NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog – Page 893 – NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops

Jazz hire Igor Kokoskov as assistant coach

The Utah Jazz announced today that Igor Kokoskov (kuh-KOS-kov) was hired as assistant coach, joining Head Coach Quin Snyder’s staff. In addition, Andrae Patterson has been named as player personnel/player programs coordinator.

Kokoskov has spent 15 seasons as an assistant coach in the NBA, most recently with the Orlando Magic during the 2014-15 season. His previous NBA experience includes, one season with the Cleveland Cavaliers (2013-14), five seasons with the Phoenix Suns (2008-13), five seasons with the Detroit Pistons (2003-08) and three seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers (2000-03). He reached the Conference Finals in each campaign with Detroit and captured an NBA title in 2004, becoming the first non-American assistant to win an NBA championship and the first to serve on an NBA All-Star Game coaching staff.

As a member of Alvin Gentry’s Los Angeles Clippers staff in 2000, Kokoskov became the first full-time non-American assistant coach in NBA History.

Kokoskov rejoins Coach Snyder after having also served as an assistant to him at the University of Missouri during the 1999-00 season, where Kokoskov became the first European coach to hold a full-time position with an NCAA Division I school.

In 2004, Kokoskov served as an assistant with the Serbia National Team at the Athens Olympic Games under renowned European coach Zeljko Obradovic. He has also served as head coach of the Republic of Georgia National Team for seven summers (2008-14), qualifying for the European Championships twice for the first time in team history. In 2012, he earned the Order of Honour, Georgia’s highest civilian honor, for his success with the team.

A native, of Belgrade, Serbia, Kokoskov became a United States citizen in 2010.

Patterson joins the Jazz front office staff after serving as an assistant coach for the NBA Development League’s Idaho Stampede, the Jazz’s exclusively owned and operated D-League team, during the 2014-15 season. Prior to the Stampede, he spent two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Texas at Arlington after two years as the school’s director of basketball operations/video coordinator and one as a student assistant.

He enjoyed a successful professional playing career that began when he was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 46th overall pick of the 1998 NBA Draft, where he played from 1998-2001. Following his NBA career, he played nine seasons internationally for clubs in the top European leagues, including both CB Estudiantes (2001-05) and Bàsquet Manresa (2005-06) of the premier Spanish ACB League, as well as KK Zadar (Croatia-A1) and Panellinios BC (Greece-A1) in 2006, Ironi Ashkelon (Israel) in 2007, before finishing his playing career with Egaleo AO (Greece-A1) from 2007-09.

As a collegian, the Abilene, Texas, native played for Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight for four seasons at Indiana University (1994-98), where he was an All-American and four-time All-Big Ten selection and led the Hoosiers to four NCAA Tournament appearances while earning a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

Report: Lakers will keep Robert Sacre

Look, people, Some free agent priorities are higher than others. And you need to remember, it isn’t all about the starters. Good bench guys at a cheap price are important, too. Every good team needs role players. Now, the Lakers aren’t actually a good team right now, but that’s not the point. If you can get an NBA player for under $1 million for the season, and he’s capable of tying his shoes, and he’s tall, then it’s probably a good deal for the dollar.

Here’s the Los Angeles Daily News blog reporting:

The Lakers exercised a $981,359 team option to retain center Robert Sacre for the 2015-16 season, according to league source familiar with the situation.

The Lakers did not formally decide until the deadline at midnight on Tuesday. Sacre’s contract now become guaranteed.

Though Sacre averaged only 4.6 points on 41.2 percent shooting and 3.5 rebounds as mostly a backup center, the Lakers still valued him for numerous reasons. The Lakers do not currently have any true centers on their roster, while they have a glut of power forwards, including Julius Randle, Larry Nance Jr. Tarik Black and Ryan Kelly.

Blazers, Al-Farouq Aminu agree to deal

Al-Farouq Aminu is an excellent hustle player, but so far in his NBA career he’s considered backup material. Good backup material, with the potential to do bigger things thanks to his hustle and defense. But the Portland Trail Blazers are reportedly willing to pay him more than expected. Here’s the Oregonian reporting:

The Trail Blazers did not waste any time plugging their hole at small forward.

Shortly after NBA free agency opened at 9:01 p.m., the team agreed to a deal with unrestricted free agent Al-Forouq Aminu, his agent, Raymond Brothers, confirmed to The Oregonian/OregonLive.

The deal, first reported by Yahoo Sports, is valued at $30 million over four years.

Aminu, 6-foot-9 and 215 pounds, averaged 5.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in 18.5 minutes per game last season for the Dallas Mavericks and is entering his sixth NBA season.

The No. 8 overall pick of the 2010 NBA draft, Aminu features high-level defensive ability and a high-energy style, but a below-average long-range shot.

Report: Lakers will meet with Kevin Love

Would Kevin Love leave the Cleveland Cavaliers? He may not have had a dream season with them, taking a back seat to LeBron James and Kyrie Irving and then watching the team enjoy success without him throughout most of the 2015 NBA playoffs, but he was still their third best player this season and surely enjoys being a part of a winning team, right? It’s still expected he remains with the Cavs, but, conversations elsewhere are being had. Here’s ESPN.com reporting:

The Los Angeles Lakers will meet with free agent Kevin Love later this week, according to league sources.

One source said the Lakers have heard Love is likely to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but they still want to sit down with him. The meeting will be part of a busy week for the Lakers, who also will meet with LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre Jordan and Greg Monroe.

Besides securing a top-flight power forward, either Aldridge or Love, the Lakers hope to add a center. In addition to Jordan and Monroe, the Lakers have interest in Tyson Chandler and Robin Lopez, Aldridge’s teammate in Portland the past two seasons, sources said. The Lakers also will place a call to Marc Gasol, although the All-Star center is widely expected to re-sign with Memphis.

Report: Spurs will keep Kawhi Leonard

Report: Spurs will keep Kawhi Leonard

The San Antonio Spurs are built around their famous “big three” of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, but Kawhi Leonard has been just as important as all of them for several seasons now. And it appears he’s sticking around for Duncan and Ginobili to try to squeeze out another championship or two before hanging the sneakers up and calling it a career in the coming few seasons. Here’s the San Antonio Express News Blog reporting:

As expected, Kawhi Leonard and the Spurs have agreed to the general framework on a maximum contract extension that could pay him more than $90 million over five years, a league source told the Express-News on Tuesday.

A source close to Leonard has said for several months that the discussion on his extension would be quick. That it was, with news breaking just minutes after the NBA’s annual free agent period began at 11 p.m. CST on Tuesday.

Leonard, 24, will not immediately sign the deal to preserve his cap hold of $7.2 million, which will aide the Spurs in their pursuit of coveted free agent LaMarcus Aldridge.

Grizzlies extend qualifying offer to Nick Calathes

The Memphis Grizzlies have extended a qualifying offer to guard Nick Calathes, General Manager Chris Wallace announced today.

By extending a qualifying offer to Calathes prior to the June 30 deadline, Memphis holds the right to match any offer sheet he may sign with another team after becoming a restricted free agent on July 1.

Calathes (6-6, 213) averaged 4.2 points, 1.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.09 steals in 14.4 minutes in 58 games (zero starts) for Memphis last season. The 26-year-old posted a 92.2 defensive rating, leading all NBA players who appeared in at least 55 contests.

Drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round (45th overall) of the 2009 NBA Draft following a two-year collegiate career at the University of Florida, Calathes owns NBA career averages of 4.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.00 steals in 15.6 minutes in 129 games (seven starts) in two seasons, both with the Grizzlies.

Keeping Draymond Green a priority for Warriors

Draymond Green presumably hopes to stay with Golden State. They certainly hope to keep him. With NBA free agent negotiations kicking off at midnight tonight, here’s the San Francisco Chronicle reporting:

Draymond Green said he would like to remain in Oakland with the only team he has played for in the NBA, but other teams are still showing interest in the forward.

As NBA free agency was set to commence late Tuesday, the Warriors’ power forwards were their focal points.

Golden State’s top priority this summer is to re-sign restricted free agent Draymond Green, and the franchise would also like to offload David Lee and the nearly $15.5 million he’s owed for the 2015-16 season.

Lee has been one of the central figures in the Warriors’ culture change since his 2010 sign-and-trade acquisition — from seeing the team off with baked goods before his elbow surgery that November to picking up most of the tab for a team-wide Las Vegas getaway last weekend.

When he missed the beginning of the 2014-15 season with a strained hamstring and watched Green take a stranglehold on the starting power-forward spot during the team’s 21-2 run, Lee was a true professional in taking a backseat.

Thunder trade Luke Ridnour to Raptors

It’s happened again.

IT’S HAPPENED AGAIN.

Veteran NBA guard Luke Ridnour has been traded yet again.

The Oklahoma City Thunder acquired a trade exception and the rights to forward Tomislav Zubcic from the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Ridnour and cash considerations, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

The Thunder will have one year from today to exercise the trade exception.

Mike Miller exercises player option for Cavs

Mike Miller exercises player option for 2015-16 season

Cleveland Cavaliers guard/forward Mike Miller has exercised his player option for the 2015-16 season, Cavaliers General Manager David Griffin announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.

A 15-year NBA veteran, Miller (6-8, 218) has played in 965 games (568 starts) with averages of 11.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 28.3 minutes per game. He holds career shooting percentages of .460 from the field, .407 from the three-point line and .769 from the free throw line. His 1,563 three-pointers rank 18th all-time in NBA history. This past season, the 35-year-old appeared in 52 games (15 starts) for the Cavaliers and averaged 2.1 points and 1.8 rebounds in 13.5 minutes per game.

Miller has also appeared in 94 postseason contests (21 starts), winning two championships and averaging 4.9 points, including a .394 clip from beyond the arc, and 2.5 rebounds in 16.5 minutes per game.

He wasn’t used much by the team last season, and may have an even smaller role in 2015-16 if the team can improve its bench a bit.

At this point in his career, Miller’s main role is to come off the bench and try to hit some three-pointers while playing limited minutes.

Magic extend qualifying offer to Kyle O`Quinn

Orlando Magic qualifying offer Kyle O’Quinn

The Orlando Magic have extended a qualifying offer to forward/center Kyle O’Quinn, General Manager Rob Hennigan announced today.

By extending a qualifying offer to O’Quinn prior to the June 30 deadline, Orlando owns the right to match any offer sheet he may sign with another team. O’Quinn will become a restricted free agent on July 1.

O’Quinn played in 51 games (17 starts) last season with Orlando, averaging 5.8 ppg., 3.9 rpg. and 1.2 apg. in 16.2 minpg. He led (or tied) the team in rebounding three times and in assists twice. O’Quinn scored in double figures ten times, including a season-high 21 points on Dec. 2 @ Golden State. He pulled down 10+ rebounds three times and recorded three double-doubles.

Originally selected by Orlando in the second round (49th overall) of the 2012 NBA Draft, O’Quinn has appeared in 177 career NBA regular season games (41 starts), all with Orlando, averaging 5.4 ppg., 4.4 rpg. and 1.1 apg. in 15.0 minpg., while shooting .501 (406-810) from the floor.