Tag: Brian Windhorst

Windhorst pod: Mark Daigneault ‘deserves legitimate Coach of the Year attention’

Mark Daigneault for Coach of the Year? The OKC Thunder have a losing record, but this came up on Brian Windhorst’s podcast.

In a recent episode of “Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective” podcast, the panelists brought up an interesting point about the Oklahoma City Thunder and Chicago Bulls.

At the time, OKC had a 20-27 record. The Bulls were 19-27. Yet Chicago had just traded multiple first-round picks to go all-in for a playoff chase, while Oklahoma City was shutting down Al Horford. The Thunder organization was trying to follow its plan to tank, but their on-court performance was making it hard.

“Mark Daigneault, the coach of the Thunder, I think deserves legitimate Coach of the Year attention,” said analyst Tim Bontemps. “They’re winning games, to (Tim) MacMahon’s point, with lineups that should not be winning games.”

The Thunder were projected to finish the season with 15 wins. They’re already at 20. Players who other teams either didn’t want or didn’t consider important parts of their future were traded to the Thunder, including Horford, Kenrich Williams and Ty Jerome. All of three have been solid contributors or better for OKC.

Young players have stepped up. Moses Brown, who played nine games for the Portland Trail Blazers last season before joining on a two-way contract, has broken out in his second year. Isaiah Roby is impressing with a variety of skills. Theo Maledon and Aleksej Pokusevski have grown as rookies.

When the starting lineup was in, the Thunder failed to lose consistently enough to ensure itself a top pick. Even with a losing record, some think this has earned Daigneault Coach of the Year buzz. Or maybe, he’s actually doing a terrible job?

“No, their coach should be fired. He is completely failing to execute the obvious strategy of the franchise,” MacMahon joked.

The group on the podcast laughed at this. Horford has been benched. Shi Gilgeous-Alexander is out until at least mid-April. Darius Bazley’s shoulder contusion has prevented him from returning in a timely fashion. If the Thunder continue to win without them, what other avenues can the organization use to tank?

“They’re going to bench their coach,” MacMahon laughed.

“Mark Daigneault is going to leave, he has personal (problems), he may not return,” Windhorst added, jokingly.

Daigneault is not going to win the 2021 Coach of the Year award while the Thunder have a losing record. It’s likely going to be Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder, unless Monty Williams can elevate the Phoenix Suns over the Jazz to the top of the Western Conference standings.

But Daigneault has been coaching so well, some national analysts are starting to say he deserves to at least be mentioned when talking about the best coaches of the 2020-21 season.

[lawrence-related id=443783,443664]

[listicle id=443764]

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst was met with skepticism when he said LeBron has started recruiting Steph Curry

That fell apart quickly.

As the Brooklyn Nets have loaded up on NBA All-Stars in an effort to beat LeBron James’ Lakers, it only seems reasonable for the Lakers to have a plan of their own.

But could that plan include a run at the best shooter in NBA history? ESPN’s Brian Windhorst at least tried to suggest that possibility.

In his own podcast this week, Windhorst said that LeBron had started recruiting Steph Curry as recently as the All-Star Game. The two were on the same All-Star team with LeBron selecting Curry with is second pick. LeBron also seemingly made a point to praise Curry throughout the weekend.

Still, the notion of Steph leaving the Warriors to play with a 38-year-old LeBron was quickly dismissed by Marc Spears and Nick Friedell on the Hoop Collective podcast.

Windhorst said, trying to defend the story amid a chorus of “not happening” on the podcast:

“LeBron started recruiting him at the All-Star break. … Fine. He gets a lot of guys too. I’m just saying, Steph is eligible for a contract extension. Just to be clear: Steph is eligible for a contract extension this summer, and LeBron started recruiting him at the All-Star break.”

It’s never a good sign when you’re getting laughed at by your own colleagues, but even if Steph would look to leave Golden State, he won’t be able to do so until after next season. It’s hard to see how the 2021 All-Star break would impact that decision 16 months later.

https://youtu.be/VB1zpeaqoQE

Windhorst: Sixers star Ben Simmons is ‘available’ in any trade scenario

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reports that Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons is, in fact, available for any trades.

The Philadelphia 76ers are one of the top teams in the league led by a young star duo in Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. The team has had a lot of success in the regular season with them leading the way, but they have yet to have a breakthrough in the East.

With Daryl Morey in tow as the team’s new President of Basketball Operations, there has been a lot of thought that he would trade one of the two stars in order to find better fits. He is a guy who has a reputation of being one of the more active front office members in terms of making trades so it makes sense.

The big trade rumor has been that the Sixers would send Simmons to the Houston Rockets for disgruntled superstar James Harden. A report came out that Simmons was available in Harden trade talks, but Morey then denied that report saying that the team is firm in their stance of wanting to keep Simmons.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst then hopped on his podcast, “The Hoop Collective” and he believes that claim is a little phony:

Daryl Morey, in my view, and this is not a character assassination, it’s just a statement, he is not credible with what he says publicly about his trade intention. He comes out the other day and says, ‘We’re not going to trade Ben Simmons’. I do not find that credible. In addition to the fact that very good reporters have reported that Ben Simmons is available and I’ve heard myself that Ben Simmons is available.

The Sixers seem to be doing everything they can on their end to be sure that Simmons is fine and to douse the fires a bit. Along with Morey’s claim, coach Doc Rivers called Simmons to let him know that he will not be traded. Whether the team goes back on their word or not remains another storyline to watch with this team that was already worth watching to begin with. [lawrence-related id=40427,40423,40418]

When re-signing Paul George, Thunder gave him trade option, Windhorst said

The Oklahoma City Thunder apparently told Paul George that if he signed an extension, they would honor a trade request if he made one.

[jwplayer uloPlAaR-z6KDnl0B]

In July 2018, Paul George signed a contract extension with the Oklahoma City Thunder, cutting off any speculation that he may have intended to move come free agency.

Apparently, there was some behind-the-scenes negotiations that assured George he wouldn’t be stuck in a situation he did not want.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on his podcast that Oklahoma City told George that if he were to want to be traded, the organization would acquiesce and do its best to work with him to land in a desirable spot.

Windhorst said:

“From what I understand, basically the Thunder told him, ‘Paul, re-sign with us and if you feel like you want to move on, come to us and we will work together with you to accommodate you. Which is in fact what happened.”

That’s exactly what happened. Twelve months later, George was on his way to Los Angeles after it became clear to him that Kawhi Leonard would join the Clippers with him if the two could team up together.

While that situation may sound like George had all the power, the organization had a reason for doing it. This helped incentivize George to stay. If he didn’t have that assurance, there’s a chance he may not have signed the extension. At least, that’s the general gist of Windhorst’s conversation, which turned into the podcast group discussing whether the Milwaukee Bucks may consider a similar promise with Giannis Antetokounmpo.

After all that, there aren’t any hard feelings between parties. George got to the team he wanted and the Thunder recouped enough picks and players that his absence was minimized.

It was a deal gone right, perhaps in part due to that interesting stipulation.

[lawrence-related id=438657,438614]

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on the NBA’s plan to return to basketball

ESPN reports that whenever the NBA is cleared to resume, teams could have a 25-day window to prepare.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has stated that the league will not begin to consider a potential restart to the 2019-2020 NBA season until May 1st, but the league is formulating a plan for teams to get back into action should medical experts clear the league to resume play.

The NBA season was suspended on March 12th, and with no one able to accurately predict when it will be safe for players to get back on the court, the delay is already causing scheduling issues for the upcoming NBA Draft and the 2020-2021 season. NBA teams reportedly want the league to delay the draft until after the current season has fully concluded, which means we could see a draft occur in August or later.

Hypothetically, even if conditions were different and teams were able to return to work, we wouldn’t see games for a month. According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the NBA is considering a 25-day preparation window where players would be able to work out individually, and then move into a team training camp before games take place.

“They’re spending a lot of time getting a back to basketball plan ready. They hope they get to use it. And talking to executives and trainers around the league, what they’re looking at is a 25-day return to basketball window, hopefully at some point they can enact it. An 11-day series of individual workouts, where there’d be social distancing for a period of time, and then hopefully if the clearance comes that they can play 5-on-5 basketball, a 14-day training camp.”

Windhorst also reports that teams are worried about potential injuries whenever the season resumes, as many players do not have access to a court and have not been able to practice due to the crisis.

 

“They are really concerned about injuries on players. Some people I’ve seen compare this to the lockout back in 2011, but that’s just not accurate because a lot of these guys aren’t playing basketball. Yeah if you have a great house with a beautiful indoor gym, or you have access to something like that you are playing by yourself, maybe, but in the lockout these guys were playing exhibitions and stuff. The trainers and medical personnel are really worried if there’s a restart that there could be injuries, even in the practices leading up.”

[vertical-gallery id=907651]

[jwplayer 9sfA0lkZ-q2aasYxh]

On ESPN’s The Hoop Collective podcast, …

On ESPN’s The Hoop Collective podcast, he said he was “scolded” by the league and the Players Association for his pessimistic outlook on the situation. From the 29:00 mark of the pod: “I’ve swing from optimism to pessimism, and I’ve been scolded by both the league office and the union for being pessimistic. Scolded!… Sometimes you do things and the league is like, ‘You know what, we really appreciated that, that was great’, and sometimes you ruin their day. That’s just how it goes.”

League, union pushing back on reports of pessimism around NBA return

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst expressed pessimism about the NBA’s return, but he says he was scolded by two sides of the league’s power structure.

Over the weekend there was some considerable pessimism around the NBA about the possibility of salvaging the season and crowning a 2020 Champion, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. But as the week has progressed, Windhorst himself said on the Hoop Collective Podcast that he has been “scolded,” by both the league itself and the player’s union.

Here’s how Windhorst described those conversations, as transcribed by RealGM.

“I’ve spent every day for the last 10 or 15 days talking to people in the league about what it will take to get to return to play,” said Windhorst. “I have heard so many different opinions for so many different things. I don’t know if it makes someone who is aware or my mind is too cluttered. I’ve swung from optimism to pessimism and I’ve been scolded by both the league office and the union for being pessimistic. Scolded!”

Taken with the news out of China last week that they were once again pushing back the start of the return to basketball or professional sports, Windhorst’s reporting did not seem out of the question of irrational. With billions of dollars at stake for both the league and players, as well as the competitiveness many have to finish a season they started, you can understand why they would be upset. However, the public health crisis has to subside in some way for anything to return, even if it’s a made for TV event with no fans.

[lawrence-related id=28992,28986]

Report: Teams trying to gauge availability, price of Sixers’ Joel Embiid

It’s unlikely the Philadealphia Sixers are even considering it, but teams are reportedly doing their due diligence in case Joel Embiid does become available.

Executives in the NBA have reportedly been exploring the availability and cost of Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.

Trading the star center and the face of The Process is an unlikely move, but teams are doing their due diligence with the questionable fit of him, Ben Simmons and Al Horford.

“One of the conversations people are starting to have in the league is ‘Will they move Embiid? What’s the price? Where would he go?'” Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective podcast.

Windhorst made clear that Embiid is not available right now, using phrases including teams “prepar(ing) in advance” and Embiid “potentially coming to market, whether that’s true or not.”

But for a player of Embiid’s talent, if there are even rumblings of discontent on the team, others around the league would be foolish to not ask about it.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the Sixers are entertaining offers.

“I don’t think they would do that without making an adjustment to the head coach,” Windhorst said.

Speculation about trade availability stems from the lack of spacing when Embiid, Simmons and Horford are on the court together.

Of Simmons’ 593 shots, 560 have come within nine feet of the basket. Embiid expands his range further, with only 256 shots coming within nine feet, but he’s statistically one of the best post-up men in the league and would ideally be down low more: He has the most possessions and points in the post by a large margin and is top-10 in points per possession in the post.

Horford, meanwhile, has taken more of his shots 25 to 29 feet away from the basket than any other range, but he’s shooting just 34% from there. He’s made more than 56% of his 189 shots within nine feet.

With all that said, if a team has a pair of All-Stars and All-Defensive stalwarts, it’s almost certainly not going to break them up.

“It’s a problem that a lot of GMs would like to have, if it is a problem,” general manager Elton Brand to Sixers Wire’s Ky Carlin on Saturday. “They’re two All-Stars, we just need to figure out how these pieces fit.

The Sixers have been to two Eastern Conference Semifinals in a row and was four wild bounces from getting overtime in game seven last year. They added Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III at the trade deadline, both of whom are good 3-point shooters.

They enter Monday 33-21.

Windhorst doesn’t say the Sixers are even considering trading either of their stars.

But he does say the fact there are questions floating around isn’t a good thing for Philadelphia.

“It’s such a radical thing, but the fact that we’re in mid-February and the people who work in the league, who have to prepare in advance, are mulling over Joel Embiid potentially coming to market, whether that’s true or not … the fact people are talking about it, is not good,” Windhorst said. “It’s a symptom of where they are.”

[lawrence-related id=25292,25269]

Windhorst: If Jrue Holiday is made available, there would be a ‘bidding war’

Will Jrue Holiday be available at the Trade Deadline? ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Brian Windhorst debated the merits of New Orleans trading him.

One of the things ESPN’s Brian Windhorst associates with Jrue Holiday is the point guard’s defense of Damian Lillard in the New Orleans Pelicans’ sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2018 playoffs.

Windhorst recalled this series while talking about Holiday on a trade deadline-focused edition of the Lowe Post on Monday to describe just why a team would want him.

“If they made Jrue Holiday available, there would be a bidding war,” Windhorst said.

Yet Windhorst and podcast host Zach Lowe were unsure of the Pelicans’ plans for the guard.

“I don’t really know what’s going to happen with Jrue Holiday,” Lowe said. “He’s the sexiest name that is allegedly on the market; I just can’t tell how much on the market he really is.”

Windhorst also seemed to think the Pelicans aren’t looking to trade Holiday. New Orleans attributed early-season struggles to their youth, Windhorst said, and Derrick Favors re-joining the team in mid-December helped stabilize them.

If anything, Windhorst thinks, they’re looking to add a veteran, not subtract one.

But if the Pelicans do announce they’ll listen to offers, there would be immediate interest.

Windhorst and Lowe named the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets as specific teams that Holiday would make sense on.

“If I’m Miami and I traded for Jrue Holiday by Thursday, I’m thinking I have a chance to win the East this year,” Windhorst said.

With that said, neither were sure how trade packages would work out and what the Pelicans would see as a helpful move for the present along with the future.

With the entire New Orleans ensemble showing good ball handling abilities and high IQ, Lowe noted, Holiday is a great fit who doesn’t demand high usage. However, as he’s 29, there’s logic in New Orleans flipping him if they could receive multiple first-round picks and a plug-and-play role player to fit in with the younger corps.

Windhorst leaned toward keeping Holiday, qualifying his speculation with “by the way, I would not trade him.”

Holiday has two years left on his contract with the Pelicans, the second of which is a player option worth more than $26 million.

With New Orleans creeping toward the Memphis Grizzlies’ eighth seed and the trade deadline on Thursday, the team will have to decide quickly if they’re going to be sellers — and at what cost it would take.

[lawrence-related id=20170,20155,20129]