All anyone wants to talk about in the NBA today is LeBron and the air conditioning in San Antonio. Speculate, theorize, whatever you want about whether how suspicious the timing of the malfunction was and what might have happened had LeBron played at the end of the game, but no matter what, mocking an injury, even one as temporary (and thus perceived to be non-serious) as cramps, is not what’s known as “taking the high road.” There’s no reason Spurs fans shouldn’t be happy, since their team won and LeBron will be fine long-term, but you can celebrate a win without poking fun at LeBron. This really shouldn’t have to be said, honestly, but apparently it does.
Now on to the rest of the news from around the NBA (and there’s a lot of it):
JAZZ HIRE QUIN SNYDER AS COACH
Jody Genessy of the Deseret News:
Meet your new head coach, Utah Jazz fans: Quin Snyder.
One n in his first name. Two majors and advanced degrees from Duke University. Three Final Four appearances as a point guard with the Blue Devils. Four previous jobs in the NBA, including with the Clippers, Sixers, Lakers and Hawks.
Five on the list of Jazz coaches since the franchise moved to Utah in 1979, following in the footsteps of Tyrone Corbin, Jerry Sloan, Frank Layden and Tom Nissalke.
Six gigs in the past five years, including this new one and stops in Atlanta, Moscow, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Austin, Texas.
And the list of accolades, accomplishments, trivial tidbits, flowing hair references and, yes, questions go on about the past of this former Missouri coach, who will be formally introduced to Utah in a Saturday morning press conference.
…
Snyder received multiple votes of confidence from former Jazz players on Atlanta. Forward DeMarre Carroll, who’s credited Quin for helping his footwork, shot and overall game, tweeted, “Big (shout out) to my friend/coach Quin Snyder on getting the Utah Jazz job. #Jazznation you all have gotten a great COACH. Trust me!!! ##blessed.”
All-Star Paul Millsap also gave Snyder some public love on Twitter, congratulating him and adding, “The Jazz are getting a great coach and person.”
Snyder also received high praise from former NBA coach Doug Collins, his boss in Philly who once told USA Today that he’s “one of the best basketball minds I’ve ever been around.”
FLIP SAUNDERS RETURNS TO COACH WOLVES; WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR LOVE?
Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
There wasn’t any doubt that Timberwolves President Flip Saunders was dying to get back into coaching, despite the insistence of owner Glen Taylor that he wouldn’t allow Saunders to do both jobs.
The one exception in Saunders’ mind was if he could get a superstar coach to guide the Wolves. And Saunders said he tried, starting out with his former ESPN colleague Jeff Van Gundy.
“The first guy that I went to and tried to get was Jeff Van Gundy. He was the first guy,” Saunders said Thursday, when word came out that he would coach the Wolves next season. “… He’s a guy that Glen and I were comfortable [with] and would have hired him off the bat. I feel like he’s the best coach, the best coach out there and has a lot of the same philosophies.
“As Jeff said to me, I talked to him this morning, and he said, ‘Whenever I go somewhere I want to feel that I’m the right guy for that job.’ He said, ‘The reason I didn’t go to Minnesota was because I felt you were the right guy for the job, not me, and I was uncomfortable.’ ”
Tuesday, Saunders and Taylor met in Mankato. Taylor gave Saunders permission to coach if he so desired and after talking to a number of advisers, Saunders decided to take over.
“I would say within the last 48 hours [I decided],” Saunders said. “I went down to Glen on Tuesday with the idea that I gave him options. I said, ‘These are the viable coaches we can go after.’ In different situations some of those coaches might have been the right coach, but for where we’re at and the type of team we have, where we’re at and the whole situation, we just weren’t ready to go that way.”
Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe:
“It was the only thing Flip could do to keep Love,” one league source said. “He put all his chips on the table.”
If the Timberwolves reach the playoffs next season, there is always the chance that Love decides to stay instead of opting out of his contract next summer.
But league sources doubt anything will keep Love in Minnesota. “Gone,” another league source said of Love.
So Saunders’s main issue very likely remains the same: Either trade Love between this offseason and the February trade deadline or risk losing him without receiving any compensation in return.
Under the circumstances, it’s believed that in his expanded role, Saunders, who previously coached the team for 10 seasons, could be more selective about potential deals.
“Flip probably as coach and [general manager] will now only listen to really good trade scenarios that help Minnesota rather than feeling like they need to move him for the best deal prior to the draft or free agency when he was only the GM,” a league source said.
As coach, naturally Saunders would be more directly responsible for wins and losses, leading league sources to believe that he’d likely prefer proven players over draft picks in a potential swap, thinking more short term than long term.
CAVS LOOKING AT DAVID BLATT?
Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
An NBA source said Blatt is one of a number of coaches the Cavs have spoken to, but that no interview has been scheduled. At least part of the reason is that Blatt’s team is still playing in Israel. He was in the United States this week because his father died in Phoenix. He also has spoken to Golden State and Minnesota about assistant coaching positions. It’s possible Minnesota coach Flip Saunders is looking at Blatt as his eventual successor.
The Cavs have not commented on their coaching search, and Blatt’s agent, Mike Tannenbaum, did not return a message seeking comment.
Blatt, 55, a Massachusetts native who played for Pete Carril at Princeton, is widely viewed as an offensive genius after playing and coaching overseas for more than 30 years. He just led Maccabi Tel Aviv to a come-from-behind victory over CSKA Moscow in the Euroleague semifinals and an upset victory over Real Madrid for the championship. He also coached Russia to a bronze medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The Cavs’ Sergey Karasev played on that team.
7’3 WALTER TAVARES HEADING STATESIDE?
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports:
Walter Tavares, one of the best 7-foot prospects in the world, is working on a contract buyout with his team in the Spanish ACB League and will travel soon to the United States to work out for several NBA teams, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Several NBA executives believe Tavares, who is 7-foot-3, has a strong chance to work himself into the first round of this month’s NBA draft, and several teams choosing in the range of the 20s plan to bring him in for closer inspections, sources said.
Agent Andy Miller will represent Tavares, 22, in the NBA.
Tavares doesn’t have a formal agreement on a buyout with Gran Canaria of the Spanish ACB, but there is momentum toward that end, sources said.
Tavares maintains a most amazing story: Before his 17th birthday growing up on the tiny island of Cape Verde, he had never played basketball. A tourist discovered him, recommended him to a Spanish ACB team in the Canary Islands, and soon Tavares was whisked away to learn the game of basketball.
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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.