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Raptors 905 hire Jama Mahlalela as head coach

Jama Mahlalela has been named head coach of Raptors 905, who are the Toronto Raptors’ G League affiliate. Mahlalela becomes the third head coach in team history and joins the club following five seasons as an assistant coach at the NBA level.

“We are very excited to add Jama as our new head coach,” said Raptors 905 General Manager, Dan Tolzman. “After proving himself as an assistant on the Raptors staff, having an opportunity to run his own team is a major step in his development as a coach. Jama has played a big part in developing our young Raptors core, and we look forward to him continuing to do so from the Raptors 905 sideline. He is an example of what homegrown talent can achieve in this growing global game.”

A native of Mbabane, Swaziland, Mahlalela grew up in the Greater Toronto Area and played collegiately for five years at the University of British Columbia. He served as an assistant coach at the University of Toronto and worked at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment as a member of the community development staff, organizing Raptors Basketball Academy and various clinics throughout Canada. Mahlalela was later named director of basketball operations for NBA Asia and oversaw the League’s clinics, youth programs and elite-level development from his base in Hong Kong.

In 2011 Mahlalela joined the Raptors front office as director of player development, where he served for two seasons. He moved to the bench in 2013-14 helping with the team’s practice and game planning, individual player skill development and off-season programs. During the summers Mahlalela has been an active member in Masai Ujiri’s Giants of Africa camps and the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program.

“I am excited and grateful for the wonderful opportunity to coach the Raptors 905 team,” said Mahlalela. “I am eager to share my passion for the development of this sport with our young players and hope to use my previous experience as a Raptors assistant coach to reinforce and strengthen the connection between the two programs. My family and I would like to extend our sincere thanks to Masai Ujiri, Bobby Webster, Dan Tolzman, Larry Tanenbaum and the entire ownership group.”

Mahlalela takes over a Raptors 905 team that has appeared in the NBA G League Finals in back-to-back seasons. He will be a part of the Raptors coaching squad for the 2018 Las Vegas Summer League next month.

Orlando Magic add to basketball operations department

The Orlando Magic have named Ernest Eugene head athletic trainer, Luke Storey head strength and conditioning coach, Sameer Mehta physical therapist and Nathan Spencer performance and rehabilitation coach, President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman announced today.

In addition, Christian Espinoza, who served as an intern last season, has been promoted to full-time as assistant athletic trainer. Chad Gerhard (applied sports scientist) and Aki Tajima (athletic trainer/manual therapist) will remain on the staff.

Eugene joins Orlando after spending four seasons (2014-18) as assistant athletics director for sports medicine at Virginia Tech. He came to Virginia Tech following six seasons (2008-14) as the athletics trainer for the men’s basketball program at Marquette University, where he was promoted to director of sports medicine during his final year.

Storey comes to Orlando after spending more than five years (2013-18) at Peak Performance Project (P3), a sports performance facility that utilizes advanced sports science technologies to assess and train professional athletes.

Mehta comes to Orlando after spending 12 years at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. He joined MedStar in March 2006 as a physical therapist, then spent the last six years as clinical supervisor/outpatient physical therapy.

Spencer joins Orlando after spending three seasons (2015-18) as head strength and conditioning coach with the Illawarra Hawks of the National Basketball League in Australia. Prior to his time with Illawarra, he was a strength and conditioning coach in professional rugby.

DeAndre Ayton talks big, Marvin Bagley objects

Here’s the Boston Herald reporting on some pre-draft talk that will add fun and intrigue not only to draft day but to the first few seasons of several top prospects:

DeAndre Ayton, generally considered the best player in this year’s draft, recently worked out for his local Phoenix Suns, the team with the No. 1 pick in Thursday’s draft.

In the brash style of someone he is often compared to — Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid — the Arizona center made a pronouncement.

“I know I’m going No. 1,” he said, which didn’t thrill the next big man in the anticipated draft order.

“It’s disrespectful and I use it as drive every single day,” Duke’s Marvin Bagley said after his own workout for the Suns. “At the end of the day, this is all talk right now. Eventually we’ll have to go on the court and we’ll have to play. That’s where all the talking ends.”

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Kawhi Leonard reportedly seeks a trade

Spurs small forward Kawhi Leonard is one of the most talented players in the NBA. When healthy. Here’s the LA Times reporting on Leonard’s apparent desire to take his talents away from San Antonio:

Add Kawhi Leonard to the list of NBA stars with an interest in playing in Los Angeles.

That interest is mutual from the city’s two NBA teams — with some conditions.

The star forward’s desire to leave the San Antonio Spurs became clear on Friday morning, when the San Antonio Express News first reported he wanted to be traded. According to sources not authorized to speak publicly, the Lakers have long been Leonard’s preferred destination, though the Clippers are among the teams he would consider.

Neither the Lakers nor the Clippers have had trade discussions with the Spurs yet, but both teams have concerns about the severity of Leonard’s quadriceps injury. That injury sidelined Leonard for most of last season. He spent several months away from the team while rehabbing, which led to public barbs from Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich about Leonard’s absence — an unusual move for the Spurs.

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Should the Celtics trade for Kawhi Leonard?

Here’s what Boston.com has to say about the idea of the Boston Celtics trying to trade for Kawhi Leonard. Note that they aren’t actually attempting to acquire Leonard just yet. This is merely a discussion of a possibility:

Nope. Great player. Top 10 player. Not interested under these circumstances.

For starters, there are too many lingering questions. Did he quit on the Spurs? If so, why? And how do you reconcile that if you’re trading for him? San Antonio is supposed to be one of the most desirable situations in the league. What the heck happened there? Who is in his ear? And how did his injury play into it? Could he have played at the end of the season? Or was he seriously hurt? Is he completely over the quad injury, or does is this going to be an ongoing concern?

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Raptors hire Nick Nurse as head coach

The Toronto Raptors announced Thursday they have named Nick Nurse as the team’s new head coach.

Nurse becomes the ninth head coach in franchise history after spending the past five seasons as an assistant coach with the Raptors along with successful coaching tenures in the NBA G League and overseas.

“Nick is an innovative coach who has a tremendous basketball IQ, and a unique approach to the x’s and o’s. We’ve valued his creativity and dedication as he focused on making our offense one of the best in the NBA, and we believe that he will bring those qualities to his new role as head coach,” team president Masai Ujiri said. “This is an exciting and important season for the Raptors, and I believe Nick’s strong leadership and focus on winning are qualities which will help lead us to our ultimate goal, which is a championship.”

Nurse, 50, joined the Raptors in 2013 and helped construct an offensive system that ranked among in the NBA’s top 10 in three of five seasons. During the 2017-18 campaign the Raptors set franchise records for points per game (111.7) and three-pointers made (968).

“I’m proud to take on the role of head coach of the Toronto Raptors, and to continue to work with the exceptional players we have here,” Nurse said. “I’m grateful to Masai, Bobby, Larry Tanenbaum and the MLSE ownership for this opportunity. Toronto and the Raptors organization has been my home for the past five years, and I’ve watched this group grow and succeed together. I’m looking forward to more of that this season, and to working towards our shared goal, which is to earn the right to call ourselves NBA Champions.”

Prior to joining the Raptors, Nurse spent six seasons in the NBA G League as head coach for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (2011-13) and the Iowa Energy (2007-11). He compiled a regular-season record of 183-117 (.610), which ranks second all-time in NBA G League history for most victories. Nurse also has the most playoff victories in the league’s history with a 15-6 (.714) record. He is the only coach to lead two different teams to an NBA G League Championship.

During his final season with Rio Grande Valley, Nurse led the Vipers to a 35-15 record and the 2012-13 NBA G League title. Before joining the Vipers, Nurse led Iowa to the 2010-11 G League Championship and was the recipient of the Dennis Johnson Coach of the Year award.

Nurse, a native of Carroll, Iowa, played collegiately at Northern Iowa and stayed on as an assistant coach during the 1989-90 season. He travelled overseas to become player-coach of the Derby Storm in the British Basketball League (BLL) for one season before being named head coach at Grand View College in Iowa.

Following two seasons as an assistant coach at South Dakota, Nurse returned to Great Britain where he coached the Birmingham Bullets (1995-96), Manchester Giants (1998-2000), London Towers (2000-01) and Brighton Bears (2000-06). He won two BLL championships in 1996 and 2000, and was named Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2003. Nurse also earned six all-star head coach selections.

Nurse also gained coaching experience in Italy, Belgium, the USBL and served as an assistant coach for the British National Team during the 2012 Olympics in London.

Sixers exercise contract options on Richaun Holmes and T.J. McConnell

The Philadelphia 76ers have exercised the fourth-year options on the contracts of guard T.J. McConnell and forward-center Richaun Holmes.

The two players will now be under contract with the 76ers for the 2018-19 season.

McConnell originally signed with the 76ers in September 2015. Since his NBA debut in 2015-16, no NBA player has recorded more steals in a reserve role than McConnell’s 203. His 697 assists off the bench over the past three seasons are second in the league, behind only Dallas’ J.J. Barea.

On Feb. 12, 2018 vs. New York, McConnell posted 10 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists and six steals as he became the first 76er ever to post a triple-double off the bench (teammate Markelle Fultz accomplished the feat weeks later).

Holmes was selected by Philadelphia with the 37th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. In his three NBA seasons with the 76ers, he has played in 156 games (20 starts), averaging 7.4 points and 4.2 rebounds in 16.9 minutes per game.

Update on the Clippers pursuit of their own arena in Inglewood

We’re all used to the Staples Center being the home of both the Lakers and Clippers. It’s certainly practical for anybody in Los Angeles with easy access to LA Live. But Clipper fans may have to learn directions to Inglewood if Clippers owner Steve Ballmer gets his way. Here’s the the Los Angeles Times with an update:

Under a big white tent on a dirt field that was a few feet south of where the Rams are constructing their new stadium, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and Inglewood city officials held a news conference Tuesday during which they expressed their desire to introduce legislation in the quest to build a basketball arena there.

The legislation, AB 987, will provide shortcuts for approval if the proposed project faces challenges under California’s primary environmental law governing development. A similar bill, SB 789, failed to gain traction last year.

The Clippers play at Staples Center, which is owned by AEG, and share the arena with the Lakers and Kings.

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Jodie Meeks will reportedly stay with Wizards

We are now in a crucially important period of the basketball offseason: Awaiting the draft, but also seeing which players enter free agency. Some will do so automatically because their contract has officially ended, but with others it’s by choice, either by the player or the team. In the case of the Wizards, here’s the Washington Post with an update on Jodie Meeks:

In an expected move, Washington Wizards guard Jodie Meeks exercised the player option of his contract for the 2018-19 season, according to league sources. Meeks’s return will signal a hit to the salary cap while also ensuring the Wizards will be shorthanded to start next season.

With Meeks, the Wizards have 10 players under contract. The sharpshooter is expected to earn $3.45 million next season and though his individual income appears meager compared to the team’s core players John Wall, Bradley Beal and Otto Porter Jr., the cumulative amount will push the team’s 2018-19 salary past $124 million.

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Steve Kerr expects contract extension talks to go smoothly

Head coach Steve Kerr is obviously having great success with his star-filled Warriors team. There’s no reason to even think that the two sides won’t continue together. Here’s the SF Chronicle with the latest on upcoming contract extension talks between the two sides:

“We’ll get that done pretty quickly,” Kerr said Monday. “I don’t think there will be much to it. It should happen relatively quickly.”

Kerr and Golden State began to discuss an extension last summer, but Kerr opted to wait a year for final discussions to be sure he was healthy enough to make a long-term commitment. Now, after coaching every game in the Warriors’ run to the 2017-18 NBA championship, Kerr is ready to sign an extension.

“Whenever he wants to start, we’ll figure it out,” general manager Bob Myers said. “I think the nice thing is we developed a camaraderie and we feel like he wants to be here. We want him here. We’ll work it out.”

Kerr, 52, rebuffed an offer from the Knicks in May 2014 and signed a five-year, $25 million contract with the Warriors.