Over the last couple days, it looked like the Grizzlies were this year’s Nuggets: a playoff team undergoing massive front office shakeup and losing their well-regarded coach.
Today, they’re still down a couple executives (though by many accounts, not Masai Ujiri-caliber), but in an unexpected move, it looks like coach Dave Joerger is sticking around.
How unexpected? Well, let’s look at a couple pieces that came out earlier today.
First, from Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor interviewed Dave Joerger for 2½ hours on Saturday, the next step toward the Memphis Grizzlies coach and Minnesota native becoming the team’s 11th head coach.
Taylor smiled when later asked about a meeting that brought two small-town Minnesotans from separate generations together.
“Real good,” Taylor said.
…
The Wolves asked for — and received — permission from Memphis last week after the Grizzlies owner swept two executives, including the man who hired Joerger last summer, out of the team’s front office on Monday.
With Joerger wanting out of an organization undergoing such change and the Grizzlies apparently wanting him to go, he has become the clear front-runner for a vacant job that opened when Wolves coach Rick Adelman retired last month after season’s end.
Contract terms with Joerger have not been discussed, and neither has any compensation the Grizzlies might seek, Taylor said Saturday night.
Those appear to be the two hurdles left in a process in which the Wolves have interviewed, among others, former Toronto Raptors coach Sam Mitchell and Hollins and are believed to have gauged the interest of college coaches Tom Izzo, Fred Hoiberg and Billy Donovan.
When asked what the process’ next step is, Taylor said it’s up to Flip Saunders, Wolves president of basketball operations, to decide whether he wants to talk again with other candidates or interview any new candidates. The Wolves will begin bringing prospects for the June 26 draft into town this week.
The Grizzlies likely will ask the Wolves for cash or a draft pick or picks as compensation to sign a coach who’s under contract for two more years. But considering the Grizzlies probably owe Joerger at least $4 million if they want to hire a new coach, the Wolves — who have three second-round picks in next month’s draft — will be hesitant to provide anything.
And next, from Marc Stein of ESPN.com:
One of the prime options under consideration by the Memphis Grizzlies in the wake of last week’s management shakeup and the looming departure of Dave Joerger to the Minnesota Timberwolves is making a run at Jeff Van Gundy to be their coach and run their front office, according to NBA coaching sources.
Sources told ESPN.com that the Grizzlies have serious interest in trying to convince Van Gundy to serve as coach and team president in a job structure modeled after the new dual role brother Stan Van Gundy has secured with the Detroit Pistons.
Jeff Van Gundy’s interest in that sort of undertaking — or the Grizzlies specifically in the wake of all their recent turmoil — is unclear, with the former New York Knicks and Houston Rockets coach and current ESPN analyst consistent in his reluctance to publicly discuss job openings. But after the ousting of CEO Jason Levien and with Joerger poised to leave, the immediate challenge for Grizzlies owner Robert Pera is convincing prospective candidates that they’ll be walking into a stable situation.
Other names on Memphis’ list of potential coach hires, sources say, include Los Angeles Clippers assistant coach Alvin Gentry and ESPN analyst George Karl, both of whom interviewed for the post before Joerger’s hiring. Sources say Gentry has already interviewed for the job openings with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Utah Jazz this month.
The Grizzlies technically still have a coach, but coaching sources continue to describe Joerger’s move to Minnesota to succeed Rick Adelman with the Timberwolves as an inevitability. ESPN.com reported Thursday that the Wolves had made “significant progress” in their bid to hire Joerger away from Memphis, which sources say continued Saturday after Joerger met face-to-face with Wolves owner Glen Taylor.
And then a few hours ago, this came out from Zgoda:
Coaching superagent Warren LeGarie just texted me this message: “Dave has decided to stay in Memphis.”
Dave, of course, is his client, Memphis coach Dave Joerger, who spent 2 1/2 hours interviewing with Wolves owner Glen Taylor Saturday in Minneapolis after he interviewed with Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders on Thursday.
So is it real?
Or is it big-time negotating plain and simple?
Two sources close to the situation assure me it is real, that the Grizzlies never intended to let Joerger go without some very real compensation — swapping the teams’ first-round picks (Wolves own No. 13, Grizzles No. 22, plus perhaps more — that the Wolves aren’t willing to give and that Memphis owner Robert Pera has assured Joerger he wants him to stay.
So it looks like the Grizzlies won’t be going through with that JVG plan (though they could go after him as an executive, I guess). As for the Wolves, Sam Mitchell has gotten a lot of buzz in connection with the job, and Fred Hoiberg has ties to the franchise (but doesn’t seem like he wants to leave Iowa State). The other big-name college coaches (Tom Izzo, Billy Donovan) seem equally reluctant to leave, which means the Wolves’ chances of landing a big name are slim to none.
Here’s the buzz on the rest of the coaching carousel at the moment:
Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake City Tribune:
One has orchestrated fast-pace offenses that have run through opponents in the West. The other has helped organize one of the league’s stingiest defenses.
Both have caught the eye of the Utah Jazz.
Los Angeles Clippers associate head coach Alvin Gentry and Chicago Bulls assistant coach Adrian Griffin have both garnered serious interest from the Jazz’s front office, according to multiple reports, as the team continues its search for Ty Corbin’s replacement.
Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey keeps his short list of candidates close to the vest. He’s also not about to hurry a decision, even if Golden State and Detroit have already filled coaching vacancies and a half dozen other teams are still combing for coaches.
“We’re not going to talk about who and what and when and where,” Lindsey said. “But we’re very comfortable with the level of coach that’s out there, people with good character that supports what they do. I think we’ll come up with a good coach.”
So far, Gentry and Griffin seem to have the inside track.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports:
Lionel Hollins has emerged as a candidate for the Los Angeles Lakers’ coaching job, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Lakers management plans to interview Hollins later this week, league sources said.
After meeting with two candidates with Lakers ties – Mike Dunleavy and Byron Scott – Hollins is an intriguing inclusion in the process. He’s the first candidate who doesn’t have a history with the organization, but, of the three, he has the most recent track record of success in the league.
In his final three years as head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies, Hollins reached the playoffs three times – including a trip to the Western Conference finals and conference semifinals. As a player, Hollins won a championship with the Blazers in 1977 and was named an All-Star in 1978.
Hollins’ history of strong defensive preparation and results, as well as a serious-minded leadership style, assuredly will appeal to Lakers star Kobe Bryant. Like Lakers management, Bryant is hopeful of the team finding a proven head coach with a winning track record.
Los Angeles Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue will interview for the Cleveland Cavaliers’ head-coaching job late next week, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
The Cavaliers had closely examined the college ranks for a head coach, and are now looking at the landscape of NBA assistant coaches and former head coaches.
Cleveland’s opening has grown more appealing with the franchise winning the draft lottery for third time in four years. The Cavaliers have a chance to draft a potential franchise cornerstone with the No. 1 overall pick to go with All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving.
In five years as an assistant under coach Doc Rivers with the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers, Lue has developed into one of the NBA’s most well-regarded young head-coaching prospects.
FOR PREVIOUS BLOGS, CLICK HERE
Dan Malone has finally finished his journalism degree at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is now a reporter at the Bryan Times in northwest Ohio. He blogs, edits and learns things on the fly for Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on Twitter.
This piece of writing gives clear idea designed for the new viewers of
blogging, that genuinely how to do running a blog.
It has seen that most of the people fail to identify
whether the diamond is actual or replica, hence the certification is fairly
important. We simply love HardX. News Now reported actress model
and sometimes-troubled movie star Lindsay Lohan spend Monday on the sand wearing nothing but
an electric blue bikini. Hard X now, Among the
various styles of the bikini that are available in the market,
this one is sure to classify you as the sizzling-hot preferred babe on a beach.
Chicks tend in order to give often be on interest your girlfriend thinking
enjoying at just 45 degree incline with the bottom.
Interview with Michael Evans, International Modeling Agent, MPE Model Management – how he.
Airplanes today are commonly employed, not just for flying, but for war and coaching reasons.