a championship, a bad/mediocre season is far more likely than a great one.


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      The Knicks’ plan to woo LeBron

      May 25, 2010 /

      Chad Ford wrote an interesting article with a look at the Knicks’ plan for this summer. An Insider subscription is required, so I’ll refrain from excerpting, but here’s how the plan goes…

      The first angle is that LeBron (or Dwyane Wade) will get to play alongside another superstar. According to Ford’s sources, Plan A is LeBron and Chris Bosh, Plan B is Wade and Bosh and Plan C is LeBron and Wade. The Knicks see Bosh as an ideal fit along either wing player due to his ability to stretch the floor with his jumper. If they can’t get Bosh? Look for the Knicks to make a run at a certain seven-foot German who plans to opt out of his contract in Dallas.

      The next pitch is that the Knicks’ supporting cast is not as bad as it seems. Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Bill Walker and Toney Douglas can all shoot, and the Knicks think that once a couple of big names are on board, there will be a few solid vets (like Grant Hill?) who will be willing to play on the cheap in order to have a chance at a ring.

      Thirdly, the Knicks will use Mike D’Antoni, who is familiar with LeBron, Bosh and Wade from his time as Team USA assistant, as their leading pitchman. They think that once he starts diagramming plays, he’ll convince these stars that he can make best use of their respective talents.

      Lastly, the Knicks will talk about what a championship would mean to the city of New York. No one can usurp Michael Jordan in Chicago, and Miami’s fans aren’t die-hard like Knicks fans. If you win a title, you will own the world’s greatest city. That’s a pretty strong pitch.

      Needless to say, it’s going to be a pretty interesting summer. One thing that might make the dominoes fall a little faster is the fact that most of the top free agents — LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Nowitzki, Joe Johnson, Rudy Gay, etc. — are sitting at home right now watching the playoffs. They have time to consider their options, recruit each other, talk to teams through back channels and form some sort of plan for July 1. The #1 domino is LeBron, and he’s going to have plenty of time to figure out where he’s headed. Once he decides, the pieces may fall into place pretty quickly.


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      Wizards already trying to move Arenas?

      May 25, 2010 /

      Former Washington Times reporter John Mitchell thinks so…

      The Washington Wizards are going to use their number one draft pick to select John Wall, the freshman point guard out of the University of Kentucky. They see Wall as the cornerstone of the franchise for at least “the next decade”, which is why they are going to do everything in their power to prevent the player from ever sharing a locker room with controversial guard Gilbert Arenas, according to two league sources with knowledge of the team’s future plans.

      According to one source with intimate knowledge of the team’s plans, the Wizards front office, headed up by President Ernie Grunfeld, doesn’t want Arenas – released earlier this month from a Washington DC halfway house after serving 30 days for a felony gun conviction – anywhere near Wall, whom the team has already decided it will select with the top pick in the June draft. After Arenas was convicted Grunfeld traded away four starters.

      One source tagged Arenas as “the reason why a core of players that reached the playoffs” on multiple occasions had to be broken up, “and it was entirely due to what he did. He poisoned the team. He is a cancer.”

      The Wizards’ options include trying to trade Arenas, who has four years and more than $80 million in salary remaining on his contract. But that is not the only option. According to a source the team will “definitely consider buying out” Arenas’ contract. This flies in the face of the public position the Wizards have taken with Arenas.

      Trading Arenas before next season is not going to be easy. We’re talking about a 28-year-old, shoot-first point guard with knee problems, a contract that still has four years and $80 million remaining, and a propensity to bring loaded firearms into work. Needless to say, in this economy, it’s going to be very tough to move him.

      How much would it take to buy him out? And if the Wizards have to resort to that, why are they keeping the man that signed him to this ridiculous contract, general manager Ernie Grunfeld, on board? Instead of taking a cautious approach with Arenas, who was coming off of knee surgery two seasons ago, Grunfeld panicked swung for the fences and offered him a contract that no other team would even dream of.

      One team that could potentially use Arenas’s services are the Knicks. Once they sign their two “big-name” free agents — whether it’s LeBron James and Chris Bosh or Rudy Gay and David Lee — they could trade Eddy Curry’s expiring contract for Arenas. Once the Knicks have their two stars locked up, they’re probably not going to care how far over the cap they go. Owner James Dolan will do what it takes to build a winner, and if Arenas looks like he’s still All-Star caliber, they may pull the trigger.

      (Note to Knicks fans: I don’t think acquiring Arenas is a good idea.)

      But that raises the question — how long will the Wizards wait? Arenas missed the last few months of last season and teams will want to see how he plays before taking on his monstrous contract and adding his quirky personality to their locker room. How does this happen if the Wizards are intent on keeping Arenas and Wall apart?


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