We’re into June, which means the playoffs are almost over and we’re coming up on the draft and free agency. Fittingly, today’s blog includes a lot of discussion of those two topics. For a look even further ahead, check out Adam Zagoria’s column on why the 2014 draft is even more exciting than this one coming up.
The other big topic right now is the coaching and front office shuffle. Some big names have already moved around, including Masai Ujiri to the Raptors, and some other teams still have moves to make. One team that was a little late getting into the game is the Kings, unsurprisingly considering their ownership situation. But they’ve made a coaching hire already, former Warriors assistant Mike Malone, and next up, as we’ll get to later, is a new GM.
Now let’s dive right into the latest NBA news and rumors on this first day of June.
Marc Stein of ESPN.com gives us the scoop on what the new Kings ownership is planning to do as far as management, and there are some big names in the discussion: “Memphis Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace has taken the early lead in the Sacramento Kings’ search for a new head of basketball operations, according to sources close to the process. Sources told ESPN.com that Wallace’s interview this week with new Kings owner Vivek Ranadive went well enough that it stretched into a second day. Yet Ranadive, according to sources, has not abandoned his interest in expanding the search to include other candidates, not even after highly regarded San Antonio Spurs president R.C. Buford publicly stated that he’s not interested in the position. ESPN.com reported earlier Friday that Ranadive, after his sit-downs with Jerry West-endorsed Wallace, will next interview longtime NBA coach and executive Mike Dunleavy for the GM job this weekend. And, furthermore, sources said late Friday, that Ranadive hasn’t abandoned hope of making a splashy Buford-type hire and has thus felt out former Indiana Pacers executive Larry Bird about his willingness to return to front-office work in Sacramento.”
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If bird comes back it’s to Indiana