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72-year-old Rod Thorn keeps on working

His title is NBA president of basketball operations — essentially, the No. 4 man in the league, replacing Stu Jackson — and his duties will be a bit different this go-round.

The reason is manpower and global reach: “When I left, we had maybe 11 or 12 people, and now … well, I haven’t counted them yet,” Thorn says. “But it involves all game operations, referees, scheduling, analytics and everything overseas, which has grown enormously. So it’s the same things, only a lot more of it.”

Yet, in some ways, it could be easier than the last time, when he spent hours a day watching videos of players gone wild, and being the arbiter in a daily game of crime and punishment.

“Nowadays,” Thorn says without amusement, “I think we have two or three people that just watch out for things like uniform violations.”

Reported by Dave D’Alessandro of the Newark Star-Ledger

Brett Brown praised by head coach of Hawks

76ers

Since Larry Brown left for Detroit after the 2002-03 season, the 76ers have tried seven different coaches to hold down the position. Seven coaches have been hired during the past 10 seasons, and seven have gone, from Randy Ayers to Doug Collins (with Chris Ford, Jim O’Brien, Maurice Cheeks, Tony DiLeo and Eddie Jordan in between). Cheeks lasted three seasons plus 23 games into a fourth. Collins had the second-longest tenure during that time, having stepped down in April after three seasons at the helm.

Yesterday, a source close to the situation confirmed to the Daily News that Brett Brown, who spent the past seven seasons on the bench as an assistant coach to Gregg Popovich in San Antonio, had reached an agreement in principle for a 4-year contract to become the eighth head coach in the past 11 seasons.

“He’s going to be a great coach, he’s really knowledgeable, has great energy, great vision at both ends of the court and a great way with players,” said Mike Budenholzer, who was an assistant with Brown in San Antonio before taking the Atlanta head coaching job in late May. “Players respect him. He’s demanding but they love him. He’s got a great sense of humor but he’s a great competitor, too. The competitive nature for Brett may be with his good nature, but he’s a tough, competitive dude and that’s more important to him than anything. In that city he’s a fit, because he’s blue-collar and he’s a tough dude. He’s a competitive person in every way, shape and form at every moment. At this level everyone is a competitor, but Brett has that extra level of competitiveness.”

Reported by Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News

Blake Ahearn signs basketball contract in Ukraine

Euroleague newcomer Budivelnik Kiev (in the Ukraine) signed combo guard Blake Ahearn, who has a shot to become the club’s go-to scorer. Ahearn (1.88 meters, 29 years old) is a well-traveled scorer, who has displayed his talents on three continents. He last played for Chinese club DongGuan New Century Leopards, for whom he averaged 23 points and 3.4 assists in 17 games last season. Ahearn has previously played in Europe for Estudiantes Madrid in Spain and Teramo Basket in Italy. The majority of his professional career has been in Ahearn’s native United States. He has played in the NBA for Miami, San Antonio and Utah and in the NBA D-League for Dakota, Austin, Bakersfield, Erie and Reno.

Reported by Euroleague.net

Jason Terry excited to play for Nets coach Jason Kidd

Jason Terry excited to play for Nets coach Jason Kidd

The player with perhaps the most interesting perspective on Jason Kidd as an NBA coach is new Nets guard Jason Terry, who just two years ago won a championship with Kidd as a backcourt mate with the Mavericks. Kidd will take over the Nets just months after being an active player with the Knicks, and there are concerns about whether he can lead a veteran team with championship aspirations.

Terry does not have those concerns.

“We were in about a two-hour film session in the playoffs in Portland and we couldn’t figure out one coverage in the zone,” Terry recalls. “J-Kidd was finally like, ‘We’re going to figure it out. Let me handle it. Coach [Rick] Carlisle, trust me, we’re going to get it done.’ That game we used a zone and ended up winning and that was an example right there that he was a coach and ready for the moment.”

Terry said the first thing he did when the trade was consummated was send a text to Kidd, requesting he eventually save a spot on his staff for Terry, who has coaching aspirations.

Reported by Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe

LeBron James not thinking about possible 2014 free agency yet

lebron james

LeBron James can opt of his contract with the Miami Heat in July 2014. It will be yearlong story, and James said he understands that.

But the four-time NBA MVP and back-to-back champion isn’t quite ready to go there yet.

“It’s too early (to talk about),” James told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “I will get to a point where I have to cross that, but I haven’t really thought about it.”

James, 28, averaged 26.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.3 assists in leading the Heat to a Finals victory over the San Antonio Spurs in seven games this past season.

His ability to opt out and become a free agent at the end of next season could become an even bigger story.

Reported by Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio

Video: Kevin Durant scores 63 points in Jamal Crawford Pro Am Seattle game

The Oklahoma City Thunder used to be the Seattle SuperSonics. Kevin Durant’s NBA career began in Seattle. And in the Jamal Crawford Pro Am Seattle game, Kevin Durant took a reported 62 shots to finish with 63 points. According to Ball is Life, his team ended up losing 147-141 in OT.

There are also tons of highlights from Jamal Crawford himself, who reportedly scored 46 points.

Here’s the fun video:

Milwaukee Bucks begin rebuilding project

OJ Mayo

If anyone had predicted a few months ago that guard O.J. Mayo would be the Milwaukee Bucks’ highest-paid player next season, the remark likely would have generated a few laughs.

Strange but true.

The 25-year-old guard signed a three-year, $24 million free-agent deal with Milwaukee last month and his $8 million salary is tops on the team for the 2013-’14 season, just above the $7.9 million owed to power forward Ersan Ilyasova.

The Bucks tried to sign point guard Jeff Teague to a four-year, $32 million deal but had the offer matched by the Atlanta Hawks.

Instead they made a trade with Detroit that landed 21-year-old point guard Brandon Knight, who is still on his rookie-scale contract and will make $2.9 million next season.

Bucks general manager John Hammond worked tirelessly during July to reshape the roster and start a rebuilding process that he hopes will pay dividends in the future.

The approach was to acquire young talent to build around 24-year-old Larry Sanders and 22-year-old John Henson; and also to sign veterans (Zaza Pachulia, Luke Ridnour and Carlos Delfino) to contribute and provide leadership in the locker room.

Reported by Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Kyrie Irving happy with Cavaliers, not worried about future

Kyrie Irving

Irving’s future in Cleveland has been a topic of conversation since a New York radio host insisted on Twitter that Irving wouldn’t remain in Cleveland for long. Irving dismissed the report during a Team USA minicamp last month in Las Vegas, saying he was excited about the moves the organization made this summer and that “I’m a Cavalier right now. I’m happy to be a Cavalier.” Irving was asked Saturday why he qualified that with “right now.”

“Right now I’m a Cavalier. This is where I am. All that future stuff, I’m not really worried about,” Irving said. “I’m living in the moment right now and I’m just trying to get better with the teammates I have now and make the playoffs for Cleveland. That’s the only thing I can do right now is give it my all as it stands right now and that future stuff, I’m not really worried about it.”

The Cavs control Irving’s rights for three more seasons, and it’s worth noting no player has ever turned down a max contract coming off his rookie deal.

Reported by Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal