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Seven names to watch as potential next Nets coach

By Kurt HelinMar 8, 2020, 3:49 AM EDT
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Nobody saw this coming.

Kenny Atkinson is out as the coach of the Brooklyn Nets. Everyone with the Nets says this was a mutual parting of the ways, that Atkinson’s voice was no longer resonating with this team and he had soured on coaching Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Everyone not on the Nets payroll will point out that with the volume of turnover on the Brooklyn roster, it’s not that Atkinson’s message got old, it’s that some players didn’t like the blue-collar, everyone-is-held-accountable style. Fingers are pointed at Irving and Durant as pushing Atkinson out, the Nets have tried to deny that.

Bottom line: If Irving and Durant wanted Atkinson as their coach, he’d still be the coach.

This means whoever will be the next Brooklyn coach will get at least a behind-the-scenes nod of approval from the two superstars.

Who will be that coach? Here are seven names to watch:

1) Mark Jackson.

It’s easy to play connect the dots here: Durant’s friend and business partner Rich Kleiman is a big Mark Jackson fan. When Kleiman’s name came up as a possible Knicks president, it was reported he would quickly hire Jackson. Plus, Jackson is a Brooklyn native.

Currently, Jackson works as an ESPN/ABC game analyst, before that he was the head coach of the Golden State Warriors (before Steve Kerr). A lot of people within the Warriors credit Jackson for laying the foundation of the team’s championship defense, but those same people will note Jackson was not easy to work with and feuded with everyone from the front office to his assistant coaches. If Durant and Irving did not like the direct, technical style of Atkinson as coach, the more motivational, rah-rah style of Jackson may be the call.

2) Tyronn Lue.

This, along with Jackson, was one of the first names I heard pop up from league sources speculating about who would be next in Brooklyn. Lue has won a title as a coach and done it with Kyrie Irving as his point guard. Vincent Goodwill at Yahoo Sports reports Irving wants Lue to get the job.

A former player respected by current players and currently sitting on the bench in Los Angeles as a Doc Rivers assistant, Lue evolved into a better Xs and Os coach than his critics give him credit for. More importantly, Lue has proven he can coach superstars at the highest level of the game — that may count for a lot in Brooklyn.

3) Jason Kidd.

The greatest former Nets player coming home would be the marketing department’s dream, plus Kidd is incredibly respected by players. Like with Lue and Jackson, if the Nets are looking to make a break from the technical and direct coaching style of Atkinson, Kidd could be the answer. The challenge here is, Kidd already coached the Nets back in 2014, then tried to leverage his position into more power in the organization, when that failed he bolted for Milwaukee. Do the Nets want to go back down that road?

4) Jeff Van Gundy.

The current CBA stipulates Van Gundy’s name has to come up in every coaching search. At least it feels that way. The former Knicks coach has dipped his toes back in the active coaching ranks by taking over the USA Basketball squads that qualified Team USA for the World Cup last summer. Van Gundy would bring the clout and gravitas to coach Durant and Irving, the question is would they want him?

5) David Fizdale.

If the Nets want to stick it to their cross-town rivals, this might be the call. The Knicks hired Fizdale in part because he was respected by top players — specifically LeBron James and Dwyane Wade from their Heat days — and had relationships with elite players. New York mistakenly thought Fizdale cold help recruit those stars. Instead, Irving and Durant went to the Nets (which was not so much about Fizdale as ownership). The warning sign here is Fizdale has gone 28-95 his last three seasons as a coach (between the Grizzlies and Knicks).

6) Mike D’Antoni.

He currently has a job as head coach of the Houston Rockets, but he is in the final year of his contract and good luck finding anyone around the league who thinks he will be back next season. D’Antoni is a proven winner who has coached superstars, adapted his system to fit with the talent he has, and can handle the New York media. This is a coach who belongs in the Hall of Fame, but that’s different than saying Durant, Irving, and the Brooklyn organization want him.

7) Jacque Vaughn.

Never count out the guy who has the job now, it is possible that Vaughn earns the gig by getting this roster to excel. He does have experience as the head coach in Orlando and a lot of coaches do better on their second job, having learned the hard lessons the first time around. That said, he will not get to coach Durant or Irving, so it would take a lot of convincing to see him get the gig full time.

Bonus notes:

Tom Thibodeau’s name comes up any time there is a coaching vacancy, but this seems a poor fit. Thibs is the kind of old-school coach the Nets just fired, plus Thibs is reportedly lobbying for the Knicks job just over the bridge

Another name that comes up a lot, Spurs assistant Becky Hamon. This would be a surprise — not because she’s not ready or couldn’t handle it, but rather that the Nets would make this her first top job. Coaching Durant and Irving on a title contender (or a team that believes it is a title contender) is not an entry-level position. She will get her chance someday (probably), but this is not the landing spot.

Trail Blazers’ McCollum, Kings’ Len fined for altercation

Associated PressMar 8, 2020, 11:00 PM EDT
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NEW YORK (AP) Portland guard CJ McCollum was fined $20,000 and Sacramento forward/center Alex Len $15,000 by the NBA on Sunday for an

Saturday night in the Kings’ victory at Portland.

Both players were given technical fouls with 8:50 remaining in the third quarter.

McCollum was fined for shoving Len and attempting to escalate the altercation. Len was fined for shoving McCollum.

Lakers handle Clippers, secure mantle of best team in Los Angeles

Harry How/Getty Images
By Kurt HelinMar 8, 2020, 9:03 PM EDT
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LOS ANGELES — This past July belonged to the Clippers — they won the offseason landing Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Opening night belonged to the Clippers. Christmas Day belonged to the Clippers.

That sowed enough seeds of doubt in the Lakers’ faithful in Los Angeles that Sunday’s showdown with the Clippers — the final meaningful game between these teams before the playoffs — had the feel of a statement game. Even if everyone involved try to deny it was.

LeBron James made a statement. Undeniably.

He showed his team a roadmap to the Finals if these two teams — as expected — meet in the playoffs.

LeBron made it clear — between the Lakers beating the Bucks on Friday night behind his 37 points, and then the Clippers on Sunday — that the Lakers have to be counted as title favorites. LeBron also staked his MVP claim.

LeBron had 28 points and nine assists, breaking down the Clippers’ defense getting and into the paint, plus playing defense on Kawhi Leonard much of the night. Add in 30 points from Anthony Davis and a strong 24 points from Avery Bradley, and you get a 112-103 Lakers’ win over their building roommates on Sunday.

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes to win. If my teammates need me to take the challenge defensively, offensively, whatever, I’ll take it,” LeBron said. “My teammates asked me to do it this weekend and the rest is history.”

What LeBron did was attack — he had nine shot attempts in the restricted area and eight everywhere else (and six of those were threes, which you want him to take). He also got to the free-throw line 14 times and had nine assists, many of which came on drive-and-kicks. LeBron James got to the rim, was physical, and it set a tone.

“I thought they were the more physical team tonight,” Clippers’ coach Doc Rivers said. “I thought they were into their game plan more tonight. I thought they trusted each other more tonight. I thought it was a good lesson for us.”

The other thing LeBron did was go right at Lou Williams in the fourth quarter. The Lakers hunted and targeted Williams in the pick-and-roll, and with Montrezl Harrell as the center on the floor for much of that time, the Clippers lacked a rim-protecting big behind Williams. The Lakers dominated that matchup and Rivers stuck with it for much of the fourth quarter anyway (that should be one of their lessons for the postseason).

Anthony Davis had another strong game for Los Angeles, but it was the addition of a big offensive night from Bradley that separated the teams. The Lakers know they have the best duo in the league, but every night they need someone to step up and be that third star. Sunday it was Bradley.

“We know what we’re going to get from him defensively, but what he gave us offensively tonight was gigantic,” LeBron said. “Every time they made a run, or we needed a three, especially in the first quarter and the third quarter when he got hot… he was wonderful.”

For the Clippers, the lessons were about the level of player movement — and not just isolation basketball — they need against the best teams.

“I didn’t think we had a lot of ball movement today, I thought our offense let us down tonight more than our defense,” Rivers said. “We made too many defensive mistakes to recover to win a close game.”

The Clippers also got away from riding the hot hand. Paul George had been their best player through three quarters (he had 31 points for the game), then in the fourth he didn’t get a shot attempt until the game was inside two minutes. There were points when the Clippers had Leonard, George, and Marcus Morris all on the court and the shot ended up being a Montrezl Harrell isolation against Markieff Morris — not their best option.

“I thought we got good shots [in the fourth],” George said postgame. “We should have had just a little more player movement, which would have gotten the ball moving around. But that is just how the game goes.”

This game had the feeling of a playoff game from the start — and Staples Center sounded like a Laker home game when they made a big play. Most of those plays came from LeBron and Davis, who had 31 of the Lakers 49 first-half points.

The Lakers were down 53-49 at the half because of depth — Lakers not named James or Davis shot 29.1 percent in the first half and the Laker bench scored just eight points (compared to the Clippers 17). More than that, the Clippers were able to rest their stars at points and for a few minutes played an all bench lineup against a LeBron Laker lineup and held their own.

The real telling stat was that both teams were 2-14 from three in the first half.

The Lakers, behind Bradley, shot 6-of-10 from three to open the second half. Combine that with an attacking LeBron and the Lakers become a very difficult team to beat.

Especially four games out of seven. Which is ultimately what the Clippers have to do if they want to take the crown of the best team in Los Angeles.

Report: Memphis Grizzlies to sign Jontay Porter

(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
By Keith SmithMar 8, 2020, 6:30 PM EDT
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The Memphis Grizzlies are signing rookie big man Jontay Porter to a multi-year contract, per a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:

Porter went undrafted out of Missouri at the 2019 NBA Draft. He’s spent the entirety of this year rehabbing from a re-tear of his right ACL. Porter originally tore his ACL in October of 2018. He then re-tore the same ACL in March of 2019. That re-tear caused him to miss the entirety of the 2018-19 season at Missouri.

After winning SEC co-Sixth Man of the Year as a freshman, Porter initially entered the NBA Draft in 2018, but withdrew to return to Missouri for his sophomore season. Porter was expected to be a first-round pick, with many scouts and analysts having him tabbed as a lottery pick.

Porter tore his ACL during a scrimmage before his sophomore season. He then moved to Denver to rehab alongside his brother, Michael Porter Jr., as the then Nuggets rookie was rehabbing from a back injury suffered while he was at Missouri. It was during one of those rehab sessions that Porter re-tore his ACL. He subsequently decided to go pro, but NBA teams were scared off the prospect of drafting him with the knee injuries.

With the Grizzlies making a surprising playoff push, Porter essentially becomes Memphis’ 2020 first-round pick. The Grizzlies will likely send their first rounder to the Boston Celtics. That pick is protected 1-6, but is increasingly more likely to convey to Boston with each victory by Memphis.

At this point, it’s unclear if the Grizzlies are signing Porter using the Minimum Exception, which would limit the deal to two years in length. Memphis’ other option is to use the prorated remainder of their Bi-Annual Exception. That length of contract is still limited to two seasons, but would give Porter a slight bump in pay.

No matter how the Grizzlies are adding Porter, this is a solid no-risk, upside play for them. They get a look at a talented young player for very little money. If Porter pans out, he could fill the backup big man spot behind talented youngster Jaren Jackson Jr. and veteran Jonas Valanciunas. This is the sort of creative move that smart front offices make when they have limited resources available.

Giannis Antetokounmpo out at least two games with left knee sprain

(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
By Keith SmithMar 8, 2020, 4:24 PM EDT
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The Milwaukee Bucks announced today that Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered a minor joint capsule sprain in his left knee. Antetokounmpo will be out for the final two games of the team’s current road trip.

Antetokounmpo was injured during Friday night’s loss at the Los Angeles Lakers. He’ll now be out for Milwaukee’s games at Phoenix and at Denver. The Bucks said Antetokounmpo’s status for their home game against the Boston Celtics on March 12 will be updated later this week.

Milwaukee is currently atop the NBA with a record of 53-10. Antetokounmpo has missed six games previously this season, with the Bucks putting together a record of 5-1.

Over the course of the season, Antetokounmpo has averaged 29.6 points, 13.7 rebounds and 5.8 assists in just under 31 minutes per game. That stat-line, along with terrific defensive play, has Antetokounmpo making a case for a second-straight MVP award. In addition, he’s a leading contender to win Defensive Player of the Year.