The coach searching for many teams around the league has been well underway, with plenty of notable candidates vying for a position for next season.
As usual, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports has details. Here is the latest word about the Milwaukee Bucks:
The Milwaukee Bucks are bringing back three candidates to interview a second time for the franchise’s head coaching job, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. Atlanta Hawks coach Larry Drew, Houston Rockets assistant Kelvin Sampson and Los Angeles Lakers assistant Steve Clifford will meet with Bucks officials this week in Milwaukee, sources said. Clifford will visit Milwaukee again on Tuesday, and Sampson and Drew on Wednesday, league sources said.
That number dropped to two when Woj reported the following on Monday afternoon about Clifford:
The Charlotte Bobcats have reached an agreement in principle to hire Los Angeles Lakers assistant Steve Clifford as head coach, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
Clifford will sign a two-year deal with a team option for a third that could be worth approximately $6 million, league sources said.
Clifford replaces Mike Dunlap, who was fired after one season as coach. Charlotte went 21-61 in 2012-’13.
The Lakers assistant was a finalist for the Milwaukee Bucks head coaching job too, and Charlotte made a pre-emptive move to offer Clifford the job before he traveled to Milwaukee on Tuesday for a second interview.
With Lionel Hollins – a coveted coach that many teams have been waiting on – out of the playoff picture with Monday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs, we should start to hear plenty more rumors and get a better understanding of what’s to come next season in the coming weeks.
Also, with new ownership taking control of the Sacramento Kings, they are already in search of a new general manager, from Sam Amick of USA Today:
According to two people with knowledge of the situation, Ranadive has begun the process of finding a replacement for Kings President Geoff Petrie and is considering San Antonio Spurs President R.C. Buford, Golden State Warriors assistant general manager Travis Schlenk, and Memphis Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace. Former Indiana Pacers general manager David Morway may also receive consideration, and Ranadive’s internal list is not thought to be limited to this group. The people spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the search.
Onto other news from around the league:
Mavs and Rockets BOTH have to make some roster adjustments to have 20.5 Million available in cap space. However Rockets have a better and younger core team, after adding Chandler Parsons. If the cap is 58.5 million, they can only have 38 million in salary, after considering cap holds. Rockets would not pick up option on Garcia, and would sell off Royce White.
I believe the Howard people are trying to force Houston to offer the full 20.5 million by using Dallas as competition. He clearly isn’t returning to Lakers, with D’Antoni as coach, as he won’t be blamed for getting D’Antoni fired.