Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

Pelicans promote Bryson Graham to general manager position

The New Orleans Pelicans announced yesterday that Bryson Graham has been promoted to general manager and Jon Moul has been hired as senior director of cap and strategy.

“Over his 14 NBA seasons, Bryson has built a stellar reputation throughout the NBA,” stated Pelicans Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin. “First and foremost, he is recognized for the strength of his character. His work ethic, basketball acumen, leadership ability and eye for talent have contributed immeasurably to our growth as a franchise. I couldn’t be happier to see him assume the role of general manager of the New Orleans Pelicans.

“We are equally thrilled to welcome Jon to our organization and look forward to adding his experience, creativity and knowledge to our front office.”

Graham enters his 15th season with the Pelicans, his first as general manager after serving the previous five seasons as assistant general manager. During his tenure, Graham has served as one of the organization’s key talent evaluators of players at both the professional, collegiate, and international levels, assisting with the team’s year-round preparation for the NBA draft, free agency and trades.

New Cavs head coach will reportedly be Kenny Atkinson

Per the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

The Cavs have their man.

Sources tell cleveland.com that a long, exhaustive search ended on Monday morning with the franchise choosing Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson, considered one of the favorites from the beginning, to replace fired J.B. Bickerstaff.

Over the last month-plus, the Cavs conducted numerous interviews with various candidates — over Zoom and in person — and eventually narrowed down their finalists to three: Atkinson, New Orleans associate coach James Borrego and Minnesota’s Micah Nori.

Bulls trade Alex Caruso to Thunder for Josh Giddey

The Oklahoma City Thunder has acquired guard Alex Caruso from the Chicago Bulls in exchange for guard Josh Giddey, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

Caruso (6-5, 186) appeared in 71 games for the Bulls last season, averaging career-highs in points (10.1), rebounds (3.8), steals (1.69) and blocks (1.00) while adding 3.5 assists per game. He shot a career-best 46.8% from the field and 40.8% from three in 28.7 minutes per contest.

The winner of the 2023-24 NBA Hustle Award led the league in deflections per game (3.7) while his steals per game ranked fourth and his loose balls recovered per game (1.0) ranked fifth. Caruso was the only player in the league to tally 130-plus three-point field goals made, 100-plus steals and 70-plus blocks last season, becoming the first player to do so since the 2020-21 season.

A two-time All-Defensive Team member (2022-23 First Team and 2023-24 Second Team), Caruso has appeared in 363 career games with the Bulls and Lakers, with career averages of 6.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.29 steals per contest. The College Station native began his professional career with the Oklahoma City Blue in the NBA G League after his college tenure at Texas A&M.

Giddey appeared in 80 games during the 2023-24 campaign for the Thunder, averaging 12.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 25.1 minutes per contest. In 210 career games for the Thunder, the Melbourne, Australia native averaged 13.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists.

Report: Malik Monk will stay with Kings

Per ESPN.com:

Free agent guard Malik Monk intends to sign a four-year, $78 million deal — including a player option — to return to the Sacramento Kings, sources told ESPN on Thursday night.

Monk, the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year runner-up, had a career-best season, averaging over 15 points and five assists, and he avoids free agency with the maximum deal available to him to stay in Sacramento.

Pistons fire head coach Monty Williams

The Detroit Pistons announced today that Monty Williams will not return next season as the team’s head coach. The decision comes after a thorough review and analysis of the team’s performance during the 2023-24 campaign.

“Decisions like these are difficult to make, and I want to thank Monty for his hard work and dedication,” said Pistons owner Tom Gores. “Coaching has many dynamic challenges that emerge during a season and Monty always handled those with grace. However, after reviewing our performance carefully and assessing our current position as an organization, we will chart a new course moving forward.”

“I have great respect for Monty as a coach and as a person and I am certain he will be successful in his future endeavors,” added Gores. “I sincerely wish him and his family the very best.”

The search process for a new head coach will begin immediately.

“We are unwavering in our commitment to bring a championship-caliber team to Detroit,” said Gores. “We will be diligent and swift in our search for a new head coach to lead our exciting young core of players and will continue our vision towards building a best-in-class front office that will help us achieve sustainable success.”

Lakers interview JJ Reddick for head coaching job

Per the LA Times:

The Lakers hosted former player and current broadcaster JJ Redick on Saturday in their most formal interview with him to date, with multiple members of the organization speaking to the former Duke star about the team’s head-coaching vacancy.

The step is an important one for Redick, who has been a central figure in the team’s coaching search as an external favorite, a presumed frontrunner after initial contact at the NBA draft combine and now as potentially the final candidate to meet with executive vice president and general manager Rob Pelinka, owner Jeanie Buss and other key Lakers figures.

While some inside the organization have said the team doesn’t necessarily need to hire a coach before the NBA draft on June 26-27, there are major decisions that need to be made regarding the roster, including the possibility of trading up to three first-round picks (No. 17 this year and unprotected firsts in 2029 and 2031) on draft night.

The Lakers head coaching job is not the easiest role around. The team roster is good enough to squeeze into the playoffs, but their upside potential feels limited. They’re not a championship contender, but they’re not in a rebuilding model, either. But any job with the Lakers will always be high profile and one of the league’s most desirable places to be.

2024-25 Orlando Magic preseason schedule

The Orlando Magic 2024-25 preseason schedule has been announced.

The Magic will open preseason at New Orleans on Monday, October 7.

After playing at San Antonio on Wednesday, October 9, Orlando will host New Orleans on Friday, October 11, then finish the preseason schedule at home on Friday, October 18 vs. Philadelphia. Both games at Kia Center will tip-off at 7 p.m.

Suns hire Matt Tellem and Brian Gregory for basketball operations staff roles

The Phoenix Suns have hired Matt Tellem as assistant general manager and Brian Gregory as vice president of player programming.

“We’re excited to add Matt and Brian to our basketball operations team,” said James Jones, Suns president of basketball operations and general manager. “Matt’s insight and strategic thinking are highly regarded throughout the NBA and will elevate our team. Brian’s expansive coaching and development experience uniquely positions him to assist our coaches and players.”

Tellem joins the Suns front office after spending the past 13 years with the Brooklyn Nets organization, most recently as vice president of strategy for the 2023-24 season and as senior director of salary cap and strategy in 2022-23.

Gregory begins his role with the Suns following 19 seasons as a head coach in NCAA Division I men’s basketball, most recently serving as the head coach at the University of South Florida from 2017-23.

Utah Jazz coaching staff and basketball operations department update

Today, the Utah Jazz announced staff updates within the coaching staff and basketball operations department ahead of the 2024-25 season.

Shane Fenske, who previously served as Vice President of Analytics and Insights has been moved into the role of Assistant General Manager. Prior to his time with the Jazz, the Blackduck, Minn., native spent six seasons with the Boston Celtics as a basketball operations and salary cap analyst and basketball operations technology developer. He has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Yale.

Assistant Coach Sean Sheldon, who has been with the organization for two years, will move to the front of the bench for Will Hardy’s staff. He began in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs, starting as a quality assurance assistant in the video department, before being promoted to assistant video coordinator and then head video coordinator. The Traverse City, Mich., native was a graduate assistant at Michigan State after playing professionally in Switzerland for a season. He was a four-year player at William & Mary from 2012-16.

Andrew Warren, who has served as an assistant video coordinator for the team for the past two seasons will transition into the role of Assistant Coach. A native of Indianapolis, he served as a video coordinator for the Birmingham Squadron during the 2021-22 season, after an exceptional 10-plus year international and G League career, playing in Argentina, Australia, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Kosovo, Japan, and New Zealand as well as for the G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors and Stockton Kings (then Reno Bighorns). He played collegiately at Bradley (2006-11).

Justin Mazzulla, who served as Assistant Coach and Video Coordinator for the Salt Lake City Stars, Utah’s G League affiliate, will be moving to the Jazz video room as an Assistant Video Coordinator. The Johnston, R.I., native, briefly served as a Graduate Assistant at Rhode Island and played five collegiate seasons at George Washington (2017-20) and Vermont (2020-22).

Torin Dorn joins the Jazz video room as Assistant Video Coordinator, after serving as Assistant Coach and Player Development Associate for the Salt Lake City Stars. The Charlotte, N.C., native began his playing career at North Carolina-Charlotte before transferring to N.C. State, where he spent three seasons (2016-18). Following his time with the Wolfpack, Dorn went on to play professionally in the Polish Basketball League (2019-20) and Czech Basketball League (2021-22), before returning to N.C. State as a Graduate Manager.

Katie Benzan, who joined the Jazz as a Basketball Operations generalist in 2022-23, will now serve as Salt Lake City Stars Assistant General Manager/Coordinator of Pro Scouting. The Wellesley, Mass., native played one professional season with the Washington Mystics of the WNBA in 2022 after a standout collegiate career at Harvard (2016-19) and Maryland (2020-22), where she set a program record for three-point percentage (.474).

Brian Pauga, who served as a scout for the organization has been promoted to Director of College Scouting & Basketball Intelligence, with another former scout, Shenton Wai, being elevated to Manager of Pro Scouting. Zach Paige will now serve as Manager of Basketball Operations and Scouting after serving as Coordinator of Basketball Operations. Spencer Siegel has been added as a Data Scientist in the front office after recently finishing his master’s degree in statistics from Stanford, with the team also adding Alec Moore as Full Stack Software Engineer earlier this season.

Additionally, Lynzie Sorenson is being promoted to Director of Family Relations, Josh Raia has been named Executive Chef, Anela Davis has been added as a Basketball Operations Generalist-Analytics, and Bernard Webb is being elevated to Team Operations Coordinator.