Coaching Moves and Rumors

Knicks hire Jeff Hornacek. Surprise move as he was the one guy that never got mentioned in relation to NYK. I always liked Hornacek, thought he had one really great year in Phoenix (can't remember a squad that had so many Most Improved and Comeback candidates). The Suns experienced troubles after that but those troubles were zero percent Hornacek's fault, thought he handled himself as well as could be expected considering how badly the front office mangled things. Apparently Phil Jax was impressed with Hornacek's Jerry Sloan connection enough to give up his absurd triangle offense demands (dude, quit trying to make it a thing, it's not a thing, it's not coming back) and embrace some kind of two-guard scheme that Hornacek had back in the day with Bledsoe and Dragic (I just posted about NYK trading for Bledsoe, Dragic could be had too, no?). The Knicks will be active, they gots money for big splashy names. No way they get Durant, I can see them ending up with some combination of: Dwight Howard, Ryan Anderson, Mike Conley, Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe, Nerlens Noel, Greg Monroe. With or without Carmelo.

Magic hire Frank Vogel. I like Vogel, I think he's a good coaching, I think the Magic got a nice bunch of kids for him to work with. There's no Paul George in there but Aaron Gordon seems ready to become a bright shining star. Oladipo and Payton are sure handed guards, Vucevic is a beastly inside presence, that's a nice nucleus to start with. Throw in picks #11 and #41 and they might even have some young depth to go with a free agent pickup or two. I haven't been impressed with the Magic front office lately but hiring Vogel is a good sign. I'm back on board on the Magic youth movement now that Vogel has arrived.

Rockets might hire Mike D'antoni. Perhaps I'm jumping the gun on this but I think its a good fit if only because Harden in a D'antoni offense should be fun to watch. The Rockets will be shedding a lot of players this summer (Dwight Howard seems pretty gone to me, I think Terrence Jones, Josh Smiff, Motiejunas are probably gone, Jason Terry and maybe Corey Brewer moving on. But no matter happens, I guarantee James Harden will be handling the ball like 60% of the time, D'antoni knows that going in so I'm sure he's got a plan. This might not happen but if the Rockets do hire D'antoni I'd be pretty cool with it, it instantly makes the Rockets more interesting to watch next year.

Barcelona interested in David Blatt. There are tales that Blatt was quick to trumpet his European and International accomplishments when chided about being the new guy in the NBA, as if he'd been places and done stuff. I'm assuming, then, that Blatt knows better than anybody that Barcelona is a really good gig and if they want him, he should go. After getting unceremoniously dumped by Lebron just a coupla months ago (seems like ages since Blatt's been around), one can imagine that he has something to prove, that he really wants to coach in the NBA and be good at it. But what's he gonna do with the mash unit that is the Memphis Grizzlies? And if Lebron didn't love him, how's he gonna do in Houston with James Harden (I'm guessing not good)? Those are the last two NBA gigs left, so unless he wants to sit on Popovich's bench or Luke Walton's, I don't really see anything sexier than Barcelona within his grasp. He should go to Europe, live in a beautiful city, be the big dog, win a few more titles, the NBA will still be around--dude, Brooklyn will always be there as a reliably mediocre team with an overanxious trigger happy front office, there's always a chance in the NBA!

NBA Transactions

The Wolves announced Tom Thibodeau as the new GM/Coach. Personally I think they should've hired a badass GM first (not Sam Hinkie) and let him hire a coach, I just prefer keeping the positions separate. Thibodeau is a rugged taskmaster who will keep the kids in line and bring this crowd along. My first thought was: how does he wriggle Jimmy Butler out of Chicago? But looking over the numbers, he'd have to give away the entire bench and probably a few future draft picks, so I don't see that one happening (though it does appear that the Bulls are increasingly eager to move Butler). As it is now Thibs has a starting lineup of Rubio, LaVine, Wiggins, KAT, Gorgui with Shabazz, Bjelica, KG, the #5-ish pick and Payne off the bench. A nice crew for Thibs to work with. Personally I think Thibs might be too much for these guys but he's definitely a good coach and these guys are ready for him. Good hire.  

The Suns have officially named Earl Watson (3yrs/$?) to be their head coach. The emergence of Devin Booker will probably move Eric Bledsoe to the trade block (don't ya think?). But for now the starting five looks like Bledsoe, Booker, Tucker, Warren and Chandler with Knight, Len and Goodwin off the bench, in addition to 3 1st rd picks. There's upside but the Suns front office doesn't tend to leave well enough alone, so we'll see what he'll have to work with in the fall. 

The Wizards have offered their head coach position to Scott Brooks. Is this a move to lure Kevin Durant? I dunno, man, I don't have the impression that that would bring Durant to leave OKC. The Wizards have moves to make this summer, hard to know what they'll be come the start of next season but he'll have Wall, Beal and Gortat to build around and something we definitely learned this year: when Beal's healthy the Wizards are pretty good, when he's not they're kinda terrible. 

The Knicks are pretending to look for a coach but Phil Jax is gonna give a big money contract to Kurt Rambis, right? Man, who would've thought that Jackson was going to be worse for the Knicks than Isiah Thomas?

Coaching Moves

Scott Skiles is the new coach in Orlando.  Skiles is a legendary hardass but he's a well-respected man in the business, nails as a player and as a coach. The Magic are a young team, they probably need discipline and cohesion from the top down right now. Skiles seems like a pretty good choice to me. If he's successful tightening up this squad for the next 2-3 years, then the Magic could move on to a players' coach for the playoff push. Don't seem right but that's the business and Skiles knows exactly how it works; he's working the same side of the paradigm as the Magic management right now. The next phase is gonna be tough, they need a tough guy and they got one.

Thibodeau is out, Fred Hoiberg is in in Chicago. The rumors on this have been swirling for more than a year, right? It seems like Thibs was 'out' in Chicago numerous times in the last few years. Well, it finally happened. Is Hoiberg worth all this hubbub?  I got no idea.  Guess we'll find out. The Bulls are a conundrum: they spend roughly half the time underachieving and the other half overachieving. Good luck, Fred.

Where does Thibs go?  Apparently not New Orleans or Denver (and definitely not Orlando).  The rumor going around lately is that some NBA coach is going to get fired any minute--and no one sees it coming.  Lakers?  (Scott's just a well-paid caretaker, we all know that)  Suns? (Hornacek seems to be doing a good job but Phoenix sounds like a treacherous place, never know what management has up its sleeve)  Nets?  (I see no reason to fire the coach...but I see no reason not to)  Do any of these locales think they can lure Coach Thibs right now?  Yeah, I reckon the Lakers could afford to quadruple up Byron's severance package just to overpay the next guy and Thibs is good enough to be there so the marriage doesn't seem farfetched.