Gery Woelfel: A couple NBA sources tell me 76ers have Andrew Wiggins in their draft crosshairs. Twitter @GeryWoelfel
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Gery Woelfel: A couple NBA sources tell me 76ers have Andrew Wiggins in their draft crosshairs. Twitter @GeryWoelfel
[QUOTE]Former Louisville forward Chane Behanan has hired an agent and will declare this week for the NBA Draft, a source close to the situation told SNY.tv.
[QUOTE]Don
[QUOTE]In pro basketball, a player
[QUOTE]Lindsey
[QUOTE]the Jazz have just $27 million in guaranteed contracts on their payroll for next year, when the salary cap is expected to increase to around $63 million. Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey has said the team is willing to pay up to the luxury tax, giving them plenty of room to sign restricted free agent Gordon Hayward and still make a max deal at some point down the road.[/QUOTE]
Which max player are they going to be able to get or even want? G, Burks and Kanter could take up most of that money.
[QUOTE] By the end of the season, the Jazz
[QUOTE]The online sports book Bovada.lv has put together some odds on who could be the man to replace Ty Corbin, with former U. of U. coach Jim Boylen and the European coaching star Ettore Messina as the early frontrunners.
Here's how they stack up:
Jim Boylen — 2/1
Ettore Messina — 4/1
Mike Longabardi — 11/2
Andy Greer — 11/2
Brad Jones — 11/2
Jeff Van Gundy — 11/2
Lionel Hollins — 6/1
Stan Van Gundy — 15/2
— Aaron Falk[/QUOTE]
My money is on Longabardi or Greer right now.
[QUOTE]Burks nearly led the team in free-throw attempts on the season with 373, just behind Hayward, despite playing eight fewer minutes a game. He finished a respectable 74.8 percent shooting from the line.[/QUOTE]
That is not a respectable FT% for a guard. He was improving as the season went on.
[QUOTE]Burks has never been known for his verbosity, speaking in short snippets and acting like he’d just as soon be getting stuffed by Blake Griffin than talking to the media. However, before he left for his home in Kansas City for the summer, he opened up a bit about the season and his future.
“I did what (coach Tyrone Corbin) wanted me to do and did it to the best of my ability,’’ he said. “I was a more mature player, knowing the surroundings, always being in an attack mode on both sides of the floor.’’
One of the criticisms of the current Jazz team is that it doesn’t have a No. 1 scorer or a player that can become one in the future. Burks didn’t hesitate when asked it he could become such a player.
“I definitely feel like I can,’’ he said. “I’ve got the talent to be. I’ve got the competitiveness to be. I feel like I can become a great player in this league with my athletic ability and potential. I think I can be real good in this league.’’[/QUOTE]
He, Kanter and Burke are the only guys that fit the mold of scorer.
[QUOTE]When asked about what he needs to improve on most, Burks said, “Probably shooting. Everybody can improve on that.’’
Still, Burks shot better than every other perimeter player on the Jazz, and only inside men Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter and Jeremy Evans shot better.[/QUOTE]
He probably shot a higher % of shots at the rim than them and many of those he ended up at the line with no shot attempt.
[QUOTE]Lindsey says the 6-foot-6, 210-pound Burks needs to improve his strength.
“As he gets stronger, he’ll improve his productivity at the rim and the free-throw line,’’ he said.
As he heads into his fourth year, Burks is in a similar position Hayward and Derrick Favors were a year ago with his rookie contract to end after the season. He could sign a new contract as Favors did or wait until after the season and become a restricted free agent like Hayward. He wouldn’t say which way he was leaning.
“I can’t talk about extensions, that’s up in the air,’’ he said. “The Jazz are a great organization and my agent’s good so they’ll work all that out. I feel like I’m going to have another great summer and take my game to the next level. I feel I proved what I can do and I improved a lot over the year and got better over the summer.”
For Burks, the future looks bright, whether it’s with the Jazz or another NBA team.
“I’m 22. I’m still young — most people are just getting out of college at my age,’’ he said. “I’m playing in the NBA, just getting better, improving as a man off the court and maturing. It’s all about self-growth.’’[/QUOTE]
I could see them possibly getting him for a good price. He might take the money rather than risk injury next season with the way he plays. And after the way things went with G taking the money might look like an even better option. He'll be their main focus probably after G(and hopefully a pg). They could sign Kanter for the right price but they won't want to overpay him with his future on the Jazz more uncertain.
[QUOTE]Boylen has had a longstanding relationship with Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey, dating back to when both worked for the Houston Rockets. Since getting fired at Utah, Boylen served two years as an assistant for the Indiana Pacers and is currently Gregg Popovich
[QUOTE]Born in Italy, the 54-year-old has won four Euroleague championships as a head coach and is the presumptive favorite to be the first international head coach to break into the NBA coaching fraternity.
Former BYU Cougar Travis Hansen played in the NBA and internationally and for years, he either played for or against Messina.
[QUOTE]Jim Boylen is part of the next wave of head-coaching prospects, according to Kevin Arnovitz at ESPN.com.
Arnovitz acknowledges Boylen's rough performance during his four seasons at Utah. However, he also points out that he's gotten back into his element as an assistant coach at Indiana, and now as the head assistant to Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich.
[url]http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/67711/the-next-wave-of-head-coaching-prospects[/url]
That arcticle:
[QUOTE]Quin Snyder, Atlanta Hawks assistant coach
It seems like eons ago, but there was a time when Snyder was basketball
[QUOTE]Adrian Griffin, Chicago Bulls assistant coach
Odd as it seems to pair a couple of Thibodeau bench assistants on a diverse list of seven prospective head coaches, Pinckney and Griffin both attracted heavy mention, usually independent of each other.
Griffin is not yet 40 -- 39 until July, he's more than 11 years younger than Pinckney -- which means there are a bunch of people in the game who have watched him grow up from youth camps to his stint now as a lead assistant to Thibodeau. Those who have say that, since high school, Griffin has displayed a polished maturity that screams NBA head coach.
He had barely filed his retirement papers in 2008 when Scott Skiles and the Milwaukee Bucks offered him a job as an assistant. After two seasons with the Bucks, Griffin joined Thibodeau, with whom he
[QUOTE]Kevin Ollie, University of Connecticut head coach
With a few waivers granted for region or diploma, much of the NBA was rooting for UConn the night of the 2014 NCAA title game.
Ollie was one of the league
[QUOTE]David Vanterpool, Portland Trail Blazers assistant coach
It