2017-18 NBA Bric-a-Brac (Post-season)

The extended (player option)
Wesley Matthews (Mavs)
I believe this upcoming season will be for $18.6m and, uh, yeah, he's not getting that from any other team in the league, so no-brainer that he stays in Dallas. Helluva player....when he's healthy. Perhaps the Mavs get Doncic at #5, swing a move for Deandre Jordan, Dennis Smith takes off, Coach Carlyle is revitalized and Matthews has a great veteran season for Dirk's finale. Not impossible, the Mavs are a team that prefer winning to losing and this 'rebuilding' thing is not something they want to get used to, so if Matthews can stay healthy, never know, the Mavs might be a pleasant surprise next season.

Wesley Johnson (Clippers)
I believe he's coming back for $6.4m, which is probably a number he could outdo in most off-seasons. But this summer is gonna be tight, I think there will be more trades than splashy free agent moves, so Johnson is probably better off grabbing the money to stay in LA (which also positions him better to get traded). The Clippers were interesting this year, I think they'll make moves this summer, 50/50 whether Johnson actually plays with the Clippers next season.

Kosta Koufos (Kings)
I believe he'll be coming back for $8.7m, which is probably about right for Koufos. I watched the Kings a lot this year and I like Koufos, he fits the mix of vets/youth that they got going there (I thought Vince Carter was unnecessary and getting rid of George Hill was the #1 priority the minute they signed Hill last summer, but neither will be back, which is good). Koufos is a limited 4 (maybe 5 in a small lineup) but has pretty good hands, pretty good feet, knows where he's supposed to be, decent defender, decent rebounder and he's there night after night. He's a good professional player and I think the Kings are smart to keep him at a very reasonable number. I don't expect the Kings to be all that busy this summer, they've got a #2 pick to throw into the youth movement, maybe a random vet to replace Vince and Hill, but I don't expect major trades or moves from Sactown.


The extended (team option)
TJ McConnell (Sixers)
Great move! I watched the Sixers a lot this year and McConnell off the bench was one of my favorite things to watch all season--not just the playoffs. Look, teams need a 2nd string PG, he's not the guy that's gonna win you the championship or sell t-shirts, but he's a necessary part of a team's regular season rotation and having a really good backup PG is what the really good teams have (Shaun Livingston with Warriors, for example) and I think McConnell is one of the best backup PG's in the league. Indeed, I would've signed him longer. Rather picking up this option, I believe the Sixers could have extended him further: they could throw a 5yr/$24m deal at him (say $5m, $5m, $6m, $6m, $2m/player option in the 5th year), see if he says no. I love this guy, the fans love this guy, he's been through the process and he's gonna be a contributor for years to come, he gets the team and all the players and how they work and since I think his recognition with the fans is going to be a skewing factor in his value to the team, if I was the Sixers, I'd go ahead and groom him as an asst coach or front office guy. Great move by the Sixers.


The released
Jamal Crawford (Wolves)
I think he turned down his player option to return to the Wolves. A good divorce, I think. Signing him last summer was not a good move, playing him as much as they did was not a good move, bringing him back for another year would not have been a good move. Crawford maybe thinks he can still get paid to play basketball. He's one of those guys that to the average fan looks like an athlete, looks like a ball player, but real basketball nerds know this guy is just wasting shots out there. He's not a terrible player but Coach Thibs empowered him to do too much and the next team he goes to (he always seemed like a Memphis Grizzlie kinda player to me) would do well to rein him in.

Jordan Mickey (Heat), Tyler Cavanagh (Heat)
I remember Mickey at LSU, helluva rebounder. He's bounced around a bit in the NBA for the last coupla years but I don't recall ever seeing him play as a pro. And I don't know who Cavanagh is. I reckon they'll be both at Summer League.


The retired
Andrew Bogut (Lakers), Nick Collison (Thunder)
Yeah, Bogut reached his last bit of use a coupla years back for the Warriors. It's still kinda weird to see the Warriors without him in there, he was the initial building block of that squad. He was a smart player, a good player and he had a good career. Collison was a Sonic for life, that won't be forgotten. I suspect Collison will be a Thunder front office guy soon enough. Though I've long disparaged Udonis Haslem's presence in Miami, I've become a fan of the lingering veteran in recent years: I loved the way KG was used in Minnesota (til Thibs came along), I've been digging Dirk in Dallas and I guess San Antonio will squeeze a few more years out of Ginobli. Sometimes those guys need to be in uniform to have their influence, some guys don't translate into coaches or scouts or GM's. But some will move up the ladder just fine and I can see Collison being one of those guys, wouldn't be surprised if he's a coach or GM in the next few years.


The fired
Jeff Hornacek (Knicks)(4.12.18)
It wasn't that long ago that Hornacek was the talk for Coach of the Year in Phoenix. Then that front office blew up and left him holding the bag. Which replayed itself in New York. So is Hornacek a good coach sabotaged by crazy front offices or is he culpable in his firings? Who knows? At the moment Detroit and Toronto are the only openings; in the former Hornacek would be set up as another patsy, in the latter he becomes the next guy that wins in the regular season and gets destroyed by Lebron in the playoffs (....could work).

Frank Vogel (Magic) (4.12.18)
Vogel built a reputation as a defensive guru with the Pacers but when it came time to pay him like a guru, GM Larry Bird demurred, electing to let him ply his trade elsewhere. Orlando was not the ideal landing spot for Vogel because their roster management has been pretty awful the last few years. So now he's looking for a job. Oh well.

Steve Clifford (Hornets) (4.13.18)
Coach Cliff had some nice moments in Charlotte and some dud moments, hard to tell what kind of a coach he is or what kind of coach the Hornets need. Either way it's time for both coach and team to find out what they can do in some other context.

Mike Budenholzer (Hawks) (4.25.18)
Coach Bud was greatly admired for a while but the last coupla years were spent trying to restructure the Hawks roster with an eye to the future (....namely a future somewhere other than Atlanta for Bud). The Hawks have a coupla nice young players but they'll be in the bottom of the East for the foreseeable future. Probably best for coach and team to part ways.

Stan Van Gundy (Pistons) (5.7.18)
I wasn't sure whether the Pistons would fire Stan Van or not. The team itself is basically hamstrung by contracts for the next year, so they can either get a new coach for their new look now or let Stan Van play out the last year on his deal and part ways then. I dunno, it kinda doesn't feel like it matters either way. The Pistons as constituted are in play for the last few playoff spots in the East, the roster is solid if not spectacular, with good health and a consistent game plan, they should probably be a playoff team in the East and should certainly be above the bottom of the barrel. A new coach gives a new direction, a new form for the current players but the old coach is less expensive and takes most of the blame of the so-so team on the court. It was a tough call but the Pistons decided to move on and are now looking for a coach. As for Stan Van, I wouldn't be surprised to see him on ESPN next year.

Dwane Casey (Raptors) (5.11.18)
Coach Casey has been much embattled over the last few years in Toronto. I tend to think he's the best part of the Raptors and the worst part, too. He got them to a #1 seed this year by expertly handling his bench; but he got them spanked in the playoffs (again!) because he couldn't make adjustments or make use of that vaunted depth.  Oh well. I'm sure Casey will get another shot and there's a 50/50 chance he'll be good at it (Pistons could use a guy like Dwane).


The hired
JB Bickerstaff (Grizzlies) (4.27.18)
I watched the Grizzlies for zero minutes this past season. The Grizzlies are in a place where they're paying Marc Gasol, Mike Conley and Chandler Parsons an ungodly amount of money and have no bench whatsoever. They have the #4 pick in the coming draft, which should land them a somebody (if Michael Porter is still there at #4, Grizz should be all over him). I'd say Bickerstaff's job is to develop #4, figure out how to get anything out of Parsons and ease the Grizz faithful for the coming years of no more Conley or Gasol (still one of the tradebait-i-est players in the league). Bickerstaff was the interim last year, I guess he knows what he's in for, and considering that their 2019 1st round pick is top 8 protected, there's no pressing need to actually be any good next year.

Igor Kokoskov (Suns) (5.2.18)
The only detail from his resume that grabbed me: used to coach Luca Doncic in Europe. Personally I'm all in on Doncic, of everyone in this draft he is clearly the most likely to produce in the NBA, as close to a guarantee as you're gonna find. The Suns may well pass on him at #1 but I don't think they should and bringing Kokoskov indicates they won't. (And does this indicate an interest in French PG Elie Okobo at the #31?) I don't know Kokoskov but if he knows Doncic I've got to assume that's his selling point.

David Fizdale (Knicks) (5.3.18)
Fizdale was brought into Memphis a coupla years ago to pump some new blood into the old legs. But he clashed with the vets (Marc Gasol reportedly) and got forced out. Might not have been the worst move for his career. Now Fizdale is the new man-with-a-plan for Madison Square. He's got Porzingis, Nkilitina and the #9 pick to work with. Ehh, I think it'll be another rough year for the Knicks but if Fizdale can put his stamp on the team that would be impressive.

Hornets (James Borrego) (5.10.18)
Borrego has been as asst in San Antonio for the last three years but had a period of interim coaching duty with the Magic before that. I have no idea if he's the right guy for the Hornets. Seeing that Clifford had the same record the last two years in Charlotte kinda suggests that the Hornets are about a 36-win, don't ya think? If Borrego can get them to 45, he'd be a hero, but getting them to 40 might be enough for a playoff spot. The Hornets have moves to make this summer and up through next summer, this team could look totally different soon.

Lloyd Pierce (Hawks) (5.11.18)
I have no idea who Pierce is, I assume he specializes in developing the youth because that's what his job is gonna be for a while. The Hawks owe the Cavs a 1st roud pick but they're top-10 protected for the next two years; Atlanta should easily be in the bottom 10 next year, but the year after that is where they might have to put forth a little tanking effort to add another top ten pick to this roster. For this draft they have #3, #19, #30, #34, so they should be bringing in some interesting youth. If they were to Philly-like shut down that #3 pick for a year, they would pretty much guarantee a top ten pick next year and really give the youth movement a kick in 2019-20. I'm just sayin': I wouldn't be surprised if the Hawks really pulled out the stops to suck this year, like trading away Shroeder and Bazemore and shutting down Taurean Prince. We'll see, but I think it's gonna be another long year in Atlanta.

Mike Budenholzer (Bucks) (5.16.18)
Coach Bud has long been one of the darlings of the NBA nerd crowd and I never quite understod why. He led a coupla magical years (Teague, Korver, Caroll, Horford, Millsap really tore it up for a while) but one could argue he just got lucky and didn't navigate the aftermath all that well or you could say he was the architect who even perfectly constructed his own exit. Either way, he got the plum gig this year: coaching Giannis Antetokounpo. Nice! My gut is Coach Bud can go a long way to clear up inefficiencies on the offensive end and make Giannis the badass MVP he is clearly meant to be; and though I'm sanguine about the defensive end, if the Bucks score better then they'll be better and become a worthy foe for the Sixers, Celtics and Lebron. Though Bud's charms have been largely lost on me, I still think this is a good move, he's the right coach for this job.

Steve Clifford (Magic) (5.30.18)
Ehhhhhhh.....if I was a Magic fan, I don't think I'd be too excited about this. Coach Cliff was an asst there for many years, perhaps he's plugged in a way that I can't see, perhaps he is the guy to lead them and build a culture there for years to come. But....ehhhhh.....I dunno, man. This does not seem like the guy for this job. The Magic need a coach for the long haul, they need a coach that they get behind and stay behind. If Cliff is that guy, well...okay. But, if not, then he's just filling time until they find that guy.


The re-hired
Alvin Gentry (Pelicans) (4.23.18)
Blasting through the Blazers in the 1st round pretty well made this happen, I reckon. By all accounts, Gentry is an extremely affable guy in person and has done good things in the NBA over the years. The Pelicans live and die on their supporting cast and Gentry seems to do pretty well with them.

Brett Brown (Sixers) (5.29.18) (extended through 2021-22)
They brought in Brown as the tank commander in the early years of the Process and, personally, I'm glad they've committed to keeping him around during the next phase. I thought the Sixers got demonstrably better throughout the season, they built well on lessons learned and I think getting knocked around by the Celtics at the end was quite a lesson for them. We'll see how they grow going forward but I like Brown and I think it's good he's gonna get a chance to be there for it.

Pistons, Raptors still without a coach (though rumors are Dwane Casey could be the guy in Detroit).


Upstairs
Mikhail Prokhorov transferred 49% of Nets ownership to Joe Tsai; hired Pablo Prigioni, Tiago Splitter as assistants
Russian oligrachs always need money and I suspect Prokhorov just wasn't as into basketball as he thought he might be. He gambled big on KG and Pierce and lost, which sent the team into a tailspin for at least a few more years. He probably imagined owning an NBA team to be every bit as sexy fun as owning a Premiership squad or an NFL team but in the NBA when you fuck up the roster, it stays fucked up for a while. And it gets expensive. The Nets are just a tangible asset now rather than the toy chest he thought he was getting. Oh well, time for new blood.