So you’ve been following this latest Jason Kidd debacle today, right? In case you haven’t, here’s the rundown:
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports:
After a failed power play in Brooklyn, Nets coach Jason Kidd has entered into serious negotiations to become president of basketball operations for the Milwaukee Bucks, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Kidd made a failed coup to Brooklyn’s Russian ownership to usurp the power of Nets general manager Billy King – and failed spectacularly. The Nets and Bucks are discussing compensation for Milwaukee hiring Kidd away, which will likely include second-round draft picks, sources told Yahoo Sports.
“The Russians are done with Kidd,” one high-ranking league source told Yahoo Sports on Saturday night.
Former Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins – who had been considered as an early season replacement for a foundering Kidd – is a strong early candidate to be hired as coach should Kidd leave, sources said.
The New York Post first reported the failed power play and talks with Bucks.
More that inspired Kidd power play — Steve Kerr, Derek Fisher hired at higher pay grade. “That got him — especially Fisher,” source said.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 29, 2014
–Kidd’s reassignment of Lawrence Frank was the first break between ownership and management on one side and Kidd on the other. Kidd while not directly involved in the negotiations that led to Frank’s huge salary pressed for his hiring. It still stings not just because of the $1 million per year salary (and bonuses) but because of the embarrassment factor.
–One of the final straws for Nets ownership came when Kidd advocated for a trade with the Bucks that would sent Brook Lopez and Mirza Teletovic to Milwaukee for the deeply troubled Larry Sanders and Ersan Ilyasova. The suggestion, mostly about Kidd’s belief that Lopez couldn’t fit in his system, was considered and rejected by the Nets brass.
–Kidd was angered by the Nets decision to trade for Marcus Thornton rather than Jarrett Jack, who he believed would have been a better fit. Nets ownership believe that Kidd’s ultimate ambition was to dump Billy King, with whom ownership remains quite satisfied. Kidd believes that King and Nets ownership do not have a long term plan and are too opportunistic.
Reaction pouring in from other 29 teams is mix of eye-rolling at Kidd, out-and-out laughter, shock even among cynics that he’d pull this.
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) June 29, 2014
Veteran head coaches Lionel Hollins and George Karl would be serious candidates for the position, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Hollins, who took the Grizzlies to the Western Conference finals in 2013 and remains in the running for the Los Angeles Lakers job, is seen as the early front-runner. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the process.
…
Lasry’s apparent desire to bring Kidd into the Bucks’ new fold led to the power play in Brooklyn, with two people with knowledge of the Nets’ situation saying that team officials thought Kidd already had the Milwaukee job in hand before asking for the promotion. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the process. His abrupt exit is expected to transpire in the coming days, though it’s likely the Nets and Bucks will have to come to an agreement regarding compensation. Kidd signed a four-year, $10.5 million deal with Brooklyn last summer.
As of 1:30 a.m. Sunday, the teams are still haggling over compensation, with the Nets reported to be dead set on a first-round pick and the Bucks only offering a second. However, nobody seems to think Kidd will ever coach another game in Brooklyn.
Here’s the rest of Sunday’s news and all the latest rumors from around the NBA:
BIG THREE TALKING ABOUT CONTRACTS TOGETHER:
The talks between the three players is the strongest indication yet that James plans to re-sign with the Heat after he becomes a free agent on Tuesday. Unlike in 2010 when all three took nearly identical contracts, the discussions this time have included the possibility that James would draw the highest salary among the three, sources said.
James, 29, has never been the single highest-paid player on his team in his 11-year NBA career.
Under league rules, players are not allowed to negotiate new contracts with their teams until July 1. However, there is nothing preventing the players from working it out among themselves, and cutting up the Heat’s upcoming record $55 million in available cap space is believed to have been a major part of the discussion when Wade, James and Bosh held a meeting last week in Miami.
HAWKS, RAPTORS MAKE TRADE
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports:
The Atlanta Hawks are clearing salary cap space for free agency, trading away Lou Williams and 2013 first-round pick Lucas Nogueira to Toronto Raptors for John Salmons, a leagues sources told Yahoo Sports.
Salmons has a $7 million team option for the 2014-15 season, which the Hawks will terminate with a $1 million buyout on Monday, league sources said.
Williams gives the Raptors a veteran guard and some depth and insurance should they fail to re-sign free agent guard Kyle Lowry. Nogueira, a 7-foot Brazilian, was the 16th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft, and played in the Spanish ACB League this season. He’s a young, active center who’s considered a long-term project.
MELO PLANS FA VISITS, BULLS FIRST
Carmelo Anthony is planning to meet with the Chicago Bulls in Chicago on the opening day of free agency after the NBA’s offseason market officially opens Tuesday at 12:01 a.m., according to sources familiar with Anthony’s plans.
Sources told ESPN.com that Anthony is in the process of arranging a trip to Chicago to meet with the Bulls, then intends to travel to Texas for Wednesday meetings with both the Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks.
Sources say Anthony is likely to visit the Rockets first on Wednesday, followed by the Mavericks in the afternoon.
Anthony, who maintains an offseason home in Los Angeles, is also expected to meet with the Los Angeles Lakers face-to-face next week.
SUNS PLAN UNIQUE PITCH FOR LEBRON
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports:
Armed with an offer that no else in the NBA can make – a chance to partner with Carmelo Anthony on an instant championship contender – the Phoenix Suns are planning an aggressive pursuit of LeBron James on Tuesday, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Suns officials understand the bid will be something of a long shot, but are determined to get a meeting with James to convince him how the possibilities of two full max contracts, a roster stocked with talented, young players and the chance to pick the superstar free-agent partner of his choice ought to make Phoenix one of his most appealing suitors.
Phoenix is determined to emerge as a legitimate destination for James and Anthony, who have privately shared an affinity for playing with each other in the NBA. Salary-cap structures make it prohibitive for teams elsewhere to fit these two stars together without completely gutting a roster, but Phoenix’s general manager Ryan McDonough has constructed a far different reality to sell them in potential meetings next week, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
The Suns have $33.5 million in salary-cap space and could shed the next $10 million needed to sign James and Anthony to maximum contracts without unloading the young core of guards Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic and center Miles Plumlee that pushed the franchise to 48 victories in the Western Conference last season.
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.